Toyota Highlander

[fogster]

I'd posted a while back, but ended up talking more about power requirements than where to mount the radio. I'm looking to mount a single radio, most likely an ASTRO Spectra (VHF) with a small (non-W9) head, in my 2003 Toyota Highlander. I'm a stickler for having a clean install, and, while it needn't be completely concealed, I'd prefer something somewhat 'discrete,' rather than screaming "Steal me!"

This photo (no contraband) shows what I have to work with:


My first thought was that I might get a W9 head into the 'bin' at the bottom of the photo (which closes, which would permit me to hide the radio when it wasn't in use), but I realized that I'd practically have to look behind me to use it, which is a recipe for rear-ending someone.

Underneath the center console is hollow and open, so I could mount a speaker / drawer there. (I figure the drawer will end up in the back of the car, though, and I'll remote-head a controller, mic, and speaker.)

The other location that seems great would be the space just below the (factory AM/FM) radio, but I think it would block me from shifting into park (which is kind of important.) Where else would you guys recommend mounting?

Are the W3/HHCH controllers expensive/hard to come by?

Does a roofrack cause a lot of problems for mounting an antenna? (Radiation pattern-wise.) I'm thinking of a short whip near the back of the car, so it won't be in the center of the roofrack, but it's still awfully close to it.

[Wicho]

If you were willing to do away with the cupholders, that could be a good place. Looks like that opening is just the right size. The cupholders should pop out.

I'm sure someone will come up with another idea for you.

[fogster]

If you were willing to do away with the cupholders, that could be a good place.

The cupholder piece does pop out. The problem is the (barely visible) 'cover' for it, which opens to the left, which would block my visibility of the radio. I haven't played around too much, but I'm not sure that the cover comes off easily, or that it's reversible.

If I was really adventurous, I suppose I could play with the one in front of it, which is sort of a 'change pocket' type thing that's more useless than the cupholders.

[fire_master_21]

If you are only gonna mount 1 radio, why don't you look into mounting near the rear view mirror.

[fogster]

If you are only gonna mount 1 radio, why don't you look into mounting near the rear view mirror.

I played with that today. There's a little sunglass compartment right 'above' the rearview mirror, but it looks like I could remove it and have a nice little recessed area for mounting a control head. Does the microphone have to plug into the front of the control head, or can I plug it in somewhere else? It'd be very obnoxious coming down from up there.

I discovered, quite by accident, that the frontmost 'compartment' shown in the center console, between the cupholders and the shifter, comes out. I'm also toying with that location.

I still wonder about the impact of a roofrack on an antenna installation. Will it matter much?

[Wicho]

I still wonder about the impact of a roofrack on an antenna installation. Will it matter much?

I would think not noticably. My car and my wife's both have roof racks that are bigger than most - Z71 Tahoe / Z71 Suburban. She has one of the UHF Antenex unity gain antennas (the 6 inch one) about 18 inches from the back of the car, I have one of the 3db gain UHF antennas on my car. Works just fine.

Wicho.

[Tom in D.C.]

My experience with putting the control head, or the entire radio
if it's small enough, between the seats is that it's a bad idea
because you can NOT read the display easily. Since all/most of
the Motorola units require the mic to plug into the head/front of
the radio that's another problem. Some of the ham units allow you to
plug the mic into the main radio body and not into the head
(IC208, IC706). An HHCH added to your A/Spectra is a good
answer but they're not cheap, or easy to come by usually.
My previous car had NO suitable location so I used one of those
stick-on-the-windshield mounts for an IC208 control head which
worked great for the three years I had the car. My new car has
a nav system door/space that now holds the 208's control head,
and this ends up being the slickest install (IMHO) of them all.
Send me your email address and I'll send you some good photos
of the stick-on install on my previous car.

Regards,

[kb0nly]

As far as locations go, i would opt for up above the rear view mirror. I have the control head for my Yaesu FT-8900R up there now and i love it, don't have to do more than glance over without taking my eyes off the road much if at all to peak at it.

The mic is a pain, but i solved that on a remote head A7 spectra a while back. I took a mic cable and chopped it to about a half a foot long right before it starts to coil up, then crimped on a RJ-45 plug and used a female to female RJ-45 coupler and Cat6 shielded cable to extend down to a nice spot on the dash, or in your case you could run a cable down and stash the mic in that center compartment and once its closed there isn't much to notice except for the control head which if tucked up there nicely might not be that noticeable. For the mic end of the extension i just crimp a RJ-45 on the mic cable and put the network cable into a surface mount jack box and stick it to the underside of the dash or wherever you want it with some velcro or double sided tape, then plug in the mic to that box and your done. Just take your time and make sure the wire colors are the same on each end of the extension and your set. I haven't had any trouble extending them.

Some may ask, why RJ-45? Well it looks almost factory on the end of the mic cable anyway, and the foil type wires in the mic cables just can't be soldered worth a crap, you can do it but the solder joint will fail after a while if it gets wiggled much.