Midland mxt275 GMRS radio questions

[atxrickyricky]

Did you drill through your body to mount the L bracket or were there existing holes you used? If you drilled through the body what kind of drill bit did you use? Anything special?

I love your install, just concerned I don't have the right tools to correctly mount the L bracket like that at the moment.

Edited - I'm a dork. My drill worked fine. =)

Ok, so I only have this crappy cell phone pic. But it shows where the L bracket is mounted and where I ran the antenna cable into the cab. I did have a couple of minor issues with the bracket. One, the 3/4" hole was just a tad too small for the antenna. Spent a couple of minutes widening it with a dremel. Not a big deal there. And secondly, I had to space the bracket slightly away from the body so that there was enough room to screw the antenna on without it contacting the cowl piece. Don't pay attention to the little wrench in the pic. I was just testing how much space I needed. But you can just use some washers.

BTW, I should just mention that the L bracket, antenna, and cabling that I'm using don't come with the MXT275. I purchased all 3 of those on Amazon. You get a magnetic antenna/cable with the unit. I initially used that and had it mounted to my metal ditch light bracket and it worked well.

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[atxrickyricky]

One more question GPsGeeps:

Did you do anything to protect the bottom of the NMO connector? I did the install in a similar manner to you, but am concerned about the bottom of the connector rusting... Did you cap it or seal it somehow?

Thanks,
Ricardo

Did you drill through your body to mount the L bracket or were there existing holes you used? If you drilled through the body what kind of drill bit did you use? Anything special?

I love your install, just concerned I don't have the right tools to correctly mount the L bracket like that at the moment.

 

[Steven]

Just so y'all are aware, you are technically supposed to have a licence to operate on the GMRS band. No one actually cares, but the rule is there.

https://www.fcc.gov/general-mobile-radio-service-gmrs

 

[DanW]

Just so y'all are aware, you are technically supposed to have a licence to operate on the GMRS band. No one actually cares, but the rule is there.

https://www.fcc.gov/general-mobile-radio-service-gmrs

I've got mine. I think it is for 10 years and around 80 bucks. Less than 10 bucks per year isn't bad, IMO.

WRBQ485

 

[mikej]

I've got mine. I think it is for 10 years and around 80 bucks. Less than 10 bucks per year isn't bad, IMO.

WRBQ485

And it covers your entire household. Spouse, children, roommate, cat, dog, hamster...all fall under your GMRS license for ten years.

 

[PaulWestMusic]

Has anyone tried to mount the antenna onto the CB mount hole on the mopar tailgate reinforcement bracket? Don't think I'm going to install a CB so that would be a convenient spot.

 

[prerunner1982]

Has anyone tried to mount the antenna onto the CB mount hole on the mopar tailgate reinforcement bracket? Don't think I'm going to install a CB so that would be a convenient spot.

You can get NMO coax with a 3/8" center stud (https://www.amazon.com/Wilson-Mount...argid=aud-801381245258:pla-328160425875&psc=1) so as long as there is enough flat metal for the NMO antenna base to sit it shouldn't be a problem. Now if you are using a short antenna it may not be the best place to mount it.

 

[Mikester86]

I currently have the Cobra 75 WXST CB installed. Does anyone know if the CB coax can be used with the Midland MXT275 GMRS radio if I wanted to switch?

 

[paffemt]

I currently have the Cobra 75 WXST CB installed. Does anyone know if the CB coax can be used with the Midland MXT275 GMRS radio if I wanted to switch?

I use a single NMO mount and switch between antennas depending on which radio I am using (CB or GMRS). Never need to use both at the same time. As long as it is decent 50 ohm coax and the antenna fits the mount you should be ok. Depending on the location you choose will determine the transmission pattern.

 

[Hudson]

I use a Comet NMO Mount that clamps onto the hood - no drilling needed. Then a Comet antenna with an optional spring base so the antenna wont get bent if it snags on a branch. Antenna Wire was fed through a hole drilled into the rubber grommet on the drivers side firewall (just below brake booster) which covers where the clutch pedal would pass through if you had a manual (I have the auto), and fished behind the dash to the glove box. Used RTV sealant to seal up the hole I drilled through the rubber grommet Power connections are to the unswitched lead (I have the aux switches) for the Midland and to Aux 4 internal wire for the Uniden, with the ground screw on the passenger side behind the kick panel. Clean install.

I mounted the brain in the glove box next to my Uniden CMX 760 CB. I bought a mic extension cable from Uniden’s website as it uses the same CAT6 connector as the Midland. Mic wires are run behind the glove box and under the carpet. Both mikes mounted near the dash, with the Midland using a Jeep Uniq Mount on a 67 Designs RAM arm, and the CB on a CoolTech mic mount With a Magnetic Mic base.

