MXT500 MIDLAND RADIO

Has anyone hard wired their radio to the fuse box?

 

I will be soon.

 

I just got the MXT575. In the planning stages now. Thinking about mounting the radio under the drivers seat. I’ll be wiring it to a Blue Sea fuse block. If you’re thinking of tapping into the cabin fuse block, I’d recommend against it. It’s better to go direct to the battery. You’ll get cleaner power to the radio that way.

 

I just ordered as well. Midland is actually having a sale: $100 off on any purchase over $500 using promo code HARVEST

 

I put my 275 under the passenger seat and used large male Velcro. Routed cables under plastic trim and out through existing hole in passenger firewall. Used Midland's Ghost antenna mounted via a Victory 4x4 hood mount. Works great and no movement from radio.

 

Probably. It would be smarter to wire it to it's own fuse and switch.

 

I am wiring it to an auxiliary power tray I will be installing at the same time

 

I would be interested in some pics of your mounting locations.

 

I made a quick and dirty bracket with some scrap metal to mount the radio tray to. In hindsight I should have hit it with some primer at least but oh well! Bracket mounts to the firewall at the steering column brace joint under the driver's side dash. It's really tight fit but works ok once the exact location is worked out. Antenna mount is a typical hood hinge bolt mount. I think it is a victory 4x4 one. Power block is a modular one that you can build with off the shelf fuse blocks and relay mounts. You have to do your own circuit wiring on the underside to route power as needed. I have two 40A leads coiled up and tucked to the side for future on board air and other options.

 

Hmm just a sec

 

Here you go as an idea, ended up with both gmrs and cb mounted behind the back seat.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/losthuskers-money-pit.495239/page-14#post-19655826

 

I did it with the

$165 MXT275 MicroMobile® GMRS Radio – 15 watts Two-Way Radio with Integrated Control Microphone – Overland Caravanning Tractors – Detachable External Magnetic Mount Antenna - 8 Repeater Channels

MXT275. Used am add-a-fuse. Mounted the base unit behind the console on the floor just to the right of the gas pedal. I never use it, but it's there if I go wheeling.

 

thank you

 

thank you

 

Since I am a noob wiring stuff, I thought I might run my wiring plan for the MXT575 past everyone.

Basically, I am planning to run it into my auxiliary power tray:
https://overlandequipped.com/produc...oma-2016-present?_pos=10&_sid=b3ec29a82&_ss=r
Each circuit in the tray is 30 amps so I figured this would be OK since Midland says anything 15 amps or more would be fine.

Now we get to the wiring itself. I bought the MXTA53 12V power cord (https://midlandusa.com/products/mxta53-12v-power-cord-mxt500). It is supposed to go straight into the battery.

I want to send it to my tray. I was thinking about cutting the battery eyelets off, stripping the wire for a half inch or so at that cut end and running that into my auxiliary power tray.

The question I have is about the black boxes on this power cord (indicated by


I assume these are some sort of adapters or converters for plugging the radio into a 12V connection (What are they called?)

Should I retain these things for wiring into my auxiliary power tray??

Thank you!

 

I believe those boxes are fuse holders

 

So keep 'em?

 

Most defiantly. They look like good, waterproof or water resistant fuse holders. I wire my radios straight to the battery so fused protection is required somewhere in the circuit, preferably closer to the battery.

 

Ok. Thank you. That.is going to make it tougher to get the cord through the firewall. Any ideas there?

 

I kept those inline fuses just as a safety redundancy for power problems on my 15A circuit. If you use a higher than 15A fused circuit you must keep those inline fuses intact because they are limiting the power draw of the radio to what Midland specd. While the radio is switched internally, I personally think that it's also a good idea to add a switch to the circuit if running off of the battery or ignition buss directly. Doing so well protect the internal radio switch from transient voltage spikes and fluctuations during engine cranking.