*In this video we talk about needing an NMO adapter and a separate cable. Instead, we recommend the Midland Low Profile Antenna Cable, which does not require an NMO adapter. www.blueridgeoverlandgear.com/products/midland-mxta24-low-profile-gmrs-antenna-cable?_pos=1&_sid=778e3ff03&_ss=r
Hey Dean, I've been searching the web for about a month learning how to install a mobile ham radio. You've got quite a lot of information in this video, and it was a great reference. No one else has got something quite as comprehensive out there! Can't wait to tackle this project. Thank you for explaining so much!
Glad it helped. We struggled with how to do the FAQ and the install tips in one video, so that's why we split it. Hopefully the FAQ video this week will round out any lingering questions.
Much appreciated Dean. I am reasonably savvy, but I really like having resources like this to reference and direct folks to. The easel diagrams and specificity in components were particularly useful. Thanks for the simple and straightforward presentation.
Outstanding explanation, thank you for sharing. For me the GMRS radio would be wiring simple direct wire to the battery. For years my CB radio power is managed form its own on/off switch. To date never forgot to turn it off, knock on wood.
Different antennas for different jobs. The longer higher gain antennas tend to "pinch" the singnal and shoot more of it towards the horizon. That can help with range in many cases but in instances of where you are in varied terrain line hilly or mountainous terrain it can be a hinderance. The lower gain 3db antennas tend to make more of a doughnut shaped radiation pattern when viewed from above. A big oval bubble when viewed from the side. This tends to work better in rougher terrain with more varied elevation.
I have 4 radios. I mounted my Unidien CMX760 (CB) behind the glove box. It has all controls on the mic. I mounted two Kenwood HAM radios, (V71, and 710) on the rear drivers side Molle panel between it and the window. And the control faces, on one of those dash mount rails. I also use a Wouxan KG-1000G+ dual channel GMRS radio that I also mounted the main unit with the two Kenwood units on the rear drivers side Molle panel between the window and panel. The control unit is mounted above the sun visor to the plastic up there. All wires are hidden. Antennas? I used two mounts that go under my A puller lights, one on the drivers, one on the passenger. GMRS on the left, ham radios uhf/vhf on the left. Providing more then 19” needed between the two. In the rear behind the spare tire, I used two antenna mounts. Made a mirror image of the one on the right. The right has the CB antenna, the one on the left the other ham radio antenna. Giving the needed full band sepperation fandom the front and rear ham antennas for both UhF and VHF. Even though the CH antenna is less the. 18” from the UhF/VHF antenna, it won’t cause issues because it’s on the 10m band. I now have APRS, and access to three ham 2m/70cm bands, the CB band, and can monitor two GMRS channels all at the same time. As well as every radio has access to the weather band, as well as all have weather alert capabilities.
Amazingly thorough and detailed through out! You did everything but install my radio. I forwarded this video to several friends and hit the subscribe button!!!!
Great video, Dean! If I might, I'll add a tiny detail, just because it bit me. If installing under the "ignition hot" scenario, be sure to ground the chassis of the relay. Most of the current orientally supplied solid state relays are very unhappy unless their chassis is grounded.
Great video thanks only thing a fair amount of vehicles do have constant hot 12 power to acc and cigarette lighter plugs Ford for instance most all of 12 volt and cigarette plugs are hot always. So a better source for a hot ignition source is more likely to be found under the column . You will have to check for 12 volts on your cig plug with key off. Just a FYI
Hi Dean, thanks for clearing up our options. Have a 2017Grand Cherokee and want to I stall the 3db ghost antenna with lip mount. Unable to locate the firewall for this vehicle anywhere! Was going to buy the 400 model install antenna as mentioned and direct connect the radio power to the main battery (not the start stop one) under the passenger seat. So I have two concerts: firewall location to get the antenna cable through to the radio and best location to run power wires from battery to radio on this vehicle. Thanks Dean!
