Year: 2021
Model: Wrangler JLU 4xe
Trim: Sahara
The author of this article is an Amazon affiliate and may earn commissions from qualified purchases made through links presented on this website.
Gearing up for your next Jeep adventure? Don’t forget a UHF/VHF radio! These powerful tools provide vital communication in remote areas, allowing you to connect with fellow off-roaders, request assistance in emergencies, and ensure your safety and peace of mind while exploring the unbeaten path.
I (call sign KK7FXE) was looking for a radio, which would not break the bank, but also covered the UHF/VHF frequencies to give me the most flexibility for emergency comms while away from home. I decided to go with the BTech UV-50X2 2nd generation. This radio is a dual band 50 watt radio suitable for for HAM operators and those who are unlicensed HAMs and wish to monitor the amateur frequencies.
Installation
The Btech UV-50X2 comes with everything needed to mount and connect to vehicle power except for wire nuts. I use the WAGO Lever-Nuts. Installation of the radio took me 45 minutes, which included the time needed to perform some wire management and put everything back together. My Wrangler Sahara came with the Aux switches so I opted to connect power for the radio to one of the switches as opposed to going directly to the battery.
I opted to mount my radio on the passenger side and attached the mount plate to the plastic molding around the center divider. This location keeps the radio in reach, but out of the way of the driver, and the built in speaker is still plenty loud to be heard when driving down the freeway.
I didn’t want to drill anywhere I didn’t have to. So I went exploring for a good solution to hang the hand mic. I came up with a solution, which uses my 4xe existing screw holes and a sturdy metal ball mount system by Bulletpoint. I started with the Bulletpoint Dash Mount Phone Holder Compatible with 2021-2023 Jeep Wrangler JL 4xe for the passenger side (I also have one for the driver side, but talk about this in a different post for phone mounting). I then used the following arms and adapters to mount the hand mic. I used rivets to attach the hand mic hook to the base mount adapter. You could get by with a simplified version, but as you can see from the photo, I have a radar detector and wanted the ability to add additional items in the future like a gopro or passenger phone mount.
Antenna
The antenna installation was simple with the two items I purchase (antenna mount and antenna). Routing the antenna cable through the firewall and up behind the dash was very easy and did not require any drilling. The antenna mount is a lip mount, which attaches to the hood easily, and is fully adjustable with panning and tilt functions.
- Nagoya RB-700N Lip Mount with PL-249 Connector and 20′ of RG-58A Cable
- Larsen NMO150-450-800 Tri-Band Nmo Antenna
Programming the Radio
While this section is not necessary for the radio, it does make programming the radio easier than trying to hand jam in frequencies and offsets into the front panel and hand mic. I procured a programming cable and use Chirp on my laptop to manage my channel plans. The programming cable I purchased is the BTECH PC04 FTDI USB Programming Cable – Compatible with BTECH UV-25X2, UV-25X4, UV-50X2, GMRS-50V2, GMRS-20V2 Mobile Radios.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.