Transceiver Installation thread (Ham, CB, GMRS). Radio unit and antenna installation on Bronco Sport

[lej51201]

Update. Done and I like it. Kenwood TM-D710GA dual band radio and a Diamond NR72BNMO dual band antenna. Minimal drilling. If anyone has any questions, send me a message.

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[JamesT]

I just had a half-hour Q&A call with a Ford user experience rep. Just covering some of the basics about the Bronco Sport.

Going into the call, my main question for her was about antenna installation. She said, "I have to tell you that Ford does not support this, does not sell this. If you install anything electronic on your vehicle, it could void your warranty."

I pointed out to her that Ford has recommendations about antenna placement on the car. "Yes, I know. It is unfortunate that I have to say this."

Weird.

 

[NavyBOFH]

Just bought some A-Pillar light mounts to use one as an antenna mount. Idea is to bore out the hole to accommodate an NMO mount and add the Comet SAR antenna to that spot.

Whichever side I don’t use will likely end up for sale on here for whoever wants to mirror-image my install.

Radios will be two Motorola XTL5000s, one VHF and one UHF on a special configuration running to a single handheld control head I will likely throw on a Proclip mount off the dash.

 

[Ultraspaz]

Just bought some A-Pillar light mounts to use one as an antenna mount. Idea is to bore out the hole to accommodate an NMO mount and add the Comet SAR antenna to that spot.

Whichever side I don’t use will likely end up for sale on here for whoever wants to mirror-image my install.

Radios will be two Motorola XTL5000s, one VHF and one UHF on a special configuration running to a single handheld control head I will likely throw on a Proclip mount off the dash.

Looking forward to seeing how it works and looks. Please share pictures of the installation.

 

[JamesT]

Just bought some A-Pillar light mounts to use one as an antenna mount. Idea is to bore out the hole to accommodate an NMO mount and add the Comet SAR antenna to that spot.

Whichever side I don’t use will likely end up for sale on here for whoever wants to mirror-image my install.

Radios will be two Motorola XTL5000s, one VHF and one UHF on a special configuration running to a single handheld control head I will likely throw on a Proclip mount off the dash.

On Monday, I received my a pillar brackets from Ford Ranger Lifts. Hoping to start the install this weekend which side are you going to use? I haven’t decided yet.

 

[NavyBOFH]

On Monday, I received my a pillar brackets from Ford Ranger Lifts. Hoping to start the install this weekend which side are you going to use? I haven’t decided yet.

I haven’t decided. I think passenger side will be where most antennas are located by factory, but. I might put it on the driver’s side if it disappears in the A-pillar blind spot well enough. I will just be “test fitting” with a Comet SBB5 I have sitting around since its a similar height to the SAR antenna I want to use. I am thinking of using one of those “thick material” NMO mounts instead of a UHF mount as long as I can get it to mount to the bracket with little drama.

Really in the end… getting coax and power in through the firewall and all the equipment mounted will be the harder part!

 

[JamesT]

With inspiration from @NavyBOFH and the good quality, Bronco Sport-specific A-Pillar bracket from Ford Ranger Lifts, I have done the install and successfully Tx/Rx. Except for my own user errors, it could not have been simpler. I hope!

Below are my notes. I invite any and all critiques and suggestions.

The Ford rep said they could not warrantee this sort of thing because Ford does not provide mobile radio installs. That said, their documentation describes it.

Here are some lessons and observations.

