AdventureTaco - turbodb's build and adventures

Thanks Ben!

For sure. And, I know you're thinking the same route with parts - these all went together really easily as well. I bet we can do yours in a morning or afternoon.

A few things - there've been a few folks who ran into machining issues with the calipers (for instance, the bolt holding the banjo not screwing in all the way). Looking at the castings of the rotors, the OEM ones have much cleaner casts. And, I'm not a huge fan of the "perforated performance" rotors - just seems like more places for dirt/mud to build up when on the trail. At any rate, it ~doubles the cost to do it the way I did, but I figure that this is a long-term investment, and is a major safety item...so do it right.

 

Thanks. I will begin collecting the parts soon but I don't think the install will happen before the holidays.

 

No rush. From a priority perspective, I'd rather see your pics from The De-Tour anyway!

 

Adding a Ram Mount to the #%@#$@! A-pillar.
November 1, 2017.

I've always hated the A-pillars in my truck. Actually, it's the trim I hate. And I've hated it since I first tried (and failed) to remove it several years ago to run the wire for a microphone from my head unit up to the rearview mirror.

See, to remove the A-pillar trip, you also need to remove the grab handle. And for some reason, in 1997-2000 Tacoma's, the grab handle is attached with two M6 screws (no hex head) with a JIS head. That JIS head looks a lot like a Philips head, but it isn't, and I of course don't have a JIS driver.

So I use Philips, and hope.

Or rather, I generally try to avoid removal.

In fact, several years ago when I failed at removing the grab handle because I could tell the screw head was going to strip, I even went so far as to purchase some M6 socket button head screws that I could use to replace the OEM ones. But I never installed them because, well, that would require messing with the A-pillar.

But today I decided it was time to mount a 1" Ram mount ball on the driver side A-pillar. I needed it for some communication equipment, and frankly, it was time to fix the problem once and for all.

I was able to get the first screw out! The head didn't look great, but it held long enough to back out. Maybe I could do this.

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But the second head was already a bit mangled from my attempt years ago. Almost immediately, it completely stripped out. Semi-expected, I retrieved my drill, a bit to drill out the head, and my screw extractors.

But then there was another problem. I couldn't fit the drill+bit into the head of the screw because the steering wheel was in the way. So, out came the steering wheel…which of course also means the airbag had to come out, and I risked re-installing the steering wheel "off-a-tooth" when putting it back on.

Then, I drilled out the head of the screw and screwed in the extractor.

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And then, even though I'd used a small extractor, the head broke off. At least that mean that the grab handle was free! Of course, it also meant that I still needed to get the screw shank out. So it was back to drilling and "extracting." Except the extracting didn't work - I just couldn't get the screw to back out. Eventually, I drilled out enough of the shank that it just "fell out." And by that point, a couple hours had passed, and tools had been gathered.

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The next step was to remove the A-pillar trim, so I could run wiring cleanly to the Ram mount. I did everything by the book - went slowly, pried carefully. I only broke one clip. "Meh success," I guess. #%@#$@! A-pillar

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Now it was time to figure out how to attach the Ram mount. It wouldn't "just fit" because it's an M8 bolt, so I was either going to grind down and rethread the bolt, or I was going to drill out the A-pillar a bit more and re-tap it for the larger M8 bolt.

Ultimately, I decided to re-tap the A-pillar which ended up being a good (easier) idea.

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Then, I ran some wires - a USB cable for power, and shielded CAT6 for the Ham radio - up from the dash and behind the A-pillar trim using a fish tape, and then re-attached the trim without incident. I also notched (by melting, which worked great!) the trim just a bit so the cables could snake out behind the grab handle.

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And then, it was time to attach the Ram mount. I needed it to be slightly prouder than it would naturally sit, and a stainless steel nut, ground down slightly to fit within the grab handle, was just the ticket. Here's how everything went together, and then it screwed right in.

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In the end, I'm super happy with the result. It looks amazingly clean and is going to be perfect for either a cell phone or Ham radio controller.

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#%@#$@! A-pillar. Glad I should never have to deal with it again.

