Batboard

Well I made the decision that I didn't need the big bulky radio console anymore, served its purpose back when I had the X9000's in there, but it was just overkill now. So I redesigned the whole setup and just finished it today.

The Radio mounting location stayed the same.



The XM and GPS stayed in the same place.



The radio control head was moved to over head though! Sure is a lot easier looking up at it while driving, not only that but now the sun won't
wash out the display when i'm trying to read it.



Didn't really know where else to put the mic so I used one of the Motorola mic hangup clips to put it on the ceiling.



The Speaker, amplified Motorola speaker for more oomph for us hard of hearing folks, is mounted to the passenger side of the center console. I also relocated the two auxiliary power ports from the radio console to the center console by the speaker. The cable laying on the floor is the coax for the scanner antenna, I haven't done anything with that yet, looking at getting a smaller digital capable scanner, or just something smaller, to replace the older unit I had in there.



The GPS computer got relocated from the bottom side of the radio console to underneath the passenger side seat, it had to go in rear facing though because the vehicle's airbag control unit is mounted under the passenger seat under the carpet. But this arrangement doesn't pose any problems and actually makes it easier to change the CD if needed.



The biggest change is where the wiring is located now. The bottom middle of the vehicles dash there is a storage compartment, looks like it was designed to hold cassette tapes or CD's, our van never came with anything to sit in there though, so I made it a wiring access panel now. Fuse panel on the left side, much easier to get to now then it was in the old radio console, relay's so all the added equipment follows the ignition, and of course a ground bonding point which is fastened to the frame behind the plastic console. You can also see the back end of the power ports on the right side. Now I can get some spare fuses in there and a small flashlight and it will be easy to change one night and day.



Now I just have to save up and bring her in for a carpet shampoo, getting dirty in there again! And man was it dirty under the console mounting plate that i removed!

What - no moto gear??? Nice work though......dan n2aym

Yes, theres moto gear the speaker and the mic clip lol. But theyre probably not made by Motorola anyway lol. ( I get your point though)

Looking good, i like where that yaesu control head is mounted, im not so sure about where the mic is though, maybe on the dash or put in an extension cable.

I saw you For Sale Ad for the scanner and the pics, and i like this much better, theres no need to have a console for just one radio.

Yeah yeah i know, the Moto gear is gone except for that speaker and mic clip. With gas prices these days i don't need to be hauling around 60+lbs of X9000's and other crap.. lol

Actually Yaesu has always been my second brand, i put the 8800R in the house and then i decided to get a 8900R as well since i liked its smaller brother so much.

The console was a nice setup back when i had three X9K's in there, but after going to different gear it just looked, well, weird, not having the console fully populated.

Just didn't have the time to redo everything when i got the 8900 so i just put it back together with the console at first. Finally had some spare time, waiting for the concrete under the tower to cure in the back yard before putting that up, and i'm inbetween stuff on the house (light remodeling for now) and work. So it was time to dig in.

The mic works good where it is, looks a bit silly but its always right there where i need it. I thought about an extension but that means another cable hanging somewhere, at least this way when the mic is up in the clip the cable isn't in the way of the rest of the dash, or the gps or xm, etc. Not to mention the fact that it keeps my little kids from playing with dads radio mic! Kid friendly is always a big concern with me, 5yo, 2yo, and a third on the way in Feb.

Another thing i like, let go of the mic in a situation where i need to free my hands up quick and it just swings instead of jumping around on the floor. Now i understand why billy bigrigger hangs the radio and mic from the roof.