The Shack – The Back Room – The Antenna Farm – 12V Power Distribution
Last Updated on 11/6/2025
The write-up for My Shack covered a lot of detail regarding the list of equipment, my operating space, and the mobile station’s above-average capabilities. It dawned on me that everything I shared was the “front end,” the things that people see or touch when they either visit or operate the station. Mobile stations often feature remote operating heads. My setup also features remote microphones, speakers, and data connections, all with cables that disappear into the hidden areas of the car that I refer to as “basements.” The cables leave the basements and end in an area that I will call “The Back Room,” described below.
Most visitors to THIS website are familiar with my radio equipment installation. However, over half of the space was once dedicated to a compact subwoofer system before I went “full ham” in the trunk. I’ve shared that 750-watt system on my other website on this page. This photo shows its 12V distribution, sound processing, two transceivers, and a downward-firing subwoofer in the center. There came a point when I wanted more space for my expanding ham radio pursuits. Coincidentally, my music listening habits were becoming less discerning. So, I decided to remove the extra stereo components to make room for more radio equipment. I’ve created some videos of the overhaul and shared them in this playlist. I’ve also outlined my process below.
My first step was to remove all components from the trunk. I don’t garage my car; so, I did all of the work on a cold driveway in November 2022 between rainy days. That means that I chose to pile everything back into the car after each work session, a process that took about two weeks of intermittent effort. This photo shows the early stages of that messy process was well as the “rear seat delete“ that I had already installed. The space beneath the rear seat delete serves as one of two “basements” for my excess wiring and components that lacked a more prominent home. Next, I unraveled all of the wiring, organized and labeled each bundle, and then staged the tidy bundles to be reinstalled when I finished building the electronics panel.
I had to start by building a new electronics panel because the subwoofer was built into the previous panel. This time, I added a hinge for easier access to the spare tire well, the second basement. Also shown in this photo are the lines that I traced to mark the position of the spare tire and its storage cavity. Click the image for a larger view. The difference between the two lines showed me where I could route the basement cables and where to cut cable pass-thru holes. This allowed me to run most of the cables beneath the panel and then through the board closer to each component. Locating all of the holes early also made it easy for me to figure out where I could mount each component.
This photo shows how I routed the feed lines and amplifier power wires beneath the panel and within the boundaries of the available spare tire well space. The corners of the well make great homes for various diplexers and dummy loads. The spare tire fits in its factory location and conceals two grommets that I use to pass a feed line and control cables out to the Scorpion HF antenna. The panel is easy to open and is secured by the spare tire hold-down nut, shown below. I created a call sign placard to discretely hide the hold down nut. Hardly anyone suspects that there is anything beneath the placard or the panel itself!
Of course, flawless function was my primary goal; but I must admit that making it a piece of artwork was a close secondary goal. At the time, I had been entering my car into plenty of Volkswagen car shows. It showed well despite having a very different approach to “modifications” than the typical show car. I enjoyed being a bit of an oddball at those shows. I honestly had no idea what a hit it would be when I went to Hamcation in 2023, my first hamfest in over 20 years. VW shows present me with curious visitors; but Hamcation exposed me to large crowds of people who knew what they were looking at and had more appreciation for the end result than I could imagine. The unexpected bombardment of technical questions was overwhelming, but also pretty awesome!
In the end, I’ve created compact, capable, and versatile station that enables me to do what I want in Amateur Radio with room to try things that I haven’t even considered yet. Sure, I may be able to squeeze one or two more pieces of gear into the Back Room, but I think my decision to make the space pretty also has left enough room for heat dissipation or improved air flow…
Out of Sight, but Not Out of Mind,
Scott, KE4WMF
EQUIPMENT MOUNTED ON OR BENEATH THE PANEL:
Icom ID-5100A D-STAR/FM VHF/UHF Transceiver
Yaesu FT-891 HF All Mode Transceiver w/Digirig DR-891
Yaesu FT-857D HF/VHF/UHF All Mode Transceiver w/Digirig Mobile
Q5 Signal 222 MHz 50W Transverter (in the forward basement)
Midland MXT-275 MicroMobile 15W GMRS Transceiver
Mirage B-5018-G 160W Amplifier w/Remote Control for 2m
Toptek Communications PA-80U 80W Amplifier for 70cm
Raspberry Pi DV-Mega D-STAR Access Point w/D-STAR Commander Image
Comet Diplexers for Antenna Sharing
200-Amp Transceiver Power Switching Relay
Blue Sea Systems Fuse Panel (x2)
12×2-inch Copper Ground Bar
DX Engineering Key Line Splitter, Combiner, and Solid State Relay
Remote Temperature Sensors
Blue Smart IP67 Charger by Victron Energy
