Ken's 2002 Ford Explorer radio installation documentation.

10 October 2004

 

 

The first problem was where to find power for the radios.... I wasn't wild about having my power switched on and off when i started the truck, so connecting straight to the battery was the best option. Those little battery covers Ford puts on the battery are a pain to put on and take off repeatedly...they tend to break. As you can see, the power distribution block under the hood has a nice bolt in it with 12V right off the battery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Above are details of the power run under the hood. I used blue split flex tubing so it would stand out a bit. Power enters the passenger cabin through a hole behind the master cylinder.... there was a large plug in the hole, so i cut a slot in it and ran the blue tubing through it. The picture below is of the only place the power run is visible inside the passenger cabin (this is the right hand side of the area where the pedals are located, the piece of plastic on the right on the bottom of the picture is the far forward portion of the console):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The above pictures are details of my temporary installation of the radios... I still have the stock console in at the moment, but that upgrade is forthcoming, dependant on UPS or FEDEX. The wires are running through a hole that had a plug in it in the stock configuration.... but i'm not sure what it's purpose was exactly.

 

 

 

Here's the A pillar with trim removed showing the 2 runs of coax (one for the scanner, one for the dual bander)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

location of the two antennas....one is under the roof rack in this picture, the other almost alligned with the AM/FM antenna (both NMO mounts in the roof).

The Forward antenna is my scanner antenna, an Antenex ABSCANC closed coil colinear antenna. The aft antenna, for the time being, is an Antenex 2M 5/8 wave antenna. As soon as FedEX graces my doorstep, it will be a Maxrad BMAX 140/440, which is a similar form-factor antenna to the ABSCANC.

 

(Left) the Antenex ABSCANC the overall antenna height is around 16"

 

 

(Right) Maxrad BMAX 140/440, the overall antenna height is around 20"

 

 

 

(Left) detail of the ABSCANC installation position in the center of the roof above the driver and passanger

 

 

 

 

 

.(right) Detail of the Antenex 5/8 wave mounting location. The antenna is located directly over the rear passenger compartment dome light.

 

 

 

 

 

Coming soon: Installation of the Jottodesk console :

The picture shown at the right is form the Jottodesk website as an installation photo.

 

I liked the Havis Shield version a little better, but, for verious reasons, I decided the Jotto was the way to go.

 

 

15 October 2004

Well, I got the jotto in...i still have some work to do to it, but that's for another day...i'm waiting for Mouser to get me an ethernet jack and some circuit breakers....

Before: here's the radios sitting on the stock console....over a month of that sucked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remove that silver screw by the coax, and pull. that's all it takes to pull the console out. I figgured there'd be more hardware, but, as with everything else, it's all using those push-in fasteners now.

 

 

 

 

 

Look Ma, no console!!

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the jotto installed, with no faceplates. man, there's a lot of space inside!!

 

 

 

 

 

Profile view, like the shot i had of the old console.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I sure am glad to have cupholders in a console for a change!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here it is with all the panels in place, but not secured...i have some work to do before it's finally COMPLETE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here it is with the BC780 in place. I currently also have my TM-V7A installed, but i have some parts en route from mouser before i start taking more pictures. I also will be installing a slide mount on the side for my Uniden Grant XL....gotta have the CB!!

 

 

 

30 November 2004

Well, it's been a while since i updated anything.... with the TM-V7A and other equipment installed, it was time to work on the speaker situation, since having the speakers for the radios INSIDE the console didn't work. I had some external speakers on the ranger, and they worked OK, but often got in the way, so something out of the way was required. I decided my overhead console had a perfect place in a panel that had no apparent purpose.

The picture on the far left shows the overall console, and the picture on the right shows a detail of the panel i decided was to become the speaker for the V7A and BC780.

 

 

 

to the right is a picture showing the speaker i planne don using on top of the console... on the left is the speaker in place with the panel on the console removed.

A little dremeling was required to fit the paerticular speaker i chose AND get the original panel back in place, but the a replacement panel can be installed and will completely hide any and all modifications to the console.

I used a 2" hole saw to make the hole in the panel for the speaker.

You know.... they look at you awfully funny when you walk in to WalMart and buy fabric.... maybe just cause i'm a 23 year old male. but it was the only thing I could find to work as a speaker cover.

The best method i found to attach the fabric to the panel was hot glue... I only burned myself 3 or 4 times smoothing things out.

 

 

 

 

Here the console is ready and waiting for the peaker grille to be installed.

 

This is the console with the speaker grille installed.

 

Here is a picture of the console installed with the speaker installed. Below is another picture on a slightly different angle.... the hardest part was getting the corners of the material tucked up properly so they looked good and still allowed the panel to be installed over the speaker.