Changes

This page details the installation of my Yaesu FT-7900R Dual Band (2m/70cm, 144MHz/430MHz), Mobile, Ham Radio in my 2012 (Gen2) Nissan Frontier Crew Cab. I wanted a clean, professional, looking install but I didn't want to make any permanent modifications to my vehicle. In doing this project I took advantage of my recent [[2012_Nissan_Frontier:_Strut_Channel_Install|DIY Utili-Track]].

#You want a really clean looking install and are willing to put in a bit of extra work

#You want to make, minimal, permanent modifications to the vehicle

**Misc.

***Factory Installed [http://www.nissanusa.com/innovations/utili-track.article.html Utili-Track™] or a [[2012_Nissan_Frontier:_Strut_Channel_Install|DIY Utili-Track]] solution.

***[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_tie Zip Ties]

***[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hex_key 1/8" Hex Key]

***Solder

****1x Custom Rocker of your choosing for your next accessory!

***[http://bluesea.com/products/5028 Blue Seas 6 Circuit ST Blade Fuse Block without Negative Bus (PN 5028)]

***I've been buying all my wire from the [http://stores.ebay.com/mycaraudioandmore My Car Audio and More eBay Store] and have really liked the price, product, and speed.

***~5' Red 10AWG Wire

***Soldering Iron

***Crimp Tool

***Wire Strippers

***Long, Skinny, Needle Nose Pliers

*If I had to do it all over again, I'd probably mount the Radio underneath the Driver's seat instead of underneath the Passenger's seat. This would make the antenna & power cable runs shorter. This would also put the speaker right below me. Currently it is to my right so my right ear picks up the sound more then my left which makes my head feel funny hehe. I'll probably move the radio some time. It won't be too much work.

*When moving the factory switches, located to the right & left of the driver's seat, only the Signal lines need be extended. I extended all 4 lines for each of the 3 switches (a total of 12). In each set of 4, there is 2 GND, 1 Signal, & 1 Dash Light 12V. I could have extended the 3 Signal lines and just reused existing GND, & Dash Light 12V.

==Directions==

===The Antenna Cable===

I decided to mount my Radio underneath the Front Passenger Seat. I plan on installing an [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_inverter#DC_power_source_utilization Inverter] in the future and want to put that under the Driver Seat to minimize the cable run (the primary entry point from the engine compartment is on the driver's side of the firewall) since the source cables for the Inverter will, likely, be the biggest cables I run in of my installs.

#Cut the NMO connector off of the RG-58 Cable. I don't have a photo of the freshly cut NMO Connector but the photo below shows it cut and desoldered.<br />[[File:Yaesu_Install_Antenna_Cable_0.jpg|400px]]

#Locate the entry point for the cabling underneath the Front Passenger Seat.<br />[[File:Yaesu_Install_Antenna_Cable_1.jpg|400px]]

#Insert the Antenna Cable NMO Connector through the bottom of the NMO mount and screw the top piece on. Make sure the cable is at the angle you want it. I chose to have it stick out toward the side of the truck.<br />[[File:Yaesu_Install_NMO_Mount_4.jpg|400px]]

#Once you've got it setup the way you want, it's time to weather proof. Remove the NMO Right Angle Bracket from the Strut Channel (but keep the Antenna Cable attached). Mount the entire thing in the vice setup you used for soldering.<br />[[File:Yaesu_Install_NMO_Mount_5.jpg|400px]]

#Put 1 last coat over the whole thing and work up the cable an inch or so (this is to provide some additional strain relief). Let it dry.<br />[[File:Yaesu_Install_NMO_Mount_8.jpg|400px]]

I, obviously, needed to provide power to my new Radio. The Radio comes with a long pigtail that has 2 fuses built into it. The simple thing would be to run those directly to the battery and be done with it... But I don't like to do things the simple way :) I had a couple requirements that drove me to do something a bit more complicated. 1.) I wanted a separate switch to provide power to the FT7900R (and possibly to other radios in the future). This basically requires a relay. 2.) I wanted to make it look nice. 3.) I wanted to make any future accessories I installed faster and easier. In the end I decided to build a Relay/Power Distribution plate that lives in the Engine Compartment. The best location I could find was on top of the bigger fuse/relay box on the passenger side near the firewall. This was a nice flat surface, wouldn't get too hot, and was in close proximity to the battery. The plate has 5 relays on it and 6 fused power paths (1 for switches, 5 to go with the relays). Presently I'm only using 1 out of the 5 channels. For your project, you may want to relocated 2 of the Lid Mount screws. I had to make a little cut to the Fuse Box to get everything to fit. It is detailed below. Ok, here we go.

