Also, tapping into another system or wire for power without thought can lead to that circuit overloading for the wire size that you tap into. Think about how small some of those wires are. Admittingly, I've done throughout my yrs of wiring in junk, I have done the crimps, solder, strip/twist/tape & heat shrink around power sources.

OP-Wire your power source whichever you feel necessary, just ENSURE you have a good ground everywhere. Strip/scratch paint some from painted surfaces where you are grounding it at.

Satt

 

Update: Wired direct to battery. Everything seems very good. Used the cooltech gate mount, grounded to tub, and to subwoofer (per cooltech instructions) tuned antenna today, got it down to 1.6 on ch. 1, and 1.5 on ch. 40. So I think it is good enough. All power and ground wires in flexible kind of shield (do not know the proper term) Spoke to someone for a radio check approximately 10 miles away, was loud and clear on transmission and reception, so I am happy with it.

Thanks for all the advise and help.

Would it be better to switch off with the ignition? Probably, but for me it was easier to go direct to battery. Just CAN NOT forget to turn it off!

Thanks again everyone!