Hardwiring amateur radio

[funjon]

I have a 2003 Vibe GT that I will be installing a Kenwood TM-D710a 2m/70cm ham radio into. I plan to stick the radio body under the drivers seat (mounted next to the inverter), and I'm looking for recommendations on how to wire this in for power. One option I have is to snag the center console cig lighter power, but I'd rather have something that's always on.Oh, and at peak, the radio draws 13A @ 12VDC (transmit on high power - normally will be 2A in receive mode, xmit'ing around 6A).Right now I'm afraid that the only real option is to drag power back to the battery, which sucks. Any alternate recommendations?

[briantforce]

you can either run to the battery and use an inline fuse oradvance auto sells fuse box expanders which just plug into an existing fuse and have slots on it for 2 (1 the existing, 2 the added) all you do is tap into the lead wire it has for your new line and you are good to go. they are 7 dollars and work great.

[Sublimewind]

Hi and welcome... You are correct in saying that the only true way to provied your radio with the proper power is to hardwire to the battery... you will not fine enough leeway on any of the systems to pull 12a.... you might get away with 2a, but not 12... Make sure you fuse the power wire coming off the batt within 18" of the batt.. A simple 10-12awg wire should suffice for this..

[WD0AFQ]

I'd go to the battery. I have run vhf/uhf gear in my Vibe plugged into the console but never transmitted with over 10 watts. Used window mounted dual band antenna. Never mounted the rig permantly.Dan

[funjon]

Quote, originally posted by Sublimewind »Hi and welcome... You are correct in saying that the only true way to provied your radio with the proper power is to hardwire to the battery... you will not fine enough leeway on any of the systems to pull 12a.... you might get away with 2a, but not 12... Make sure you fuse the power wire coming off the batt within 18" of the batt.. A simple 10-12awg wire should suffice for this.. The radio came with connection leads with inline fuses. My question now is, what's the best way to get the power feeds from the cockpit side of the firewall to the engine side? And more importantly, how do I connect it to the battery? Do I connect the ground to the chassis or the - post on the battery?I've never futzed with stuff like this before, and I have no desire to blow anything up. Especially my brand new $650 radio.

[zionzr2]

Have you found any ideas here:http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id ... =726behold the power of search!!

[nygiantzz1]

I had to run power, ground and sensor wires when I installed my auto dimming mirror. If you follow the hood release cable forward to the firewall you will feel a rubber grommet that the cable passes through. The wires will fit through around the cable, you will find them behind the strut tower on the other side. Use the strut tower for ground, you will see an existing bolt and ground wire you can connect to. Then run your power wire to the battery. We want to see pics when you're done!