Power System Complete!
Success! I finally finished installing the power system for the radios in the FJ tonight! I’ve been working on this stupid thing for over a month now. It always seemed like something was getting in my way from finishing it. (Including the weather, try working outside when its in the teens) I can’t even remember how long its been since I did the first test of the wire harness and relay, luckily I documented how it went together.
So last night (as I tweeted) I finished the mounting bracket for the power block. I got the whole idea from the FJ Cruiser forum a while ago and can’t claim any of this was original on my part. I stole the whole idea from this post. So basically I wired up a marine grade 12v power distribution block under the dash, which is connected directly to the battery. I had to make the bracket, which took quite a while since I don’t have the right tools. (Hand grinder and power drill only, need band saw and drill press) I ended up making the mount a little different shape then the article, but the same basic idea.
Once the mount was done, I wired up everything which went into the engine compartment. I connected a 40a relay directly to the battery. This means power is only supplied to the power block when the engine is turned on. (this prevents radios from killing the battery) I have fuses behind the relay before the wires go through the firewall just in case. I even got some of the fancy wire harness wrap stuff, so it looks just like everything else in the engine.
I took some crappy pictures of my install with my iPhone, but after looking at them on the computer, they are even worst then I thought. You’ll notice that I installed pigtails with Anderson PowerPoles, since everything I install will end up using PowerPoles. I’m missing a couple fuses, but won’t need them until I actually install the radios.
The sad thing is I think the 220Mhz radio is going to be the first installed, since it is going under the dash. The rest will need some sort of box built first, so the main bodies can go in the back and that is going to take time.
I’d really like to have at least one radio back in the truck. I’m still not sure what to-do about the antenna mounts, but have several options. I have a brand new Icom ID-880 sitting on the desk in the shack ready to go as soon as I get some sort of radio box built. I’m still planning on putting my Kenwood D700 back in, I still want to play APRS on 9600 UHF and that is the best/only solution.