Install notes (and pictures!) for Yaesu FTM-500 dual-band ham radio

[4a4c55]

You mentioned spacers in your post, where did you install them and how thick of a spacer did you use?

If I remember right, the fender bolts are M6. Maybe they're M8? Either way, I used a larger nut and some washers as a spacer on the leading bolt. On the trailing bolt, the plate I have to mount my winch solenoid is there, plus another over-sized nut. I bought a few millimeters more of space by inverting the bolts that mount the Voswitch box to the rack. That is, the bolts went into the top and nutted on the bottom. I put the bolts in the bottom and nutted at the top, since the nuts are taller than the bolt heads.

With this arrangement, the relay rack still touches the top of the battery just barely. Maybe I should add more spacers. There's a surprising amount of headroom in there!

Hope that helps!

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[WorldExpy]

If I remember right, the fender bolts are M6. Maybe they're M8? Either way, I used a larger nut and some washers as a spacer on the leading bolt. On the trailing bolt, the plate I have to mount my winch solenoid is there, plus another over-sized nut. I bought a few millimeters more of space by inverting the bolts that mount the Voswitch box to the rack. That is, the bolts went into the top and nutted on the bottom. I put the bolts in the bottom and nutted at the top, since the nuts are taller than the bolt heads.

With this arrangement, the relay rack still touches the top of the battery just barely. Maybe I should add more spacers. There's a surprising amount of headroom in there!

Hope that helps!

Thanks a lot for the information! Yes, they are M6 bolts. The bolt that came with the JL300 is a M6 x 25mm. I got my hands on some M6 x 35mm. I reversed the mounting bolts for the JL300 to Mounting plate as well. Good to know that there's sufficient space in there. I don't like things rubbing if they don't have to.

 

[4a4c55]

Thanks a lot for the information!

No sweat! With the longer bolts, you'll be in great shape. Stack washers and nuts, or a bit of PVC pipe, until you're comfy with it. (Or, I dunno, even a real spacer. LOL!)

BTW, for me, there's nothing on the driver's side. A couple of extra coolant bottles, since I have the eTorque engine. But I had read some posts from someone who said the Voswitch relay board went nuts due to RFI when mounted near the antenna on the fender. I figured it would be easier to relocate the Voswitch and add some ferrite chokes to the power line than to fiddle with trying to shield the Voswitch box from the nearby antenna. So far, haven't even needed to add chokes. Nothing gets weird when I transmit, even at 50 watts.

 

[markw365]

Tackform has a 20mm ball that is designed for 1/4 or 6mm bolts, I used that with the mini arm. I had the small arm, but it would bounce too much offroad. Also mounted. the radio under the passenger seat, but I have aux switches so I taped behind the kick panel on the passenger footwell for power. Antenna is the same, used about 6 feet of RG400 and an nmo fender mount which uses a fender bolt.

 

[WagzDad]

Tackform has a 20mm ball that is designed for 1/4 or 6mm bolts, I used that with the mini arm. I had the small arm, but it would bounce too much offroad. Also mounted. the radio under the passenger seat, but I have aux switches so I taped behind the kick panel on the passenger footwell for power. Antenna is the same, used about 6 feet of RG400 and an nmo fender mount which uses a fender bolt.

Do you recall the screw size and pitch that mates to the back of the controller head? I have a screw that seems close with a 32 pitch but can’t seem to get a good match up for the size. Planning to use a RAM mount or similar to the RAM track in the tray place.

 

[4a4c55]

Do you recall the screw size and pitch that mates to the back of the controller head?

M5 with 0.8mm pitch. There's not a lot of depth in there, so you'll probably want an 8mm or 10mm length.

 

[markw365]

Do you recall the screw size and pitch that mates to the back of the controller head? I have a screw that seems close with a 32 pitch but can’t seem to get a good match up for the size. Planning to use a RAM mount or similar to the RAM track in the tray place.

Like he said, 5mm. I just went to the local Ace hardware and got a socket head cap screw 30mm long for the tackform ball, that gives about 10mm of thread sticking out which won't bottom in the hole. Test fit whatever you're working with so you don't punch through and into a board or something.

 

[donmontalvo]

I've been poking around in a few other threads about installing a dual-band radio in my Wrangler. My install isn't too special, but I'd make a couple of decisions that I don't think others have made so I thought I'd share the results for people exploring different options.

Here's the gear I used:

• Yaesu FTM-500 dual-band radio, from Ham Radio Outlet
• Comet CA-2x4SRNMO dual-band 150-watt NMO mount antenna, also from HRO
• CMM A-pillar 20mm ball mount
• generic CAT6 cable to reach the control panel mount.
• microphone extension kit from eBay
• TackForm CB microphone mount
• TackForm 3.5-inch socket arm
• 67 Deisgns "small" arm
• 67 Designs 5mm offset mount
• Topsy Products NMO antenna fender mount
• Larsen NMO base with raw RG58 cable
• 1.25-inch rubber grommet for firewall
• Amphenol RG58 crimp-on connectors from DX Engineering

Some existing equipment:

• VoSwitch JL-300 swithces and relay kit
• 67 Designs phone mount kit (with the duck pond bar and the phone mount)
• Wiring doodads: shrink tube, butt connectors, zip ties
• 12 AWG two-conductor cabie I had left over for a boat project
• Edge-mount zip tie clips

I already had the VoSwitch kit, and it's nice to be able to kill all the accessories I've added whenever I want to -- maybe for diagnosis, maybe to save battery, whatever. My LED lights are on the switch, plus a solenoid for my winch, the CB radio, and an aux power unit for an extra cigarette lighter jack that I can use for charging batteries.