#Now trace around all your components and mark off the mounting holes.<br />[[File:Yaesu_Install_Power_2.jpg|400px]]

#We now need to countersink all the holes since most of the screws will have components on top of the or need to be flush to not interfere with the top of the Lid. You need to make sure that you countersink the right side of each hole! The Barrier Strip needs to have the bottom of the hole countersunk. The Relays need to have the bottom of the hole countersunk. The Fuse Block needs to have 3 of it's holes (all but the one at the corner) countersunk from the bottom. The 3 mounting holes that mate with the lid that are not shared with the fuse block need to be countersunk from the TOP.<br />[[File:Yaesu_Install_Power_4.jpg|400px]][[File:Yaesu_Install_Power_5.jpg|400px]][[File:Yaesu_Install_Power_6.jpg|400px]]

#Now bolt the components to the top of the plate. Notice that the corner hole in the fuse block is left empty and that the bottom relay is tightened down, but twisted out of the way. This is too allow us to mount the entire thing to the lid. Now place the entire plate on the lid and put in the rest of the bolts.<br />[[File:Yaesu_Install_Power_7.jpg|400px]][[File:Yaesu_Install_Power_8.jpg|400px]]

#*The 3 Lid mount points that aren't shared with the Fuse Block use 8-32x3/4" Flat Head Screws with #8 Lock Washers & 8-32 Nuts.

#*The 1 hole shared by the Lid mount & the Fuse Block uses an 8-32x1.5" Pan Head Screw with a #8 Lock Washer & an 8-32 Nut.

#Now it's time to add the cabling. I'm not going to detail every single wire I ran but I will show you how I did it and give you a basic rundown. The relays I bought come with sockets and pre-built pigtails. It was necessary that I add length to each wire to accommodate my installation. I added about 2 feet to each wire, knowing i would trim them to length later. Note that I only used 4 wires per Relay because I didn't need anything connected when the Relay was in the "Normally Open" position.

##First strip the ends of the wires you are going to join. Then tin each exposed end. This is done by heating up the wire and applying solder to it. I recommend globing on as much solder as will comfortably go. This will make it easier to join the 2 wires in the next step.<br />[[File:Yaesu_Install_Power_12.jpg|266px]][[File:Yaesu_Install_Power_13.jpg|400px]]

#Once the wires have been cut to length, pins put on and installed into the connector, and spade lugs put on it is time to start zip tying everything into place. I like the stick on zip-tie anchors to keep everything tidy.<br />[[File:Yaesu_Install_Power_22.jpg|400px]][[File:Yaesu_Install_Power_23.jpg|400px]][[File:Yaesu_Install_Power_24.jpg|400px]]

#At this point the Power Distribution Plate is basically complete! Time to install it in the vehicle! Now, unfortunately, I spread my Lid mount screws to all 4 corners of the flat part of the Lid. The back 2 (closest to the firewall) interfere with the top of the Nissan Fuse Holder Assembly. I made a couple small cuts and that fixed it right up. You may consider moving the back 2 screws.<br />[[File:Yaesu_Install_Power_9.jpg|400px]][[File:Yaesu_Install_Power_10.jpg|400px]][[File:Yaesu_Install_Power_11.jpg|400px]][[File:Yaesu_Install_Power_27.jpg|400px]]

#Next lets take care of GND. Please remember that as you work on these electrical systems you should always disconnect Power from the vehicle. The simplest way to do this is to disconnect the big Black cable from the Negative terminal on the battery. Recall that GND on the Power Plate is all run to a Barrier Strip in the middle of the plate. Thus, we need to run a line from that Barrier Strip to Vehicle GND. I've read a lot of recommendations that GND be run to the chassis as close to the battery as possible (as opposed to the Chassis close to the Device or directly to the battery). This works for me since it is cleaner than trying to get right on the Negative Lug anyhow. I found a bolt on the Chassis right by the battery which is actually the prime point for the battery to GND the vehicle chassis. The extra blue spade lug in the photo below is return for the FT-7900R. The extra green lug is GND from the Battery.<br />[[File:Yaesu_Install_Power_28.jpg|400px]][[File:Yaesu_Install_Power_29.jpg|400px]]

#Finally it's time for Prime Power! We basically need to get power from the positive terminal of the Battery to the Common Post on the Fuse Block. While the Fuse Block provides a nice distribution and fusing solution for the electronics in the vehicle, I still didn't want an unfused line running from the battery to the Power Plate. So I built up an inline fuse cable to solve this. It was necessary to trip some of the insulation around the inline fuse cable because the gauge was too thick to fit in my crimp lug & crimp butt connector. I also had to cut a slot out of the factory Terminal Cover to fit my cable in.<br />[[File:Yaesu_Install_Power_30.jpg|400px]][[File:Yaesu_Install_Power_28.jpg|400px]][[File:Yaesu_Install_Power_31.jpg|400px]]

I decided to mount my Radio underneath the Passenger seat. After looking around under there it became clear that there wasn't a good way to mount the included bracket to anything structural. I took an idea from this [http://www.clubfrontier.org/forums/f23/inverter-under-my-front-seat-26274/ Under Seat Inverter Install] and decided to mount my Radio to a sheet of Lexan and place that underneath the seat. This has worked out well so far. The Radio doesn't move at all. Onto the install!

