Well, I have had my new Honda Pilot for 2 weeks now and made some decisions on radios. I kept the various control heads in the car and played with them to figure out optimal placement while stuck in traffic over the last couple weeks.
I spoke with my mobile radio installer and he will help do some of the work, I will do the rest.
I have acquired 3 RH96's since I stupidly sold off my BC796D with a remote head last year. I am kicking myself in the butt for that now!
I will have 5 radios in the Pilot, my Kenwood TM-D700A dual bander, a UHF and VHF pair of Moto CDM1250's and 3 scanners. I haven't decided if they will be 2 BC15's and a 996 or 2 996's and a BC15...
The heads for the CDM's are in the covered console cubby under the center arm rest, since I really don't need to access the controls that often. I mounted the heads on a short piece of 2x4 that fits right into the console and lifts them to the perfect height.The 2x4 can not be seen under the heads. This also allows enough room to fit the control cables and get the mics plugged in. The console has slots for wires under the lid, presumably to allow an iPod or other device cable to fit thru since the iPod, auxiliary audio, AC inverter and 12 volt accessory connections are in there. The mics will stay just below the head for the scanners described next.
Just forward of the console cubby I mounted an RH-96 bracket and two RH-96's piggy backed to each other. The third RH-96 will be just forward of the drink holders, mounted with velcro to the plastic divider. This one will be covered when the sliding console door is closed. This arrangements satisfies the wife in that the drink holders are still usable and no (visible) holes will be drilled. (If she doesn't notice the screws holding the bracket for the two RH96's I am golden!) The Kenwood head is mounted on a bracket that goes into the little cubby below the radio/AC controls and above the large Nav system rotary knob in the center dashboard.
Under the front passenger side seat I have a small piece of aluminum stock on which is mounted 5 small communications speakers from a company called Opek. I found them at a hamfest a couple weeks ago, they are small (slightly less than 3 inches square) but provide real loud audio. The assembly is just wide enough to fit between the left and right rails for the seat and set low enough to clear the seat movement and motors. I tried one of them on a BC15 with the windows open and I could still hear the radio well.
In the rear cargo area there is a large well under the cargo floor. On the right side is the holder for the tire jack. Just forward of the tire jack gear is a square portal to the passenger area that is where the remote cables will be fed. A little notch between the jack area and storage bay will be made for the cable package.
In the cargo bay there will be a piece of plywood cut and painted to match and fit set on the floor. On this plywood will be mounted the 3 scanners, 2 Motos and the Kenwood shelf units. Also mounted on it will be my trusty old Garmin GPS and a Stridsberg multi-coupler as well as a fuse box for the various radios. The GPS will be connected to the 3 scanners and the TM-D700A. I had this set up on my last vehicle and it worked great, so I saved the custom cable assembly that I made.
My installer will mount the 5 antennas on the roof (GPS, VHF CDM, UHF CDM, Dual Bander and Scanner) with NMO mounts (Wife approved of the holes here...) and the cables routed into the cargo well and radios. He will also run a hi-cap power cable from the battery for the CDM's and a pair of power cables that are ignition switched for the rest of the radios and CDM turn-ons.
I already have run a multitude of cables for the radios: 5 speakers (3 for the scanners and 2 for the Kenwood), 3 RH96 control heads, 2 CDM control heads, the Kenwood control head, mic extension for the Kenwood, antenna cable (for the 4th port on the multi-coupler to use with a handheld scanner). Several of these (Speakers, scanner heads, Kenwood heads) required extensions, Radio Shack sells nice stereo mini and 2 wire mini extensions that were used. A regular Cat-5 is used for the Kenwood mic extension and a regular phone style 4 wire extension works great for the Kenwood head.
Once the installer adds these cables and antennas the cables can be dressed with loom and the install will be complete.
Pics will be posted as soon as the project is done.
I spoke with my mobile radio installer and he will help do some of the work, I will do the rest.
I have acquired 3 RH96's since I stupidly sold off my BC796D with a remote head last year. I am kicking myself in the butt for that now!
I will have 5 radios in the Pilot, my Kenwood TM-D700A dual bander, a UHF and VHF pair of Moto CDM1250's and 3 scanners. I haven't decided if they will be 2 BC15's and a 996 or 2 996's and a BC15...
The heads for the CDM's are in the covered console cubby under the center arm rest, since I really don't need to access the controls that often. I mounted the heads on a short piece of 2x4 that fits right into the console and lifts them to the perfect height.The 2x4 can not be seen under the heads. This also allows enough room to fit the control cables and get the mics plugged in. The console has slots for wires under the lid, presumably to allow an iPod or other device cable to fit thru since the iPod, auxiliary audio, AC inverter and 12 volt accessory connections are in there. The mics will stay just below the head for the scanners described next.
Just forward of the console cubby I mounted an RH-96 bracket and two RH-96's piggy backed to each other. The third RH-96 will be just forward of the drink holders, mounted with velcro to the plastic divider. This one will be covered when the sliding console door is closed. This arrangements satisfies the wife in that the drink holders are still usable and no (visible) holes will be drilled. (If she doesn't notice the screws holding the bracket for the two RH96's I am golden!) The Kenwood head is mounted on a bracket that goes into the little cubby below the radio/AC controls and above the large Nav system rotary knob in the center dashboard.
Under the front passenger side seat I have a small piece of aluminum stock on which is mounted 5 small communications speakers from a company called Opek. I found them at a hamfest a couple weeks ago, they are small (slightly less than 3 inches square) but provide real loud audio. The assembly is just wide enough to fit between the left and right rails for the seat and set low enough to clear the seat movement and motors. I tried one of them on a BC15 with the windows open and I could still hear the radio well.
In the rear cargo area there is a large well under the cargo floor. On the right side is the holder for the tire jack. Just forward of the tire jack gear is a square portal to the passenger area that is where the remote cables will be fed. A little notch between the jack area and storage bay will be made for the cable package.
In the cargo bay there will be a piece of plywood cut and painted to match and fit set on the floor. On this plywood will be mounted the 3 scanners, 2 Motos and the Kenwood shelf units. Also mounted on it will be my trusty old Garmin GPS and a Stridsberg multi-coupler as well as a fuse box for the various radios. The GPS will be connected to the 3 scanners and the TM-D700A. I had this set up on my last vehicle and it worked great, so I saved the custom cable assembly that I made.
My installer will mount the 5 antennas on the roof (GPS, VHF CDM, UHF CDM, Dual Bander and Scanner) with NMO mounts (Wife approved of the holes here...) and the cables routed into the cargo well and radios. He will also run a hi-cap power cable from the battery for the CDM's and a pair of power cables that are ignition switched for the rest of the radios and CDM turn-ons.
I already have run a multitude of cables for the radios: 5 speakers (3 for the scanners and 2 for the Kenwood), 3 RH96 control heads, 2 CDM control heads, the Kenwood control head, mic extension for the Kenwood, antenna cable (for the 4th port on the multi-coupler to use with a handheld scanner). Several of these (Speakers, scanner heads, Kenwood heads) required extensions, Radio Shack sells nice stereo mini and 2 wire mini extensions that were used. A regular Cat-5 is used for the Kenwood mic extension and a regular phone style 4 wire extension works great for the Kenwood head.
Once the installer adds these cables and antennas the cables can be dressed with loom and the install will be complete.
Pics will be posted as soon as the project is done.
