Ham Radio Operators...

snipereagle8 · Saturday at 9:23 PM

highsmith said:
Yeah I mean it will still work but your VSWR might be high with the antenna that close to the sheet metal. If you mostly care about talking to folks nearby when off-roading it probably doesn't matter much.

Larsen mount is this one? https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/lsn-nmokhfud

I'd like to get the same one as yours since I am ordering the M&R ditch light brackets. I took off the plastic trim cover where the antenna will mount, looks pretty tight and not much room in there.

highsmith · Sunday at 5:37 AM

snipereagle8 said:
Larsen mount is this one? https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/lsn-nmokhfud

I'd like to get the same one as yours since I am ordering the M&R ditch light brackets. I took off the plastic trim cover where the antenna will mount, looks pretty tight and not much room in there.

Yes I used that one, since I had one laying around. BUT, One point:

Since the M&R brackets are thicker than typical automotive sheet metal, the NMO outer ring for this Larsen mount does not screw down on the base as far as it typically does when it's mounted auto body-grade sheet metal. So the inner contact point does not protrude as much into the base of the antenna you are using. Everything still works fine on my install, but this might be a problem on some antennas, and possibly cause the center conductors to not make contact.

Larsen makes another mount that might work better for the thicker metal in these brackets:

https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/lsn-nmokhfmidud

This one is designed for thicker metal. I have not tried it since mine is working OK, but I might switch it out one day. You can probably find it cheaper somewhere else than at DXE.

Also, I used a 3/4" spacer to mount the bracket, instead of the one supplied by M&R. It just makes things mount better. If you put the NMO hole in the right place you can see that there is room for the mount base underneath the bracket towards the front of it..

snipereagle8 · Sunday at 6:40 PM

In this pic, what's the reason for installing the magnetic mount on a velcro back? I am thinking of rarely taking off the radio and just directly attaching the controller to the panel using velcro.

highsmith · Monday at 6:06 AM

snipereagle8 said:
In this pic, what's the reason for installing the magnetic mount on a velcro back? I am thinking of rarely taking off the radio and just directly attaching the controller to the panel using velcro.

Mainly just to keep velcro film/sticky stuff off the radio head in case I sell it.

I found the bracket kit on a swap site and was originally thinking about using magnets glued to the back side of the console trim piece to keep things in place. But I got kinda lazy and just decided to use some velcro I had.

Another option I considered was to drill a couple of holes small in the trim and use machine screws (I think they are M2-0.6) to attach the head, but I wanted to be able to remove it easily.

snipereagle8 · Monday at 2:10 PM

I ended up buying the following:

Larsen NMO2-70C antenna (Stainless steel whip, doesn't fold)
Diamond C213SNMO mount (Requires a smaller 3/8" hole)

The diamond mount was recommended to me by the Ham Radio Outlet gentleman. He pointed out that this specific mount is slightly deeper and requires a smaller hole (3/8" only!) in the bracket. So I guess I won't need to buy a step drill bit and will be able to use a 3/8" metal drill bit.

Looking forward to receiving the metal brackets from M&R.

I am also thinking of zip tying + VHB tape the radio unit under the glove box where the fuse box panel is. It's plastic but I am curious if it can handle the weight of the radio since the panel itself is held by large plastic clips. The reason is that I don't want to mount a seperate speaker and it's a perfect place—if it can hold up, that is.

I know @highsmith you said to not run the power from the front fuse box, but I want to try it and see if it would cause any issues. If it does, I can rewire it to the back where the battery is. Just easier since the radio unit might be under the glove box.

highsmith · Monday at 3:00 PM

Nice @snipereagle8 , I was actually going to try a 3/8 NMO but the only one I had was a replacement mount and didn't have any coax attached. I could have put some on it, but I didn't have any RG-58 (only RG-8X) so I just went with that spare Larsen 3/4" mount I had.

It should work fine, and like you were saying you can use a "normal" drill bit. I kind of wished I'd have just ordered a full-blown 3/8 mount, as it would have been more "forgiving" as far as lining everything up. If I did it over again I'd probably do that in any case.

Good luck with wiring into the fuse box, I have never had luck with that so I always go direct to battery. But the LC is kind of a special case.

snipereagle8 · 2025-03-11T19:21:57-0500

Tested out the idea of mounting the IC-2730A under the glovebox. The panel is flimsy but I tried strapping it down with a 24" giant ziptie. It works! It holds up. I will most likely use 3M vhb tape to tape secure it with the panel and use smaller 8" zip ties daisy chained so they don't take up so much space. This test fit is temporary and I used existing holes in the panel. The foam seems tobe there for just padding/sound proofing. I think I can safely not install it.

Temporarily installed, passenger cannot see it unless they look under.