It seems to me that many here use a HAM radio with removable headunit and place it clearly visible in the cockpit. I had also thought about this intensively before the purchase. These let´s call them a kind of black box devices, which are also available for CB, have for me the great advantage that a large part of the technology is then in the black box, which can be installed somewhere in the car and the operation is done via the comparatively small (removable) control panel or even in some devices via the microphone.
A popular place for the black box seems to be under a seat. I also did it that way, it doesn't disturb at that place. And so you can simply place the headunit particularly well so that it does not restrict the driver's field of vision and yet is easily accessible during operation. And for all those who use APRS, a good reception is also given here.
Indeed! May be some lost in translation with regards to the black box terminology, these are typically referred to as 'remote mount transceivers'. Just wanted to throw that term out there to assist in searching if you were after any, that comment isn't meant to be a put-down of any sort. A commonality is radios will be shipped as one unit and if a separation kit is not provided, they can sometimes be purchased separately. I have a couple Yaesu FT-7900's and by 'stock' configuration they are a single unit though I use them in a remote mount capacity due to space constraints in my little Rogue DD, for example. My FTM-400 is a factory remote mount transceiver with no real option of being mounted together.
For folks looking at options, do consider there are some key differences. The FTM-400, while a great transceiver, I must scratch my head as to why Yaesu decided for the microphone connection to be on the transceiver and not the control head. Of course you could purchase an extension cable, though I typically mount my transceivers under a rear seat or something of the sort to facilitate shorter coax runs. This is just one of those strange design choices in my eyes which effectively limits some of your mounting options.
Anyhow, didn't want to get off topic naysjp (sorry) - just wanted to throw that term out there to clarify the black box.
