Permanet (sort of) VHF/UHF install in the 5th Wheel

[Radio]

Well, it's about time. I've had the trailer a year and the Kenwood TM-V7A has been laying around unused for even longer than that.

So while I was cleaning out the technology end of the man cave. I came across a nice little dual band mag-mount and the shoebox of TM-V7A stuff. Being nice weather outside and tired of cleaning the man cave, I thought I'd try installing the antenna at least.

So I stuck the antenna right on top of the pinbox, right over the pin. That should help hitching up too, right? Ran the cable up the face of the pinbox and through a little crack I found up there. Then using "C" clamps (that's what I always called them, anyway) ran the cable across the underside, down by the landing gear switch and into the battery vent. (My batteries are sealed so they don't really need a vent.) Note the drip loop!! Sliced into the vent hose, ran the cable through and taped over the slice really good with vinyl tape. Then found some plumbing and other stuff to secure to and almost reached the back of the entertainment center. Found a 15' length of coax and at first was peeved at wasting 8' of cable, but now I can disconnect at that point and run some other kind of fixed antenna, such as a beam, should I ever need to. (I do some ARES stuff. You never know.)

I took the telephone plate off the back of the little box in the entertainment center, ran the extra coax through there along with the power cable. Luck would have it I had a brand new Kenwood power cable laying around. Added more wire and went direct to the batteries. Used several ferrite cores as hash filters.

Plugged everything in, worked great! The radio's speaker sounded awful inside the cabinet so I added an MFJ outside the cabinet. Much better audio. (Also just laying around unused) Hung the mic on one of those "Command Hooks" by 3M, so I could change my mind.

Why didn't I do all this sooner?

The radio isn't mounted yet. It's just on rubber feet and anti skid mat. I'll think more about mounting later.

Enjoy the pics.