- Joined
- Feb 21, 2003
- Messages
- 374
Yaesu FT-7800R Dual Band Amateur Radio
LM-300 Gooseneck mount www.Lidomounts.com
Ordered both from AES, not bad had it 4 days later....the lido mount shipped a day later
After realizing my handheld FT-60R had a dead battery and the overwhelming frustration of trying to find somehwere to clip the thing....trust me newer cars have nowhere to clip a belt clip style radio...What happened to the old school sun visors that were beefy enuff... Anyways I think its a little safer since it doesnt require two hands to operate, I have about 10 times more power output, and its mounted... Fairy simple install..
My radio of choice a Yaesu FT-7800R had the remote head separation kit included free as a promotional item, now i read several threads where people made thier own separation cable ...but who wants to go to all that trouble lol
1. I started by running my remote separation cable from the passenger compartment to the rear, theres a fuse box on the passenger side of the transmission console, pops off and you really got some space to mount a speaker, etc... i wanted to keep the transmitter away from the cars computer. Be sure to leave some cable slack here if you want to reconfigure later...Ran the control cable under the plastic trim, UNDER the seat track and back under the floor trim to the trunk.....It has split back seats so I just ran them under the seat then under the trunk liner.
On to the trunk, Since my battery is in the trunk this made things a bit easier...
2. Used the bracket and a grease pencil to mark some holes, ending up breaking a drill bit, gotta love that greasy coating they use on the paint...its slippery as a seal backside.. I had some smaller sheet metal screws that worked better. There isnt too much to mount to, in the trunk interior, therfore I had to go with the right corner, where its slighty tilted to the right.. Back far enough to stay dry if the trunks up and its raining .
<a href="http://s80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/?action=view¤t=P1010094.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/P1010094.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
I have oodles of the wire keeper platic conduit, so I put it to good use, also some ancient cloth black automotive tape....gotta love that stuff
3. On to the battey, Theres about 3 harnesses that connect directly to a chassis grounding block....dont ask me what they are lol....I figured it was a good idea to get to the battery BEFORE they made connection to the system... This could be why you always hear mount directly to the battery vs the frame...
<a href="http://s80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/?action=view¤t=P1010096.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/P1010096.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
Heres the neutral, remember to use your largest crimp on connector, I also like to dab a drop of solder on the connector as well.. To enforce the largest connector.. theres a nut that holds a clamp which tightens the battery clamp....well this nut has a sear on the bottom, smaller connectors will bascially just cut in two when you tighten it up...Please stay away from the open stake-on type... I tried several of these with no luck.... I had a similar major issue with this when we get to the mount in the front....
And the HOT
<a href="http://s80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/?action=view¤t=P1010097.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/P1010097.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
Careful attention to make sure anything before the radio's power cables fuses do not have any opportunity to make contact with the frame, (I purposely left uncovered some of the wire just before the termial on the positive for polarity identification)...also some slack so when it comes time to replace the battery theres room to work. More liberal use of the conduit and tape, remember anything heavy in your trunk is going to push down here.
Now the fun part, the mount...
The mount was supposed to bacially just slide under bolt that holds the seat track in place....Problem ... Cobalts dont have a bolt... the track is offset and riveted and welded to annother track that mounts to the car frame. Soulution, drill a hole in the track...
4. I drilled a 5/16 hole in the track, gathered up a bold that would fit....a lock nut, must have a lock nut lol, and some washers.... Before I drilled the hole I laid a 6'' x 6'' thin refigirator magnet down to soak up the shavings...Now to the Lido mount...My first tries almost had me in shambles ..the mount has a U shaped opening, well the bottom of the track is beveled ..so any pressure by the nut and washer and its going to sqeeze the mount out... My fix was to hammer the mount...
<a href="http://s80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/?action=view¤t=11.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/11.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
Bolt, Washer, Seat Track, Modified Mount Base, Washer, Locknut, Nut
Something else I realized, had I mounted under the seat bolt..I couldnt have slid the seat up....this works way better..
<a href="http://s80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/?action=view¤t=LM-300_Ham_1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/LM-300_Ham_1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://s80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/?action=view¤t=P1010090.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/P1010090.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://s80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/?action=view¤t=P1010091.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/P1010091.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
5. For the speaker, I simply nylon tied a small speaker to the bottom of the mount. Its not the best but will do for now...Im going to have to break down and order one that I can hide under the fuse box lid mentioned earlier.
