Isaac and I took a train ride …
December 31st, 2009Isaac and I took a train ride downtown. Currently at book store, checking out a robot book.
Stuff that I like, stuff I hate and all that is in between….
Isaac has decided he needs two…
December 31st, 2009Isaac has decided he needs two iPhones. One to watch movies on and the other to play games on, since he can do both at the same time.
Lots of software updating toda…
December 30th, 2009Lots of software updating today. WordPress is current and all the critical plug-ins are updated. Also listen to 2 FLOSS, 1 TWiT and a TWiG.
Got more pics coming tonite of…
December 30th, 2009Got more pics coming tonite of my on going radio install. Should have blog post up before going to bed.
Finally caught up on Doctor Wh…
December 30th, 2009Finally caught up on Doctor Who today. I got a soy pizza so Rosie and I could veg out on the couch to watch it.
220 Radio install, phase 3 complete (working beta)
December 30th, 2009So last night after the whole family got home, (Rosie and I saw Sherlock Holmes, while Isaac played at school/daycare) I got a little time to work on the radio install. I got the SWR measured with the 1/4 wave antenna I had in the garage.(I’m still annoyed that Mark cut it for 1/4 wave instead of a 1/2 wave) It was Ok, meaning the coax run was good, so I proceeded with mounting the radio. Other then putting the mount on upside down, everything went really smooth. (With the mount upside down, I couldn’t actually attach the radio. Doh!) I was happy to see that the radio even had all the normal 220 repeaters still programmed in, so after a radio check I called it good. (Thanks Lynn!)
Today I’m going to make the little shelf thing to hide the cables in the cubby hole. (Using what has been described as a poor man’s CAD system. That is Cardboard Aided Design) Then I’m going to get started on the mounting bracket for the other radios. I made the trip to the car stereo place this morning and got the fabric to cover the board, so with a little cutting and drilling it should be ready to go.
Dropped Isaac off at school/da…
December 29th, 2009Dropped Isaac off at school/daycare, did my workout/swim and now home to wait for Rosie. Today is date day, Indian food and Sherlock!
220 Radio Install, phase 2 complete
December 28th, 2009So I made good progress this afternoon on the 220 radio install. I had gotten it into my head that the fancy Diamond NMO antenna mount wasn’t going to work, so Isaac and I drove up to ABC Communication this morning so I could buy a normal NMO mount. Within about 5 minutes I realized it wasn’t going to work either, so I went back to square one and eventually decided the Diamond mount could be made to work. It is a little odd, there is some extra length of the lip which normally would be flush with the hood, but is sticking up on the FJ. But I’ve decided it will be OK.
With the antenna mount done, it was time for the real fun of routing the coax and power to the center console for the radio. I finally took a picture today of where the 220 radio is going to be mounted. I only got as far as marking up where to mount the bracket before Rosie and Isaac got home, so that part will have to wait until tomorrow. But I think it is going to work well here.
You can see where the power and coax run pokes out of the hole I made today. (Always fun to drill holes in your new vehicle.) My long term plan is to make a little riser / shelf which will sit above the cables to make the rest of the space still usable. I’ll make it high enough so the heat fins won’t be exposed and just have it sit next to the radio.
I was a little surprised how easily the console came off, it only took about 2 minutes to remove it and putting it back was just as easy. So all I had to-do was route the coax and power cord under the dash and through the console to the new access hole. I actually spent a little extra time vacuuming out the space under the console. I found $0.36, a paper clip, rubber band and what I hope was a piece of candy.
Probably the hardest part of the whole thing was getting the coax through the firewall. I realized to late that I had almost covered the hole I used for the power run to the battery with my 12v power block. (See previous post) So it made getting the little SMA connector through the whole fun. I also realized that hooking up the power poles to the power block basically requires doing it with one hand. Ever tried to connect two power poles with one hand and do it by feel only? Not fun!
Tomorrow we are letting Isaac spend the day at his school. This is official Christmas break for them, but they still have day care for parents who have to work. He is basically looking forward to going and playing with his friends, since he has been out of school now for five days straight. (The longest since starting this fall) Rosie and I are going to have lunch and see Sherlock Homes. (YEA!) I probably won’t get any time to work on the radio install until Wednesday, but I think I can finish the 220 install and get a good start on the ID880 install.
Ham Radio Update – Christmas….
December 27th, 2009So it was a good radio Christmas at KU7M….
I got my copy of the 2010 ARRL Handbook. I can’t believe this, but they actually sold out of the hard back editions. The next time I see Scott, I’ll have to get him to autograph it for me. :-) I have only flipped through it, but they have really improved it since current copy. (Which is actually from 1973, so I’m not surprised it has a little more material in it now. :-)
I also got my automatic antenna tuner for my K3. (And yes, I ordered it for myself and put it under the tree. I thought Rosie did a great job picking it out for me. :-) The only part I’m upset about is that the install took like all of 20 minutes and that was with me watching an episode of TWIG at the same time. It of course worked perfectly the first time I powered it up. I also updated the firmware while I was at it, so my K3 is all happy again. The first thing I did was check to see how it tuned the G5RV on 18 meters, which it did great and then I enabled the transmit side of WSPR. Figured out a couple things at that point. My coordinates had me located out around Port Angles and I don’t have the sound car levels set right. I fixed the coordinates pretty quick, but I haven’t had the quiet 30 minutes to get the sound card right. (Hopefully tonight)
The other good news is that I figured out and bought supplies for installing two sets of radios in the FJ yesterday. I’m creating a mounting plate out of 1×6 pine which will go in the back for the D700 and ID-880. There are two tie mounts which screw into real metal frame, which if I remove the mounts I can screw the mounting plate right into. I found the right crazy metric screws at McClellan’s. I still need to hunt down some of that nice cloth they use to cover sub-woofers boxes, which I’ll wrap the mounting plate in before attaching it. But I’m sure I can buy that at a stereo shop.
The other good news is that I decided to mount the 220 radio in the center console. (sort of like this CB, but not exactly in that position.) I started mapping out the cable runs today and once I get the antenna mounted, I can wire it up. I had thought I had the antenna problem solved, with the fancy Diamond go almost anywhere lip mount. But in the process of test fitting it tonight, I discovered the hood has this weird 90 degree bend at the end, which prevents it from being used. It looks like I’ll be falling back to the old school right angle mount that I’ve used on the last two vehicles. I am going to replace the NMO mount though, so first thing tomorrow I’ll be calling HRO and having them Fed-X me a new one. (sigh)
Made coffee and donut run befo…
December 26th, 2009Made coffee and donut run before going to gym for a swim. Now back from hardware store, Isaac is finally hungry for lunch. Nap time soon…