 

Where are you? Adding APRS to the Ham Radio Comms
November 5, 2017.

It wasn't all that long ago that I got my Ham radio license and installed an Icom-5100 in the truck. A great radio, it's gone now - because a great radio isn't all I need; I need a great radio that can also do APRS.

What's APRS and why's it so important?

Great question, let's start there!

APRS is the "Automatic Packet Reporting System," a machine-parsable protocol used on a known frequency (144.390 in the US) to send all kinds of information from one ham radio to another. But the reason I care about it is that it's can be used to report position information for a mobile ham station. With that position information, others locally (within range of your broadcast), as well as remotely (once your broadcast is received by an internet-connected receiver) can see where you are, and where you've been.

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That's especially useful for someone who does a lot of remote adventuring for two reasons:

1. When you go out adventuring with others, you can all see where each other are on a map (without having internet connectivity, since the communication happens through the ham radios)
2. When you go out adventuring, people "at home" can monitor where you are - even if you don't have cell service. And, there are ways to communicate from ham radio to cellular text (and vice versa) should something go wrong.

So, as much as I liked the interface on the Icom-5100, it was time for it to go - because there wasn't a great way to get it to do APRS.

Why not? What do you need "to do APRS"?

Another great question. You are a savvy reader. Bringing your A-game as it were.

To do APRS, you need a little device called a TNC that is essentially like an old dial-up modem. (Remember those weird tones - you know "Pshhhkkkkkkrrrrkakingkakingkakingtshchchchchchchchcch*ding*ding*ding"?) The TNC is sending your position data in those tones to all the other ham radios within range. So you need a radio that the TNC can "plug into, and send the tones through."

Now, there are lots of different TNCs, and there's probably one that worked with the Icom-5100, but I had more requirements - specifically two:

1. I didn't want to spend too much money on the TNC. (I already spent a lot on the ham radio.)
2. I wanted to use a tablet in the truck to show a map of where APRS signals were coming from (like the one above).

So that pretty much meant that there was only one TNC that I could really use - the Mobilinkd TNC2. Conveniently, the way Mobilinkd works, it requires a connection to an Android tablet (generally running APRSDroid) which is where position information is retrieved from - via the tablet's GPS, as well as where other users' positions are sent - and displayed on a map.

Perfect!

Except now I needed a ham radio that would work with Mobilinkd (because it doesn't work with the Icom-5100).

Of course, there are lots of those too, but I've been spoiled with the Icom, so I wanted a dual band mobile receiver with a detachable control panel, and a relatively high-resolution display (not just calculator-style numbers). That narrowed the field considerably to something like the Yaesu FTM-400XDR or the Kenwood TM-D710G, since other front-runners like the Kenwood TM-V71A have all the necessary functionality, but not a great display.

In the end, I "traded" the Icom-5100 for a Kenwood TM-D710G - and by "traded," I mean that I sold the Icom for the same price I paid for the Kenwood - not a bad deal if you can get it.

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I was pleasantly surprised by all the goodness that came with the Kenwood. Unlike the Icom, it came with a mounting bracket for both the receiver and control head - so I got started by mounting the bracket under the passenger seat, and then mounting the radio in the bracket - so much nicer than the Icom, which I just left on the rug under the seat!

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The rest of the cabling (antenna, power, etc.) was all pretty much the same, so I was able to utilize all of the existing wiring - woohoo!

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Bolting the seat back in was all that was necessary to complete the setup of the radio, which is now up and out of the way under the passenger seat.

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The head unit got mounted on the new Ram mount I installed, just left of the steering wheel, and below the dash line.

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Of course, I also had to buy a Mobilinkd TNC2 and miniDIN-6 data cable to make the whole system work (the way I wanted). This is an "optional" step, since the Kenwood has APRS functionality natively built-in to the radio - but a good one because while the Kenwood APRS tells you "who's out there" and their direction away from you, it doesn't have a map view.

And I wanted a map view. Really, we all want a map view.

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Once I had everything, I was ready to install, which is super simple. First, I ran a USB power cable from the dash to the area under the passenger seat where the ham radio now lives and plugged it into the TNC2. Then, I plugged the MiniDIN-6 data cable into the Kenwood D710G's "DATA" port, and the 3.5mm plug into the TNC.

