Finally got the mobile install done in the truck

That coax lesson hits home. I did the same thing in my Silverado, bought the shortest run because it was cheaper, then six months later decided the radio belonged on the other side of the console and had to undo half my work. Now I just buy 18 feet no matter what and coil the extra under the seat. Never noticed any real difference on the air with the extra length on either 2 meters or 70cm. Funny how mounting spots change everything though. On my old F-150 I had the antenna dead center on the roof and it worked fine, but when I moved to the newer truck the satellite stuff and the sunroof meant I got bumped to a hatchback lip mount. Lost a little on the low side talking into town, picked up a surprising amount on the highway. Ground plane placement is wierd like that. One thing that saved me some grief on the power run was putting a fused block under the seat instead of a single inline fuse, since I later added a small inverter and a GPS puck off the same battery feed. Made wiring the second radio in my wife's truck easier too because I allready knew the routing. Sounds like yours is ready for years of use now.

Funny how one person's nightmare antenna location is another's favorite. I've run a lip mount on the hood edge of my F-150 for three years now and never looked back. Ground plane isn't quite as clean as a roof mount, but the reach over the cab makes up for it on the highway, and when I park at work I can pop it off in ten seconds so nobody gets curious about what's in the truck. My power run went the opposite direction of yours, actually. I couldn't find a decent grommet on my truck either, so I went through the firewall on the driver side where the hood release cable passes and it's been fine ever since. Fused at the battery just like you did.

One thing I'd flag on the under-seat mounting is heat. My first rig lived under the driver's seat and on long summer drives the fan ran constantly and it still got warm enough to throttle back. Moved it behind the center console where air moves better and the problem went away. If your seat gets used alot, sit there for a half hour transmission or so in July and see how warm that cavity gets before you button everything up.

That first contact with a hill in the path is always a good feeling. Now you get to find out which of your local repeaters have weird shadows on your usual routes.

I guess I never really thougth about how the radio is placed inside the truck. The original post said the radio fits under the seat, but I wonder if moving the screen around does anything to the signal. I had my setup higher up by the gear shifter, which is better for seeing the screen, but I am worried that higher placement messes with the signal strength somehow. Does the location of the head unit make a difference in how good the talk is?

I totally agree with your point about how the radio placement could affect the signal. When I had my dual bander installed, I mounted it high up on the dash. It made reading the waterfall easier, but I noticed a small, low-level buzz if the power wires were bundled right up against the coax cable. Separating the power routing from the signal cable run completley fixed that hum.