Here's some pics of what I have in my beater:
SInce any radio is worthless without a good antenna we'll start there. Here's a pic of my antennas. The tall one is a mag mount Wilson 1000 for the CB, while the other one is a Radiall/Larsen 2/70 dual band NMO mount for the 2 meter and 70cm ham bands:
The Wilson isn't normally mounted. I usually keep it stowed in the truck and I will stick it on for trail runs or road trips. I also have a Radiall/Larsen 5/8 wave NMO mount 2 meter antenna that I keep in the truck in case I am somewhere really remote and I need more gain than the dual bander can provide. It is nearly as tall as my Wilson 1000:
Here's a pic of the CB. It's a Radio Shack TRC-485. If you look at the pics of Pauly's Magnum 257 and ProStar 400 you will notice they are nearly identical looking. All are built on the same chassis. I like the front panel on the TRC-485 and the fact that it has a frequency display. It also has a good receiver front end
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Here's a pic of the old Sony deck that the PO had put in. You can see the display of the TRC-485 better in this pic. And no, I don't use the cassette player. Fortunately the deck also controls a CD changer, which is mounted in the center console
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Most of my in-truck blabbing is done on euther 2 meters or 70cm. Here is the radio I use for that. It's an Icom 2720H dual band radio, and it can simultaneously monitor 2 frequencies on either band. It also has a built in duplexer and can operate as a crossband repeater. This is actually just the radio's face, which is mounted above my sun visor:
The main part of the radio is mounted under my seat. This radio is expressly designed for remote mounting. There is no provisions for mounting it as a single unit unless an accessory bracket for that purpose is purchased:
The entire enclosure is cast aluminum with fins on the back and a fan that operates when transmitting. Power output is 50 watts on 2 meters and 35 watts on 70cm. You can also run at reduced power (15 or 5 watts) on either mode independently, which I usually do since I can easily hit any repeater I want to with 5 watts:
The Icom has a built in speaker, but you can't hear it too well when it is mounted under the seat. The Cobra speaker mounted to the right of my CB is connected to teh Icom, and it has PLENTY of volume. A seperate speaker wasn't needed for the TRC-485 since it's internal speaker isn't blocked by anything and is pretty loud when cranked up. The mics for both radios are mounted to my center console where I don't have to reach to grab either one:
Here's a view from the brake pedal:
The Icom HM-133 mic is mounted low enough that direct sunlight will never hit it. This is important in Arizona
. I originally had it plugged into the remote head, but the dangling cord was irritating. Fortunately there is another mic jack on the main radio body, so I could mount it out of the way and the cord isn't a distraction. The next thing to get is a mobile HF rig and I will be set
EDIT: Oops, I forgot the Yaesu FT-60 dual band (2m/70cm) HT that I usually carry with me in the truck as well:
You never know when you might need to go "really mobile"
