Jeep Wrangler install

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wls1951

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It's tough to find a good place to mount a radio in a Jeep. There is not alot of
spare room to put anything. The antenna was the biggest obsticle because of
the composit roof. A magnet won't stick to it and there is no ground plane. I ended
up mounting the Yaesu FT-8800 head next to the parking brake and the radio is mounted
under the seat. For the antenna, I formed a bracket and mounted it to the spare tire
holder which is made of aluminum. I installed a NMO mount so I can change the
antenna's from ham to scanner easily. The horizontal ground planes keep the swr
at a minimum. I edited this post to add a picture of the bracked I made to mount the
antenna. Also a pic of a yagi for people who are really strapped for space...it really
works on 800Mhz.
 

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af5rn

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Looks sweet! Gotta love those remote heads! Very clean looking, and not terribly obvious to the casual observer.

Can you give us a closer shot of the antenna mount? Trying to figure out exactly what you did there. It looks like the antenna has a couple of horizontal whips off of it. Is that stock, or something you rigged as a makeshift ground plane? What kind of antenna is it?
 

ScanDaBands

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Great thought into that job !!!
thumbup2.gif
 

RodStrong

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That looks great.

I have an older Cherokee, which doesn't have a lot of mounting options either. I put my 8800r remote head above the steering wheel, behind it actually, on a flat spot in the dash. It partially blocks my view of the tripometer, but I don't really use that anyway. I can still see it if necessary. The cool thing about this is I can look straight ahead and see the radio display as I'm driving; no need to look down to see the display or change channels, etc. It's literally within a few inches of my hands on the steering wheel, which of course makes it safer to use while driving.

Not sure if this can be accomplished with a Wrangler, but you might keep it in mind if your 8800r gets clogged up with dirt/dust or drinks get spilled on it.
 

af5rn

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Thanks for the extra pics! Really nice job on the antenna mounting bracket. Very creative!

How are the GP radials attached? Looks like they are maybe just wrapped around that centre bolt, eyelet fashion, then tightened down. What frequency and wavelength are the radials, and did you do any signal and SWR measurements before and after attaching them?
 

wls1951

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The radials are made of stainless steel, and are mounted in two holes drilled
into the bolt. Then they are welded to the bolt. Without the radials the SWR
was over 3. With the radials, it dropped to under 1.5....
 

xpawel15x

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You have a really clean car. Looks great. And that antenna on your Pro-96...first thing I see such a thing.. looks like a piece from an outdoor antenna, is that good for all bands?
 

wls1951

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That Yagi sitting on top of the scanner is for 800 Mhz, but will still pick up the Mesa
fire department. It has a BNC connector on the vertical tube that attaches to the
radio. The reason I built the antenna is because the Simulcast system Mesa uses is
hard to pick up on a regular duck antenna. This has some directionality and I can
point it at a single tower. This helps quite a bit.
 

utahcomms

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Utah County, UT
Jeep Radio Installs

That does look really nice, but I will second the mention about not spilling beverages in there. There is also the issue of installing a radio under the seat in a vehicle with a removable top. You do have some plugs that can let water drain, but if it sloshes around and hits the radio body, you have a problem.

There is a company called Tuffy Security Products that has a number of cabinets that are both secure and somewhat weather resistant. If you decide to modify that installation in the future, I'd recommend checking with them. I'm pretty sure they have upgraded their line with some products for the JK.

We have a TJ that we use for SAR work and take around to shows and groups to provide ideas for mobile Jeep installs. We have an IC-7000, Kenwood TM-D700A, Uniden BC-796D scanner, and a Galaxy DX-979 CB in it - plus a laptop and a Lowrance GPS system.

Here is our main site. It has some detailed installation write-ups, which include details on the Tuffy products we used...

http://www.commtechreview.net/jeep
 
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DOH6713

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Dec 30, 2006
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Very Nice clean install! I dont get why poeple think they have to destroy the interior of their vehicles to mount a radio? I bet that portable is fun to carry on your belt. Herd anything from elvis yet? lol
 

KD4KNR

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Mar 26, 2007
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love the install.... nice antenna design and mounting FT-8800 head..

Question where are you putting the microphone???

Steve
 
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