392 Mobile Comms Center Now Operational

[ozon8r]

Just finished up installing dash mounts, power, coax, antennas and HF./VHF/UHF radios.
Here is what went into the Jeep:
- Bullet Point JL Dash mounting system combined with Ram Mounts 2 Bullet point balls and 2 1" ram mount balls
- CMM Offroad Pax grab handle 1" ball mount - Used for an iPad table holder paired with Gaia GPS app
- JCR Offroad molle panels on each side of center console - Highly recommend
- 2 Magnetic Mic mounts, 1 pax side of radio controls for the HF 891 Mic and 1 below center console arm rest for the VHF/UHF ftm400 mic
- 2 Topsy radio antenna nmo mounts
- Yaesu ftm400 VHF/UHF transciever
- VHF/UHF antenna Driver side, make/model Diamond NR770HBNMO 2m/70cm antenna
- Yaesu Original 200-M10 External Water-Proof Speaker, mounted above and behind driver left shoulder on center roll bar/speaker bar
- Yaesu 891 HF Transciever
- Yaesu ATAS 120a antenna Pax side
- HF Coax - Diamond C213SMA Antenna Mount Cable Assembly for K-Series Mounts, 13.5 Feet Long with SMA-M Connector and SMA - PL-259
- VHF/UHF Coax - Diamond C213SNMO ~Antenna mount cable asm. NMO SMA 13ft

Yaesu FTM400 VHF/UHF mount
Coax: I routed cable through the cowl covers inside the door trim and down under the seat on driver side where I mounted the ftm400 VHF radio. I routed a mic extension along driver side center console and tucked under the trim. For the head controller, I routed on under trim on driver side door up to the dash and tucked behind the dash.

Yaesu 891 HF Mount
COAX: I took a similar path on the Pax side for the HF ATAS 120a antenna, but routed the coax under the pax side carpet over to the center console molle panel where the HF rig is mounted.

For power, I tied into the Aux 1/Aux 2 switches (40a) adding an inline fuse dropping down to 25a. I grounded to the pax footwell on one of the three grounding lugs behind the kick panel. I set the switches to ignition and prior state. Although it is considered best practice to run power and ground direct to battery, I will try this set up and see how it works. Note that the 392 has a metal hood unlike most JLs and makes for an excellent ground plane. I did attach a ground braid between the hood and the body. No other ground straps were needed.

SWR is below 1.5 across all bands testing with a RigExpert AA1400.

Unlike the photo below where I had a temporary power line to the radar detector, I now have hard wired the Uniden R7 Radar Detector into the Ignition wire in the inside Aux Switches wire bundle. As some know, there are 4 Aux switch wires, 1 battery (always hot) wire, and 1 Ignition wire on the inside wire bundle in the Pax footwell. Only 4 Aux switch wires under the hood though. 3 and 4 are currently not used but may put into service for Baja Designs LP6 amber lites...tbd.

Driver side VHF/UHF Topsy mount and Diamond NR770HBNMO 2m/70cm antenna:

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[Ct_Formula]

Great build!! Looks like you have it all just about covered. I'm a coms junkie too. How are those console MOLLE panels working?

 

[ozon8r]

Great build!! Looks like you have it all just about covered. I'm a coms junkie too. How are those console MOLLE panels working?

Love the panels for banana holder, flashlight, knife and other light gadgets. The 891 radio does wiggle a bit more than I like on road and expect it will be more pronounced off road. Still evaluating whether to leave the radio on pax side molle panel, attach radio bracket directly to center console, tuck inside glove box, or mount under the pax seat like I did with the ftm 400 on driver side.

I did add an external speaker driver side behind the head rest on roll bar for the ftm 400 and will post a pic of that set up soon.

 

[Ct_Formula]

Yeah I was back and forth on them.

What I wound up doing was mounting the SUPER strong gun magnets to both sides of the JK console and I use the driver side for the banana carrier and on the passenger side I use that magnet for the radios they hold ROCK solid and I can change the radios out from GMRS to CB to my Amateur radios fairly quickly without messing up and having to remount stuff.

In my 392 that's on the way I was looking at doing things differently and possibly going with the Molle, but will probably stick with the magnet style but just go with nicer ones this time.

https://sofhold.com

 

[ozon8r]

Yeah I was back and forth on them.

What I wound up doing was mounting the SUPER strong gun magnets to both sides of the JK console and I use the driver side for the banana carrier and on the passenger side I use that magnet for the radios they hold ROCK solid and I can change the radios out from GMRS to CB to my Amateur radios fairly quickly without messing up and having to remount stuff.

In my 392 that's on the way I was looking at doing things differently and possibly going with the Molle, but will probably stick with the magnet style but just go with nicer ones this time.

https://sofhold.com

Can you post up a pic of what the radio mounted on the magnets look like? Did you use one or two magnets to hold the radio directly or via the radio mounting bracket? I may go this direction with the 891 as this radio moves between vehicles, the 392 or my motorhome, and thus needs to be reasonably easy to install and uninstall. BTW, I use a banana mag mount in my motorhome and love it. I did try to use the magnets, but the magnets in that install were not strong enough to hold the radio.

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