There should be a rubber gromet in the firewall behind the glovebox you can access for fishing the power cable through. You'll want to run the antenna wire through the opposite side (to prevent interference).
Best video on this topic I’ve found! I’m going to replace CB radio with mxt575 in Jeep tj. Will the existing Firestick CB antenna &/or coax work with GMRS radio?
We're not radio experts. But typically, CB antennas do not work with GMRS. Dean was our resident radio guy and he has moved on to other ventures. you can ask him on instagram @eastcoastoverlandadventures.
Yes you could. Most people don't bother mounting a GMRS radio inside a house, but it would be pretty much the same install as a VHF HAM antenna just with a GMRS radio.
I just bought a MXT575 and I was wondering if I can connect the wires into my 8 Gang Auxbeam switch panel? Instead of wiring it directly to the battery.
Excellent video! You clearly explained how to incorporate switch wiring, thank you. Question, is it harmful to the radio to leave it "on" at all times but control power with the killswitch? Also will an LED in the switch cause interface or am I understanding correctly that the relay circuit is isolated enough to not be an issue?
Glad you enjoyed it! An LED will cause interference on 2m and sadly not any real way to prevent it. It's a frequency issue. So I'd try to stay away from LED switches or at least not mount your radio near them.
Depends on what you want to do. If you just want to talk to a small group in a convoy, then the 15w is fine. If you want to talk to a larger group or have max range then the 40w is the way to go. I've been okay in most groups with a 5w handheld, so the 15w is plenty. That said, I also trail guide and end up at the front of a large group so I will run the 40w mobile one I get it installed.
Yes, you'll want to make sure the antenna has a good ground. So you may want to run a ground wire from the swingout to a chassis bolt between the bumper and the frame. You'll also want to make sure the antenna has a solid ground connection to the swingout (ie - no paint between antenna and bracket or between the antenna bracket and the swing out).
Great video. I'm going to have to watch the earlier ones to decide on what radio I want. Two questions; the pouch for your hand held radios. Where did you purchase that. Second, I have a SPOD on my Jeep TJ and I think I'll hard wire directly into that. Do you think there will be any power issues? Oops, I should have watched the entire video before posting because you answered the SPOD question.
The radio bag is actually a modified version of our Cooking Kit bag. Just cut out the center seams on the utensil pockets. And no, you won't have any issues running POWER to the radio from the sPod but I highly recommend running a dedicated ground to the chassis and not use the ground from the sPod (if that makes sense). If you need any help selecting a radio just let us know.
Thanks for the great video! I just installed the MXT275 Midland GMRS radio. It sounds clean and transmits around 5 miles. I'm wondering if I need to ground the antenna. My tire carrier bracket is completely powder coated and so the antenna is not grounded. Do I need to scrap off the powder coat at both ends to ensure the antenna is grounded? And will this give me greater range? I am using the Midland Low Profile Antenna Cable.
Yes, you will want to ground your antenna through the powdercoat. Either grind off the powdercoat under the antenna mount and/or get one of those finned washers that will dig into the metal. That should do the trick and give you a little more range.
@@BlueRidgeOverlandGear Thanks for the reply! My low profile Midland coax cable has teeth that dig into the metal. But I doubt it can dig through this powder coat because it’s really thick! In any event the other side that bolts to the tire carrier isn’t grounded.
Do you guys have a magazine that shows a different types of radios antennas and all the stuff that you guys sell I would be interested in receiving a magazine that has all that stuff in it I'm located in Glen Elder Kansas
We don't have a catalog, but you can find most of our radio based products at this link www.blueridgeoverlandgear.com/pages/search-results-page?q=midland
Fun fact: “spaghettification” is a real (and my favorite) science term. Astrophysicists use it to describe what happens to a human if one were to fall into a black hole.
great info about to pull the trigger on this radio would you say the overall performance for this unit would be better if hardwired? than just the plug and go thanks
I am new to wiring. I recently installed a S Pod style switch pod/relay. The relay box has multiple relays built in and each relay has a 30A fuse. Do I need to swap out the 30A fuse for a smaller amp if this radio does not need 30A to run off of? also could I keep the built in fuse in the wiring and still wire it up to my switch pod which also has a built in fuse?
