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UHF Radio Installation

33K views 42 replies 18 participants last post by  Sambo4 
#1 ·
I am looking at installing a UHF radio in my R5 - maybe a GME TX3440 remote mic model which has all controls on the microphone, or a TX3420 remote mount.

I am particularly interested in antenna mounts - the installer I spoke to was looking at a bonnet mount but was concerned about getting the cable through. His ultimate suggestion was a glass mount but this will hae a negtive impact on the gain.

I also need to install a next g carkit with a directly coupled antenna

Does anyone have any comments or suggestions regarding options for the antenna installation and also for the UHF and phone kit in the cabin of the TREG.
 
#2 ·
Hey Treechange

Just doing this myself. I've got a mate who's a bit of a comms guru and he's matched the same radio with an antenna and a Z mount for the bonnet.

There's a way into the Treg through the firewall where the bonnet release is for LHD models. If you have a look you'll see a grommet.

When I sort the radio (meaning buy it), we're going to do the install. He's good on the cable joining, so we're going to shorten the cable. 5m of cable's probably a bit too much. I'm also going to run my spotty isolating switch cable at the same time.

Cheers

Bob
 
#3 ·
Guys,

I'm keen on this too, could you please take lots of photos when you do it. Where did you guys buy your uhf from?

I would like to run an electronic rust prevention system as well so need a route to run to rear too. I've read somewhere there is a built in channel in a V10 that runs cable to a second battery but have not been able to find it.

Hope a V10 owner here might be able to shed some light.
Cheers
 
#4 ·
On the antenna, another way suggested is to run the antenna cable through one of the torx screw holes on the roof rail. it leads clean down into the B or C pillar. This of course works great if you mount a lip mount into the roof rail (take it off, drill holes underneath to help mount the set-screws). You can also ground your antenna to the steel roof via one of the torx holes.

One other spot of recent interest - if you are willing to poke some holes into your upper rear bumper, the left side underneath has the four large bolts for the spare-tire carrier option. Looks like an ideal place to build a mount for a large HF tuneable.

I am not a big fan of glass-throughs.. There is substantial loss. Of course many UHF antennas have lots of overkill gain so that may not be as bad an issue as say VHF 2m.

Hey guys, if any of you run 80m, maybe we can try a hookup sometime. I have hit Australia from the western US from my 80m mobile setup.
 
#5 ·
Also worth mentioning that if you do a bumper mount, there is a cable pass through to the outside for the hitch wiring that you can take advantage of.
 
#6 ·
I have 2 Z mounts on the bonnet, 1 for a TX3420 and the other one for the next G car kit antenna and talking through the bluetooth kit, at the rear bumper I have a second antenna for extra gain in flat country/ long distance. :p So I know it is possible and works. There is a way trough the firewall, I dont know how as I'm not a car electrian nor mechanic or interested either. I probably should be, but what the heck a car with that type of technology can't be fixed by a bush mechanic at this stage anyway, even less by me, (get a toyo or similar for that) if the car breacks down I would not know where to start fixing it (But I can fix that with comunication option, Satphone, UHF, Next G, EPIRB or others:smile:. That is way I spend the money with the best guys I can find and if they they say yes then it is go. And yes sometimes there are set backs and that costs extra.:chainsaw:
Cheers Markus
 
#7 ·
I've ordered the radio, antenna and Z mount and should have it next week.

Now I'm looking for recommendations for where to fit the radio. I'm hoping that with the TX3440, I can hide the box and only connect the mic when I need to.

Cheers

BZ
 
#8 ·
Mine is fitted behinde the dash and the head on the left hand side of the gear stick, with the controls and angeld towards the driver side facing up, the mic is hanging on the dash just above, yours probably can be hidden away totally with only a conection showing. The antenna outlet for the phone from the inside of where the air suspension controls normaly are, just a 2mm hole for the cable.
M
 
#9 ·
Thanks for all the replies.

I will be looking at the firewall option in the first instance, although Arkach's roof mount is an attractive option for optimum signal strength. I am not too keen on a rear bumper mount as I am most likely to damage this when loading/unloading stuff or hitching up the float or trailer.