6. Antenna, I had a dualband quarterwave mag mount....This was the easiest part of the whole installation... Since the angle of trunk to back glass is very small, I had to move towards the rear of the trunk...
A warning to those with NMO mounts... The trunk has a reinforcing peice of metal that coveres the entire middle of the trunk lid....halfway to either side is the only access through the trunk.....Unless you're mounting 2 antennas or dont give a darn about symetrics you've been warned
<a href="http://s80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/?action=view¤t=P1010098.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/P1010098.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
6. Mic Mount - just the regular old fashioned kind... now do I wanna a drill a hole in a car with <5000 miles.... I used a nylon tie through the mounts holes and around the park brake.....took a file to file down the nylon ties sharp cut offs (trust me if you havent brought blood from these you aint radio worthy)
<a href="http://s80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/?action=view¤t=P1010089.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/P1010089.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
And finally if your still wondering what it looks like here ya go!!
<a href="http://s80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/?action=view¤t=P1010088.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/P1010088.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
heres a pic clean... Its rained for the last 4 days lol
<a href="http://s80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/?action=view¤t=car1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/car1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
Biggest retrofication was making the lido mount work....Lido has sum REALLLY bad reviews on eham.net.....I can see why I think they should at least put something in thier packaging (just the mount in a clear baggie) maybe a hint on alternate moutning methods.. or offer the mount with a closed tounge.... other than that the mounts great...
The radio....gotta love Yaesu.... I got all my local Airband, VHF/UHF stuff , all the trunked systems in conventionally, and with 1000+ memories, CTCSS/DCS decode, banks, all the scanning options you can imagine, alhpa tags....yeah its great... Id reccomend the computer software for programming, and be sure to put your "short" separation cable in a safe place. The only thing ill knack is the squelch tail even with CTCSS decode...dcs is fine of course...but Ill live.. If your a ham or not just lockout the transmitt option and you got a really nice mobile scanner for around 250..
Thats all I think of , let me know if you have questions...
LM-300 Gooseneck mount www.Lidomounts.com
Ordered both from AES, not bad had it 4 days later....the lido mount shipped a day later
After realizing my handheld FT-60R had a dead battery and the overwhelming frustration of trying to find somehwere to clip the thing....trust me newer cars have nowhere to clip a belt clip style radio...What happened to the old school sun visors that were beefy enuff... Anyways I think its a little safer since it doesnt require two hands to operate, I have about 10 times more power output, and its mounted... Fairy simple install..
My radio of choice a Yaesu FT-7800R had the remote head separation kit included free as a promotional item, now i read several threads where people made thier own separation cable ...but who wants to go to all that trouble lol
1. I started by running my remote separation cable from the passenger compartment to the rear, theres a fuse box on the passenger side of the transmission console, pops off and you really got some space to mount a speaker, etc... i wanted to keep the transmitter away from the cars computer. Be sure to leave some cable slack here if you want to reconfigure later...Ran the control cable under the plastic trim, UNDER the seat track and back under the floor trim to the trunk.....It has split back seats so I just ran them under the seat then under the trunk liner.
On to the trunk, Since my battery is in the trunk this made things a bit easier...
2. Used the bracket and a grease pencil to mark some holes, ending up breaking a drill bit, gotta love that greasy coating they use on the paint...its slippery as a seal backside.. I had some smaller sheet metal screws that worked better. There isnt too much to mount to, in the trunk interior, therfore I had to go with the right corner, where its slighty tilted to the right.. Back far enough to stay dry if the trunks up and its raining .
<a href="http://s80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/?action=view¤t=P1010094.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/P1010094.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
I have oodles of the wire keeper platic conduit, so I put it to good use, also some ancient cloth black automotive tape....gotta love that stuff
3. On to the battey, Theres about 3 harnesses that connect directly to a chassis grounding block....dont ask me what they are lol....I figured it was a good idea to get to the battery BEFORE they made connection to the system... This could be why you always hear mount directly to the battery vs the frame...
