Hi Guys!
Well, it's high time i get off my keister and start installing my CB and Ham Radio's in my Exp. I took a quick look at the firewall and didn't notice any unused rubber pass-thru plugs where I could pass my power leads thru on their way to the battery. I want to connect directly to the battery to avoid any fuel-pump noise interference, and also so not to overload any existing circuits.

Sooooooo, if any of you guys ran cables thru your firewall, (for ANY reason,really), where did YOU go THRU????????

Let's get this Forum Jumping!!!!!!!!
Jammin - aka my Ham callsign = AA0UP

I went under the truck with my power cables. On the drivers side theres a drain plug. Ran the lines through the engine area, under the truck, up through the drain plug, under the carpet, to where ever. The plug is right in the middle of the front drivers area. You can't miss it.

Sounds like a good plan! Did you stay inside the frame to protect the wires? Or wire-tie to the outside of it? I'm a little worried about ripping it loose on the trails!!!!!!
Jim

You'd have to really crush the body to get to the wires. Just keep everything tight under the cab and you're fine.

If you do want to go through the firewall.....wait till night and pull back the carpet. Have a friend shine a flashlight through the engine and look for some light in the cab. There's your rubber area to drill through. Too much work for me.

There is also a push through grommet on the driver's side firewall. Pull the carpet back by the steering column and you'll see it. It comes out just below the brake booster cylinder in the engine compartment.

Jammon Jim, And All.

On my '93, there is a grommet on the passemger's side foot well, right side near the kickpanel, and about 2" below the top of the carpet. I brought some wires through there. When I ran the #10 wire for a power point for several radios, I drilled a hole about 1" below and slightly left of the above grommet, installed another grommet, and routed the wires up the right inner fender, under the fusebox and air box, and direct to the battery. Fairly easy run, and well protected from trail damage, IMHO.

Don't forget to fuse the leads at the battery, to protect that run, as well as keep the fuses that the radio manufacturer provides on the radio power leads. I fuse both + and - leads (just good ham radio practice). Also it's a good idea to gently twist the + and - wires on each other, about 2 to 4 twists per foot. These twists help neutralize stray induced electric fields(ignition noise,etc.) and reduce interference on the wires.

As for the main Explorer static problem, the source is the fuel pump. and mainly comes in on the antenna line, so locate the antenna well away from the left rear of the truck. The center of the roof is optimum from a fuel pump noise standpoint!

[Edited by Ray Hutchinson on 02-11-2001 at 10:43 PM]

Ray:

1. Are you running #10 for your HF rigs AND your VHF/UHF's?

2. Have you added a capacitor to "stiffen" the DC to the HF rigs at all, a la Big Stereo amps?

I scored a stamped steel "no holes bored" from one of the major suppliers to the emergency services, which mounts to the seat bolts and gives a black steel "platform" 3/16" thick and the size of a KWM-2, right up against the front of the console of my 1993 XLT.

Presently cobbling up junk to adapt a couple of scanners, a laptop and the IC-706...pics when complete.

FYI, I got lucky on the fuel pump noise: the RFI kit was already installed on the 1993 when I bought it Used (and Forlorn) in 2000. Although not completely Radio Silent, I can detect minimal noise at Speed, Idle, and all conditions in between at 530 kHz and 1710 kHz...real quiet frequencies here. Can copy a mid-island Cuban station at 530 kHz over the static.

Also, the fuel pump QRM is low enough that I can hear the alternator...unusual, in my experience, in a Ford truck.

Presently I am driving thrice weekly across the lower part of the state (Naples to Fort Lauderdale), and studying for MCSE and CCNA, so my ham time is limited, as is my Screwdriver and Wrench time with the Explorer.

Planning to pull wires this Sunday.

73 DE BUCK W7LV/4 (w7lv@bigfoot.com)

Buck:

I have two separate runs for radios. My CB and VHF/UHF tribander go direct from the battery to a terminal block on the inside firewall, pax footwell area. From there, I have short fused pigtail leads to the radios. My HF rig chassis is located behind the back seat, mounted to the bottom of the fold down "filler" panel that flops down to cover the gap left by folding the seat. The radio drops down into the gap just fine, and with the seat up, it sits between the seat and the panel, making the panel lean a bit further back, but not much. I originally tried just extending the radio power leads from the terminal block on the firewall to the radio, but found that the Tx. power output was low, and that the line voltage was dropping to about 9V on Tx. Hence the decision to run #8 straight from the battery to the area behind the back seat!