Another Antena Question

[TrickyT]

Great job on the install, Sprocket. I especially like the location of the control head, where you can just glance up to see it instead of having to look down and away from the road. Does the LCD display on the TM-V71A perform well when viewed from below? I've read some reports where the characters on the display don't have as much contrast when the line of sight is from below, as compared to viewing from above.

How hard was it to run the wire for the control head and was there anything special you did for the control head mounting bracket?

--tom

 

[sprocket3]

Tom.

I have not had any trouble viewing from the drivers seat as installed. This new model seems to have a better display than the 700 series Kenwood. So far i like the setup. It is more from the SIDE though, not from below. It's about like looking in the mirror.

For the bracket i just used aluminum L bracket from Lowes. Custom cut and drilled with very basic tools. Drill and hack-saw freehanded! Just took lots of time to get the holes in the correct spots.

The wire was pretty easy to run. Pulled off the console unit, sun visor, and grab handle. Pretty easy pull with a coat hanger and the phone cord attached to one end.

It's phone jack on one end, network cable on the other. Lucky for me i had a network crimping tool so i pulled the bare wire and then crimped on the plug once it was all pulled through.

 

[terrx]

Nice job -- looks really clean.

I'm curious what external speaker you ended up using? Where did you mount it?

 

[sprocket3]

Terrx,

I just used some computer speakers from an old pc for now. I have not decided where to mount them yet. I'm still looking at some options and can't decide fore sure.

 

[Corbet]

No hijack intended, but another Kenwood TM-v71a install option. I originally planned to mount my head unit above the rear view like Sprocket3 but came up with this solution instead.

Full details can be seen here: Adding 12v accessory (cigarette) outlets - Page 3 - Rising Sun Member Forums Starting with post #28

Hijack over

 

[alvarorb]

Corbert,

Nice setup.
Looks clean. Congrats

Alvaro