Yaesu FT-8800R Install - 2003 Tacoma DoubleCab

[Willman]

Hi Nic - I have to do a last minute business trip to Toronto. I have to pack and fly off in a few hours.

I'll try and reply from the Hotel room tonight or tomorrow

Pete

Bump for Pete!!!!!

:chowtime:

 

[gary in ohio]

the only time the stickiness of the tape is important is when your vehicle goes from 85mph to 0mph in 10 seconds. Then how useful is the tape i keeping flying objects from flying?

 

[mountainpete]

I hoping this will not get into a sticky tape debate again. I really don't want to go down that road...

So far the installation of the head unit and transceiver have been great. The head unit position has turned out to be ideal and is solid as a rock. I ended up moving the external speaker lower - in the area just behind the drivers kick panel. It sounds better coming from there.

Noise is still a problem in my truck. I added a load of ferrite core and a Kenwood noise eliminator which dropped the noise by at least 50%, but it's still there. I took the truck to a commerical radio shop and they checked over my install and said it was fine and grounding was better then their regular installs (it was an experienced shop and experienced tech - I happened to catch them on a very slow day so I got their full attention for almost 2 hours). Their recommendation was to change the alternator. Since that's out of the question right now, I am just going to live with it. I'm still going to work on it to try and tweak it, but it hasn't been my top priority.

The radio itself is very good. I'm still quite happy with it. The menu system isn't the easiest to use, but once it's setup its simple. If I were to do it again though, I would probably buy one of the new Kenwoods because I like fancy new toys and connecting to the GPS would be nice. For the price and functionality though, the Yaesu is great.

Pete

 

[Ursidae69]

Pete, are you happy with the sound quality of the external speaker? I think you mentioned that it was mounted on the firewall, so is it muffled sounding?

 

[gary in ohio]

When mounting the speaker done forget to look up. DO you have an overhead console. I find a good quality speaker above me pointing down at my ears and the carpert is much better than one pointing up and bouncing off everything.

 

[Willman]

I hoping this will not get into a sticky tape debate again. I really don't want to go down that road...

So far the installation of the head unit and transceiver have been great. The head unit position has turned out to be ideal and is solid as a rock. I ended up moving the external speaker lower - in the area just behind the drivers kick panel. It sounds better coming from there.

Noise is still a problem in my truck. I added a load of ferrite core and a Kenwood noise eliminator which dropped the noise by at least 50%, but it's still there. I took the truck to a commerical radio shop and they checked over my install and said it was fine and grounding was better then their regular installs (it was an experienced shop and experienced tech - I happened to catch them on a very slow day so I got their full attention for almost 2 hours). Their recommendation was to change the alternator. Since that's out of the question right now, I am just going to live with it. I'm still going to work on it to try and tweak it, but it hasn't been my top priority.

The radio itself is very good. I'm still quite happy with it. The menu system isn't the easiest to use, but once it's setup its simple. If I were to do it again though, I would probably buy one of the new Kenwoods because I like fancy new toys and connecting to the GPS would be nice. For the price and functionality though, the Yaesu is great.

Pete

Thanks Pete!!

Now time to wait for the money tree to grow back.....

:chowtime:

 

[mountainpete]

Pete, are you happy with the sound quality of the external speaker? I think you mentioned that it was mounted on the firewall, so is it muffled sounding?

The speaker itself is excellent - I believe it is a Cleartone brand. Very clear and good volume.

I found that with mounting it up higher under the dash it got a bit too drowned out by road noise - especially with Mud Terrains on a gravel road. So I dropped it down lower just behind the kick panel. Now I can hear it with less volume.

Gary makes a good point about looking up to do the speaker install. This would be ideal from a sound perspective, unforunately I simply don't want the look of a big speaker up high. I prefer to hide my accessories when I can to keep the interior less cluttered. The cockpit is already too cluttered in my opinion with the 2M, GPS and ScanGauge. One option I have seen used is incorporating the speaker into the headrest. It's a lot of work, but could be pretty cool.

Pete

 

[Blacknmuddy]

Nice install.I was just planning out my install on my 02 Tundra. I'm installing the 7800, but i noticed you installed a transciever too, Is a transciever required with the 7800 or mearly an option?

 

[gary in ohio]

Nice install.I was just planning out my install on my 02 Tundra. I'm installing the 7800, but i noticed you installed a transciever too, Is a transceiver required with the 7800 or mearly an option?

Transceiver means receiver and transmitter. Thats the radio. I think you ment the RF deck being separated from the control head. The control head and RF deck can either be together or separated by a cable, but they both must exist.
Like have an LCD panel but no computer.

 

[mountainpete]

Transceiver means receiver and transmitter. Thats the radio. I think you ment the RF deck being separated from the control head. The control head and RF deck can either be together or separated by a cable, but they both must exist.
Like have an LCD panel but no computer.

Well put Gary... you can't have one without the other.

 

[Blacknmuddy]

Well put indeed. At first It looked like you had the whole unit mounted upfront, didint pay enough attention to notice it was just the LCD, so that other unit being installed in the rear confused the hell out of me. I didnt read carefully enough nor look at the picture more carefully. I now understand your madness. :sombrero:

 

[gary in ohio]

You will find most dual band radio will have remote head options. Single band radio will not. Most of the smaller HF/VHF/UHF radio will have remote head options.

 

[Willman]

For the headunit, I went back and forth on a bunch of different versions. I ended up making my own mount - now don't laugh here... You know those flat pieces of steel you can buy at home depot that you use two connect joists? Well I found some small pieces, bent it to the right angle, filed down the corners and painted it black. Then I secured it with two-sided tape. The result was this:

It's totally solid and easy to get to and if I sell the truck I can remove it with no perminant marks.

With the radio being in your truck for a while......Do you still like the mounting place for the head unit? Can you still excess the cigarette lighters with the mount there?

Also....what size amp fuse do you need to power the radio?......Planning in-cab power........



Thanks Pete!

:chowtime:

 

[texas taco]

Hey MountainPete did you ever figure out the noise problem? I have the same noise problem you did. Some one fairley experienced with hams said it is a sign of the alternator going out, but i just dont think that is my problem.
Have a merry Christmas and a happy new year.

 

[hikerpaul]

I'd love to see pictures

It looks like you planned to include links to photos, but If so I didn't see them, Do you have photos anywhere I could see.