CB is wired to a tailgate-mounted Firestick, an optional quick disconnect, and a spring base in case I go into a low garage. I forced a stress ball onto the Firestick to make sure the hard top isn’t damaged if the CB antenna snaps back. CB Antenna wire was fished along the passenger side by removing the plastic panels and running along the lower door sill up to the glove box.

Don’t recommend using a CB antenna for the GMRS for the reasons explained in the thread, and definitely don’t patch them to the same antenna using a Y connector unless you like replacing your gear. GMRS needs an antenna that is tuned to operate in the 462-463 mhz range (ch 8-14 operate in the 467-468mhz range). CB antennas work in the 26-28 MHz range, and need to be adjusted with an SWR meter. Mixing the two on the same antenna is asking for equipment failure.

 

[paffemt]

I use a Comet NMO Mount that clamps onto the hood - no drilling needed. Then a Comet antenna with an optional spring base so the antenna wont get bent if it snags on a branch. Antenna Wire was fed through the rubber grommet on the drivers side firewall (just below brake booster) which covers where the clutch pedal would pass through if you had a manual (I have the auto), and fished behind the dash to the glove box. Power connections are to the unswitched lead (I have the aux switches) for the Midland and to Aux 4 internal wire for the Uniden, with the ground screw on the passenger side behind the kick panel. Clean install.

I mounted the brain in the glove box next to my Uniden CMX 760 CB. I bought a mic extension cable from Uniden’s website as it uses the same CAT6 connector as the Midland. Mic wires are run behind the glove box and under the carpet. Both mikes mounted near the dash, with the Midland using a Jeep Uniq Mount on a 67 Designs RAM arm, and the CB on a CoolTech mic mount With a Magnetic Mic base.

CB is wired to a tailgate-mounted NMO Firestick, an optional quick disconnect, and a spring base in case I go into a low garage. I use a stress ball on the Firestick to make sure the hard top isn’t damaged if the CB antenna snaps back. CB Antenna was fished along the passenger side by removing the plastic panels and running along the lower door sill up to the glove box.

Don’t recommend using a CB antenna for the GMRS for the reasons explained in the thread, and definitely don’t patch them to the same antenna using a Y connector unless you like replacing your gear. GMRS needs an antenna that is tuned to operate in the 462-463 mhz range (ch 8-14 operate in the 467-468mhz range). CB antennas work in the 26-28 MHz range, and need to be adjusted with an SWR meter. Mixing the two on the same antenna is asking for equipment failure.

your Comet is an NMO. I use a couple if those myself. Your CB though is not an NMO. Looks to be the 3/8 x 24 stud mount.

 

[Hudson]

your Comet is an NMO. I use a couple if those myself. Your CB though is not an NMO. Looks to be the 3/8 x 24 stud mount.

It’s this one, with a FireRing cable. Yep, not NMO, fixed and updated the description Above.

And I did have to source a slightly longer bolt from Lowe’s, as the included one was a hair short when used with the Mopar enhanced tailgate bracket (which has a nice little hole to mount a CB antenna). BTW, I did use a dremel to grind away some of the powder coat on the Mopar tailgate bracket to ensure a good ground, in place of a ground strap. SWR readings were 1.2

 

[RRCastle]

Hey Rusty.
The mic connector on that radio should be a regular RJ45 if I am not mistaken which means you could use Cat6 and a panel mount (https://www.amazon.com/Installerparts-Shielded-Industrial-Bulkhead-Coupler/dp/B01D0N79K2) to make an extension and have a plug in the dash or center console, etc.

Wish more people would move to GMRS.

Has anyone confirmed that the connector is a standard RJ45 and that a CAT6 cable will work well? I am looking at mounting the base behind the dash and running an extension to a bulkhead connector (as shown here). Just looking for confirmation before ordering and tearing into the dash.

 

[MacombRoger]

Has anyone confirmed that the connector is a standard RJ45 and that a CAT6 cable will work well? I am looking at mounting the base behind the dash and running an extension to a bulkhead connector (as shown here). Just looking for confirmation before ordering and tearing into the dash.

It is. No pictures, but I put a cat5/6 plug on my dash for the radio. Works great!

 

[prerunner1982]

Has anyone confirmed that the connector is a standard RJ45 and that a CAT6 cable will work well? I am looking at mounting the base behind the dash and running an extension to a bulkhead connector (as shown here). Just looking for confirmation before ordering and tearing into the dash.

It is, mounted the radio in the back of my Jeep and cat 5/6 to the front console. Works great. I used a female-female straight through adapter since the connection is hidden under the console but the bulkhead connector would look great on the console or dash.

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