Installation of VHF/UHF Radio in 2005 Prius

Hello fellow amateur radio operators,

I thought I would post this in case it proves useful to anyone considering installation options for a typical VHF/UHF mobile.

I just installed a Yaesu 7800R dual band VHF/UHF mobile with a Larson 2/70 dual band NMO mount antenna into my fiance's (her call is VA7DDS) 2005 Prius.

I installed the main unit in the left trunk storage bin. It may be a bit hot in there in the summer without the lid off, but there is air circulation due to the cutout gap on the top right. Since I seldom use high power, I do not anticipate a problem but if I lived in a hotter climate and used high power I would probably leave the lid off or put a perforated/vented lid on top instead.

Installation in the storage bin involved using the normal mounting bracket and some self-taping screws. Using the bracket gives the radio a small clearance off the bottom for some air circulation. Try to give the fan "some room" to blow. (note, when finishing the install, I did reroute those wires away from the back of the fan).

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Negative power was connected to the bolt under the trim in the centre of the back of the trunk area. See below.

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Positive power was connected directly to the battery on the right hand side of the trunk, after unclipping and removing the red cap on the terminals with a small flat blade screwdriver. You can route the power cables easily and cable tie to the wires already running along the back of the trunk under the trim panel. See below.

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I mounted the antenna in the usual way with self tapping screws on the NMO mount (note - you really only need two of the three supplied, to minimize drilling holes) and drilled a 3/8" hole (could be slightly smaller frankly) and installed a gromet as shown. At the time the picture was taken, I had not put sealant goop on the gromet yet. By installing the gromet exactly where shown, the trunk can be shut with just enough space to avoid crushing the cable.

(I am sure drilling these holes may give you some consternation. But I have done this on several cars and just filled them with "liquid metal" and painted them without causing leakage or other concerns for the new owner. I prefered this appraoch to installing an antenna on the hatch itself [which I did on another car] as when you lift the hatch your antenna may hit the roof of parkades etc and bend/snap).

To route the coax, remove the panel inside the trunk that is used to change the bulbs in your tail light assembly. Very easy to do.

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The separation unit cable and external speaker cable were run through to the front on the left of the back seat and under the foot trims on the floor, left hand side below the doors. I put an external speaker (unpowered) under the driver's seat and cable tied it to stop it rolling aver.

The head unit goes nicely into the tray under the stereo behind the drop down translucent panel. To get to the tray, remove the dash paneling per other posts on installing gear in this tray. You will have to remove a lot of paneling, starting with the panel under the steering wheel, left vent, panel above steering, then the two centre vents panels, then finally the one that covers the tray - as they are layered.

You do not need to take the tray out. There are four challenging screws to do so and it is not required.

Drill a hole in the bottom right of the tray to allow the separation and mic cables through. See below.

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To mount the head, I used two very small self tapping screws from underneath the tray (drill pilot holes) which screwed through the tray into the bottom of the clip-on mount that comes with the separation kit and clips to the back of the display.

The 7800R (and I assume the 8800R) is slightly taller than the tray, so it will deform a bit, but this will not affect the ability to put the dash back together perfectly or the aesthetics when you are done. Try to keep the display as far forward as you can, yet still allowing the cover to close without contacting any of the radio's knobs.

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When on, you can even see the display nicely even with the door closed. So that the microphone cable does not prevent the door from closing, it can be routed out between the dash vent panel on the right without affecting the proper reassembly of the panels. See below.

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Final thoughts - because the radio will power on regardless of ignition state: 1) make sure you keep the in line fuse in the power line to your radio; and 2) you may want to set the Auto Power Off (APO) to 60 minutes or something so if you ever forget to turn of the radio it will turn off automatically if you are not using the controls.

Also, if you are not concerned about being able to shut the door, it would be better if you mounted the display further forward and of course the mic cable would also not require rerouting.

That's it. Sorry pics of the finished installation do not look that good. It was cold and dark and late and my sense of perfection was weakening at that point.

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73, Adrian, VE7NZ
Vancouver, BC