• I seems like some Ford engineer is a ham. There are nice little features to make this easy.
• The BS Badlands has a completely rubberized floor. It seemed impossible to get at anything under the floor or behind the dash without ripping out a lot of stuff.
• I took the lazy way and decided to route along the door rather than going through the firewall. There is a convenient bracket hole that seems made for routing cables. Of course, it is important to protect the cables and zip tie them so they don't move. Fortunately, there are handy holes that seem made for zip tying cables.
• The weather stripping and trim are easy to remove and reinstall. And they are generous. There are also good channels right along the lip for running cables.
• The bracket under the driver side seat seems tailor made for mounting a radio. There is generous room and little passage ways that make it easy to run the cables.
• The A-Pillar bracket made this a breeze. I just had to ream it out to fit the antenna mount. I know what the manual says about mounting positions but I am hoping this A-pillar install will be ok. I know others have had different results. I guess time will tell if BS electronics are impacted.
• It is important to use a grounding strap
• Measure twice, cut once. The power cables were not long enough. But of course, I did not discover that until I had attached the connectors to the battery... had to start over.
• Except for my own errors, the complete install was about an hour.

I am waiting to receive a ProClips Bronco Sport-specific mount so I can mount the control head.

Also: I have a leftover passenger-side ditch light bracket if anyone wants it.

Here are some photos.

 

[NavyBOFH]

That looks great! My only thing is change is I’m going to find a way through the firewall one way or another. That is just how I tend to do the work even if it takes an extra hour.

I wish I knew this would become a thing sooner! Luckily someone on another forum mentioned they’d buy my unused bracket but I’m leaning towards driver’s side as well since I think it will be completely hidden from view while driving.

 

[JamesT]

That looks great! My only thing is change is I’m going to find a way through the firewall one way or another. That is just how I tend to do the work even if it takes an extra hour.

I wish I knew this would become a thing sooner! Luckily someone on another forum mentioned they’d buy my unused bracket but I’m leaning towards driver’s side as well since I think it will be completely hidden from view while driving.

I appreciate your inspiration and look forward to seeing your install!
Because of the tight fits, and the nice bracket under driver side, I decided to go with driver side.

 

[JamesT]

Used my Bronco Sport today to provide communication support for the Lake Ty triathlon. Bikes passed me and shouted they loved the Sport. “What a great looking rig!”

 

[thesavo]

I took mine to the installer Wells communications in Troy NY for an estimate on a pair NMO 's added to the roof. Since space is limited, I also think a remote mountable unit is what I will add
I started a spreadsheet to help narrow down a good radio to install. I like the quad band TYT -TH9800D, and Yaesu FT-8900R. The Yaesu is discontinued . However I would then have to find a decent quad band antenna.

Brand	Model	Bands	Approx cost	Remote Head	Production	Softwre program
Tyt	TH-9800	10m, 6m, 2m, 70cm	210	yes	discontinued	Chirp
yaesu	FT-8900R	10m, 6m, 2m, 70cm	500	yes
yaesu	FTM-300DR	2m, 70cm	500	yes
yaesu	FTM-6000R	2m, 70cm	330	yes
Alinco	DR735T/E	2m, 70cm	330	yes
Alinco	DR638HE	2m, 70cm		yes
Alinco	DR-620 T/E	2m, 70cm		yes	discontinued
Icom	IC-2730A	2m, 70cm	340	yes
Icom	ID-5100A	2m, 70cm	470	yes
Icom	IC-7100	HF,6m, 2m, 70cm	850	yes
tyt	th-7800	2m, 70cm		no?	discontinued
tyt	th-7900	2m, 70cm	215	yes
AnyTone	AT-5888UV	2m, 70cm	250	no?

 

[JamesT]

Even though discontinued, I managed to find an FT8900R and love it (I have one in another vehicle and wanted to have the same thing). Good luck!

 

[thesavo]

Even though discontinued, I managed to find an FT8900R and love it (I have one in another vehicle and wanted to have the same thing). Good luck!

We shall see. I know quad-band NMO Ham antennas exist. I have found much better talk about Larsen commerical and public safety antennas. They don't offer quad antennas. It might be better to separate it out.

 

[Benanza]

Trying to put transceiver/Antenna installation ideas in one location. Please move to appropriate place if needed.

Looking for location and wiring ideas/discussions/examples for both the radios and the antennas on our Bronco Sports.

