Installed Ham radio in JL this weekend. WARNING - photo heavy

[jeepdriver99]

Does the Larsen require a ground plane?

Not all of them do. I have a Diamond 2m/440 antenna that doesn't require a ground plane. Google "2m mobile no ground plane antenna" and you can find lots of options.

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[Cllowe]

Not all of them do. I have a Diamond 2m/440 antenna that doesn't require a ground plane. Google "2m mobile no ground plane antenna" and you can find lots of options.

Yes I have a diamond as well but I still think it could do better. Ham radios in a Jeep are a challenge, to me anyway.

 

[jeepdriver99]

Yes I have a diamond as well but I still think it could do better. Ham radios in a Jeep are a challenge, to me anyway.

I've had a Kenwood TMV-71A in my Jeep with the antenna on the back of my Jeep since it was less than a week old (May 2018) with the Diamond Antenna on it I wanted that antenna because it did not need a ground plane and it was dual band. Used it a lot with ARES as well as traveling extensively with it and it has always performed VERY well.

 

[Cllowe]

Mine is the diamond nr773 I think. It’s on a ditch light mount on the driver side

 

[Jeepeto]

Bravo!

Super clean install

 

[4a4c55]

I drilled a hole in the dash tray added a rubber grommet and routed the cable for the control head through that and behind the dash down to the radio.

Thanks for posting your write up! Can you share any details about this step? I want to mount my head unit on a 67 Designs arm, then pull the cable down through the "duck pond" tray in the dash board, down to the floor and under the carpets, to under the seat where I'll mount the main radio unit.

Did you disassemble the dash to drill the hole in the tray? Did you hit the uConnect radio body? Was it tough to fish the cable down to the radio body? How much of the dash did you disassemble for this step?

Thanks!!1!

 

[Captain Skip]

Yes, I disassembled the center stack because I didn't want to drill any holes without know what I was drilling into. The uconnect radio body is only about 2 inches or so deep which surprised me. I took it out, it unplugs easily, which gave me more working room. I think I've had it apart a couple times already. First to install the Bulletpoint phone holder then again for the Icom radio head. There's only a few screws that hold it all in place, the rest of it is held with clips. With the radio out of the way you can reach down almost to the floor through the center of the dash, it's worth the very little effort to take it apart.

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