Icom ID-880H Install (Lots of Pics)

[imdubious]

If you want to transmit, yes. Listen only, no. All of the dual band or 2M ham radios are like that.

Thx


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[All The Way]

Be very careful on frequencies out side of the ham bands. Some of the race frequencies are local Police and Fire around here. It could be the same around your area as well. Just keep that in mind.

Edit: You may not interfere or be able to communicate with them but someone somewhere will hear you/

 

[Phyguy]

Well, got everything mounted and working (other than removing the diodes to transmit on commercial frequencies). I don't like how the bracket turned out, but now that I know what's wrong with it I'll make a new one this weekend and remount. But, it will be in the same place, just a little lower profile and angled towards the center of the truck (sticks out too far for my taste).

Here are the last few pics.

Making the bracket.



It fits.



A little plasti-dip



Then mounted and ground down the mounting HW.







I ran the antenna cable down the inside of the bed rail, out one of the holes between the bed and the cab and then into the filter/vent in the back of the cab. No need to drill holes. The filter/vent is actually open besides a little filter that covers the vent. So, I came in through that. To do that I had to lay down the rear seats which took a second to figure out (thanks FRF...note laying down the rear seats is different between SCAB and SCREW).

Down the inside of the bedrail/bedside:



Lay down the seats, pull back the padding and there is a vent in the rear of the cab.





Ran the cable behind the matting and down along the floor between the seats and molding. Before the cable rounds the seats, I tucked under the molding and then ran in the floor gutters of the rear and front passenger side.









Tucked everything back in and snapped everything back together and we're good to go. Just need to terminate the antenna cable and plug it in.







I had never made the TR259 connectors on RG58 cable before. So, I youtubed a couple of videos and figured it out. I bought a couple extra connectors and adapters in case I f'ed up the first one or two, but I ended up only needing the first connector (hey, I can solder and cut cable with the best of them). I left some extra antenna cable just in case a relocation was needed (wrapped it in figure eight) and plugged everything in.



Next, I wanted to extend the microphone cable. I stopped by ham radio outlet and they wanted 90 bucks for an icom extension cable. Guess what...a normal cat5 ethernet cable will work. I went home and made my own mic cable to length. Saved at least $85 on that deal.



Here's a couple of shots of the different antenna. I cruised around town with the small one mounted today with the radio scanning and picked up a bunch of stuff. I'll save the long antenna for when I'm offroading or have a need for more gain and transmitting power.

Short:



Long:



Thanks for your patience with all my pics. It helped me sort out the install.

 

[Phyguy]

 

[imdubious]

your install is very close to what I am planing. Maing diffrence will be the main unit will be behind the rear seat. and i will run the microphone cable to a Cat5 hidden under the dash so i can disconet and put in the glovebox when not using. I want a total stealt install when driving daily. Thanks for the pics this will help alot.

 

[Phyguy]

your install is very close to what I am planing. Maing diffrence will be the main unit will be behind the rear seat. and i will run the microphone cable to a Cat5 hidden under the dash so i can disconet and put in the glovebox when not using. I want a total stealt install when driving daily. Thanks for the pics this will help alot.

Thanks! If you go in the back seat, consider an external speaker mounted under your seat or somewhere under the dash. It'll be hard to hear depending on the station reception and driving situation. I have an external speaker that I'm going to keep in the console for when I need it.

Also, depending where you mount the controller, the controller cable may not be long enough. But, you can make one of those as well to whatever length you want (I'm assuming).

I did the same thing with the cat5 for the mic. Ran it through the center console plastic (two very convenient holes already there and used a little fishing tape) to pull it to the driver's side. Didn't even put the hook on the dash or console for now as I plan to keep it in the console or tucked between the seat and console when not in use. With the sunglass compartment closed and the mic tucked away you can't even tell there's a radio installed (other than the antenna).

Here's some of the longer (higher gain) antenna. I personally like this one better. It seems to work a LOT better. But, I hate getting out to fold it every time I want to get in my garage (it's about two feet too long for my garage height and I don't want to damage the antenna).

 

[MrGreen33]

Great walk through for installing the radio and antenna!!
question...are you worried about the possibility of the bed flexing and hitting
the cab with the added revers light and antenna?

Only reason I mention this is because I like what you did, looks awesome...
just worried it might hit the cab with a good flex...
Thanks.

 

[Phyguy]

the bolt for the light hit the cab once and put a little nick in the paint. It was on a pretty extreme kicker (for my use) offroad. I grabbed the rubber foot off of an old piece of equipment and screwed it on the back. Tested it on the same kicker and it seemed to work fine. I'll try to get a picture of it.

The antenna bracket is further away from the cab and at a much lower profile than the one pictured (I made a new one last night and this morning). I'm not concerned at all about the antenna side. If the bed flexes enough to bang that side (with the RPG Stage 3 installed as it is), then I've broken something else and probably myself.

Both brackets I made myself and if I had access to the proper tools I know exactly how I could make them better. But, for now I'm pretty happy.

Thanks for asking.

 

[MrGreen33]

Awesome!!
Again Looks really good bro!!
already bookmarked and subscribed for a future reference.
Thanks.

 

[Phyguy]

Here's the light side with the rubber foot on it. It's screwed on and there's some good space between the end of the bolt (that poked the cab) and the end of the rubber. That foot is meant to support some heavy networking equipment and is very stiff with some softness.