Ford has some documentation on the subject that may be of use. Much of Fords info is based on the ARRL handbook concerning the routing of antennas and power leads.

Galvanic corrosion attachment will help anyone installing dissimilar metals to the body (antennas) to prevent corrosion if you start drilling the roof for your install.

UPDATE:

Trying to get this thread going so here is my install even if it may be temporary until I find a better solution.
Transceiver is a VGC VR-7500 Dual Band that you probably never heard of mounted in the depression under the drivers seat with velcro.

It's an unusual radio in that the only front end controls are an on/off switch. Volume and channel selection is though the mic I mounted on the center console.

The majority of the controls are by Bluetooth through a dedicated spare android phone that also monitors an OBD2 dongle. Still looking for a good spot to mount spare phone.

My antenna hasn't been delivered yet but the mount is a Diamond K9000LRM motorized mount I attached to the rear OEM luggage rack crossbar. Close to the Owners manual position 2 but not perfect. (NMO mount covered in silicon tape till UPS deliverers my antenna). Up/Down control for mount is next to microphone (see two pictures up). Power for antenna motor is though cigarette lighter power port for now but will be hard wired into fuse panel.

Power for the radio is directly wired to the battery by going through a grommet in the firewall directly behind the battery.

I was going to run the power leads to a 6 gang relay box I installed (in blue) but instead have the Pos. and Neg. going directly to the battery (yellow). Use caution if you decide to attach the Neg. lead to the body grounding post (right of the yellow line). With all the current going through all the electrical systems even with ignition off, you will get sparks if you loosen the body ground nut. I got sparks, all the light came on and I thought I shorted something out. I usually disconnect the Pos. terminal during electrical work but after reading the manual it appears some systems will require you recalibrate some of the systems if power is disconnected. I skipped the disconnect and it worked fine. I used an Automatic Power Off (APO3) box from APRS World LLC that turns on the radio power by sensing when the vehicle starts. It shuts off ten minutes after the engine is shut down. Just in case I forget to shut the radio off.

For the antenna coax I used 3 meters of RG 316. The small coax made in easy to run in the seam along the luggage rack and then down along the liftgate entering into the BS at the bottom.

I used Goop to hold the coax in position so it wouldn't get caught/pinched in any liftgate mechanisms. After the coax entered the rear of the BS I was able to hide the coax almost completely under interior molding to under the drivers seat.

My biggest concern's are coax type, a few hard 90 degree turns and running the coax parallel to a power lead for a few feet. Once I receive my antenna I'll see how bad I did with the SWR meter.

I'm a new Tech. licensee who has a lot to learn and I know some of the things I've done in this install are not best practice.

I hope others will post their Bronco Sport installs so we can all learn something and actually get some results when we google "Bronco Sport Ham radio installs".

Can I see abetter shot of how you have the trax installed on the seat

 

[VirtualJMills]

We shall see. I know quad-band NMO Ham antennas exist. I have found much better talk about Larsen commerical and public safety antennas. They don't offer quad antennas. It might be better to separate it out.

I'm assuming you mean 10/6/2/0.7 metre bands:

MFJ-1438, MOBILE, 10M/6M/2M/440 QUAD-BAND, NMO/SO

MFJ-1456 (quint-band, 2x HF + 6m/2m/0.7m, but SO-239 / PL-259 not NMO)

Comet UHV-4 (same band spread, but PL-259 not NMO)

Comet UHV-6 (more HF coverage, but PL-259 not NMO)

Diamond CR8900A (same band spread, but PL-259* not NMO)
*They say UHF, but they're using old nomenclature for where "U" in UHF started frequency-wise. It's a PL-259.

Diamond HV7A (same band spread, but PL-259 not NMO)

FWIW, there's a lot of negative data on using SO-239/PL-259 as structural connectors, and how poorly suited they are to this "additional" task particularly for high wind-load profile antennas. I can't speak to that, just offering some known-matches to your band coverage requirements.

I also haven't owned/worked any of these antennas personally.

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