2007 Saturn AURA XR

[mrweather]

The following is a small collection of photos I've taken of my mobile install.

Radios
- dashmount Kenwood TK-790 and TK-890 in a dual-band, single-head configuration

Antennas
- TK-890 feeds a Larsen NMO4303CS (5/8 wave) on the roof
- TK-790 feeds a Larsen NMO150HW (1/2 wave) on the trunk

Control Head
- KCH-11 full-featured
Mic
- KMC-28 DTMF
Speaker
- KES-4 (mounted in the lower dash behind the head)

Here is a night shot:

Well, that's my setup. It's pretty simple but it gets the job done.

 

[hill]

Nice clean install. Maybe simple, but gets the job done without much showing in the front of car. I think this is one the best that have been posted on this website.

Larry

 

[tac9c819]

Nice install. The Kenwood 90 series is hard to beat.

 

[paramedszaf]

Fantastic use of space! Clean and simple... I have a 790(h) looking for a 890(h) to mate it up with to make dual band single head... Nice work!

 

[nexus]

That's an expensive dual-band... But I like the install. Curious how did you get the band segments to comply with amateur radio? I know the 790 has one from 136-156mhz but the uhf model doesn't have anything that really covers much of the uhf bandplan. Also do you have things setup in groups? Like a group for law enforcement, and group for fire departments etc.

 

[KM4WLV]

Very very slick looking. Blends with the dash nicely, and kudos for drilling holes for the antennas, LOL

 

[rhicks6000]

Very nice clean install.

 

[W9WSS]

Very very slick looking. Blends with the dash nicely, and kudos for drilling holes for the antennas, LOL

I echo this comment (drilling holdes)! Excellent! I personally wouldn't do it any other way!

 

[mrweather]

Thanks all for the compliments! About drilling holes for antennas I wouldn't have it any other way either. I started life using mag mounts and lip mounts but (at least for me) nothing beats the performance of a permanent mount.

That's an expensive dual-band... But I like the install. Curious how did you get the band segments to comply with amateur radio? I know the 790 has one from 136-156mhz but the uhf model doesn't have anything that really covers much of the uhf bandplan. Also do you have things setup in groups? Like a group for law enforcement, and group for fire departments etc.

Yes, it can be an expensive dual-band. But I pieced it together a bit at a time. The most expensive part was the KRK-7DB dual-band single-head kit which I had to buy new from Kenwood. The radios themselves were under $300 each used. I figure total cost for all the electronics was about $800. To buy it new would be upwards of $3000.

As far as the band segments go, the 790 is a 148-174 split which programs down into 2m without any issues. The 890 is a 450-470 split and was a little more fussy. Right now I can't go below about 443.500 MHz without the VCO unlocking. I'm sure the tuning could be adjusted but I don't have the tools or the talent to do it.

I have things set up into groups. Group 1 is 2m simplex, group 2 is 70cm simplex, group 3 is 2m repeaters, group 4 is 70cm repeaters and group 5 are weather radio channels. The radio has 160 channels which can be arranged dynamically. That is, I could have 160 groups of 1 channel, 4 groups of 40 channels, etc. I really like that flexibility.

Since all the public safety types around here use VHF or 800 trunked systems there's nothing to program in to the radio.

The radio also does cross-band repeat. If you look at the close-up picture of the head one of the buttons is labeled "RPT". This turns on the cross-band repeater or Mobile Relay Station as Kenwood calls it.

 

[W9WSS]

Drill Those Holes!

Thanks all for the compliments! About drilling holes for antennas I wouldn't have it any other way either. I started life using mag mounts and lip mounts but (at least for me) nothing beats the performance of a permanent mount.

Hooray! Another advocate of drilling holes! I've said this before, and I'll say it again: I have NEVER owned a car for more than 3 days without having at least FIVE and with my current vehicle SIX NMO mounts for my antennas. These are for maximum performance. I absolutely refuse to sacrifice performance for vanity. Also, with ten or so cars I've owned, I have NEVER, and I repeat NEVER had an issue trading the car in, turning it in after a lease, or selling it outright with rubber hole plugs, NMO mounts left on the vehicle, or otherwise. Matter of fact, there was a guy who bought TWO of my cars and begged me to keep the antenna mounts and coax cables run in the car without removing them from their original locations.

You might have to squint to see all the antennas on both cars. The 1st one if my 1994 CVPI that has since been sold, and the 2nd pic is my 2001 CVPI.

