I just put a deposit down on a 2012 Honda Odyssey Touring Edition that should be here in a couple weeks. The main reason I chose this over others is (besides that I am a 5 time Honda buyer now...) that the center console between the driver and passenger Captain's seats pops out, leaving a walk-thru space.
I have a friend from work who is a master cabinet maker and makes custom command center cabinets for our Ford Expedition Watch Commander's and ET vehicles. I am thinking of having him make a custom laminated wood console for me, colored to match the interior, with mounting rails for the Troy Command Console faceplates. (Consoles - Products).
The power will be 3 wires, 2 hots (battery and switched) and ground, using the larger PowerPole connectors. I am planning on using an antenna patch panel at the bottom rear, indented into the console frame so that the antenna cables will come out of the loom out of sight.
Current plans are for 6 radios, probably 3 996XT's, 2 CDM1250's and a dual band ham rig, either my existing D700 or DR635 or perhaps some other unit.
I will likely have 4 or 5 NMO mounts on the roof. One would be forward of the moon roof, centered for the scanners (going to a Stridsberg multicoupler). Three mounts in the rear will be for the dualbander and CDM's and possibly a fourth in the rear part of the roof for the GPS. This will help keep the scanner antenna far away from the transmitters.
I haven't decided yet what to do with the GPS. I am currently using an old Garmin GPS-III connected to three scanners and the D700 and it works well. If I find a spot to hide it that allows a decent place for the little matchbox antenna I might reuse that, otherwise I will consider some other solution. I need to split the data to 4 radios, which is no problem for the Garmin, but it is old and could pass out and die any time.
Since I have converted to PowerPoles for all my stuff at home I will likely do the same in this install. I am looking at a way to have the fuse panel easily accessible, I might have the rear panel hinged or removable and mount it behind that panel.
As for speakers, I will need 4 or 5. The CDM's have top firing speakers, so I will only need them for the scanners and dual bander. I am thinking of having the cabinet maker incorporate my existing Motorola 3x3 speakers into the case on the front, I think there will be room for 3 on the front, so I will put one on each side for the dual bander.
I think I can get 18 to 22 inches of faceplate space, depending on how far back I want to go. (Each radio takes 3 inches.) I have to watch the forward clearance since the cupholders and coolbox open from the dashboard to the rear, and anything past 15 inches on the console back from the front is not really going to be easily visible while driving. This puts the CDM's at the rear, the dual bander forward of these and the scanners at the far front. If I go 22 inches I can put in a dual cup holder panel on the far back for the back seat passenger.
I have 2 weeks before delivery and can't get too far with the work until I have an opportunity to spend some quality time in the vehicle to scope out the job. I do believe however that the seats are such that I can use a tall enough radio console not to need to use control heads, and still have space inside the console for the multicoupler etc. On my current Pilot (Pilot Radio) I have the radios in the rear cargo area connected to control heads.
I have a friend from work who is a master cabinet maker and makes custom command center cabinets for our Ford Expedition Watch Commander's and ET vehicles. I am thinking of having him make a custom laminated wood console for me, colored to match the interior, with mounting rails for the Troy Command Console faceplates. (Consoles - Products).
The power will be 3 wires, 2 hots (battery and switched) and ground, using the larger PowerPole connectors. I am planning on using an antenna patch panel at the bottom rear, indented into the console frame so that the antenna cables will come out of the loom out of sight.
Current plans are for 6 radios, probably 3 996XT's, 2 CDM1250's and a dual band ham rig, either my existing D700 or DR635 or perhaps some other unit.
I will likely have 4 or 5 NMO mounts on the roof. One would be forward of the moon roof, centered for the scanners (going to a Stridsberg multicoupler). Three mounts in the rear will be for the dualbander and CDM's and possibly a fourth in the rear part of the roof for the GPS. This will help keep the scanner antenna far away from the transmitters.
I haven't decided yet what to do with the GPS. I am currently using an old Garmin GPS-III connected to three scanners and the D700 and it works well. If I find a spot to hide it that allows a decent place for the little matchbox antenna I might reuse that, otherwise I will consider some other solution. I need to split the data to 4 radios, which is no problem for the Garmin, but it is old and could pass out and die any time.
Since I have converted to PowerPoles for all my stuff at home I will likely do the same in this install. I am looking at a way to have the fuse panel easily accessible, I might have the rear panel hinged or removable and mount it behind that panel.
As for speakers, I will need 4 or 5. The CDM's have top firing speakers, so I will only need them for the scanners and dual bander. I am thinking of having the cabinet maker incorporate my existing Motorola 3x3 speakers into the case on the front, I think there will be room for 3 on the front, so I will put one on each side for the dual bander.
I think I can get 18 to 22 inches of faceplate space, depending on how far back I want to go. (Each radio takes 3 inches.) I have to watch the forward clearance since the cupholders and coolbox open from the dashboard to the rear, and anything past 15 inches on the console back from the front is not really going to be easily visible while driving. This puts the CDM's at the rear, the dual bander forward of these and the scanners at the far front. If I go 22 inches I can put in a dual cup holder panel on the far back for the back seat passenger.
I have 2 weeks before delivery and can't get too far with the work until I have an opportunity to spend some quality time in the vehicle to scope out the job. I do believe however that the seats are such that I can use a tall enough radio console not to need to use control heads, and still have space inside the console for the multicoupler etc. On my current Pilot (Pilot Radio) I have the radios in the rear cargo area connected to control heads.