Bobzed I will be interested to hear (and see?) how you go with your install - Maybe we can meet up in Canberra once you have it sorted?

Sorry Arkarch can't help with an 80m hookup as I am not a radio man - I just live in the bush and need some extra comms for safety reasons.

regards...Peter

.
 
#10 ·
Hi Treechange

Got the radio today, so I guess I had better do the install. Got the lot from prestige comms in WA. Ordered it on Thursday, here today. I got the TX 3440, a z bonnet mount and the cd-63 antenna.

I'll take some photies and notes as I do the install, and we can meet up sometime to check it out.

Cheers

Bob
 
#11 ·
Well Team, job's done and the UHF radio is installed.

Some photies at bobzed57/UHF Radio Install - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

The hardest part was chasing the cable through the firewall. Started easy enough by yanking the plug that covers the hole where the LHD bonnet release cable runs. Used a coat hanger to chase the cable through. Also took the opportunity to run the isolating switch cable form my spotties, and left a string line in place as well just in case I want to run anything through the firewall again (I'm thinking NextG antenna run maybe).

I mounted the radio in the passenger side footwell making sure there was plenty of clearance before mounting the radio.

I made a small bracket and mounted the mic extension socket to the trailer brake controller. Because I generally only use the radio on club trips, I didn't use the the mic mount.

A bit of fiddling about and I reshaped the antenna bracket to fit through the gap between the bonnet and mudguard. The Z bracket was originally bright metal, so it got a quick couple of coats of gloss black.

I chose a permanent 12v supply rather than going with the accessories option. I used the blade from a fuse and soldered the +ve wire to it. Used a crimp to connect to ground.

Worked first time. Happy to offer tips:)
 
#12 ·
Wel done, wish I had the skill and know how and confidence to tackle that sort of work Bow Down
 
#13 ·
Bob, good looking job, thanks for the pics. I have to get my act together now and start doing something.

In case any one else is interested I ran a roof rack place a while ago and they said there is an antennae mount for Rola roof racks, so akarch's idea might work if you have at least one Rola roof rack. I'm probably not too keen on this as it will mean I can't drive into carparks etc without damaging the antenna, so bonnet mount is probably for me.
cheers
 
#15 ·
I'm probably not too keen on this as it will mean I can't drive into carparks etc without damaging the antenna, so bonnet mount is probably for me.
cheers
Yes, you are correct. I have to watch my parking structures.. many here in Vegas have roof-access-ramps or oversize areas. Others I have to rotate the antenna down or find surface parking. Its definitely an issue to watch out for.
 
#14 ·
Mounting an antenna onto a roof basket would work fairly well.. Its something I may go to soon for a couple of my rear mounts. I have not yet figured out how a roof basket will affect the nice roof ground plane.

Here are a few pictures of my installation -

Shown, a High Sierra (see below), and a couple roof rack bar mounted antennas - a Comet 2.4 Ghz and Diamond NR-770 2m/440. I have a fourth mount - a Diamond K400-UHF (barely visible over drivers side door) - much like the K400-3/8 shown below. It is used for my 2m/220/440 or 2m/6m/440. I dont have pictures of it, but thats where one could set up a UHF spot.

Picture of my roof rail mount -



This is a Diamond K400-3/8 mount. A standard K400-UHF mount works identically. In this application, the antenna mounted is a High Sierra Sidekick.

Hard to spot - there is a copper strap (plumbers tape) running from the bolt on the mount along the track to the first torx screw location; the copper strap is wrapped in heat shrink to hide it in the rail. I had to drill a hole into the mount for the strap bolt. Took some finesse to sculpture the strap through and down into the notch. In this installation I did not drop the antenna cable down a torx hole, but could have done so, likely to the one forward of this location.

There are some downsides - the antenna mount is quite exposed above the car and all manner of winds, speed and weather induced. To install it means drilling holes under the rail to access the set screws, which have loctite. And thus inserting the K400 means you cant release it or the roof rack bars behind without removing the entire roof rail assembly. With also one on the other side, this means a lifting both rails, rack bars, and mounts in one piece off the top of the car.

Looks like you guys are doing Bonnet (hood) mounts, seen some pictures of that. It is a good spot for the applications (UHF) established.