You don't need to since the radio should have a fuse itself too. That 30a fuse in the sPod is more to protect the unit itself. However, swapping it down for a smaller one won't hurt.
Two questions Dean. 1st is I have the Midland 6db Gain antenna + Midland 6 meter Antenna Cable with NMO included to be attached to the driver side custom bracket. Would there be interference if it was on the right side and near the standard AM/FM antenna (thus having both antennas within 5 inches of each other? 2nd the Midland MXT275 would be powered by cutting off the DC plug end and directing power from one of the 4 open Aux switches in my 2021 Rubicon unlimited. OK? Better options?
Antennas usually only interfere with each other during transmission on/around/near the same frequencies. So you're standard radio's AM/FM antenna shouldn't interfere with the GMRS radio. You might hear some interference when you transmit on the GMRS radio, but since the frequency is so different than your cars AM/FM radio it's unlikely you will even notice. You'll be better off wiring the GMRS radio directly do the battery. Those aux switches may cause some interference given how they are wired in the vehicle. That said, it can't hurt to try. However direct power is always cleaner and will give you better performance.
i Guys, can you do a segment on Ford Aluminum trucks to get the best performance out of the radios/antennas? I have a 2017 F250 Crew Cab with power moon roof. Thanks.
I’ve noticed a lot of guys in your area sporting front runner racks. Just curious if you sell and install them as well as I plan on making a trip up to your shop very soon
can you splice the red black wire and join wires to circinate ligher plugin dont want hook it battery this is radio thinking AnyTone AT-778UV Transceiver Mobile Radio Dual Band 25W VHF/UHF VOX Vehicle Car Radio w/Cable
"A ferrite is a ceramic material made by mixing and firing large proportions of iron(III) oxide (Fe2O3, rust) blended with small proportions of one or more additional metallic elements, such as barium, manganese, nickel, and zinc. They are electrically nonconductive, meaning that they are insulators, and ferrimagnetic, meaning they can easily be magnetized or attracted to a magnet." ~ So yeah, half true. Not all ferrites are magnets, but but they can be magnetic.
@@BlueRidgeOverlandGear You are partially right. It is a noise reduction (interference) non-magnetic device that induces a high impedance (resistance) that blocks the interference! Different mixes for different uses. They also come in a doughnut shape and in different sizes/mixes for different uses. Visit Amidon or Palomar Engineers on the web for more information. Palomar also has an interference reduction guide that you can download in PDF format.
Are the GMRS radios as sensitive to ground planes like CB radios? Such as on the roof of a Jeep where the antenna is mounted to the fiberglass top. You have electrical ground but very poor ground plane.
CB's operate on a much lower frequency and are AM so they are super sensitive to a ground plane. GMRS radios are on a higher frequency and are FM so they require a much smaller ground plane and a much smaller antenna. You should be okay mounting a GMRS antenna on the fiberglass roof of a Jeep.
How about put a extra battery in trunk where spare tire used to be since new cars don’t have spare. Then have the batter to alternator to charge battery . Or solar as well
If you're running an aux battery ideally you want a DC-DC charger/maintainer/conditioner between it and the alternator. Solar is also a good option and a lot of the DC-DC chargers will also do solar (RedArc, Renogy, etc).
Battery type depends on application and needs. I run AGM in my trailer. Some people will do something like the Dometic PLB40, others a stand-alone lithium battery. Just depends on what you need it to do.
