I am looking to get a mobile ham radio for my 2018 F150. I've been checking out the Yaesu 400 FTMXDR. Would love some input on what mounts and antennas are good for this setup. Some good install tips would be great as well.
Mobile Ham Radio
- Thread starter DavePerez
- Start date
Advocate I
For a multi-use mounting platform, check out...
www.ics-fab.com
and
builtrightind.com
That's about all the help I can be when it comes to the F-150. I have the FTM-400XDR in my truck and it's been a great radio, the remote control head makes install/mounting a bit more versatile, IMO. I'm running a Diamond NR770 antenna with their HRKS mount, excellent results.
2015-2020 Raptor/2017-2020 F-Series Dash Mount
This two piece mount was designed to accommodate AMPS standard attachments allowing you to mount Phones, Tablets, Dash Cams, CB's, Radios and more! Bottom base has a hole in the center for wire routing, use it to route a USB for Carplay, or to add our 3.1 amp charger to charge your devices...
www.ics-fab.com
and
Dash Mount | Ford F-150 & Raptor (2015-2020) F-250/F-350 (2017-2021),( - BuiltRight Industries
Mount your cell phone, GPS, dash cam and other accessories with ease!
builtrightind.com
That's about all the help I can be when it comes to the F-150. I have the FTM-400XDR in my truck and it's been a great radio, the remote control head makes install/mounting a bit more versatile, IMO. I'm running a Diamond NR770 antenna with their HRKS mount, excellent results.
Advocate III
- 5,584
- First Name
- Michael
- Last Name
- Rose
- Member #
-
20990
- Ham/GMRS Callsign
- W7FSB
- Service Branch
- US ARMY Retired
Contributor III
- 357
- First Name
- Michael
- Last Name
- Abernathy
- Member #
-
26495
- Ham/GMRS Callsign
- KK7MA
I have a 2019 f-150. It's an all aluminum body. So that's where the headache rack comes in(ground it to the frame, and add further grounding to eliminate problems from poor grounding). Right now I'm just using a MAG mount, with an diamond nr770 NMO antenna. Eventually will weld on a new bracket for the antenna. The tool box in the back works as well. But I like it above the rig.
The 400 is my favorite radio for 2m/440. The only downside is the old tech on the touch screen (I think it is resistive), so sending actual messages is difficult. Auto beacons work great! The layout of the radio is also very friendly(IMO). I use a cell phone mag mount on the head. So I can just take it off to type when I need to carry a convo. Be careful to not get the metal and mag mount parts too close to the gps unit, as they will interfere with positioning. Otherwise it just sets above the dash.
Depending on where you mount it you may want an external speaker. Mine is under the seat with velcro(easy to swap rigs), and I have poor hearing, so the speaker is a must for me.
Good luck, enjoy both Hobbies!
Advocate I
If using an external speaker make sure to either use a Yaesu speaker or use the included speaker adapter that comes with the FTM-400, just plugging in an aftermarket mono speaker right into the speaker jack of the radio it will cause a short of the VFO B audio output amp and will eventually fry it. Most people also notice that audio output from VFO B is "weak" right off the bat as well because the adapter isn't being used. Not saying you're doing anything wrong, just a reminder for anyone running or wanting to run an external speaker with the FTM-400 you have to be careful.
Influencer I
I have the Yaesu FTM-400XDR in my 4runner. My Diamond NR73BNMO (higher gain long range) is on a Diamond K515SNMO roof rack mount (which is grounded to the roof rack's mounting bolts) - this also lived on a lip mount on the hood for a while where it worked well. I also have COMPACTenna on a Diamond SuperGainer NMO lip mount on the tailgate (lower gain, but better for hilly terrain). I mounted the radio body under the driver's seat and put a microphone jack into an available accessory switch knockout. Yaesu's microphone jack and extension are not the usual RJ45, BUT, by using the tips of a couple zip-ties to pad out the sides of a standard RJ45 dash passthru, the Yaesu jack and extension fit perfect and tight.
It's an awesome radio and I've been very happy with it.
