2007 Toyota Tacoma -- Mobile Antenna Farm

[Lars]

Make: Toyota
Year: 2007
Model: Tacoma Access Cab
Trim: TRD Sport 4x4
Color: Speedway Blue

Modifications:

Engine & Performance:

• Rear Diff Breather relocated to behind tail light

Suspension, Lift, & Tires:

• Old Man Emu Nitrocharger Sport Shocks
• Old Man Emu 886 Front Springs (3" Lift)
• Wheeler's 2" AAL Rear
• Hankook Dynapro ATM (265/70/17) - 2007 TRD Sport Tacoma Wheels
• BFG All Terrain KO (285/70/17) - 2011 T4R Wheels

Armor:

• RCI IFS Front Skid Plate
• RCI Transmission Skid Plate
• RCI Transfer Case Skid Plate
• Trail Toys UHMW Fuel Tank Skid Plate
• RCI Rear Differential Skid Plate
• RCI Bolt on Rock Sliders W/Kick Out
• RokBlokz Oversized Tire Mud Flaps

Electrical & Lighting:

• Led under hood lighting.
• Led Bed Lighting.
• Rear Facing LED Pods/Camp Lights
• 30" LED Light Bar (Lower Grill)
• 4" COB LED rock lights
• ~300 RGB 5050 SMD Under Truck Lights
• CBI Off-Road Ditch Light Brackets
• Black Oak 40w Turret Lights

Exterior:

• Matte black emblems all around
• Matte black Plastidip wheels

Communications:

Radios:

• AnyTone SmartCB
• Kenwood TM-D700 2m/70cm FM
• Kenwood TS-480Sat (All mode) HF
• Byonics MicroTrak-RTG (2m APRS Transmitter)

Antennas:

• Larsen 1/4 Wave 2m NMO -- Kenwood TM-D700
• Tram 1/4 Wave 70cm NMO -- Kenwood TM-D700
• Larsen 1/4 Wave 2m NMO -- Byonics MicroTrak-RTG
• Wolf River Coils Silver Bullet 1000 & 50" Whip -- Kenwood TS-480Sat
• BuddiPole Deluxe Long -- Kenwood TS-480Sat
• Firestick II, 2" Fiberglass Whip - AnyTone SmartCB

Emergency / Recovery Gear:

First Aid Kit:

• Adventure Medical Kits - Mountain Series Fundamentals
• Dixie EMS Trauma First Aid Kit

Photos:

North Padre Island (60 miles south of the nearest road.) BuddiPole in the bed.

Radio Gear from the driver's seat.

 

[TxTerra]

Very nice! Welcome to the forums!

 

[warriorlabs]

Love your setup.

 

[Lars]

Love your setup.

Thanks!
I expect all of my antennas will be moved in the next 12 months. I'll also likely be replacing the Kenwood TM-D700 with a Yaesu FTM-400DR and will then move the TM-D700 to my desk with an APRS TNC as both an iGate, and message station.

 

[Murphy Slaw]

Nice setup !

 

[Lars]

Installed a bunch of lights on my truck, with several more coming.

Under Hood Anti Dark.

This replaced one screw holding the headlight, and activates the LEDs when the hood is opened.

Truck Bed Anti Dark. -- (comes on with the interior dome lamp)

Rear Camp/Reverse LED Pods

Front 30" LED Light Bar

 

[Lars]

When I get back to Austin I'll be moving the front LED Light Bar, and Reverse/Camp lights to the TrailToys NSA Box.
I also have a 44" LED Bar that I'll be building a mount for above the windshield, a full set of rock lights (using 4" COB LEDs), and a set of ditch light pods from Black Oak (4x 10w LED emitters per ditch light) to install.

That'll be five of my 8 circuits on the NSA

 

[Lars]

Acquired a second first aid kit for the truck.

Kit 1 is a Dixie Medical Trauma First Aid Kit: Link

Kit 2 is an Adventure Medical Kit Mountain Fundamentals Kit: Link

I'm looking at picking up some kind of water proof hard case to put the AMK kit into so I can attach the kit to my bed rails while I'm out camping/rock crawling. Otherwise I'll keep it locked in the truck bed tool box most of the time to avoid theft. The case is about 9" x 9" x 5.5".

 

[Overland-Indiana]

Cool rig and I like the collection of antennas!

 

[Lars]

Tonight in the rain I installed a set of CBI Off-Road Fabrication ditch light brackets. Which will eventually hold a pair of Black Oak 40W 2" LED Pods (4x 10W Elements per pod.)

 

[Lars]

Black Oak 2" 40w Pods -- These things are super well made, and bright! 3100 or so lumens each...

 

[Lars]

New Antennas, replacing previous antennas.

I replaced the two Comet SBB-1 dual band antennas with three mono-band antennas.

Back Wall of the truck. MFJ Duplexer to separate the single VHF/UHF output from my Kenwood TM-D700 into separate VHF and UHF antennas

The roof of the truck. I drilled three 3/4" holes to mount NMO Mounts through the roof. The front and rear antennas are Larsen 1/4 wave 2m. The Center is a PCTEL Maxrad phantom 70cm antenna

I moved the APRS Transmitter back into the storage box under the rear drivers side seat. This way I can re-program it without pulling the whole interior out of the truck.

Power for all of the radios comes into the center console, next to the shifter via 4AWG wires into a dual power distro block

The two heavier (12awg) wires here are 110v from the factory inverter which is under the arm rest. From Toyota the only outlet is in the back of the bed. I added one in the back of the center console for my daughter in the rear seat, and for my laptop charger while I'm flying solo.

 

[Lars]

New Shoes....

And new Mud Flaps

 

[RyanC]

Almost all of your pictures are missing.

 

[Lifestyle Overland]

@RyanC They seem to be working for me...

 

[Lars]

@RyanC Maybe they work now? I moved my server over to requiring https. I've set it up to support either now.

 

[RyanC]

@RyanC Maybe they work now? I moved my server over to requiring https. I've set it up to support either now.

They are working now. Thanks.

And wow that AnyTone CB is tiny! Would a neophyte such as myself have any issues getting SWR under control? (Mind I barely understand what SWR is)

I was looking at a Uniden BC680 or BC880 for the modern look and the wireless microphone but with a radio that small I might not need to hide it so thoroughly that I need a wireless mic.

 

[RyanC]

Hey Lars, since you are the radio guy, I ended up with a Midland 75-822 as a stopgap until I pick a permanent radio. I am wondering if I should put a dust-cap or a terminator on the BNC connector on top when it's connected to the antenna on my vehicle. It didn't come with anything so I am assuming it would be ok without, but if I want to optimize a little (I tend to overthink and over-engineer things), would a dust cap or terminator limit RF leakage or help with my SWR? I tried searching using google but couldn't find anything after a few hours of trying.

 

[Chris460]

Great thread, thanks for sharing. Will be back for ideas on antennas etc for my rig.