Another alternative, unexplored and mentioned earlier - using the four unused lift gate bolts - shown in picture below drivers side under taillight cavity - then building a mount that goes through the plastic bumper elements, and also using the thru-body cable feeds for the trailer hitch as suggested by Aircooled. This would work for larger tuneable antenna pipe structures like the High Sierra-1800. Probably not a great spot for the much smaller UHFs.

 
#16 ·
Hi Bob,

Looking good!

It seems the firewall access was not too difficult so I will talk to the installation guys about going this route with mine - hope to organise it for early January.

PM me if you are around Canberra this week and maybe we can catch up.

regards...Peter
 
#17 ·
Hello Arkarch:

I have a touareg V10TDI and have seen photos of your rig with the antennas mounted ot the factory vehicle roof rack.

I am considering mounting my antenna on the rack but not sure what type of mount to use.

What type of antenna mount did you use and where did you purchase it?

Is it a no grounded type or did you have to ground it?

I live in Colorado and want to do some off roading but want to take my CB with me.

Any help wuld be most appreciated

Regards

proveceman
 
#20 ·
the cable does get squeezed a little bit between the gap but wont get damaged, passes in between snugly.
You can tap in to the fuse box on the LHS for power, the hole in the firewall leads straight to it. thanks to Bob again, I'm sure Bob will do more of this when he buys a 2011 Touareg :)

In my case i have routed the cable for the handset thru the carpet and into the centre console-where it stays hidden.
 
#21 ·
UHF 5W handheld

I fitted a Uniden 5w mobile unit in the Crafter. I recently got a UH078sx 5w hand held for the Caddy which I mounted on the dash.

www.uniden.com.au/resources_main/pdfs/UH078SX_DELUXE_OM.pdf

As it's a hand held, it fits nicely in the Treg centre console box and can charge the lithium batt packs from the console 12v outlet. It's fairly powerful and also waterproof. So, it's a good option for convoy, in the bush out of the car comms and listening to ch40 and the 'truckies chuckles'. Might be a useful option for some if you want to avoid a hard wired mobile unit.
 
#22 ·
Oils, re the UH078SX. Any guess at what sort of range you could expect in a mobile convoy situation (level ground). Also do you have a ball park $ value and a recommended supplier in Ippy? Sounds like a good alternative as long as it's effective. Dub
 
#23 ·
I got mine off ebay. Comes with a plug in mic as well. Good in a convoy. I last used it a few weeks back when I gave it to my sister-in-law in a Prado and I used the 10w in the Navara. This link is also an ebay seller:

Uniden UH078SX-NB Deluxe 5 Watt Tough Waterproof UHF Radio Uniden UH078sx-NB 5 watt UHFCB Premium Pack [UH078SX-NB] - $315.70 :

cheaper here

UNIDEN UH078SX-NB HANDHELD UHF RADIO 5 WATT 77 CHANNEL TWO WAY + 2 BATTERIES NEW | eBay

These units are easily portable and still have plenty of power. I use it around Brissy when the traffic needs monitoring or the coppers are about with their toys. Easy fit in the Caddy.
 
#26 ·
Hi Vic B

I haven't been at CT in ages, good to see some of my old stuff still works. The bracket was a bog standard one I picked up from one of the usual suspects. I remember I had to do some re-shaping in the vise. Wasn't too much effort. I event re-purposed it for use on my Disco.

Cheers

Bob
 
#27 ·
#29 ·
While browsing the forums, I only just saw this question from 12 months ago...so apologies for the very tardy response.

from memory it was about $50
 
#30 ·
No worries about that at all Steve. I made a few enquiries and ended up getting one for a bit under $50. It's mounted on the trailing edge of the bonnet with a heavy duty phone antenna on it and a double phone/2 way mount on the dash inside. I'll get some photos later and post them up. Cheers Tim
 
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#31 ·
Photos of aerial mount and dash mount. Aerial is as discussed above and works really well with all its different adjustments. Dash mount is from Holdmyphone. I got a mate to cut a piece of steel big enough to mount phone and 2 way onto. Holdmyphone do have a double mount available but just as easy to cut steel. Sorry about picture quality - crappy phone camera. Cheers Tim
 

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