I am new to this . i am 72 just got a boefang HP f8 and my FCC lic .i hear people take on it and a group that meets every Monday night .but I can seem to be herd . the leader says he just got a repeater or relay .he also said he wants people to join him . I have herd there is a new tower going up around 8 miles from me . how could I get so others could hear me . I am a disabled veteran too and would like to start a group near me as we can't met up at the va for now .any advise please thank you much 🗽🇺🇸👍✌
It could be a lack of wattage - IE your radio just isn't powerful enough to reach the repeater. Either that or you're trying to broadcast on the repeater's broadcast frequency or the repeater has a privacy tone attached to it. See if you can reach out to the club directly and see if they can help you out.
@@BlueRidgeOverlandGear thank you so much . I did get a e mail address . they did reply back .they have another tower going up. 30 miles north of me . I can join for 10.00 a month and use both tower repeaters .now just not sure what I need to do to hook up on it . i am joining it now .thanks again ✌👍
Cant believe the wattage radios you are legally able to run, here in Australia , we have similar to GMRS our radios are 80 channel 477 mhz uhf, maximum power 5 watts only , unlucky us !
@@BlueRidgeOverlandGear our mobile or base station radios are 5 watt only and our handhelds are , anything from 0.5 watt 1 watt , 2 watt , up too 5 watt maximum , , that’s it ,
Magnetic mounts will be internally grounded through the antenna cable which works, but is not ideal. So you will get some functionality out of it, but not peak performance. It will be enough to talk to the people around you, just not maximum range.
Please always use suppressed relays nonsuppressed relays play havoc on the computers and J1939 or other communications backbone in modern day vehicles.
@@BlueRidgeOverlandGear Awesome to hear! Maybe I should hold off until it is available. I don't want to potentially ruin a perfectly good new bag if I don't have too!
Yeah, the one issue with the kitchen bag is that once you cut the seams out one of the pockets is a little bigger than the other. If we do a production radio bag - key word if - then we would most likely make both main pockets big enough for the larger GRMS radios. Right now the one pocket is big enough for the 1000 series GRMS radios, but the other one is only big enough for the smaller FRS handhelds. My Boefang 5's barely fit.
Wow, unnecessarily complicated wiring scenarios. I just ran a dedicated circuit on an existing ACC relay from my fuse box. You can get a tap that allows you to put a fuse - like body with a power (hot) wire into the fuse blade contacts and then has a regular fuse that sits inside of it. Plug tap in fuse box --> Connect radio to hot wire that provides --> Ground radio anywhere you can get a good ground --> Done, fused clean power without fighting with firewall grommets and radio now only comes on when the accessories or ignition switch is on. "Spaghettification" is a word used in physics for the tidal effects on a body nearing a black hole, it's not a term used for wire webs generated by electrical spiders installing electronic gear. You should have taken ten seconds to show how a ferrite choke is used on a power wire. Alternator noise is a very, very common problem but easily solved.
We wanted to show multiple options when it comes to wiring and what some of the pros and cons are of different types of circuits and source wires. Feel free to create your own install tips video and send us a link. I'd be interested to watch it.
You never, never, ever connect your radio negative direct to the battery. Doing so bypasses part of the current for the (BMS) battery monitor system of your vehicle. It will provide false information to your vehicles computer. Your negative lead should be a solid connection to the frame of the vehicle. If you don't see the fallacy in the advice to wire your radio direct to the battery, where is your stereo radio that the vehicle manufacturer installed wired to?
I have found grounding to the frame or body of the vehicle is rarely a quality ground for something as sensitive as a two-way radio. A battery-direct ground cuts out a lot of the static and noise you get from a chassis/body ground especially if there are things like interior lights and HVAC components grounded near by.
@@BlueRidgeOverlandGear really , I cut off the cigarette plug in and spliced in an USB with my current radio and it worked. I just don’t want to have to do it with a new radio.
There are a few terminal options for direct connection. Best thing to look at is car stereo installation hardware or marine grade battery terminals which is what I use right now.
