MY THIRD RADIO INSTALLATION IN MY JEEP WRANGLER

[nokones]

I'm just finishing up with a third radio in my 23 Wrangler Rubi 2 Dr. to complement my Motorola XTL5000 High Powered Remote Mount UHF radio and my Cobra 25 LTD Classic AM/FM CB Radio. My third radio is a Motorola XTL2500 Remote Mount 840 Channel VHF radio. I 'm going to use a Laird TE Connectivity B1442 Base Load Non-Groundplane antenna hanging on the driver's side at the cowl with a Rugged Radio mount.

I have the radio installed and the electrical connected however, I am waiting on a Powerwerx Anderson Power Pole Distribution Block. I had to remove my CB, Garmin Navigation Systems from the existing distribution block in order to power the newly installed radio.

Essentially, all I have left to do, is finished up on the antenna mount grounding system, running the NMO antenna mount cable, install the Mini UHF connector on the cable, and tune the antenna.

I intend to do that tomorrow. I called it a day at 3PM Arizona time. I've been out in the garage since 8AM and it was 113 degrees.

Then, I will need to program the radio.

 

[AK9R]

Curious about your "Garmin Navigation System"? Can you tell us more? Do you have a resource that I can research?

 

[nokones]

Curious about your "Garmin Navigation System"? Can you tell us more? Do you have a resource that I can research?

It is a Garmin Tread XL 10 Overland Edition system with the inReach subscription service. The monitor is mounted on Ram Mounts with a Bullet Point Mounting Plate on the Dash.

Garmin Tread® XL - Overland Edition | Powersport GPS

Tread XL - Overland Edition is an extra big all-terrain GPS with turn-by-turn trail navigation, custom routing, and built-in global satellite communication.

www.garmin.com

 

[prcguy]

As a suggestion, for about what you may have in the XTX-5000 and XTL-2500 you can put together a Harris XG-100M with hand held control head. The Harris is a triband that does 136-174, 380-512, 760-870 and receive 30-50MHz. Jeeps are a little lacking in radio space and the HHC-731 hand held control head is a dream to use in my Jeep JT.

Here is what the package looks like but ignore the price, you can put that together for about $650 if you make your own control head interface.

HARRIS Unity XG100M VHF/UHF/700/800 REMOTE MOUNT HHCH P25 Phase 2 Mobile HHC-731 | eBay

XG100M Remote Mount Transceiver. 41 - VHF LOW BAND (35-50 MHZ). 42 - VHF HIGH BAND (136-174 MHZ). 43 - UHF (380-520 MHZ). 39 - P25 PHASE 1 TRUNKING. 33 - P25 CONVENTIONAL. 35 - P25 OTAR. 58 - UNITY WIDEBAND DISABLE.

www.ebay.com

 

[nokones]

Thanks. I got one hell of a deal a few months ago on the XTL2500 radio and controlhead and it had the Astro Digital and the 840 channel capacity so I couldn't pass it up. My original thought was find an APX series remote mount radio with VHF/UHF and an O9 controlhead at a reasonable price and dive into an APX mobile. I'm still on the hunt for one.

I've had the XTL 5000 remote high powered radio for sometime and I installed it just after I got the Jeep and has been in my Jeep for about a year now.

 

[jeepsandradios]

APX with 03 control head is what I use in my JT and JK. I was running XTL5000 with 03 control heads in the JK until I found a great deal on a multiband. The only issue with a single deck radio is hearing 2 channels at same time. That was my biggest issue going to my first 8500. Our SAR teams all operate on VHF and County is on UHF TLMR. So I need to hear VHF for our folks and still operate with county when in command. Anyway nice setup. I ran dual 2500's for a bit in the JK but quickly found the 5K so i could go with the HHCH

BTW...the Garmin XL is sweet. I have the older overland from them and love it.

 

[nokones]

Please confirm. I believe I am supposed to have ground continuity from the mini UHF connector all the way to the outside brass contact point that will mount to the base of my mounting bracket? Is that correct?

 

[KevinC]

Please confirm. I believe I am supposed to have ground continuity from the mini UHF connector all the way to the outside brass contact point that will mount to the base of my mounting bracket? Is that correct?
View attachment 170001

Yes. The crimp ring should be attached to the mount as in the below picture.

 

[prcguy]

Thanks. I got one hell of a deal a few months ago on the XTL2500 radio and controlhead and it had the Astro Digital and the 840 channel capacity so I couldn't pass it up. My original thought was find an APX series remote mount radio with VHF/UHF and an O9 controlhead at a reasonable price and dive into an APX mobile. I'm still on the hunt for one.

I've had the XTL 5000 remote high powered radio for sometime and I installed it just after I got the Jeep and has been in my Jeep for about a year now.

The Harris XG-100M is at least 95% of what an APX-8500 can do and it’s about 1/10th the cost. Non affiliate trunk scan is a no brainer and it also receives 30-50MHz which the APX does not. I had an APX-7500 VHF/UHF1 in my Jeep for a brief time then sold it for enough to fund several XG-100Ms. I’m sooo much happier with the Harris compared to an APX.