2018 Silverado

sallen07

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Dec 22, 2013
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A bit of background. Been a ham for about 3 1/2 years now. When I decided I wanted to put a mobile in my truck I went down to the basement and found the transmission hump console with my dad's CB from the 1980s and replaced the CB with my dual-band radio. I've been using that and a mag-mount (yeah, I know) and plugging into the 12V outlet since then. Honestly one nice thing about that setup was that I could pull out the radio for long trips with my wife and use the antenna on the magmount for my SDS100 instead.

But all those "just drill the hole" posts by @mmckenna kept nagging at me. I was really hoping he'd start his east coast NMO installation tour this fall but that just didn't happen, so I finally caved and went another direction. :) If I had become a ham in my 20s and was looking at installing antennas on vehicles for many years, I might have bought the tools and learned to do it myself, but at this point in life there are some things that I just pay an expert to do, so I took my truck to a local radio shop and let them put in two NMO mounts and run the power for me. I figured if I was going to do a permanent install I might as well have two NMOs and use one for my radio and one for a scanner.

I actually had the NMOs installed in mid-October, but I ordered a console too and wanted to wait and post once I had the install finished. The console came last Friday and fortunately the weather here was quite mild for December so I installed it on Saturday.

Sorry if these pictures aren't great, but hopefully you'll get the idea. The rear antenna is a Larsen 150/450/800 for the scanner, and the front is a Larsen NMO2/70B. Radio is an Anytone AT-D578 and console is a Jotto Desk. I had them install a Lind shutdown timer on the power, and I put a Stridsberg signal limiter on the scanner just in case.

Oh, and a big shout-out to mmckenna for his advice on antenna placement!
 

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mmckenna

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Looks good.
No shame in having a professional do it. The tools to do it right are not too expensive, but if your plan is only to install a couple of mounts, it's not always worth buying them yourself. Having them run the power and install the timer is a good plan.
 

03msc

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The Natural State
Well done! Looks good. And, yes, if you want good advice then Matthew is one of the best to get it from.

This probably would fit better in the Pictures of Your Shack/Mobile Install subforum since it's a completed install but always good to see someone do a job right from the beginning.
 

JamesBrox

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Jan 31, 2018
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Santa Rosa County, FL
Looks great!
Yeah, I now am a believer in no mag mounts. Just paid $1200 to get my 2016 GMC truck roof repainted. All because of a mag mount that peeled the original paint off.
James
 

madrabbitt

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i always wanted that type of console for the last truck. Almost bought one used, but didnt get the chance.

My current silverado has a full OEM center console and that makes it harder to mount things.
 

tunnelmot

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May 9, 2007
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Conroe, TX
Super clean install for sure!
Do you by any chance know the Jotto faceplate part# they used for the Anytone? I'm curious and that info may also help others in the future.
 

sallen07

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Dec 22, 2013
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Rochester, NY
Super clean install for sure!
Do you by any chance know the Jotto faceplate part# they used for the Anytone? I'm curious and that info may also help others in the future.
Thanks.

Yes, I should have included that info in my first post.

The SDS200 faceplate is 425-6403.
The AT-D578 is 425-6082.

Neither is "perfect", but they are good enough!
 
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