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Is there an easy way
to install a YAESU FT-90 into a Chevy S-10?
No, but there's a
better way!
Click on any picture
to see an uncompressed view.
  This
is my Indigo Blue Metallic 1999 Chevrolet S-10 Extended Cab pickup truck
(no, the one on the right). The first thing I needed to do after I bought this
truck was to install a mobile two-way radio. Since I already own a
YAESU FT-50 handheld, I decided to purchase its bigger brother, the YAESU
FT-90R dual band mobile radio and optional remote mounting kit. By
the way, the microphone shown in the picture SHOULD have a numeric
keypad. Mine does!
After seeing the radio and the mounting kit, I knew early
on that I wanted to mount the radio itself under the driver's seat and
mount the control head somewhere near the rear-view mirror for easy access
and visibility.
Unless otherwise noted, all wiring is tucked neatly away
underneath the carpeting where a person would not normally step or
underneath the molding (which easily pops off to route wires
underneath). Wiring underneath the molding must be checked to see
that it's not being pinched.
The installation is broken down into sections:
Power, Radio, Control Head, Antenna, Speaker and Microphone. |
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Power
  First,
I had to decide how to get 12 volts DC into the cab of the truck without
having to mess with the fuse box or having to steal power on a
low-amperage circuit designed for an accessory.
I decided to tap directly onto the battery's positive and negative
terminals using stranded 12 gauge wire in hopes of having a most-direct
route to the battery. This was done in hopes of keeping alternator
whine out of the radio. All crimped connections were soldered.
These extended battery lugs were available at AutoZone for a few bucks a
piece. There are also 20-amp fuses on BOTH positive and negative
leads about 6 inches away from the battery.
 The
conductors enter the cab through the firewall. The easiest way bring
them in was to drill two small new holes through the rubber firewall
grommet already in place for the stereo's antenna lead.
Since the initial installation, a noise filter was added on the
positive and negative leads under the hood to reduce ignition noise on
both the received and transmitted audio (not shown). |
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Radio
As I mentioned early on, I decided mount the radio itself under the
driver's seat. The radio is only visible from the outside of the
truck if you are sitting on the ground, otherwise it's hidden away
nicely. I had to cut a small hole in the carpet underneath the seat
to allow for the power cable, antenna coax, speaker audio and microphone
extension to come through. All of the wires are routed underneath
molding (check for pinching) or underneath the carpet in places were a
person would not normally step or rest feet.
 
It is hard to tell here, but the mounting bracket is attached to the
underside of the seat's frame with sheet metal screws. This baby
isn't going anywhere. Also, make sure that the wires are routed with
some kind of cable management system so that they move freely and are out-of-the-way as the driver moves the seat up and back without being
pulled or pinched.
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Control Head
 In
these pictures, the rear view mirror has been removed.
As I mentioned earlier, I wanted to mount the control head somewhere
that it could be easily operated and seen by just a glance. Since the
control head is so small and has a fully-dimmable display, I chose to mount it
in the same fashion as a rear-view mirror would be mounted. I purchased a replacement
rear-view mirror mount from Pep Boys for four bucks to use here.
The mouting bracket comes as shown below with a threaded shaft for
connecting a mirror, or better yet, a control head with the addition of a few nuts and
washers.
 Since
the control head is so small, it is able to fit between the roof of the
truck and the top of the rear view mirror. Yes, it fits between the
roof and the mirror!
As a bonus, the control head can be positioned so that the driver,
passenger, or both have a head-on view of what's being thrashed, errr,
tuned.
The cable from the radio to the control head was routed underneath the
headboard and underneath various moldings to the underside of the driver's
seat.
 Get
out the drill because a hole will need to be drilled through the center of
the metal mounting bracket that attaches to the back of the control
head. Make sure that you place it flat on a piece of wood when
drilling so that it doesn't bend up when you drill your hole. Of
course, the hole needs to have a diameter just greater than the diameter
of the threaded shaft on the mirror mount.
A quick trip to Home Depot will yield a bag of nuts and and a bag of
washers that will hold the mounting bracket firmly onto the shaft of the
mirror mount.
Home Depot is great for all kinds of stuff -- Even if it's not for your
home!
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Antenna
  For
this installation, I chose to use Larsen's commercial-grade 150 MHz and
450 MHz dual-band NMO-mount antenna. This was easy to mount using a
hole saw (Thank you Kevin for drilling for me as I would have felt bad if
I made a mistake). Once the hole was made, the coax and NMO was just pushed
from between the headboard and roof from the driver's door area to the
hole.
The larger black antenna in back of the NMO-mount antenna is a
magnetic-mount XM Radio antenna for receiving 100 channels of subscription
radio from two satellites, Rock and Roll, from 23,500 miles above the
earth.
 WARNING:
Before drilling any hole through the roof of your vehicle, make sure that
there is nothing underneath the roof such as a roll bar. There is a
roll bar that I had to avoid that runs underneath the roof, across the
truck from side to side, just about a quarter-inch in front of where I have my antenna now.
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Speaker and Microphone
  One
of the disappointments of the FT-90 is the lack of audio power from the
radio. The built-in speaker just doesn't cut it. I can't hear
it if my truck is running.
The answer to this problem is a great little amplified speaker from
Radio Shack that plugs right into the Speaker Out jack on the radio.
It runs on 12 volts, which I got from the same lines that run power to the
radio. I used a pair of power connectors so that the speaker could
be removed from the vehicle easily. The built-in speaker amplifier
turns itself on when it detects audio, otherwise it turns off after a few
minutes of not hearing anything.
 I
decided to mount the speaker out of the way on the transmission
hump. It mounted easily with just a few holes drilled through the
plastic that covers the truck's main computer. Make sure that piece
of plastic is removed before drilling, otherwise you might just drill
through the computer! Also, the screws that came with the speaker
for mounting needed to be shortened so they won't touch the computer
module behind the plastic.
The remote kit for the microphone is nothing more than a telephone cord
extension.
  I
found that the microphone hanger fit perfectly between the amplified
speaker and its bracket, so I put it there and tightened it down.
Works great and makes the microphone handy, too!
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Summary and Thoughts
It has been suggested that I purchase another radio front and mount it
to the mirror mount. Then, the radio's face would be removable from
the mirror mount to deter theft. UPDATE: This has been done
successfully by my cousin, Kevin.
 This
installation is beneficial because:
 | The user's eyes are still near the road while glancing at the
display (which is completely dimmable for night-time driving). |
| The microphone is easily reachable without losing sight of the
road. |
| The radio's volume can be turned up and amplified by the
external speaker so that it can be heard from several hundred
feet away, if necessary. |
| The control head is very hard to see from outside of the
vehicle if it is mounted between the mirror and the roof of the
vehicle. A person would most likely only see the speaker
and the microphone, but not the radio or control head. |
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If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me.
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