Best Two-Way Radio / Setup

[TheLegend]

My bad, definitely Starlink

Yeah I’ve looked into that before and it’s a very fascinating technology and will only get better with time. In conjunction with the Space-X program it’s limitless to what it can do for years to come. Do you know how he has it set up in his work truck? I know the mobile ones have a power supply, router, and a “dish” that is a 22” square by like 2” depth. The router isn’t very big neither is the power supply so I think it’d be fairly easy to hook up just placement of the dish and Mount in our trucks would be the challenging part because it has to have a very wide degree of view. Their coverage map also is heavily favored in the West Coast and parts of Midwest & Southwest but hardly any coverage in Southeast and Northeast (yet). I’ll definitely have to follow this though.

 

[John Jensen]

Yeah I’ve looked into that before and it’s a very fascinating technology and will only get better with time. In conjunction with the Space-X program it’s limitless to what it can do for years to come. Do you know how he has it set up in his work truck? I know the mobile ones have a power supply, router, and a “dish” that is a 22” square by like 2” depth. The router isn’t very big neither is the power supply so I think it’d be fairly easy to hook up just placement of the dish and Mount in our trucks would be the challenging part because it has to have a very wide degree of view. Their coverage map also is heavily favored in the West Coast and parts of Midwest & Southwest but hardly any coverage in Southeast and Northeast (yet). I’ll definitely have to follow this though.

Here's what he posted to a friend.

"I'll be putting the SXS's router and power inverter into an old Dewalt case. I hogged it out (since it had all kinds of plastic standoffs for a drill and battery charger) and will back it with plywood for mounting the items. Plus maybe some foam or rubber standoffs for vibration.
This case, will secure to my toolbox in the bed of the SXS, and be powered directly from the battery. But because it's not water/dust tight, I'm actively looking for a similar sized case.
I'll make a smaller one for the Excursion (Chase-1) Starlink setup, that only contains the router and the long cord. To keep it more compact and easier to manage. The Excursion Starlink will run off a Yeti Goal Zero inverter (will run Starlink on it's own charge for 70hrs - but will be plugged into 12V to charge so we never need to power it down)"

He put magnets on the bottom of the aluminum antenna frame he built. He's only testing the performance with his work truck. He tried on the dash, on the cab top, and on the hood so far. Inside it did have some fade-outs under bridges, on the cab his lumber rack interfered when satellites were to the rear, on the hood it's perfect.

By the time they get service in your area, they'll probably have a portable half the size with a micro-sized router that will run on a AAA battery

 

[TheLegend]

Here's what he posted to a friend.

"I'll be putting the SXS's router and power inverter into an old Dewalt case. I hogged it out (since it had all kinds of plastic standoffs for a drill and battery charger) and will back it with plywood for mounting the items. Plus maybe some foam or rubber standoffs for vibration.
This case, will secure to my toolbox in the bed of the SXS, and be powered directly from the battery. But because it's not water/dust tight, I'm actively looking for a similar sized case.
I'll make a smaller one for the Excursion (Chase-1) Starlink setup, that only contains the router and the long cord. To keep it more compact and easier to manage. The Excursion Starlink will run off a Yeti Goal Zero inverter (will run Starlink on it's own charge for 70hrs - but will be plugged into 12V to charge so we never need to power it down)"

He put magnets on the bottom of the aluminum antenna frame he built. He's only testing the performance with his work truck. He tried on the dash, on the cab top, and on the hood so far. Inside it did have some fade-outs under bridges, on the cab his lumber rack interfered when satellites were to the rear, on the hood it's perfect.

By the time they get service in your area, they'll probably have a portable half the size with a micro-sized router that will run on a AAA battery

That would be ideal for sure and good information to know thank you for the detailed post. I’ll keep an eye out for future advancements and coverage in my area thanks again for the information!