Install complete!

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Finally, it was time for configuration of the radio and TNC. I stumbled my way through this part by reading various other folks experiences, so I don't know if this is the optimal configuration - but it works for me for now. I'll likely tweak it over time as I figure out how often this is trying to send my beacon (position) information. Configuration is done with two pieces of software on an Android device (that supports Bluetooth):

• Mobilinkd TNC Config
• APRSDroid - APRS Client (which I sideloaded the APK for, so I could have offline maps; consider donating)

Use the Mobilinkd TNC Config first, to do the following (much of this from the User Guide)

1. Start the Mobilinkd TNC Config app.
2. Press the button on the front briefly to turn on TNC. The blue LED will flash rapidly.
3. On the Android device, tap the app menu (3 dots) and select "Bluetooth Settings."
4. Scan for Bluetooth devices and connect to "Mobilinkd TNC2". Use password "1234" when prompted.
5. Go back to the main screen of the app and press the "Connect" button; select "Mobilinkd TNC2" from the listed devices, if necessary.
6. If you want the TNC to turn on/off automatically when USB has power (if you switch your power with the ignition, for instance), tap on the Power Settings and check the "Power on/off with USB Power" option.
7. Leave everything else as-is and close the Mobilinkd TNC config app (the TNC only supports one BT connection at a time)

Next, configure APRSDroid to send and receive position data through the TNC2:

1. Start APRSDroid on your Android device.
2. Go to App menu | Preferences and set the following settings (everything else you can leave as default):
   1. Callsign (without SSID) - set your callsign.
   2. SSID - set your SSID to "9".
   3. APRS digi path - "WIDE1-1,WIDE2-1"
   4. Connection preferences
      1. Connection Protocol - set to "TNC (KISS)"
      2. Connection Type - set to "Bluetooth SPP"
      3. TNC Bluetooth Device - choose "Mobilinkd TNC"
   5. APRS symbol - choose your favorite
   6. Voice frequency - set the frequency that you're listening to for ham radio transmissions
   7. Comment field - enter the comment you want sent with every position report
   8. Location settings - ensure it's set to "SmartBeaconing"

That's it - everything's configured and ready to go. To start tracking your position (and seeing other people's position), back out to the main app screen and tap on "Start Tracking." Now, you can use any of the three main screens to see APRS information.

The List screen shows all of the APRS stations (radios) that are broadcasting. You can tap on a station to see more information and communicate directly with that station.

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The Map screen shows all of the APRS stations that are broadcasting on a map. This is the screen we want most of the time!

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The Log screen shows all of the APRS information that is being sent/received, and can be useful when debugging cases where data may seem to be missing.

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@turbodb Nice write up on APRS. I have the same radio and love it's ease of use and built in GPS and TNC. I was hoping there was a way to just provide APRSDroid or similar client the data from the TM-D710G without the need to use another TNC. I have searched the internet without find a solution. Just don't understand why we can't just have the TNC data from the radio displayed on a map. Sounds easy, but guess it is not.

 

I think it's possible, it's just not as easy as getting Mobilinkd setup. Check out this thread on the APRSDroid dev forum. If you get it working, let me know - 'cause I agree that it'd be nicer to use the built-in TNC.

 

Speaking of TNC settings, next time you are in Powell, Steve can tweak those setting with some of those gadgets he has. Did mine and it seemed to help some

 

Cause we know he visits quite often

That's the tnc deviation. Basically the sensitivity of the tnc and volume of it.

 

IIRC, he said it changed the way the TNC sent its packets.

The idea was to minimize the chances of the packets crashing into each other, thus ensuring they were more likely to reach a digipeter or igate.

 

Yeah, that will be great!

As it is, I also had some RFI that I was wrestling and finally got figured out (and it was drowning out all APRS and really messing with RX/TX in general). In fact, I think it might have been the cause of my intermittent issues on The De-Tour. Planning to write-up and then post that tomorrow.