[NOTE: In the 2nd pic of my present vehicle, the two on-glass antennas on the rear windshield were there when I purchased the car from the dealer in Florida. One is for 800 Mhz, the other for UHF.]

 

[mrweather]

Nice pictures of the CVPI's.

When does the ball mount get installed on the newer ride?

 

[tunnelmot]

Great job on the Saturn!

Clean, professional, and the "sticks" look good. Maybe a little split-loom on the radio power leads, that's about all I could do. (in other words...looks good. Not much left to improve on)

Looks good, and I know that K'wood audio sounds sweet.

"Since all the public safety types around here use VHF or 800 trunked there's nothing to program into the radio"

At least put the local sewer crews or dog catchers in there, ANYTHING sounds good coming out of one of those!!!

Rich

 

[W9WSS]

3/8 x 24 Ball Mount

Nice pictures of the CVPI's.

When does the ball mount get installed on the newer ride?

Actually, I DID purchase a new black ball mount and spring for the "new" ride, but since I don't have a "dedicated" CB rig in the CVPI, I don't really need it. I can tune the "how 'bout its" on my Yaesu FT-857D using the ATAS 120 "screwdriver" antenna if I'm so inclined to monitor 11 meters. I did that once on a road trip using the interstate, but I kept getting reported as a "Smokey Da Bear" by all the truckers!

 

[mrweather]

Great job on the Saturn!

Clean, professional, and the "sticks" look good. Maybe a little split-loom on the radio power leads, that's about all I could do. (in other words...looks good. Not much left to improve on)

Thanks. Yeah, I need to clean up the wiring in the back. Some split-loom is definitely in order.

As far as listening to even the dog catcher that's a no-go as well. All the city's services are on the 800 trunked system including mass transit, garbage collectors and meter maids.

 

[mrweather]

Update

Instead of starting a new thread I thought I'd drag this one up from a few months ago. Winter got in the way of further work and I only just got around to making some changes. The major one being the addition of 6m gear.

This pic is of the console area showing the dual-band head in the lower dash (as before) but now just in front of the arm rest is the head for the new TK-690H for 6m. Yes, the head is mounted upside down but it was the best way I could orient it so the mic cord doesn't get in the way. Since I only monitor a couple of 6m repeater frequencies it wasn't a big deal to me to have the display that way. Another advantage is the speaker is closer to the driver (me) so I can hear it better.

I added a second mic hanger for the v/u radio (dtmf mic) and used the existing mic hanger for the 6m radio (non-dtmf mic).

Here is the business end in the trunk. It needs to be cleaned up (split loom, etc.) The 690H drawer is on the left and it is connected to a Comet CF-530 diplexer. The radio will do 110 watts but I turned it down to 85 so I don't push the PA too much. The 790 and 890 drawers are on the right mounted to the 3/4" plywood. The 790 is connected to the same diplexer and it goes out to the antenna on the trunk (see below). The 890 is connected to the Larsen 5/8 UHF on the roof (same as before). Both of these radios are dashmounts (45 watts on V, 40 watts on U).

Power comes from a dedicated and fused 8 gauge line to the battery up front. The line is connected to a 5 port RigRunner and the radio drawers are plugged into it using Anderson Powerpoles.

Only one minor change to the antenna farm: I replaced the Larsen NMO150HW on the trunk with a Larsen NMO150. The design of the coil allows me to use it a dual-band 6m/2m antenna. It effectively becomes a loaded 1/4 wave on 6m and a 5/8 wave on 2m. This is what the Comet diplexer feeds.

 

[n8emr]

NICE!!! How does the 90 series work on the ham bands. I ran a 30 series for a couple of years but they started showing there age.

 

[ScanManQSL]

Nice clean install!

 

[emd001]

man thats a clean install.

 

[mrweather]

Thanks!

For the most part the 90 Series works fine on the ham bands. Some TK-890's won't cover all of 70cm. My particular one goes out of lock below about 443 MHz. Plus, the 690 needed a hardware mod in order for it to program up to 54 MHz.

The 30 Series is getting quite long in the tooth and they aren't officially supported by Kenwood anymore (and parts/accessories are no longer available). I also like the 90 Series in that you can use a dual-band setup as a crossband repeater, or Mobile Relay Station as Kenwood calls it.

 

[OpSec]

I just installled a TK-730H in my new ride, after the 160 ch upgrade...vintage Kenwood FTW

Nice setup with the x90 series radios. I am looking to upgrade to dual 790/single head setup myself to replace the single 730 and A9 Spectra combo I currently run.