Advocate III
- 5,584
- First Name
- Michael
- Last Name
- Rose
- Member #
-
20990
- Ham/GMRS Callsign
- W7FSB
- Service Branch
- US ARMY Retired
Jeff, as Mike pointed out the F150 is an all aluminum body, so he has to make a ground plane
Influencer I
I know that fiberglass is useless as a ground plane (non-conductive) but I had thought that Aluminum (conductive) was an acceptable ground plane for an antenna, even if you won't be able to use a magmount on it.
Antennas on the aluminum Ford F 150
CB Radio Guide - What is a groundplane? | THUNDERPOLE
But note the comments about dissimilar metals being a potential electrolytic issue...
Advocate I
It doesn't matter if the metal is ferrous or non-ferrous, what matters is if it's conductive.
Aluminum is actually a better conductor than iron or steel, so I have no idea where the misconception came from that aluminum makes for a poor (or no) ground plane. The only affect aluminum has is you can't use a mag mount (obviously). That's it.
Sometimes I think people see "ground plane" and think it has to do with electrical grounding and having a clean ground connection to the chassis, battery, whatever. The ground plane has nothing to do with that (and is covered as part of learning amateur radio so this should be common knowledge :D ). My HRKS mount (adhesive) on the side of my fiberglass topper has been working very well even though it's not at an ideal height or mounted on top of the cab (garage door clearance).
Aluminum is actually a better conductor than iron or steel, so I have no idea where the misconception came from that aluminum makes for a poor (or no) ground plane. The only affect aluminum has is you can't use a mag mount (obviously). That's it.
Sometimes I think people see "ground plane" and think it has to do with electrical grounding and having a clean ground connection to the chassis, battery, whatever. The ground plane has nothing to do with that (and is covered as part of learning amateur radio so this should be common knowledge :D ). My HRKS mount (adhesive) on the side of my fiberglass topper has been working very well even though it's not at an ideal height or mounted on top of the cab (garage door clearance).
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Advocate III
- 5,584
- First Name
- Michael
- Last Name
- Rose
- Member #
-
20990
- Ham/GMRS Callsign
- W7FSB
- Service Branch
- US ARMY Retired
It’s not the conductivity of the aluminum as the issue... it’s actually a 2 part problem... first electricity and aluminum cause serious electrical corrosion (hence aluminum boats don’t run a common ground to the hull). Second problem is directly related to the first, and the body isn’t bonded electrically to the frame...
Influencer I
Ah. Yes, body bonding is very important, especially at longer wave lengths - 6m, 10m, and CB would likely see noticable issues. I'm not sure 2m or 70cm (for the FTM-400XDR) would see much difference - the ground plane for them is much small - typically the roof or hood. But, as an alternative, one could look for an antenna that does NOT require a ground plane. Diamond's NR73BNMO is an example:
Diamond Antenna Dual-Band Mobile Antennas NR73BNMO
BTW: this antenna will also work on a fiberglass roof.
Advocate III
- 5,584
- First Name
- Michael
- Last Name
- Rose
- Member #
-
20990
- Ham/GMRS Callsign
- W7FSB
- Service Branch
- US ARMY Retired
Ok, I’m fallowing your logic... so why do I need a no-ground-plain antenna for my 16’ aluminum runabout? And why doesn’t the roof of my RV act as a ground plane?
Advocate I
This suggests otherwise in terms of needing to do bonding on the Ford - Bonding
Just seems like overthinking a non-existent problem. Galvanic corrosion is a real thing, but this just feels like a misunderstanding of what a ground plane is/does. Ford's bulletin (http://www.k0bg.com/images/antenna/Q-222R1.pdf) is talking about galvanic corrosion caused by dissimilar metals being in contact with each other and where to attach electrical grounds to avoid galvanic corrosion due to current flow.
Bonding vehicle parts can help improve the signal by reducing ground loss (again, not poor negative ground conductivity).
Influencer I
Mike, just curious as to what you were seeing? High SWR? Was there positioning dependence too?
Advocate III
- 5,584
- First Name
- Michael
- Last Name
- Rose
- Member #
-
20990
- Ham/GMRS Callsign
- W7FSB
- Service Branch
- US ARMY Retired
I was getting very bad galvanic corrosion where my NMO mount was... second I was getting a lot of RFI until I went to a NGP antenna system.
