My 2007 Honda Ridgeline RTX truck (240k miles!!) with an Icom ID-880H radio with Comet CA-2x4SR antenna.
The radio is mounted on my dash, between the AM/FM radio and the air conditioner controls.
Icom, like other manufacturers, provided a remote extension cable for the radio head. The microphone can be extended with a Cat-5 cable. I believe I ordered a long power cable, since I have the base of the radio is in the back of the cab.
The base of the radio is underneath the rear seat on the driver's side. The power comes directly from the battery and the power cable runs underneath the doorstep panel. I left the mounting bracket on the radio to keep air flowing around the whole radio. The microphone and remote head extension cables run in between the driver's seat and the center console.
A buddy of mine (thanks Mark) helped me to pull the dashboard panel off to run the cable for this radio and my iPad connection behind the radio stack. That allowed me to nearly completely hide the radio, if needed. The radio head is held in place with its own weight and with the help of the magnetic mount plate. It fits nicely into the groove in the accessory box and doesn't move while driving. I use an external speaker under the driver's seat.
The antenna is an old favorite of mine, the Comet CA-2x4SR, and is mounted on a tiedown in the truck bed. The antenna mount is a fabrication job done by another pal (thanks Brad) and fits neatly behind the rear passenger seat. In fact, it only requires six feet of RF cable to reach from the radio installation site. I tried RG-8X but it was grey in color and stands out too much. I swapped to a black RG-58 cable with no change in signal attenuation (by checking out how many weather channels I could receive, etc.).
To pass the antenna cable, I had to remove the back plate of the truck bed. It's a star-shaped tool, which the bed requires T-40 and T-50 sizes. It's a five-minute job to remove the back plate. Once off, there are vents on driver's and passenger's side of the cab. I made a small slit in the fabric and ran the cable down and under the back seat. From the inside of the cab, those vents sit at or just above the seat level. Easy enough to reach without having to disassemble the back seat.
Programming is done via laptop. Usually, I leave the programming cable under the back seat with the radio.
I have owned the truck and this radio for awhile now. With the recent questions about mounting radios and antennae on the Honda Ridgeline, I thought I would post my results.
The radio is mounted on my dash, between the AM/FM radio and the air conditioner controls.
Icom, like other manufacturers, provided a remote extension cable for the radio head. The microphone can be extended with a Cat-5 cable. I believe I ordered a long power cable, since I have the base of the radio is in the back of the cab.
The base of the radio is underneath the rear seat on the driver's side. The power comes directly from the battery and the power cable runs underneath the doorstep panel. I left the mounting bracket on the radio to keep air flowing around the whole radio. The microphone and remote head extension cables run in between the driver's seat and the center console.
A buddy of mine (thanks Mark) helped me to pull the dashboard panel off to run the cable for this radio and my iPad connection behind the radio stack. That allowed me to nearly completely hide the radio, if needed. The radio head is held in place with its own weight and with the help of the magnetic mount plate. It fits nicely into the groove in the accessory box and doesn't move while driving. I use an external speaker under the driver's seat.
The antenna is an old favorite of mine, the Comet CA-2x4SR, and is mounted on a tiedown in the truck bed. The antenna mount is a fabrication job done by another pal (thanks Brad) and fits neatly behind the rear passenger seat. In fact, it only requires six feet of RF cable to reach from the radio installation site. I tried RG-8X but it was grey in color and stands out too much. I swapped to a black RG-58 cable with no change in signal attenuation (by checking out how many weather channels I could receive, etc.).
To pass the antenna cable, I had to remove the back plate of the truck bed. It's a star-shaped tool, which the bed requires T-40 and T-50 sizes. It's a five-minute job to remove the back plate. Once off, there are vents on driver's and passenger's side of the cab. I made a small slit in the fabric and ran the cable down and under the back seat. From the inside of the cab, those vents sit at or just above the seat level. Easy enough to reach without having to disassemble the back seat.
Programming is done via laptop. Usually, I leave the programming cable under the back seat with the radio.
I have owned the truck and this radio for awhile now. With the recent questions about mounting radios and antennae on the Honda Ridgeline, I thought I would post my results.
