mistaken1
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I finally finished (mostly) installing my amateur radios in the M1009.
For power I ran a #6 copper wire from the negative post on the back battery through a water resistant fuse holder (60A) to a section of 100A neutral bar (from a power panel) mounted under the radio bracket above the 24V radio buses. I modified a piece of structural insulator (the red cover in the pictures) from some old switchgear to make a cover to shield this new bus from accidental contact.
I took an old amplifier and cleaned the guts out. I mounted the kenwood 30w UHF radio and a midland 40W VHF radio inside of it. Then on top I mounted the midland 100W 6M radio. I used the new 12V bus for the positive power supply lead and the military ground bus for the negative power supply lead.
All the radios are remote mount. The kenwood remote head is on a stand mounted to a plate that bolts under the transfer case selector. For the midland syntec IIs I got a microphone mounting bracket from Hawkman. I mounted it on the dash and custom made brackets to hold the control heads. I mounted the speakers above the heads (using existing holes in the mounting plate because I did not want to drill any more holes in it than necessary, I will live with the speaker being uneven).
The truck had nutserts installed for the two front antenna mounts. I added the rear antenna mount. I got the new grommet from Hawkman as well. On the passenger side is a new MX6707 base with a new whip. It is the 6M antenna. On the other side the front antenna is a Maxrad elevated feed UHF antenna. I wanted the radiator to extend above the roof line (somewhat). The rearmost antenna is the VHF antenna. It is a nice Maldol unit although I think I am going to regret the fact that it does not have a spring at the base (it was a closeout deal).
So far so good. The VHF radio works great. The UHF radio works great but is limited to 32 channels. I need to buy a 160 channel upgrade kit and install it. The 6M radio I have not tested that much, I can ping a repeater that is 25 miles away but the return audio quality is poor. Then again I have not tuned that antenna, I am hoping that will help some otherwise I have to dig into the unit.
For power I ran a #6 copper wire from the negative post on the back battery through a water resistant fuse holder (60A) to a section of 100A neutral bar (from a power panel) mounted under the radio bracket above the 24V radio buses. I modified a piece of structural insulator (the red cover in the pictures) from some old switchgear to make a cover to shield this new bus from accidental contact.
I took an old amplifier and cleaned the guts out. I mounted the kenwood 30w UHF radio and a midland 40W VHF radio inside of it. Then on top I mounted the midland 100W 6M radio. I used the new 12V bus for the positive power supply lead and the military ground bus for the negative power supply lead.
All the radios are remote mount. The kenwood remote head is on a stand mounted to a plate that bolts under the transfer case selector. For the midland syntec IIs I got a microphone mounting bracket from Hawkman. I mounted it on the dash and custom made brackets to hold the control heads. I mounted the speakers above the heads (using existing holes in the mounting plate because I did not want to drill any more holes in it than necessary, I will live with the speaker being uneven).
The truck had nutserts installed for the two front antenna mounts. I added the rear antenna mount. I got the new grommet from Hawkman as well. On the passenger side is a new MX6707 base with a new whip. It is the 6M antenna. On the other side the front antenna is a Maxrad elevated feed UHF antenna. I wanted the radiator to extend above the roof line (somewhat). The rearmost antenna is the VHF antenna. It is a nice Maldol unit although I think I am going to regret the fact that it does not have a spring at the base (it was a closeout deal).
So far so good. The VHF radio works great. The UHF radio works great but is limited to 32 channels. I need to buy a 160 channel upgrade kit and install it. The 6M radio I have not tested that much, I can ping a repeater that is 25 miles away but the return audio quality is poor. Then again I have not tuned that antenna, I am hoping that will help some otherwise I have to dig into the unit.
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