In a message dated 6/12/99 1:10:49 PM, jbleazard@home.com writes:
<< Do you have a bench seat? I'm trying to imagine where you have it. Mine's
on the ceiling, right between the sun visors. Makes it a bit difficult to
work the visors, but other than that it works okay. I have the center
console, I looked at putting the radio on the floor but couldn't see a good
spot for it. I thought about putting it in the console, but wasn't crazy
about that either. >>
It's a split seat (60/40 I think), with no console, the floor on the middle
hump between the seat and the shifter turned out to be the easiest spot for
me; I bracketed it vertically, facing up with the bottom of the unit against
the seat. I used some 1-inch wide steel bars from a home-improvement
warehouse (Lowes), and made a metal bracket for the radio that I drilled into
the floor with sheet metal screws, with the base of the brackets covered by
carpet, so it's a nice looking install. Hard to describe, but I hope that
gives you an idea. I looked at mounting it on the ceiling but:
1. I've got my radar detector hard-wired to a bracket above the rear-view
mirror, and
2. I have a large sunroof so the mounting options there were limited.
I mounted a 4' Firestik II Antenna on the rail of the bed, it works good
unless I go into a parking deck, then I need to remove it since it is a more
rigid antenna with some but little flex.
Only thing left to do is borrow an SWR meter and tune the antenna (it has a
screw on the tip that can be adjusted). The Firestik rep (I ordered direct
from the factory) told me on the phone that an untuned antenna has a
possibility of burning out the transmitter if the mic is on for more than a
few seconds. I'm not that familiar with the physics involved, but not sure I
want to chance it...
Dave Kilian
Raleigh, NC
'96 Dakota CC Sport 4x4 3.9L 5-spd
2" Rear spring lift, front T-bar crank, 30x9.50 BFG AT's, Brush guard/light
set, Tow hooks, Tool Box, Sunroof, Cobra 18 CB, 4' Firestik II, Alpine 6-disc
CD Changer & Head Unit, Alpine amp, JBL component speakers, Monster cables,
bedliner, Rhode Gear railside bike mount, and a white dog named Jake in the
passenger seat.
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