<a href="http://s80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/?action=view¤t=P1010096.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/P1010096.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
Heres the neutral, remember to use your largest crimp on connector, I also like to dab a drop of solder on the connector as well.. To enforce the largest connector.. theres a nut that holds a clamp which tightens the battery clamp....well this nut has a sear on the bottom, smaller connectors will bascially just cut in two when you tighten it up...Please stay away from the open stake-on type... I tried several of these with no luck.... I had a similar major issue with this when we get to the mount in the front....
And the HOT
<a href="http://s80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/?action=view¤t=P1010097.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/P1010097.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
Careful attention to make sure anything before the radio's power cables fuses do not have any opportunity to make contact with the frame, (I purposely left uncovered some of the wire just before the termial on the positive for polarity identification)...also some slack so when it comes time to replace the battery theres room to work. More liberal use of the conduit and tape, remember anything heavy in your trunk is going to push down here.
Now the fun part, the mount...
The mount was supposed to bacially just slide under bolt that holds the seat track in place....Problem ... Cobalts dont have a bolt... the track is offset and riveted and welded to annother track that mounts to the car frame. Soulution, drill a hole in the track...
4. I drilled a 5/16 hole in the track, gathered up a bold that would fit....a lock nut, must have a lock nut lol, and some washers.... Before I drilled the hole I laid a 6'' x 6'' thin refigirator magnet down to soak up the shavings...Now to the Lido mount...My first tries almost had me in shambles ..the mount has a U shaped opening, well the bottom of the track is beveled ..so any pressure by the nut and washer and its going to sqeeze the mount out... My fix was to hammer the mount...
<a href="http://s80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/?action=view¤t=11.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/11.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
Bolt, Washer, Seat Track, Modified Mount Base, Washer, Locknut, Nut
Something else I realized, had I mounted under the seat bolt..I couldnt have slid the seat up....this works way better..
<a href="http://s80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/?action=view¤t=LM-300_Ham_1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/LM-300_Ham_1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://s80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/?action=view¤t=P1010090.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/P1010090.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://s80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/?action=view¤t=P1010091.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/P1010091.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
5. For the speaker, I simply nylon tied a small speaker to the bottom of the mount. Its not the best but will do for now...Im going to have to break down and order one that I can hide under the fuse box lid mentioned earlier.
6. Antenna, I had a dualband quarterwave mag mount....This was the easiest part of the whole installation... Since the angle of trunk to back glass is very small, I had to move towards the rear of the trunk...
A warning to those with NMO mounts... The trunk has a reinforcing peice of metal that coveres the entire middle of the trunk lid....halfway to either side is the only access through the trunk.....Unless you're mounting 2 antennas or dont give a darn about symetrics you've been warned
<a href="http://s80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/?action=view¤t=P1010098.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/P1010098.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
6. Mic Mount - just the regular old fashioned kind... now do I wanna a drill a hole in a car with <5000 miles.... I used a nylon tie through the mounts holes and around the park brake.....took a file to file down the nylon ties sharp cut offs (trust me if you havent brought blood from these you aint radio worthy)
<a href="http://s80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/?action=view¤t=P1010089.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/P1010089.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
And finally if your still wondering what it looks like here ya go!!
<a href="http://s80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/?action=view¤t=P1010088.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/radio/P1010088.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
heres a pic clean... Its rained for the last 4 days lol
<a href="http://s80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/?action=view¤t=car1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j181/svfs/car1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
Biggest retrofication was making the lido mount work....Lido has sum REALLLY bad reviews on eham.net.....I can see why I think they should at least put something in thier packaging (just the mount in a clear baggie) maybe a hint on alternate moutning methods.. or offer the mount with a closed tounge.... other than that the mounts great...
The radio....gotta love Yaesu.... I got all my local Airband, VHF/UHF stuff , all the trunked systems in conventionally, and with 1000+ memories, CTCSS/DCS decode, banks, all the scanning options you can imagine, alhpa tags....yeah its great... Id reccomend the computer software for programming, and be sure to put your "short" separation cable in a safe place. The only thing ill knack is the squelch tail even with CTCSS decode...dcs is fine of course...but Ill live.. If your a ham or not just lockout the transmitt option and you got a really nice mobile scanner for around 250..
Thats all I think of , let me know if you have questions...
Last edited: