Scanner lights??

hi there, havent posted for a while, so shout outs to all my peers. I have however done a few mods since my last post, including a modified roof rack to light bar, with 5 offroad lights. each light has its own switch too, pretty cool really. pics avaliable upon request. I can also give an overview of my setup if anyone wants to know.

My big q tho is about a scanner my mom gave me- you know the blue tracer light that goes on when your car or truck is parked..

welly welly welly welly well..
for those of you who dont know a scanner hooks up to your ignition or alarm if you have one to warn off would be theives.

Need to know how to get it wired in tho, it has 3 wires;
1 red
1 black
1 yellow

it says on the instruction card ( about 3 sentences worth) that red goes to +, black to -, and the yellow goes to the ignition ground...

WHERE IS MY IGNITION GROUND??!?!?
hehe I have no idea what I am looking for or where to start looking for that matter. thnks for help in advance

ps

shoutouts to hartman, leenjen, and everyone else who helped me before.

 

[Kirk_Dunkley]

hmm I am assuming based on the absence of any responses no one knows what I am talking about- is there a mobile electronics forum I should post this in?

 

[jssong]

any metal object.. there is plenty of metal in your dash, just take that panel where you legs are below the steering wheels and screw it into the metal plate

 

[Robb]

WOW! I have never heard of an ignition ground. A ground is a ground. Are you 100% sure it says ignition ground? I assume the lights only come on when the ignition is off and it needs a signal from the ignition to know when to cut on or when to cut off..............but an ignition ground?

I consider myself quite intelligent in the matters of 12v (which I am not intelligent on much). If that is what it says, I have no idea and would love to hear about it when you figure it out. Definately a new one to me!

Robb

 

[Alec]

It can probably go to any ignition controlled fuse.

 

[Kirk_Dunkley]

hmm

well the instructions were printed on the back of the packaging. it says if an alarm is not present you must splice the yellow wire in to the power wire for the radio?? then it calls that a grounded ignition wire>? I am thinking of using the radio power wire. is there such a wire that only suplies power when ignition is off?

any way to get it to work would be saweet.

 

[Alec]

That wire isn't supplying power to the light. Lack of power through that circuit tells the light when to turn on: it's a switch.

And yes, the radio power wire is good to splice into. You can just connect to the radio fuse at the interior fuse panel.

 

[Bill Kemp]

I also would think they want you to splice it to a ground wire that is active when the ignition is on. The scanner will send its power to the ign. ground untill the ign. is off and then will send its power through the scanner to the scanners ground thus turning on the scanner when you turn off the key.
Just a guess......

 

[psychotic]

I hooked a scanner up to my radio...
for mine:
red = power
black = ground
yellow = when this wire receives power, the scanner blinks a different pattern then scanning back and forth.

For example, i hooked the red and black to power and neg on my head unit, and the yellow to the speaker wire for my subs (+). When the subs hit hard enough, the scanner blinks with it, otherwise the lights just scan back and forth.

yours sounds similar to mine... is this understandable?

 

[5.0 Mountaineer]

Ok with your scanner if you want to control it with a switch this is what you should do.
--Run a wire that gets constant power when the vehicle is either on or off. Run this wire to the power part of the switch.
--Next run a wire from the load part of the switch (which is usually the middle prong) to the red wire coming out of the scanner.
--Next twist both the yellow and the black wires together and ground them to the Chassis.
--Also ground the ground lead off of the switch
Thats it hope this helps

 

[Kirk_Dunkley]

whoa

thanks for the overwhelming tech support guys I really appreciate it. I could wire my scanner in to my kicker audio system but I would really like it to just be on when the truck was off. can someone elaborate a bit on this? what wires am I looking for from my deck to splice in to? what do they look like (colors)?

 

[Alec]

Originally posted by Alec
That wire isn't supplying power to the light. Lack of power through that circuit tells the light when to turn on: it's a switch.

And yes, the radio power wire is good to splice into. You can just connect to the radio fuse at the interior fuse panel.

 

[psychotic]

On my scanner i don't believe it was a switch to turn it on, but a switch to cause it to blink. Mine is a "fake car alarm" scanner, i just wired it up to my radio cause my friend gave it to me.

 

[Kirk_Dunkley]

I bought a haynes explorer book to figure out the electrical system for the radio. I hope to find the radio fuse hehe. anyhow thanks guys, you have been a big help. Next project acter scanner light- more offroad lights!! hehe For those of you who would like to see my ride it is reallydirty but here is a link~


http://photos.yahoo.com/enterthelight2002

enjoy my winter crud encrusted truck

 

[Alec]

I'm just speaking from experience installing some for friends, yours may be different.