California Ham Radio Wiring

[Spinnerkid]

Hey all. First post, new member. I have my 22 Rubicon Showing up in a couple months. I want to mount a ham radio, and have read most of the posts here. Just a little unsure how I would run the wiring. Any photos/videos/advice would be great.
thanks

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[BDinTX]

Hi Jamie, Welcome aboard!
Where are you planning to mount your radio? I've seen a few folks put radios in their center console but don't want to assume. Also, did you option your order with the Aux switches? Those will drop a switched power under the glove box that would be a great place to run power to the radio from.

 

[BullMoose1776]

Couple of questions. Which radio? Is the face detachable?

 

[BullMoose1776]

I installed an Icom 5100. I put the main unit in the glove box, the screen on a 67Designs dash mount, and the microphone mounted on the dash.

I ran the antenna through the tailgate up the passenger side to the glovebox. And hung up a separate speaker over drivers left shoulder.

i can get some pictures later. My wife took the Jeep.

 

[Spinnerkid]

Hi Jamie, Welcome aboard!
Where are you planning to mount your radio? I've seen a few folks put radios in their center console but don't want to assume. Also, did you option your order with the Aux switches? Those will drop a switched power under the glove box that would be a great place to run power to the radio from.

Hey! Thanks! Happy to be here! Yup my 22 is fully loaded eith everything except cruise control. So yes on the Aux switches!
i was thinking an APX75/8500. I also want to mount a GMRS radio, but that can come after!

 

[Spinnerkid]

I installed an Icom 5100. I put the main unit in the glove box, the screen on a 67Designs dash mount, and the microphone mounted on the dash.

I ran the antenna through the tailgate up the passenger side to the glovebox. And hung up a separate speaker over drivers left shoulder.

i can get some pictures later. My wife took the Jeep.

Did you run the wire through a pre existing hole? I’d love to see how it was run through!

 

[Spinnerkid]

Hi Jamie, Welcome aboard!
Where are you planning to mount your radio? I've seen a few folks put radios in their center console but don't want to assume. Also, did you option your order with the Aux switches? Those will drop a switched power under the glove box that would be a great place to run power to the radio from.

I was hoping to mount it under the seat/on the side of the center console. As I can either do a remote head, or use a mic that has a screen built in.

 

[BullMoose1776]

Did you run the wire through a pre existing hole? I’d love to see how it was run through!

The wiring was no big deal. The hardest part of it all was the remote speaker wire I ran around the driver side,,behind the dash, and to the glove box.

The wire from the head unit to the glove box was super simple,,once I dropped the front windshield. Antenna did require removal of the plastic all the way down the passenger side, but again,,once you do it, you see it's really simple to remove and replace.

I have the aux wiring, so I wired in power to the wires inside, and I chose the ignition power. I'll be changing that. It's a pain in the ass on trips for the radio to power down and up everything I stop. I'll probably extend the power to the 2nd battery under the hood. (I have the Genesis Off-road Dual Battery System).

Hope that all helps. If something's not clear or I left something out, feel free to ask.

 

[Spinnerkid]

The wiring was no big deal. The hardest part of it all was the remote speaker wire I ran around the driver side,,behind the dash, and to the glove box.

The wire from the head unit to the glove box was super simple,,once I dropped the front windshield. Antenna did require removal of the plastic all the way down the passenger side, but again,,once you do it, you see it's really simple to remove and replace.

I have the aux wiring, so I wired in power to the wires inside, and I chose the ignition power. I'll be changing that. It's a pain in the ass on trips for the radio to power down and up everything I stop. I'll probably extend the power to the 2nd battery under the hood. (I have the Genesis Off-road Dual Battery System).

Hope that all helps. If something's not clear or I left something out, feel free to ask.

Awesome!
that was SUPER helpful thank you! It’ll just take me some time, and resilience to actually modify the vehicle
It sounds oretty straight forward, and running the wires shouldn’t be an issue. Are you running into an interference from the engine/other electronics from the jeep? Or no. It my last VW, there was some interference and It couldn’t be fixed.

 

[Spinnerkid]

Awesome!
that was SUPER helpful thank you! It’ll just take me some time, and resilience to actually modify the vehicle
It sounds oretty straight forward, and running the wires shouldn’t be an issue. Are you running into an interference from the engine/other electronics from the jeep? Or no. It my last VW, there was some interference and It couldn’t be fixed.

I have the aux wiring as well.
Main wants are lights,and radios

 

[BullMoose1776]

Awesome!
that was SUPER helpful thank you! It’ll just take me some time, and resilience to actually modify the vehicle
It sounds oretty straight forward, and running the wires shouldn’t be an issue. Are you running into an interference from the engine/other electronics from the jeep? Or no. It my last VW, there was some interference and It couldn’t be fixed.