 

I was there twice in a week. That's more often than I see my own parents! hahahaha

I'm sure there are several more trips east in my future. (I hope.)

 

Gounding, power sources and LEDs. Look forward to reading about what you did for your RFI issues.

 

Oh I'm sure there will be plenty of trips

 

Thanks for the link, I had not found that thread and is just what I am looking for. If I figure it out I will let you know. This is a bit over my head in understanding it all.

 

Mod Wars - USB charger blocking Ham Radio Communication
November 9, 2017.

Having just installed a new ham radio setup to get APRS, I was keen to play with Kenwood TM-D710GA and Mobilinkd to track my location. So, on a few local trips, I turned everything on and waited.

And waited and waited. Over the course of 30 minutes, I never got a single APRS beacon from another station. I knew something was wrong.

And then I realized that the difference between my initial setup and my current situation was that the truck was on. Turning the truck off resulted in almost immediate APRS packets coming through. Crap, something is causing interference - what could it be?

So I turned key to the ACC position - and boom, no more packets. Well, at least I eliminated pretty much everything in the engine bay! It had to be something in the dash.

Yeah, it had to be my Joying head unit. See, it's an off-brand, Chinese stereo that runs Android, and has a number of radios - AM/FM, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, etc.

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I immediately tried airplane mode, and wasn't surprised that nothing changed - I figured that "airplane mode" in this unit might be implemented by ignoring the radio signals, rather than actually turning them off. At any rate, whenever the stereo was on, there was so much RFI that APRS didn't work at all. In fact, even the local weather (WX) stations would become static.

In the end, I knew I was in over my head, and headed back home to ask a few ham radio experts I knew, what I should do.

Their recommendation was twofold:

1. Get a handheld ham radio, tune to the APRS frequency (144.390) and move the radio around the head unit (to find where the RFI was being emitted from).
2. Make sure the stereo was well grounded, and that the ham radio was well grounded and shielded.

I tackled the second recommendation first - I installed ferrite beads on the ham radio, and I made sure that both the ham radio and the stereo had a good ground. It made no difference.

So I ordered a handheld, and waited.

The day before it was to arrive, I thought I'd go open up the dash - so it was easier to get at the stereo when the HT arrived. I thought I could also verify that it was the stereo by disconnecting the wiring harness, but still having the ignition in ACC - thereby eliminating everything else on the ACC/ON circuits.

So I got the ham radio and TNC up and running, and made sure APRSDroid was parsing stations. Then I turned the ignition to ACC, expecting everything to get really noisy/static-y. It didn't.

I confirmed that the stereo, tablet, my phone, etc. were all in the same config as previous (i.e. really noisy - BT and WiFi on, hotspot on from my phone) - they were.

Finally, I thought - "last time the tablet was charging via USB" so I plugged it in to the USB ports that I put in place of my cigarette lighter. BOOM - noise everywhere; just like before, I couldn't even tune WX on the second band of the ham.

That was good news! Rather than buy a new stereo, I'd just need to solve the interference problem of the Blue Sea Systems 1016 USB charger that I'd installed in place of my cigarette lighter back in 2015.

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So I fired off an email to Blue Sea Systems, asking if they knew about any RFI issues with the 1016 USB charger, and what they recommended in order to fix the problem. I got a great response from Kevin:

…The 1016 did pass the FCC part 15 testing for interference. But honestly that bar is pretty low. We endeavored to engineer a in-house design with much improved interference filtering. The 1045 will likely help…

Ultimately after a bit of troubleshooting, he kindly sent me a 1045 USB charger for free to try to solve the problem - now that's some awesome customer service! (thanks Kevin!)

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Before installing it in the dash, I verified that I could charge devices with it and APRS would still work (it did!); then it was as easy as unscrewing the retaining clip on the 1016 and inserting the 1045.

RFI mystery solved! Communication center complete!

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I was in my truck yesterday wanting to replace the cigarette lighter...the 1045 has been ordered! lol

 

Hmm, I have the 1016 charger in one of the lower 12v charging spots in my truck...wondering if that might be part of the issue with my CB tuning?

 

highly likely.