W5DMT Mobile Setup

[w5dmt]

Just finished out the truck today...
Vehicle:
2007 Tahoe LTZ

Radios:

ID-800H for 2m/70cm + D*Star
Motorola Spectra on 900MHz Amateur Radio
RH-96 connected to a Uniden BCD15X for Public Safety Monitoring

Antennas are all connected to Larsen NMO HF mounts. (And no.. That's not me in the photo.)

 

[Robb]

Looks pretty clean.
Have any plans to put an HF rig in too?

 

[KB1TPX]

Nice, neat, professional kooking job.

 

[packrat]

WOW!
Nice job.

 

[Moleculo]

very nice install

 

[W5LZ]

I agree, very nicely done!
- 'Doc

 

[w5dmt]

Looks pretty clean.
Have any plans to put an HF rig in too?

I have a TS-480HX that was in there prior to the console.. The problem is, I'm never in the car more than running around town now.. I work out of my house. So, with that said, I have a contingency plan to just drop the 480's head over that top plate when I go on road trips.. Just mount a magnet to the head and let it stick there for the trip.

I also need to buy a new HF antenna as the SGC-230 and 102" whip provided unsatisfactory results.

 

[W5LZ]

I think your set up has a LOT of possibilities as far as that '480 is concerned. That remote head is certainly nice, and allows for a very wide range of mounting options. I have the 'SAT' version, which works out better for me. And a screwdriver type antenna because I got tired of stopping to change taps on the antenna when changing bands. One of the things I've found from a lot of years doing HF mobile is that you either have to throw lots of money at a multiband antenna, or be willing to put up with the inconvenience of stopping to change bands.
A lot of people are upset because that '480 doesn't have the mic connected directly to the control head. I think that's one of it's better features. With only the control cable to run, it allows some very interesting options for mounting that 'head'. That forward 'blank' panel in your console would be an ideal place to mount the radio, or just the microphone (and other thingys if desired/necessary). How about the control head on the sun-visor? Gobs of options!
- 'Doc

And as everyone knows... If you ain't got Kenwood, you really do got squat! Right?

 

[Chop]

very slick install!! i'm so jealous right now, lol. hope you don't mind, but i think i'm going to copy your install and use it as a "goal" for my own truck. again, very nice.

 

[w5dmt]

I think your set up has a LOT of possibilities as far as that '480 is concerned. That remote head is certainly nice, and allows for a very wide range of mounting options. I have the 'SAT' version, which works out better for me. And a screwdriver type antenna because I got tired of stopping to change taps on the antenna when changing bands. One of the things I've found from a lot of years doing HF mobile is that you either have to throw lots of money at a multiband antenna, or be willing to put up with the inconvenience of stopping to change bands.
A lot of people are upset because that '480 doesn't have the mic connected directly to the control head. I think that's one of it's better features. With only the control cable to run, it allows some very interesting options for mounting that 'head'. That forward 'blank' panel in your console would be an ideal place to mount the radio, or just the microphone (and other thingys if desired/necessary). How about the control head on the sun-visor? Gobs of options!
- 'Doc

And as everyone knows... If you ain't got Kenwood, you really do got squat! Right?

Good points. I'm actually thinking about moving the forward plate to the other end, and move everything up to put the 480 back in. I kind of want the ability to rest my arm on the arm rest and spin the nob. I did some visual inspection and I could actually flush mount the 480's head into the remaining space into the console, which is the route I'll probably go with.. One more set of brackets only runs another $25.. The only thing I've yet to work out, is how to get another speaker under dashboard out of sight.

 

[W5LZ]

Speakers, hmm. Couple of thoughts about that. One would be on the sides of that console. No big hole needed, how about a bunch of smaller ones in a pattern of some kind. And there's two sides to that console too.
Another thought is, have you seen the speaker 'bugs', just set them on a surface to turn that surface into a 'speaker'? That's -really- speculative, haven't seen one and they are not cheap either! Wonder if that thing would work on a glove-compartment door??
And then there are always ways of 'combining' several speakers into just one. Deals with mixing the audio from several sources and feeding them to a single speaker. Then again, that can cause problems, it's an 'active' electrical circuit and may not like RF all that much. It's a fairly common thingy though.
Dang it's easy to spend someone else's money! And fun too!
- 'Doc

 

[w5dmt]

Speakers, hmm.

And then there are always ways of 'combining' several speakers into just one. Deals with mixing the audio from several sources and feeding them to a single speaker. Then again, that can cause problems, it's an 'active' electrical circuit and may not like RF all that much. It's a fairly common thingy though.
Dang it's easy to spend someone else's money! And fun too!
- 'Doc

I decided to go with just such a Combining box. Here's the one I've chosen:

Fleet Radio Model 201B 4-Channel Combiner / Amplifier

It's not the cheapest solution, but I think it'll once again, be the cleanest. One nice Motorola speaker mounted under the dash out of sight, and potentially, one in the back of the vehicle, to make it easy to monitor from the back seat and when tailgating. The speakers are 8 Ohm, so, two in parallel would be 4Ohms, and the unit is stable to 2 Ohms.

I'm going to order the additional set of brackets tomorrow as well...

 

[W5LZ]

I'm afraid my 'cheap' syndrome just kicked in. A $180 dollars, really? It certainly wasn't as strong, or nice looking, but I can remember building a two channel one for about a 1/10 th of that with 'Rat Shack' parts. That was some time ago though, and I don't remember what the circuit was now. (Just for grins, see if MFJ doesn't make something similar.) One of those things was a project in a magazine (don't ask which one, I don't remember).
It ain't easy being this chep!
- 'Doc

 

[w5dmt]

I'm afraid my 'cheap' syndrome just kicked in. A $180 dollars, really? It certainly wasn't as strong, or nice looking, but I can remember building a two channel one for about a 1/10 th of that with 'Rat Shack' parts. That was some time ago though, and I don't remember what the circuit was now. (Just for grins, see if MFJ doesn't make something similar.) One of those things was a project in a magazine (don't ask which one, I don't remember).
It ain't easy being this chep!
- 'Doc

Their are combiner circuits out there that kinda work. The long and short is, I could build the box for about $30 in parts and $5 for the enclosure, but it only does half the job. It will combine them, but it has loading issues that affect volume. So I decided to go with one that has the amplifier built into it. Their circuit looks pretty simple as well, but I don't have time to reverse engineer it, and I sure don't have time to experiment with it right now. Sometimes, you just pay the tax for the ready made solution.

I've met these guys before and they do good work, that's good enough for me this time.

 

[RickC.]

Really nice!