raffi383

I got the radios and antennas mounted earlier this year and thought I would share what I did.

Here's a couple of pictures of the antennas. The CB antenna is a 3ft Firefly. The ham antenna is a Diamond NR73BNMO (33.5"). The antennas are spaced about 23" apart. I don't remember exactly.



The ham radio is an Icom 2730a. I mounted the radio to the carpeting behind the passenger seat. My original bracket was attached with the front bolt that holds the hardtop. I failed to consider where the soft top sits when the top is down so I had to come up with a new plan. I used 1 1/4" angle on both sides of the radio. The angle is screwed to the radio at the standard mounting holes. The other wall of the angle has two holes in each piece. On the back side of the carpet is a thin sheet of sheet metal about 6"x6" or so. Screws come through from the back side of the sheet metal, through the carpet, and then through the angle where I used nylock nuts to make sure they stay together. On the back side of the carpet, I also added a bunch of duct tape to help hold the carpet to the side of the Jeep. The carpet hasn't moved after a few hours of off-roading.



I have two different brackets to use to mount the CB and the ham radio head. One for both and another bracket for just the ham radio. The group I go four wheeling with was using CB until this year. I found out they switched to GMRS after I had the brackets and everything installed. My goal was to not add any holes to the Jeep.

The next picture shows the CB and the ham radio head. The bracket is held to the top of the dash with the one little screw that is under the rubber tray in the top of the dash. I'm a little leery about this small screw holding everything but it has worked so far. No guarantee if I get in an accident though.


Typically, I only have the ham radio installed. Here is a picture of the radio head and a rear view of the bracket.



The ham radio head is held to both brackets with Velcro so it can be easily removed.

I am thinking about getting some thin Lexan and making a cover for the radio in case it rains when the top is down and I don't get the top up quickly enough. Just a thought for keeping water out of the radio.

From a high spot a few miles from my house that is 300ft higher than my house, I have talked on receivers over 40 miles away so the ham set up seems to be working nicely. I have only used the CB on the trail where the other truck was pretty close. It did work fine at that range.

RickC137

I also have the 2730a with the NR73BNMO antenna on a Rugged Radio suction cup mount. Works great! Handled a cross country trip at interstate speeds no problem.

You know that 2730a will work on GMRS, right?

raffi383

Are you sure about the GMRS?

I think the radio can receive GMRS (frequencies around 462 and 467MHz) but is can't transmit on those according to the info in the manual.
USA
RX 118 ~ 174 MHz, 375 ~ 550 MHz
TX 144 ~ 148 MHz, 430 ~ 450 MHz

I haven't tried to transmit on those frequencies.

Niteshooter

Probably can with a modification however also illegal. This would have been covered when you wrote your ham ticket.....

RickC137

Definitely can with a legal MARS/CAP mod.
Definitely a violation to transmit on GMRS/FRS with a Part 97 radio.

raffi383

I am aware of the illegal part of this activity and would not transmit on GMRS with my radio.

Thanks for pointing it out though.

Niteshooter

MARS/CAP mod makes transmitting on GMRS/FRS legal? Or are you misquoting as I never said anything about MARS/CAP.

RickC137

I didn't misquote you. We both know the rules. Follow or don't follow. I have one radio which transmits across all bands. If I need it for emcomms I have it.