Advocate I
Marine antennas are largely NGP so people don't have to deal with creating a ground plane in a fiberglass or other non-metallic boat. Your aluminum boat shouldn't require an NGP antenna and in fact because the hull will act like a ground plane. NGP antennas on boats are just more convenient and you don't have to worry (as much) about where the antenna is mounted because the ground plane is simulated as part of the antenna design.
Is the roof of your RV metal? Probably not unless it's an Airstream or the like, and as such doesn't work as a ground plane. The antenna is also likely too high up to use the actual ground as a ground plane and as such your radiation pattern sucks without adding a ground plane to the roof of the RV.
Advocate III
- 5,584
- First Name
- Michael
- Last Name
- Rose
- Member #
-
20990
- Ham/GMRS Callsign
- W7FSB
- Service Branch
- US ARMY Retired
Yes it’s an aluminum roof... and aluminum siding... it’s 10’ from ground to center of roof... 1976 28’ motorhome
Advocate I
The galvanic corrosion was caused by improper mounting, not due to current or RF. See the bulletin I linked above.
For your radio, are you running power and ground directly to the battery or are/were you running power and/or ground from a source closer to the radio? That can make a difference in RFI. I can think of no reason why an NGP antenna would block RFI that a standard antenna would pick up. Improved electrical grounds and the use of ferrite chokes can really help as well, especially with modern vehicles and all their electronics.
The thing with amateur radio is "weird $hit" happens that shouldn't for no apparent reason, sometimes a setup just doesn't work well for one reason or another. Did you test SWR with the original antenna vs new antenna? Some antennas are bad (way out of tune with no easy way to fix) or otherwise defective, some people have better luck with one antenna vs another and someone with a similar setup may say the opposite.
Not trying to imply you're doing anything wrong, just perhaps unnecessary or won't fix a problem you're having, such as the galvanic corrosion from the improper mounting won't be fixed by adding bonding straps between the body and frame because that is electrical grounding and will do nothing to stop or prevent galvanic corrosion at the antenna mount, which is fixed by properly isolating the dissimilar metals from each other (again, see the Ford bulletin linked above about proper mounting of items to the aluminum body).
Advocate I
Then it should be working as a very good ground plane assuming the antenna is mounted on the roof, but you also didn't mention what band you're using, antenna length, etc. Don't think you'll find anyone that says Airstream and other metal-sided RVs cause problems or don't make a good ground plane.
Advocate III
- 5,584
- First Name
- Michael
- Last Name
- Rose
- Member #
-
20990
- Ham/GMRS Callsign
- W7FSB
- Service Branch
- US ARMY Retired
First “galvanic corrosion”... it wasn’t improperly installed, I would say improper mount used... I used chrome mount and the supplied screws... not realizing they weren’t stainless steel... problems started arising after the corrosion was present. By the time I figured it out, I had to patch my roof... after lots of thought, I ended up getting a NGP antenna so I could glue my mount to the patch. I think I made it sound like it was a ground plane issue when it’s not... if you go read back to the Ford document you linked, fasteners need to be aluminum or plastic... hence used a plastic boat mount and a NGP antenna because bonding the connector back to the roof was going to make matters worse.
next you mention power source... I’m running 8” of 4 gauge wire between my power supply and radio... and 12” of wire between power supply and battery. I’m running 12 turns of both the positive and negative wires through separate T240-43 toroid. 1/2” ground strap bonds my radios, atu, and power supply to a common ground bus. From the ground bus I am running 000 welding cable to a grounding Rod array of three 8’ grounding rods buried 6’ deep bonded with the same 1/2” grounding strap.
Now back to the RFI issue... it was a two fold broblem as well.. first the galvanic corrosion caused a bad grounding connection which made The antenna more susceptible to RFI interference... second problem was once the corrosion started it ate its way back along lines under the roof where the electrical wires and coax cables ran (probably more due to water leaking than due to electrical problems.
So my solution to all these problems was very simple... use a piece of plastic to isolate the antenna mount away from the aluminum, glue the plastic and rivet using aluminum buck rivets, and use a NGP J-pole antenna. All of this is documented very well in my hamshack thread.
btw... I must be doing something wrong... I made a 2 meter voice contact last week at 110 miles at 10 watts with a 5200 foot mountain between us.
