two-way / ham antenna drill point...?

[batdude]

unlike most of you guys (girls?) i don't mind hitting the top of my AV with a 3/4" hole saw for antennas.

i have the power sunroof and it looks as though only the last 6-8 inches of the roof is available for installation of standard NMO mounts. i plan to install three NMO's - one left, one right and one center (VHF/UHF/800 Mhz)

any tips?

like best way to drop the headliner?

stuff in the roof to watch for (and not to drill thru?)

is this an idea that's been tried and didn't work??

also i am looking for a console for remote head radios that replaces the cubby - not the cupholders! but i would also like to know if anyone has a pre-cut template of aluminum or grey matching plastic that replaces the section where the cigarette lighter and power tap is... something that i can cut two normal sized equipment holes in and mount a scanner and radio.

and finally, is there a high current tap for 12vdc inside the passenger compartment? i need minimum 20amps and i would prefer it NOT be switched by the ignition.


all responses welcome,


doug

 

[carndt]

Heh. A man after my own heart. Just did this Friday. Have a sunroof, did 3 holes, although one was 5/8" for a GPS antenna. (I know, if ya don't have the pics, ya don't have the mod. I have 'em, just been under the weather since install day...)

There is plenty of room. I did matching cellular lookalike 2m/440 antennas on the outsides toward the back, and the GPS/cellular dick centered and forward a few inches. (One antenna is for my D700, one is for the scanner. They aren't optimal, but they fit under the opening for our 8' garage door without removing them, and I can always change them to something better for a trip. I thought about using Maldol motorized mounts, but this solution looks better.

Do you have your mounts yet? I really like the European style ones from http://www.eur-am.com. Rather than the hokey solder/crimp connection, the mounts have a totally enclosed FME connector that mates with the ones on the cables they seel. They also sell FME adapters for the other end of the cable, and different antenna styles. JJ takes Paypal, and ships Priority. I get stuff from him cross country in 2 or 3 days.

You sound like you know what you are doing. Do you have the special 3/4" saw with the shoulder that keeps you from plunging into the headliner?

You don't have to drop the headliner all the way.
I don't want to just give you measurements in case you have a different model than I do. Hitting a stiffening rib can ruin your day.

Here's what I did:

Take out the back window, stow it, fold up the back seats, and drop the midgate.

Pull or tug forward on the C pillar trim. It should pop right out. Don't try to remove it entirely, as the seat belt goes through it.

Do that on both sides. Then the trim above the window will come out the same way.

Now, by pulling the C pillar trim out a bit, you can drop the back of the headliner enough to see the underside of the roof.

Looking under and above, I used blue 3M masking tape to mark the limits of drilling on the top of the roof. I used the sunroof motor for the front limit, and the rib in front of the rear window for the back limit.

I put more blue tape on the roof (maybe 3"x3") to cover each drilling spot. That gave me room to make my marks, write notes etc. before I did the deed.

I ran the cables down the driver's side C pillar and put the Kenwood D700, GPS, ChargeGuard, fuse block and power and ground terminal strips under the back seat.

The weekend before I did this:

All of the cables except the one for the D700 control head (8ga power and ground, scanner antenna, scanner power, D700 mic) run under the driver's side door sills. There's a place under the underhood fuse block cover to tap for up to 60 amps or so (the diagram says 125 amps). If you use that place to get +12, you''l have to remove 4 bolts and that corner brace above it to get the cover off. I grabbed ground from the mount for the + battery jump connector bracket

And I mounted a big Rat Shack fuse holder on the side of the aforementioned fuse block cover for the 8 ga wire, and installed a 30 amp fuse.

How's that? PM me if you have questions.

 

[carndt]

Oh, yeah. I put the D700 head in the overhead cubby. I took it down and disassembled it, cut the hole bigger and put the head in from behind.

The scanner I used fits in the lower compartment of the console you are talking about. I did need to heat up the pocket with a heat gun to stretch the back of it while I jammed the radio in.

Plan B was to put the D700 head in front of the opening of the upper compartment. I was going to hinge it so I could flip it down and stiil have access to the cubby.

I've seen a picture on this site somewhere of a custom panel someone made to do what you are talking about. It really woundn't be that hard to make one out of aluminum plate.

 

[The Mox]

This is the way my Kenwood 700 is mounted in my 2003. The scanner below is a BCT-8. I took the covers off the radio. I then had to cut the back off the lower cubby hole. I got power for the scanner from the cigarette lighter power wires in the rear. I can still slide the scanner in and out to acess the ports in the rear. I guess I could hardwire as serial cable to the exterior somewhere.
This was an earlier picture. The head is no longer held down by the poster putty. That did hold well for several weeks while I deciede on the final position. I used double stick tape to hold the mount down.


The radio uis under the rear seat behind the driver. 8 guage wire is routed through the firewall through an existing grommet, along the door channel to the rear.



de N9MOX

The MOx
Greg

 

[batdude]

does anyone know where a knock-off version of that plastic piece holding the cig lighters that has no holes in it?

in other words... a blank?



doug

 

[sperry]

If I can get a good match with it on 440, I'm going to make a bracket up and mount it at the back of my luggage rack. Maybe 2M on the other side.
Other things first... Too many projects!