No, I've not had any interference

 

[xefie]

Out of curiosity, why did you route the cable through the horizontal grille rather than through the little grommet above the tire stop?

Oh, and if your ID-5100 is like my IC-7000 and doesn't associate TX Power with memories, I added some code to my little antenna tuner interface to reduce the rig's output power when it's tuned to GMRS/MURS/CB channels. PM me if you'd like me to drop one in the mail in a few weeks once I get the PCBs ordered and everything assembled.

 

[BullMoose1776]

Out of curiosity, why did you route the cable through the horizontal grille rather than through the little grommet above the tire stop?

Oh, and if your ID-5100 is like my IC-7000 and doesn't associate TX Power with memories, I added some code to my little antenna tuner interface to reduce the rig's output power when it's tuned to GMRS/MURS/CB channels. PM me if you'd like me to drop one in the mail in a few weeks once I get the PCBs ordered and everything assembled.

I went with the horizontals just because it was right there...easy.

Tell me more about this Radio mod. I'm interested.

 

[xefie]

I went with the horizontals just because it was right there...easy.

Tell me more about this Radio mod. I'm interested.

Lol. Fair enough. :P

It's less a mod and more of a little microcontroller that connects to the CI-V port on the back:

If you don't need the HF antenna tuning part, you can just hook up 12V/Gnd to J1 on the upper left, and hook up J2 to the CI-V port.

You set the radio to output its frequency (I think it's called "CI-V Transceive" or something deep withing the menus) and the microcontroller listens and sets the power appropriately:

void processRxBuffer() {
    switch (rxbuf[2]) {
        case 0x00:
            freqKhz = (rxbuf[4] & 0xF);
            freqKhz += 10u*(rxbuf[4] >> 4);
            freqKhz += 100u*(rxbuf[5] & 0xF);
            freqKhz += 1000u*(rxbuf[5] >> 4);
            freqMhz = (rxbuf[6] & 0xF);
            freqMhz += 10u*(rxbuf[6] >> 4);
            freqMhz += 100u*(rxbuf[7] & 0xF);
            freqMhz += 1000u*(rxbuf[7] >> 4);
            break;
        case 0x01:
            mode = rxbuf[3];
            return;
        case 0xFA:
        case 0xFB:
        default:
            return;
    }
    
    // CB Power Limits
    if (mode == MODE_AM && is_cb_freq()) {
        txPowerReducedHF = true;
        USART_0_writeString(txPower4WHF, sizeof(txPower4WHF));
    } else if (mode == MODE_FM && is_murs_freq()) {
        txPowerReduced2M = true;
        USART_0_writeString(txPower2WVHF, sizeof(txPower2WVHF));
    } else if (mode == MODE_FM && is_gmrs_1thru7()) {
        txPowerReduced70CM = true;
        USART_0_writeString(txPower5WUHF, sizeof(txPower5WUHF));
    } else if (mode == MODE_FM && is_gmrs_8thru14()) {
        txPowerReduced70CM = true;
        USART_0_writeString(txPower0_5WUHF, sizeof(txPower0_5WUHF));
    } else if (mode == MODE_FM && is_gmrs_15thru22()) {
        txPowerReduced70CM = true;
        USART_0_writeString(txPowerFull, sizeof(txPowerFull));
    } else if (freqMhz < 30 && txPowerReducedHF) {
        txPowerReducedHF = false;
        USART_0_writeString(txPowerFull, sizeof(txPowerFull));
    } else if (freqMhz >= 30 && freqMhz < 60 && txPowerReduced6M) {
        txPowerReduced6M = false;
        USART_0_writeString(txPowerFull, sizeof(txPowerFull));
    } else if (freqMhz >= 60 && freqMhz < 200 && txPowerReduced2M) {
        txPowerReduced2M = false;
        USART_0_writeString(txPowerFull, sizeof(txPowerFull));
    } else if (freqMhz >= 400 && freqMhz < 470 && txPowerReduced70CM) {
        txPowerReduced70CM = false;
        USART_0_writeString(txPowerFull, sizeof(txPowerFull));
    }
}

 

[CanAmMick]

I installed the Yaesu FTM300 on an overhead CB bar, no drilling required. and all of those mic/faceplate/speaker are attached by magnetic pieces.

The next step I will remove those zip ties and hide those wires/cables through the CB bar and the roll bar if possible (or the passenger trim).

I did something similar to yours. I installed my Yaesu FTM-400XDR overhead, along with the external speaker. The head unit pivots to the right or left for easy viewing. All the wires except for the speaker wires are inside the bar. I plan on purchasing a 3.5mm solder type male audio cable connector so I can shorten the speaker wire. Antenna is mounted up front on the drivers side using a light mount from CARR. Next project is to install a mobile HF radio on the passengers side up high.

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