Yaesu FTM-400XDR Car Install

When I was looking for a radio for the car, I specifically wanted a remote head. I didn't want to be fitting the radio in the cabin. I like the free space that I have, and the usual spots like under the seats are already covered with wiring and sensors.

My car has a battery box in the boot; something from its former life, complete with a feed back to the battery. The battery box seems as good as any to give it power. I'll put a deep cycle in the box (what it's intended for), and that should help carry the bulk of the drag. 

 

It's also a great spot to mount the radio on top of. Easily serviceable, and out of my way. 

I had a Diamond Super Gainer SG7200 floating around - purchased a few years ago when I was first interested in the hobby. It had a mount designed to sit on the side of my boot lid... in the very narrow spot just before the spoiler that would still allow me to open the boot up. 

Diamond K400 mount with the SG7200. Just clears the spoiler, and I can open the boot with the tip just touching the side of the roof above the rear passenger door

 The install is pretty straight forward, though required some extra purchases:
- A 4P4C cable (5m). This is effectively just a phone cable, and drives the remote head. 

- A 6P6C cable (5m) and a matching coupler. This is for the microphone. I went with a outdoor rated cable for this one. It's routed under my seat where it may get kicked by the kids, pushed by wandering floor mats and deal with the other wiring under there, so it seemed appropriate to use a slightly more durable cable. 

Coupler joining the 6P6C cable is down the side of the seat near the base of the handbrake. You can't see it, but it's easy to get to!

 All up, these cables cost less than a longer Yaesu separation cable. I would have just as easily run CAT5 for the lot, but I wanted to keep the terminations clean. 

- Diamond P710 speaker - 3w 8Ohm speaker. This wound up sitting in the bottom of the centre console in the dash without its bracket. It fits well enough, it's centrally located, and it was easy to route the wiring.

 

- Headphone extension cable - something I happened to have in my junk box. 

The remote head is currently mounted on a suction cup phone holder I've had for years. It's down low where I can actually reach it. I did order the Yaesu MMB-98, which is currently on back order. I'm not sure I'll use it - it'll keep the head close to the glass. Down low it's too far away to make it usable, or in my line of sight when it's up high.  I don't have a flat enough spot on my dash to get a suction cup to mount to either!

 

The upside to the way its mounted is that it's easy to remove. Just unplug and go. Not a bad idea if I have to leave the car somewhere for any extended period of time that could result in someone deciding to relieve me of it. The downside is that suction cups can fall off, and this one is no exception. So far it's survived sealed roads. If I was going off road, it would need a solid mount.

Overall the install only added 1 hole into the car, and that was into the battery box. Everything else has been routed around to avoid it. The antenna goes through a pre-existing hole in a gland that the wiring for the brake lights in the spoiler pass through. The car had two radio antenna installed so, I just routed the cable the same way.