hey all, so ive been a tech for about 8 months now and mostly just used handhelds but i finally picked up a used Yaesu FT-7900R and want to get it properly installed in my F-150. the radio itself seems to be in good shape, previous owner kept it clean. anyway before i start drilling and running cables i wanted to ask a few things because i really dont want to do this twice.

first question is about the antenna mount. i was thinking of doing a lip mount on the truck bed just to avoid drilling, but a guy at the local club meeting said NMO mounts are the way to go and i should just bite the bullet and drill. is that really such a big difference for local repeater work and maybe some simplex? i feel like for 2m and 70cm it cant matter that much but i honestly dont know.

second thing is the power cable routing. im planning to run it direct to the battery with the fused cable that came with the radio. the run from the battery to where the radio will sit on the console is probably like 10 or 11 feet. do i need heavier gauge wire than what yaesu included or should that be fine? the radio is rated 50 watts on VHF.

sorry for the long post, just want to get this right before i tear anything apart

the NMO vs lip mount question comes up all the time and honestly for 2m/70cm local work either will get you on the air fine. that said the NMO really is better in the long run — cleaner ground plane connection, way more antenna options, and lip mounts have this annoying habit of developing rattles and sometimes corrosion under the clamp after a couple seasons. if you can stomach drilling one clean hole in your truck bed rail or roof, youll be happier. its not as scary as it sounds and there are good tutorials for doing it without ruining your headliner or anything.

on the power cable — check what gauge came with the radio. most of the yaesu mobiles ship with something like 18 or 16 gauge which is honestly a bit marginal for a 50 watt radio at that run length. id strongly suggest going 12 gauge all the way to the battery with proper inline fuse as close to the battery as possible, like within 6 inches. keeps voltage drop down and avoids any weird RF noise issues from a marginal connection. good luck with the install, its a fun project

oh man i did almost the exact same thing last year with a 7900 in my silverado. went with a lip mount first because i chickened out on the hole and yeah... it worked but the antenna wobbled a little at highway speed and i always kinda wondered if i was losing something. eventually just drilled and put in an NMO and it was noticeably cleaner sounding on receive, could have been placebo but i dont think so. the install itself took maybe 45 minutes and i used a step bit which made it way less stressful than i expected.