 

[boogielander]

iCom IC-2730A is what I have installed.
As you already know, I have dedicated power and ground ran into to the cab and hooked up to a blue-sea fuse block with ground to power various things, including the iCom.
I then ran the antenna out to the SDHQ ditch light bracket, and used Rago Fabrication HAM antenna mount that I took off from my 4Runner. Works like a charm. Yes the antenna does get bendy but after 2 years of driving various distances and speed and sending it in the desert the antenna and antenna mount both held up just fine. Did not get loose or bent at all.

I use ICS Dash Mount and drilled a hole on the dash (under the rubber tray, which you will not need with dash mount) to run the display panel cable, and mount the display panel on the ICS. I took off the head unit to run the display cable, hid the wire under the floor console/ storage, and hid the wires under the all weather floor mat since hiding it under the carpet was pain in the butt. Also the OE all weather floormat hides the cables pretty well.
I run the speaker for the iCom on the passenger side of floor console using a 3.5mm headphone extension, and put the mic on the driver side of floor console by my leg with a 6ft CAT-6 LAN cable extension. I routed the 3.5mm extension under the floor console, and the CAT-6 under driver seat. Everything is hidden.
For the brain of the radio, I made a custom mount and wedged it under rear driver seat. That houses the fuse block, the HAM radio unit, and Victron DC-DC charge controller. I used a velcro to attach the HAM unit to the mount. When I put the seat down, everything is covered up nicely.

8gauge power and ground, antenna cable (on the right), Switch-Pro cable (using cable loom)


Blue Sea fuse block with ground and HAM radio unit (circa 11/28/2023 when I didn't have much installed)


Put the seat down and everything is hidden, wires and cables under the floormat


ICS Dash Mount, Ram Mount, Ram Ball, and HAM radio display with cable plugged in


Headunit was removed to run display cable. Plenty of room there.


From driver side


SDHQ Ditch Light Bracket (thick and sturdy), BD Squadron Sport, Rago Ham Mount, and Tram 1180 Antenna

 

[TheLegend]

iCom IC-2730A is what I have installed.
As you already know, I have dedicated power and ground ran into to the cab and hooked up to a blue-sea fuse block with ground to power various things, including the iCom.
I then ran the antenna out to the SDHQ ditch light bracket, and used Rago Fabrication HAM antenna mount that I took off from my 4Runner. Works like a charm. Yes the antenna does get bendy but after 2 years of driving various distances and speed and sending it in the desert the antenna and antenna mount both held up just fine. Did not get loose or bent at all.

I use ICS Dash Mount and drilled a hole on the dash (under the rubber tray, which you will not need with dash mount) to run the display panel cable, and mount the display panel on the ICS. I took off the head unit to run the display cable, hid the wire under the floor console/ storage, and hid the wires under the all weather floor mat since hiding it under the carpet was pain in the butt. Also the OE all weather floormat hides the cables pretty well.
I run the speaker for the iCom on the passenger side of floor console using a 3.5mm headphone extension, and put the mic on the driver side of floor console by my leg with a 6ft CAT-6 LAN cable extension. I routed the 3.5mm extension under the floor console, and the CAT-6 under driver seat. Everything is hidden.
For the brain of the radio, I made a custom mount and wedged it under rear driver seat. That houses the fuse block, the HAM radio unit, and Victron DC-DC charge controller. I used a velcro to attach the HAM unit to the mount. When I put the seat down, everything is covered up nicely.
View attachment 157706
8gauge power and ground, antenna cable (on the right), Switch-Pro cable (using cable loom)

View attachment 157707
Blue Sea fuse block with ground and HAM radio unit (circa 11/28/2023 when I didn't have much installed)

View attachment 157708
Put the seat down and everything is hidden, wires and cables under the floormat

View attachment 157709
ICS Dash Mount, Ram Mount, Ram Ball, and HAM radio display with cable plugged in

View attachment 157710
Headunit was removed to run display cable. Plenty of room there.

View attachment 157711
From driver side

View attachment 157712
SDHQ Ditch Light Bracket (thick and sturdy), BD Squadron Sport, Rago Ham Mount, and Tram 1180 Antenna

Always appreciate your setups you are very meticulous and do it the best way possible. Gave me a lot of good ideas with this see where it goes thanks man!