Mounting a radio to the slide front

[Gary Harrison]

Hi all (and especially any ham radio folks out there),

I'm installing a ham radio in my Imagine 17 MKE and I'm trying to keep clutter to a minimum. What would work perfectly is to found the radio to the facia board on the slide (the finished wood piece). I don't know what I'm drilling into and I'm wondering of simple wood screws would hold the bracket for a five pound radio (A Yaesu FT-981 body for you hams). Anyone have any experience mounting things to that wood?

Thanks!

Gary Harrison W9CPY

[traveldawg]

Pictures or drawings of the mount and mount point(s) would be helpful. I'll guess that trim is similar to most models with slide outs. I wouldn't be surprised if it is MDF as are most other woods in these rigs.

While 5 pounds isn't a lot, it is a lot to be hanging off that trim I think. So maybe some support under the mount might help too.

That trim is about the last thing added to the slides once they are installed. They are stout enough to put a strain on the slides so they know when to stop (at least the Schwintek slides). So maybe investigate is there is some metal you can get into without messing up the whole slide out operation.

[Gary Harrison]

Thanks Traveldawg (and all),

Found an alternative way to mount it in a cabinet. No clutter and no risking the trim (and for my wife’s benefit, no visible holes!).

Gary W9CPY

[MoonShadow_1911]

Thanks Traveldawg (and all),

Found an alternative way to mount it in a cabinet. No clutter and no risking the trim (and for my wife’s benefit, no visible holes!).

Gary W9CPY

Pictures, or it didn't happen!

[Gary Harrison]

Pictures, or it didn't happen!

Will do when finished :-)

[Gary Harrison]

Pictures, or it didn't happen!

Here's the almost finished pictures (still need to run a grounding line and add a couple of mic hangers). The control head is in the cup holder, the radio is in the cabinet on top of a three drawer storage area. I usually kept all the radio gear in there anyway, but now I get some space back in the form of the drawers. This way, the top of the RV cabinet is left uncluttered and useable. I'm including a pix of my dual band install as well. Don't know why I did't think of this sooner.

Can't wait to get on the road this weekend and try it out for real.

Thanks all,

Gary W9CPY

[Gary Harrison]

Pictures, or it didn't happen!

Here's the almost finished pictures (still need to run a grounding line and add a couple of mic hangers). The control head is in the cup holder, the radio is in the cabinet on top of a three drawer storage area. I can work 75 m from the comfort of my recliner! I usually kept all the radio gear in there anyway, but now I get some space back in the form of the drawers. This way, the top of the RV cabinet is left uncluttered and useable. I'm including a pix of my dual band install as well. Don't know why I did't think of this sooner.

Can't wait to get on the road this weekend and try it out for real.

Thanks all,

Gary W9CPY

[MoonShadow_1911]

Here's the almost finished pictures (still need to run a grounding line and add a couple of mic hangers). The control head is in the cup holder, the radio is in the cabinet on top of a three drawer storage area. I can work 75 m from the comfort of my recliner! I usually kept all the radio gear in there anyway, but now I get some space back in the form of the drawers. This way, the top of the RV cabinet is left uncluttered and useable. I'm including a pix of my dual band install as well. Don't know why I did't think of this sooner.

Can't wait to get on the road this weekend and try it out for real.

Thanks all,

Gary W9CPY

Very nice install! I'm working on getting my tech license, eventually. Just can't send to find the time to make sure I've got the majority of the stuff down that I need to know.

[traveldawg]

Breaker-breaker good buddy. Oh wait!!!!!! This isn't CB. And does anyone ever even say that on the CB anymore?

CQ-CQ this is W9CPY in his arm chair covering the world on HF bands.

haha- nice set up. I'm guessing there is a pair of headphones hidden in there someplace too.

Thanks for the photos. 73s..... from KE4DMG

[MoonShadow_1911]

Breaker-breaker good buddy. Oh wait!!!!!! This isn't CB. And does anyone ever even say that on the CB anymore?

QC-QC this is W9CPY in his arm chair covering the world on HF bands.

haha- nice set up. I'm guessing there is a pair of headphones hidden in there someplace too.

Thanks for the photos. 73s..... from KE4DMG

Lol... Isn't it CQ? Or are you just messing with those that don't know?