2 Way Radio Install, FRS or Ham or CB

In my humble opinion having gone the inexpensive (read cheap) route and found less than stellar results, the only real way of gettting a fully functioning communications system is to use Bluetooth. A wired helmet is a PITA as well as being stuck in the 1970's.
I chose to use Sena products and am very glad I did. I use a Sena SMH10R bluetooth headset and intercom that's installed into my helmet. It's an easy install. There are You tube videos on it. The main component is only 3/8" x 1" x 2.5" and mounts to the outside of the hemet. The battery mounts to the rear of the helmet. Everything else is hidden inside. The Sena SR10 is the radio interface. It comes with a PTT button that wraps around the handlebar for easy reach. They are both much more money that I planned to spend but if you wanna play, ya gotta pay. The big benefit of the 10R is that it functions as a full duplex (like a phone converstion) intercom with another unit, that would be my wife on her 1200 Sportster.
   
I'm using a cheapo Baofeng UV5R mounted to the clutch resevor via a Ram brand mount system. Black tie wraps hold the radio in place. Everything comes off the bike in seconds when parked. The SR10 as well as the 10R have internal batteries that run like an Energizer bunny. The only EXTRA needed is the radio specific interface cable.
 
The cheap Baofeng could be programmed for UHF FRS channels or any VHF "color dot" itinerant frequeny. I'm using a Radio Shack TRC-226 walkie talkie for CB. I found a pair of them on Ebay for $20 shipped! It's removable battery base cuts its size in half. Because the ST1300 makes for a very small counterpoise ( small hunk of real metal), getting a base loaded antenna to is SWR match is damn near impossible. I purchased a Browning BR-140 antenna that mated to the installed NMO bracket on the bike. I tried as many tricks as I could but never got the antenna to match to the radio properly. From what I have read using a Firestik 3' 5/8 wave antenna may be a better choice for matching SWR. My issue is that the aluminum bracket I installed will not take the strain of a 1/2" fiberglass antenna swinging in the wind. So I just deal with the bad match and run the CB on low power. It's worked so far to get comms to other riders on CBs so I'm good. I can swap from CB to FRS / Ham in about 3 minutes.
Battery power for any radio is a bad idea, full power can kill the thing easily. If you are just using it to yak to a buddy during a ride, I'm sure it would be fine. I'm a ham so we all know what that means. I purchased a cheap battery eliminator for the UV5R and found that internally it was nothing more than a 8 volt three terminal 1amp regulator (LM7808) on a tiny heat sink. That was rebuilt using a LM350 3 amp regulator. The idea of using that tiny heatsink was a bad one. I found a larger hunk of aluminum that would do the job and fit inside the case. After wiring it all up and testing it I used plastic epoxy and filled in all the voids. Sorry to say that I didn't photograph the process.... The Radio Shack TRC-226 has an external 12 volt input jack that I take full advantage of.
Power for the radio is taken from an installed fuse panel under the passenger seat. After reading about the ground loop headaches that others have run into I decided to keep it simple stupid. Another farkle I installed was a USB / Voltmeter in the dash where the never to be installed right speaker would have gone. The power for that comes from the same fuse box. Use of the installed quartet harness has been put on hold for now. It was installed only because I had the bike all naked while running power and coax for the radio.
   
I can't stress enough, the fact that you must make sure that the radio's BCL or Busy Channel Lockout function is disabled. If it is enabled, you will be very frustrated trying to access a ham radio repaeter OR step over someone who is yaking way too much.

The antenna for HAM radio and FRS is a dual band 38" center loaded NMO from Larsen. I'm thinking of getting the Comet version due to its fold over design. After looking at Motorcycle Larry's webpage I knew how I would install a bracket to hold the antenna proud of the top box. The bracket or "bar" is aluminum "C" channel stock that was milled down to 1 x 1.5 x 1. It's 18 inches long. I used 5/8" all thread double females as standoffs to allow the bracket to mount under the rear shelf. Both ends of the standoffs were flattened off in a lathe. They are actually zinc but look black due to being covered in heat shrink tubing. The hardware involved in the antenna mount is integral to holding the bracket for the 52 liter top box in place. The addition of a 3/4" braid for grounding was needed because everything back there is plastic!
When I have opportunity, I will be adding more pictures. In the meantime if anyone has any questions, email K as in k, B as in Bee, 2 as in two, UMJ at yahoo dot com. AKA KB2UMJ

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As always.... questions or comments, email.... K B the number two U M J at yaa who dot com will always get a response!
Updated 12/30/18
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