#Now flip the entire thing over and apply strips of Hook Side Velcro Tape. This will help keep the plate in position on the carpet. This is the only thing holding down the plate. It works surprisingly well.<br />[[File:Yaesu_Install_Radio_8.jpg|400px]]

#To install the completed Radio plate you're going to have to partially remove the cross bar the runs underneath the Passenger Seat. This is pretty easy with a 10mm Wrench.<br />[[File:Yaesu_Install_Radio_9.jpg|400px]][[File:Yaesu_Install_Radio_10.jpg|400px]]

It took me a while to decide where I wanted to mount the Face of the Radio. I rode around for a month or so with the face sitting in the tray underneath the center stack before I finally decided to undertake installing it into the center stack underneath the Stereo. When I decided to mount the Face underneath the Stereo I noticed that the single DIN gap underneath the Stereo was just about the perfect height to accommodate the Face. I thought that using the existing filler pocket might work although I knew it would take some fairly serious modification. After jumping on Amazon and seeing that I could buy a new Stereo kit with filler pocket for about $12 bucks (in case I ruined this one) I pressed on.

#Next I noted how far out the filler pocket sat and about how far out I wanted my radio Face. I put the Face (with mounting bracket) on top of the pocket and drew a rough outline of the material I'd need to remove. Then I pulled out one of my favorite tools (the Dremel!) and got to work.<br />[[File:Yaesu_Install_Face_3.jpg|400px]][[File:Yaesu_Install_Face_4.jpg|400px]][[File:Yaesu_Install_Face_5.jpg|400px]]

#After a lot of test fit, dremel, test fit, dremel, test fit, dremel I got to a point where the Face Assembly fit in fairly well. Once I was happy with it I cleaned up the edges with a Utility Knife, a couple Files, and some Sandpaper.<br />[[File:Yaesu_Install_Face_6.jpg|400px]][[File:Yaesu_Install_Face_7.jpg|400px]][[File:Yaesu_Install_Face_8.jpg|400px]]

#The next stage involved actually attaching the Face Mounting Bracket to the Filler Pocket. I considered a few, more elegant, options but finally settled on a good old block of wood! After all, this component would be hidden, and any other sort of mounting solution (plastic block, right angle bracket) would mean I'd have to wait to finish the project another time. Using a pair of calipers I measured the inside height of the pocket (Note that the pocket tapers toward the rear). The whole thing flexs a bit so extreme precision isn't necessary. I then eyeballed how wide I'd need it to be (ensuring that the finished product wouldn't block the hole where the data cable connects to the face) and drew it out on a spare 2x4 that was lying around. I cut it out with a Circular Saw & test fit it.<br />[[File:Yaesu_Install_Face_10.jpg|400px]][[File:Yaesu_Install_Face_11.jpg|400px]][[File:Yaesu_Install_Face_12.jpg|400px]][[File:Yaesu_Install_Face_13.jpg|400px]]

#The next step was to, very carefully, position the block of wood exactly where I wanted it to ensure that the Face was at the right depth and was level. Since the block was a tight fit, it basically stayed where it should. So I slid it in so that it was about 1/4" too far out. I then took the Face Plate Assembly and carefully, slowly, inserted it exactly how I wanted it, pushing the block to its correct position. I then carefully removed the Face Plate Assembly, flipped the Pocket over, and screwed a couple Pan Head Wood Screws in to keep the block in place. Next I screwed the Face Mount Bracket into place and, once again, test fit the entire thing.<br />[[File:Yaesu_Install_Face_14.jpg|400px]][[File:Yaesu_Install_Face_15.jpg|400px]][[File:Yaesu_Install_Face_16.jpg|400px]][[File:Yaesu_Install_Face_17.jpg|400px]]

#Using a Stepped Drill Bit I increased the diameter of one of the holes in the back of the Pocket enough so that I could fit the RJ11 connector, on the Interface Cable, through it.<br />[[File:Yaesu_Install_Face_18.jpg|400px]]