Results 1 to 5 of 5

Thread: Installation of a UHF Radio

  1. #1
    Lambys Guest

    Installation of a UHF Radio

    Hi All,

    I have a new Land Rover Defender 2021. I plan to install a UHF radio for my trip around Australia. Has anyone installed a UHF radio in a new Land Rover? Is it straight forward? Where is the best place to position the aerial on the vehicle?
    Thanks.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2017
    Location
    Brisbane
    Posts
    392
    Total Downloaded
    0
    Quote Originally Posted by Lambys View Post
    Has anyone installed a UHF radio in a new Land Rover?
    Yep!

    Is it straight forward?
    Nope!

    Where is the best place to position the aerial on the vehicle?
    That depends. If you have the LR bull bar, then grab a Stedi light mount and you can *just* fit the antenna inboard of the left headlight, a few mm clear of the front-most corner of the bonnet as it opens. The only other options I've seen are a custom-made mount that went on the rear corner of the bonnet near the windscreen, or up on a roof rack.

    For the UHF unit itself there's apparently a decent void buried two layers down behind the central button panel, and you can route the antenna coax via the existing cable tunnel through the firewall into the engine bay. The handset socket can be installed on the rear-facing panel below the 12V outlet that sits under the button panel. It's very tidy.

    My mate in Melbourne was the pioneer here with a GME 330 installed by an ARB and he reports great success. I bought an Oricom online and got a local ARB to replicate the same install... and it's not turned out well. If the car's electric systems are active (dash on, Pivi on etc) then there's a huge amount of noise picked up by the Oricom and cutting over the top of every transmission it receives, even with the squelch turned way up. Press the Start/stop button to kill the electrics and it all comes clear. (Got the radio wired with permanent 12V so it doesn't turn off with the dash – I'd recommend you don't rely on the "accessory" power because the damn modern vehicle kills that a few minutes after you turn the engine off. Both the units mentioned here have an auto-off timer so they'll avoid draining the starter battery if we forget to switch the radio off after stopping.)

    ARB reckons it's just poor quality on the Oricom side of things. They're going to swap a GME into the same spot using the same power and antenna and see if it fares better. If it does, I'm paying for all the repeat labour as well as another radio. But honestly that's probably the best outcome I can hope for.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2021
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
    27
    Total Downloaded
    0
    Spotted this on a search of something else and the link takes you to another forum but shows how a guy in the USA installed his radio. Super neat and he explains where all the cables run. I do like the small 3+db aerial but don't have enough experience to know if this will provide a massive range increase as height was always what I expected was required, hence the roof type mounts and small aerials.

    GMRS radio installation - Land Rover Forums - Land Rover Enthusiast Forum

    He also said the hood lip antenna mount and ghost antenna are all Midland parts available at midlandusa.com . I did not follow this just providing the information.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Sydney's gritty inner west (2204) and verdant Mount Wilson
    Posts
    7,372
    Total Downloaded
    0
    Quote Originally Posted by Sweetpea View Post
    Spotted this on a search of something else and the link takes you to another forum but shows how a guy in the USA installed his radio. Super neat and he explains where all the cables run. I do like the small 3+db aerial but don't have enough experience to know if this will provide a massive range increase as height was always what I expected was required, hence the roof type mounts and small aerials.

    GMRS radio installation - Land Rover Forums - Land Rover Enthusiast Forum

    He also said the hood lip antenna mount and ghost antenna are all Midland parts available at midlandusa.com . I did not follow this just providing the information.
    Here is an explanation of the characterstics of various antenna gains:

    Understanding Antenna Gain and dBi - GME

    3 db is good in hilly country but doesn't have the range that a longer antenna with higher gain has in flat country.
    Last edited by one_iota; 30th July 2021 at 08:04 AM.
    Mahn England

    DEFENDER 110 D300 SE '23 (the S M E G)

    DEFENDER 110 wagon '08 (the Kelvinator)
    http://www.aulro.com/afvb/members-ri...elvinator.html

    Ex 300Tdi Disco:


  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    NSW SW Slopes
    Posts
    11,475
    Total Downloaded
    0
    Quote Originally Posted by TB View Post
    If the car's electric systems are active (dash on, Pivi on etc) then there's a huge amount of noise picked up by the Oricom and cutting over the top of every transmission it receives, even with the squelch turned way up. Press the Start/stop button to kill the electrics and it all comes clear.
    First step would be to loop the radio's power and earth cables through an RF choke a couple of times close to the radio if one isn't already fitted. Also fit clip-on RF chokes to each end of the head unit cable if the radio has a remote head.
    MY12 RRV 4.4 TDV8 AB, +LLAMS, +e-diff, +ACC stop/go. Produce LLAMS for LR/RR, Jeep GC/Dodge Ram
    VK2HFG and APRS W1 digi

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Search AULRO.com ONLY!
Search All the Web!