Amateur radio

[Bill Foster]

Hi Tikki

Yes these new Berlingos are well put together, I would like to pick up a 12v feed from the rear of the cigarette lighter for sat nav but think if I manage to get the panel off (invisible clips) it will rattle when I put it back assuming I don't break any of the clips! And as you say to get a feed from the battery via the bulkhead seems impossible without drilling more holes. I need to investigate further, not sure if there is a fuse box inside the cabin, if so that might be a possibility. I hope to mount an antenna on the roof rails and the transceiver Yaesu FT7900 on the shelf above the drivers seat, I think it will be easy to get cables into the headlining. Hopefully the RF will not cause problems with the cars electronic systems!! Let me know how you get on.

73 de 2E0ELT

Hi HI a litle qsb in the thread. I have mk3 and are about to mount a icom 2720 in my car. I have looked Around for holes to Get the power cable to the battery. When i find it i vill let You know how it went.

think i use a magnet antenna in the boot. Or use a duplexer on the original. More work. But better looking.

73's for now de LA2OTA.


Ps sorry for auto correct.

[Tikki]

Now i have mounted a yaesu ft-8900 with a glass antenna in the car.
I found a Hole in the torpedo well on the passenger side i run the power cable to the battery, and ground i found on a 10mm bolt just down with the left head lamp. Other ground wires is also on This bolt. The main radio unit is under the passenger seat. I Have a external speaker connected to the radio with 3.5 jack for better sound. The main unit i mounted in the slot under the cd player with a pice of 3m velcro. Looks good. I Made my own seperation cable form the main to the head unit with some cat cable. 8leads. I only needed 6 but no one had that. And 2 Pcs rj12 connectors (6p6c). The antenna is a 2m/70cm that is mounted on the Window behind the drivers door.

It all Runs Great with 50w. No interferance at all.

[Bill Foster]

Do you mean a CB radio?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

NO the man said Amateur Radio, totally different to CB. Radio Amateurs are required to undertake exams to prove their competency in the usage of AMATEUR RADIO equipment, they apply for a licence and are given a unique call sign.

Totally unlike CB operators....

---

Has anyone fitted a transceiver (2mtr/70cms) to a New Berlingo Multispace, there are warnings in the handbook but that seems to be the norm from all car manufacturers. Bill

Sorry Bill, can't help you on this issue, I have a Mk2 but not installed any kit in it. There are several other hams on the forum though so hopefully somebody will chip in and help......

73's de G7MMT

I can report that I have now fitted the transceiver to the Berlingo, main unit in the boot section, powered from a boot battery and rear power socket, antenna on the roof rails, (need to be careful entering car parks with height restriction), I picked up an earth for the antenna using the tie down loop in the boot, the screw goes into the chassis. The wire to the control unit runs behind the carpets and door rubbers and the head(control unit is mounted on a block off wood on the shelf above the drivers seat. The only holes drilled are for the loudspeaker which is on the centre box between the seats. It works very well with no problems so far encountered.

73 de Bill now M0KLK

[Mike]

I didn't realise you had done this Bill, it's certainly not obvious unless you've only done it recently.

Mike
73 de M0MFF

[ghost123uk]

Old thread, but same subject, so figure it's ok to keep going.

Thinking about fitting a set to mine, but discovered a slight issue. Mine has the fancy "Modutop" roof and I have just discovered that the panels in between the glass "skylights" are plastic, so most of the roof is either glass or plastic. This means that any antenna mounted up there will have little in the way of local groundplane  

I had considered putting a nice alloy "bar" widthways between the roof rails, so I could mount the antenna more centrally, but what with the glass / plastic below, the bar and the roof rails would behave as a tuned part of the "earthy" side of the system = not good for SWR or performance   

Mag mount at the rear of the roof, where at least it's metal? But not a lot of steel there either, so again, not only a poor groundplane, and no doubt it would be pretty directional too, with poor performance out from the rear of the car, and better going out front.

Ummmm...................

[nicko]

Hi John, I had this issue on another vehicle some years back, including RF getting back into car electronics down the feeder. I cured it by using a Half Wave loaded verticle mobile antenna for 2M / 70CMs. It dose not require the ground plane effect of the roof and together with a few ferrite rings, worked fine and cured the RFI !

Of course, cant remember the model of antenna but was bought from Martyn Lynch I think..

Havent got round to installing anything in my Berlingo as yet - hardest bit seems getting a 12 V run from vehicle battery..

