Radio installation help

Hey all,
I am wanting to put a ham radio on my vstar. I have been google'ing for a while and i cant seem to find much. I know what radio i want to put on it and i think i know how i am going to protect the remote head from weather. Only real thing i cant figure out is how i can get a mic/headphone system into my helmet. Can anybody point me in a direction? Thanks.

Last I knew,ham radio's required licenses. Does this mean you have a "ham" radio without a license or is it a "CB"? You might want to check with a large Honda dealer to see how they wire their Wings for communication via helmets connected to the bikes wiring.My old wing has factory wiring tied into the CB and stereo. I don't have a wiring diagram but you might google it and find one. Good luck!

yeah i have my ham license.

I've got one installed on my bike. Still kind of an ongoing thing, as I am still chasing down some "alternator noise". You might check this place out. They are the best I know of when it comes to putting radios on bikes. If you have a Goldwing, you are in luck.
Linky

There are a few around here with radios on our bikes.

You might also check out k0bg.com. His site is geared toward mobile HF rigs, but I have found a lot of his material applicable.

maddogg said:

yeah i have my ham license.

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what's your call sign?

D'artagnan said:

I've got one installed on my bike. Still kind of an ongoing thing, as I am still chasing down some "alternator noise". You might check this place out. They are the best I know of when it comes to putting radios on bikes. If you have a Goldwing, you are in luck.
Linky

There are a few around here with radios on our bikes.

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either a low pass or high pass filter depending on which end you want to wire on keeping in mind power requirements. Good luck!

wanabeguru said:

what's your call sign?

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lol sorry thought i threw that in here. KE5YOT is my call.

I was checking into installing a mobile on my ST1300, but wound up selling it before I got around to doing the install.

I'm not sure how exactly to make the connection between the mobile and a headset. My first guess would be a bike comm system then building a custom cable to connect the mic/PTT to the comm system.

I have a StarCom and have been very happy with it. I've hooked my VX-7R up through their cables for FRS radios and it works fine, but lacks the punch a full mobile rig would offer.
My bike (VFR800) lacks the alternator power and storage space to make a mobile install practical.
When I eventually pick up a larger bike, I'll seriously look into it again.

What rig are you looking at using?

Well I did install the Yaesu FT10R in/on my Kawi Vulcan 900. I have a 2m/440 antenna (standard car one) on a bracket at the sissy bar/rack at the back. I put the radio portion into the bag on the left, ran the control cable to the head on the handle bar (I also went to the left handlebar). I had to add more cable to get the distance from the bag to the handlebar, but I have been in minor downpours and all works well. I ran power straight (with fuses of course) from the battery (the 12v goes to the radio body and in the bag it stays dry), and antenna/coax to the mobile antenna, and on the road it gives me 25 or 50 watts out. I keep it at 25w so that I'm not putting RF into my back. I took a remote push to talk switch from one of the m/c radio sets, and added the plug to the end and have it by the hi beam on the left handle bar. The plug is a weird one and I had to go to a radio service company to get it. That's been 2 years ago, and I have forgotten just what the plug was. But the radio has a weatherproof head, and 2-440 and of course receives all over. And it comes with the blue tooth headset/mike set so I just put that into the helmet space by my ear and away we go. I did add a battery tender, as the radio has a small current draw esp when you plug the headset in to charge it on the remote head, and will run the battery down if you aren't on the bike for a week or so. The bluetooth is a bit bulky compared to ones for phones, but I made a space by the ear in the helmet and it fits fine. Of course you do get some wind noise, but .... hey, I'm on VHF/UHF and listening more than talking. Neat to do Sky Warn from 2 wheels. I may have already put the install info on here long ago.
Now if you are talking HF, that is a different story. The remote heads are not yet made to be waterproof, at least I haven't seen any advertised as such. The Yaesu VHF/UHF one is the only one I have seen made for motorcycle installs. And it is strong enough to match anything you can put in a car for VHF/UHF. I'd love to install an HF rig into whatever I get as the final touring bike, but they have waterproof areas already geared to put a radio into, in the fairing. The new Voyager 1600 has an alternator, versus stator like most have and that will provide more than enough power for a 100w HF rig. I am just below the limit on my stator when under full lights and working the radio, and the battery tender is needed when I get back to the house.
73 de WB5ZAM
Bill in San Angelo
Member of the Original Digital Group -.-

Good info! Thanks Bill.

