AUX Switches: Cable COLOR CODE Wiring Identification

[Rhinebeck01]

@SuboneWH

And in the Aux bundle found in the passenger foot well, you will have 2 additional wires for a total of 6 wires.. One for Accessory and one for Direst to Battery = 2 additional wires in passenger compartment.

 

[ozon8r]

Not sure about powering a ham radio this way. There could be a lot of rf interference re the cars systems. It’s always been recommended to me to power my radios direct to battery.
73 de M5PM

To echo M5PMs comment above, it is generally a best practice to "home run" positive and ground directly to/from battery with radios.

However, I deviated from this principle wiring two ham radios, a Yaesu ftm 400 and a Yaesu 891, to Aux 1 and Aux 2 respectively and used a ground stud in the pax footwell for ground. I have no noted interference from ABS which I ALWAYS experience on other vehicles, or any other sources, knock on wood. I do have the 392 which has a metal hood and do have the hood grounded via a braided ground strap to the body.

Part of the enjoyment of the hobby is experimenting, tinkering, and seeing what does or does not work. If you have the Aux switches and struggling to route wires directly to the battery, try the Aux switches staying mindful of the radio's amperage needs along with the Aux switch amp capacity.

Edit: I do prefer to mount my antennas on the hood rather than on the roof (Sky One touch) or the rear as the forward mounts usually provide for more reliable ground plane and better SWR performance. In my 392 install, I am below 1.5:1 on all VHF/UHF frequencies with the Diamond antenna and ftm 400. The HF ATAS 120a (can serve as VHF/UHF too) is tuned via the Yaesu 891 radio responding exceptionally well to hood mount.