Ham Radio Install: FTM-400 + 67D + Diamond + Powerwerx + Clean Dash

[bhagen]

Topsy products makes an nmo mount for the front fender. It’s very stout and works great.

+1 for the topsy, have pushed through some pretty thick brush and branches with my antenna and it's been solid. Not planning on doing much of that in the future but it did prove its worthiness...

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[tanner]

Apologies for the delay in responding. I think I need to change my preferences for email alerts!

I'm not real happy with my antenna mount. Who makes the bracket you attached your antenna base to?

Bill

My bracket is the LOD CB Antenna Mount. I had to expand the hole a very small amount to make way for the antenna.

If you want a rear mount, I personally like the Cool Tech mount as an alternative. I have no issue with how I installed this, but I wouldn't be opposed to mounting on the driver side of the hood if I was planning on also have a CB installed on the rear.

How long did it take you to install? Any major challenges you encounter?

I spent about two days on this. I wasn't in a hurry and I did it in stages. Half my time was spent pulling panels and routing the wiring. I opted to not pull the fender off, so reaching up to get through the firewall was single handedly the biggest pain point. I spent another few hours on the dash.

If you have someone to hold the windshield for 2 minutes you can drill out a small hole in the dash above the radio without having to pull the wipers. There is a waffle structure to the underside of the dash for structural support. In order to hit a square in the middle, I used a hole punch to get close, check from the underside how much I needed to adjust, then a second punch to help me know where to put the drill in. It was easy, and I drilled in stages until the grommet fit. Took less than 5 minutes.

Thanks for the thorough write up. I have the same radio and was was planning on purchasing the 67 Designs rail to mount the controller. How did you mount it to the arm? If I remember correctly. The existing screw on the back is pretty small.

Instead, I was planning on using their universal phone mount. Do you think it can securely hold the controller?

Bill already answered this, but I'll echo what he said. The 67d Diamond Plate works great for this! Some folks want to be able to quickly remove the controller and stash away. I remember reading about someone using a 67d magnetic mount, which is great if you never take it off road. Even with the diamond plate you can still remove the controller from the arm relatively quickly if you choose. I've found the magnetic mounts to not hold 100% of the time when you encounter rocks/bumps off road.

 

[MandKM]

Bill already answered this, but I'll echo what he said. The 67d Diamond Plate works great for this! Some folks want to be able to quickly remove the controller and stash away. I remember reading about someone using a 67d magnetic mount, which is great if you never take it off road. Even with the diamond plate you can still remove the controller from the arm relatively quickly if you choose. I've found the magnetic mounts to not hold 100% of the time when you encounter rocks/bumps off road.

I ran across a second option for mounting my the Yeasu control unit. It took a week of emails back and forth with 67 designs and finally a phone call before I decided it would work, but I ultimately went with their track ball for series 55 track. The part number is BT55. It has a 5mm screw and threads right into the back of the radio.

here is a picture of the track ball with screw. The rail nut that also comes with it is not needed.

...and a picture of it installed on the radio. The track ball is not totally flat on the bottom (just like the series 20 track ball that comes with the JL track mount) but it is perfectly snug.

and some pics of the radio installed.

All in all I am very happy with how it turned out.

 

[Bilymac]

That’s another great option. At this point, the only thing better might be a quick-disconnect from @67designs.

 

[MandKM]

That’s another great option. At this point, the only thing better might be a quick-disconnect from @67designs.

That got me thinking. I pulled out a seat post clamp off my bike to try it out. The screw fit through the 67 designs arm, but the cam doesn’t offer enough motion to go from locked to loose enough to remove the ball from the arm. I guess that makes sense because a seat post doesn’t require a lot of distance to go from tight to loose enough to move. Maybe someone knows of a cam lever with more adjustment.

here are a couple photos.

Just food for thought.

 

[tanner]

I ran across a second option for mounting my the Yeasu control unit. It took a week of emails back and forth with 67 designs and finally a phone call before I decided it would work, but I ultimately went with their track ball for series 55 track. The part number is BT55. It has a 5mm screw and threads right into the back of the radio.

This looks great! In the end it seems comparable to the Diamond Mount. No price difference, but the BT55 arguably gives a more refined look. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Bilymac]

Nice idea on the quick-release. I bet there’s a solution out there somewhere.

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