73, Nick - G4JEI

[DrewKrewUK]

Old thread i know, but still valid and open...
I'm about to attempt to install either an Icom IC-208 or a Yaesu FT-8100 vhf/uhf dualbander in my 2004 Multispace.
I too have the weird roof.
The overhead plastic compartments are too high to still view the radio display so i'm not putting it there.
Other candidate areas are below the stereo, or on the drivers side fuse box cover (can replace easy so bolt holes no issue)
Power cable is the problem.
I've no clue where to run it through the bulkhead to get it direct to the battery.
I've got cable clutch and throttle so as a last resort there must be areas there that can be breached through.
These lads that run bass amps, they must have the same problem; needing to run hefty 13.8v red n black cable through to the battery.
I wonder if they've found an easy option?
My darn VW Beetle i had to dismantle half the dashboard to access a rubber boot where the ecu wiring ran. Nightmare job.
Hoping this won't be so hard!
I WILL find a solution and post my result lol!
Drew

[ghost123uk]

In the end I did find a good and fairly easy solution to wiring a heavy duty "spur" for any accessories, including my radio.

Before starting this, take the ignition key out, leave the drivers door open, and open the bonnet (I think that is the correct procedure) and wait about 15 minutes for the "computer" to go off. Then, and only then, disconnect the +ve connector on the battery !!

There is a main, permanently live, feed to the ignition switch that is pleasantly "heavy". If I recall correctly it is yellow, but I will check later today. It is fairly easily accessible. I scraped about 1/2" of the insulation off it and wrapped the bared end of some suitable red wire around the bared part of that main feed and thoroughly soldered it (you need a ~100W iron). I then fitted blade fuse holder close(ish) to this new join on my new red wire.

I then double coated the join with clear silicone sealer, molded to a neat shape with wettted fingers. The plastic trim by your left foot, by the footwell heater outlet, comes away easy enough, so I threaded the new wire behind that and through a small hole I made in the side of the "glove compartment" space below the radio. I also "tapped into" that new wire and fed the rest through the center console, exiting at the rear for other accessories I use.

I mounted my radio in that space, using a conventional bracket fastened to the "roof" of that space with sturdy self tappers.

IMPORTANT NOTE = the space between that "roof" area below the radio is tight and I'm not sure what electrics might be behind there, so, when drilling the pilot holes, I was VERY careful to not let the drill bit "run away" into the hole when it broke through!!! Then, one has to use those very short stubby self tappers so as to not have them "bottoming out" on whatever is behind the plastic. I used a non metallic pokey thing (off a WD40 can) to determine what space I had. This was back in December 2016 and the installation has been fine since then.

It only took me less than an hour from start to finish.

I have had no issues with RFI.

Hope that helps.

ps, Don't forget to re-connect your battery

[DrewKrewUK]

I mounted my radio in that space, using a conventional bracket fastened to the "roof" of that space with sturdy self tappers.

IMPORTANT NOTE = the space between that "roof" area below the radio is tight and I'm not sure what electrics might be behind there, so, when drilling the pilot holes, I was VERY careful to not let the drill bit "run away" into the hole when it broke through!!! Then, one has to use those very short stubby self tappers so as to not have them "bottoming out" on whatever is behind the plastic.

Thanks for your reply/update. 
Yes, i too was dubious about self tappers puncturing concealed wiring but was going to take a cautious approach. 
I'm definately going to fit it there although i prefer to hang the mics on the door so its reachable with my right hand but unless i extend the mic chord i may have to learn to use my left hand lol. 
Again, thankyou for your information. It's snowing today, on my day off, typically! but i shall re-read your notes whilst in the vehicle and hopefully you'll have saved me a lot of kerfuffle!
Many thanks!

[Jakejjt]

Late to this thread - I've used the unused heated seat feeds on my 63 plate XTR
1 for the 100W HF set and the other for the 2M -70cms and Buisness radio all ok of 2 years oremore.
you'll need a male 1/4 blade and suitable wires fuses ... the  fuse holders are under the fuse cover in the glove box there the 4 in a yellow surround only 2 fitted I'll post a pic any any want's to see
Aerails are mounted on the roof rails, I drilled and put caprive nuts in,earted them using the roof mounting bolt - good for 160M to 70cms.
cables brought in via the rear lights - you can hardly tell there there, keep them in place with some sticky cable bases.

jake g1yff