There are some posts here on the forum about the VoSwitch having problems when mounted in the regular spot on the driver's fender near a VHF antenna on the same fender. I flipped my relay box over and mounted it above my battery. With some spacers, that works fine. (But it also means most wires go through the passenger foot well, which some people don't like stabbing.)

The CB Radio is under the passenger seat with the mic hanging from the passenger grab handle. The FTM-500 control head has a touch screen and a speaker, so I didn't need to mount a speaker anywhere else. Plenty of room under the driver's seat and it was central to the driver's fender, the driver's A-pillar, and a path to the duck pond -- plus power coming through the firewall.

The boot-shaped rubber grommet works great, and I pulled both the RG58 and power through its smallest opening. The antenna and power go behind the plastic on the left hand of the driver's foot well, under the plastic at the door, and then under the carpet to the radio.

For the CAT6 cable, I first removed the HVAC controls and the radio bezel. I removed the radio, too, so I could safely drill downward from the duck pond into the dash. I cut an X into the rubber pad in the duck pond and pulled the cable through. There's lots of steel framing around the radio, but I found a way to go down the left side of the center console to the transmission tunnel and backward under the carpet toward the radio under the seat.

The radio is mounted to its U-shaped bracket. I cut two small slits in the carpet and pushed bolts through, backed by washers, to fasten the radio to the carpet. There's a seam in the carpet that runs laterally, and a heating duct pokes up through it to the foot well of the back seat. The radio sits on the top of the heating duct, so it isn't blocking any airflow or getting heated (or cooled!) by the HVAC system. It sounds floppy, but it's really fine; the carpet is thick, kind of stiff, and under tension from all its contouring and mounting points.

The mic is at the left hand side on the A-pillar mount and works great there. It's a bit tight to the steering wheel, but I think there's plenty of room.

The radio works great, is plenty loud enough, and I'm not having any RFI issues with any of the other electronics. I think I should get a shorter stick for the radio head because it is a bit too far out. Maybe I need to secure the female end of the microphone line. And I think I could've drilled the hole for the head unit line a bit further back, but it's good enough and I can't even see it.

Those are my notes! Happy to answer any questions.

From the driver's B pillar looking in

Along the dash from the driver's mirror to show clearance and projection.

Microphone connection at the bottom of the steering covers, near the ODB2 port

Looking at the duck pond down onto the radio.

From the rear foot well looking forward under the driver's seat to see the radio

Here's the antenna mount. The white wire is the power cable.

Here's my "inverted" VoSwitch mount, over the battery. The 2 AWG wire connects the positive battery terminal to the solenoid at the bottom left, and the other side of the solenoid goes to my winch.

Marine-grade power cable along the top of the firewall.

Nice writeup! I put my three radio bodies under the driver seat. I mounted my HAM/GMRS heads on a Lido seat rail mount, but will replace it with a RAM seat rail mount.

The CB mic stays in the glovebox since I rarely ever use it. I eventually used weather proof disconnects (will update blog at some point) and all radio power is wired to my on board LIFePO4 kit.

I plan to replace the radio body standard mounts with quick releases mounts next

https://donmontalvo.com/2023/06/20/ham-gmrs-and-cb-relocation/

 

[4a4c55]

I plan to replace the radio body standard mounts with quick releases mounts next

What does that mean?

But, woo! That's a lot of radios. I thought about making a bracket but just bolted through the carpet with a few washers. Does your bracket hold the radios above the vent?

 

[donmontalvo]

What does that mean?

But, woo! That's a lot of radios. I thought about making a bracket but just bolted through the carpet with a few washers. Does your bracket hold the radios above the vent?

I have a 2021 JLUR. The radio bodies are mounted to an ad hock platform. I don’t remember there being a vent under the drivers seat, the rear vents are on the back of the center console.

The plywood bracket keeps the radios off the floor in case I have the top off and it rains. The quick release will be adhoc using ICECO locks.

 

[4a4c55]

I have a 2021 JLUR. The radio bodies are mounted to an ad hock platform. I don’t remember there being a vent under the drivers seat, the rear vents are on the back of the center console.

Interesting! I have vents under the seats that poke out through a seam in the carpet under both the driver's and passenger's seats. There are separate vents in the back of the center console too. Maybe it's from the "comfort package", or maybe it's something at the Sahara trim level.

Meanwhile, I'm still in the dark because I don't know what "ICECO locks" are.

 

[donmontalvo]

Interesting! I have vents under the seats that poke out through a seam in the carpet under both the driver's and passenger's seats. There are separate vents in the back of the center console too. Maybe it's from the "comfort package", or maybe it's something at the Sahara trim level.

Meanwhile, I'm still in the dark because I don't know what "ICECO locks" are.

I stand corrected, there is a vent under the driver seat. The adhoc platform is on the floor behind it.

 

[donmontalvo]

Meanwhile, I'm still in the dark because I don't know what "ICECO locks" are.

Sorry, not sure what the part name is, but I plan to source a couple these ICECO fridge style latches to hold the radios down.

 

[4a4c55]

Sorry, not sure what the part name is, but I plan to source a couple these ICECO fridge style latches to hold the radios down.

Oh, got it! Thanks for the clarification.

 

[WagzDad]

My installation is mostly another variation on the themes above. I did make a “horseshoe “ like tunnel bracket for the main body that went over the floor vent to allow it to remain unrestricted. I molded it out of Kydex with about a 3/4 inch tunnel. I attached the front to the vent using a Christmas tree type fastener and then 2 of the same fasteners from under the carpet. Very secure and relatively easy to remove. The radio bracket attached to the kydex using 1/4 plastic body rivets with the push pins.

the mic placement was easily done using this widget I found on Amazon:

JL specific mic bracket

73
KI5QJL

BEVAN

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