By the way, I rode to Mt Lemmon yesterday in Tucson. Even at 9125' the towers are still 200' above that. It's not like they have any obstacles to clear at that elevation.

Not much room on a BMW 650GS for installing a radio. I thought about installing the unit in the top box, and running wires for mic and control head up to the handlebars. Just too many delicate wires to make me comfortable. The top case can't be mounted permanently, so I would be disconnecting/reconnecting the wires on a regular basis as the top case was removed/installed. I also learned form the MARC site they have had instances of control heads going dead from the vibration of bikes such as mine.

I ended up mounting the radio in a rather large tankbag. I put a shelf in the bag, and the radio hangs from the bottom of the shelf. I installed a cooling fan in the side of the bag. I now have about 2" in the top of the bag for stuff. Currently I can listen through my helmet headset. I will have the helmet mic hooked in soon. It took a bit of thinking on how to do this and keep the functionality of my Starcom unit. I've got a power cable coming into the bag, and an antenna wire coming out. All the delicate "telephone" wire is contained in the tank bag. A bulkhead 259 connector makes it all nice and portable.

The antenna wire goes back to the top case, and another 259 bulkhead connector. The antenna is mounted through the lid of the top case (pelican 1500 or 1550). I cut a sheet of aluminum to the dimension of the lid interior and for my ground plane. Works great.

My Elmer and I were worried about losses through the connectors, but an SWR meter shows about 60 watts going out with only about 2 watts in losses on VHF. UHF is not quite as good, 35 watts out and about 3 watts in losses. No problem hitting repeaters so I am calling it good.

Any photos of that install? It seems almost exactly what I was planning for my TransAlp. FT-7800R mounted inside a pelican topcase with an antenna mounted on top of the topcase.

EDIT: I had no idea there were this many hams on this site. 73's!

blugu64 said:

Any photos of that install? It seems almost exactly what I was planning for my TransAlp. FT-7800R mounted inside a pelican topcase with an antenna mounted on top of the topcase.

EDIT: I had no idea there were this many hams on this site. 73's!

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I can take a few, but only the antenna is mounted on the top case. Radio body is mounted in the tankbag, and the control head is mounted to the top (I inserted a stiffener in the tank bag top for this.) This keeps all the delicate parts enclosed within the tank bag, with only a robust antenna and power cable going back to the top box.

I will take a few pictures this week and post them for you.

Blugu, here are a few photos of the my radio installation.



Tank bag with radio on the bike. I cut up an old clip board and put it into the map pocket to stiffen it up, and bolted the Control Head mount to it. I installed a cooling fan and external speaker into the side of the bag. There is a DPDT switch right behind the control head right now it switches between helmet speakers and the external speaker. Later this fall, it will also switch between the hand mic and helmet mic. Antenna cable connection is to the right.



Inside the tank bag. My "crossover" box is near the top. I adapt all the Kenwood connectors to Starcom and phono connectors. Much easier than making cables. Kind of hidden to the left is a fuse box.



Underside of the platform in the tankbag. Radio body is mounted using a couple of pieces of aluminum angle.



Inside of top box showing ground plane and underside of Antenna mount.



Outside of topbox showing antenna and re-enforcing ring. Antenna is a comet HP-32. It was designed especially for motorcycles. It's not the highest gain antenna around, but it's very rugged.

Used Icom ic706 mII on my Moto Guzzi set up like cop radio using hand mic., Motorola spkr. worked fine..Now playing with same rig on FJR ,somewhat more complicated..

I think I saw a MFJ adv with a remote headset....Someone must make a bluetooth headset unit adapter...Ed N5BBC ham since 1957 73