That is a slick install!

Nice job.

 

Very well done! Planning on using that free space above the LED for the meter?

 

I am in awe. Great craftsmanship.

 

Nicely done! I'd love to the write up on this one. I've been holding on mounting my DX IV because I didn't like my placement options. This could save me from having to buy a 75 or handheld.

 

That is freakin SICK!!

 

Looks great. Way to think outside the box!

 

That's fricken sweet

 

I removed them from the radio. I will never put the radio itself back together because it was so much work to butcher it - the channel switch alone has 20 pins, which must simultaneously be unsoldered from the board. This could all be done without hacking up the CB too much by just buying additional switches/pots but the dimensions on the existing Cobra 25 controls actually fit inside the on/off-road pod (by some miracle) - so went with them. I did search for a 40-channel switch but can't find that thing anywhere, despite some part number being stamped on the enclosure.

The channel switch and LED display were actually on their own daughterboards, with only ten wires going to them (total) from the main CB board, but that would mean mounting the channel switch and LEDs in the same spot on the dash, and would require a little more space. Could be done in a couple places but I really didn't want to cut into the Jeep's dash (yet... it's new)

I think I ended up running 46 wires between the CB and the knobs/display. Broke them out into two main bundles of 25 each, and used DB25 connectors at their ends, so I can disconnected them from the CB itself if needed (helpful during install; I could take my time soldering up everything indoors, and venture out to the Jeep only to do test fits and mounting.

 

Great idea - I decided against it only because I was really pushing it by running so many wires for the other controls/display, and I really don't think I'd use the meter. Certainly would be slick to have it above the channel numbers, but I had to go with function first, and the meter didn't make the cut, nor did the TX/RX LED (only three wires - decided the LED doesn't really do much. I assume that when I push TX, the rig TXs, and if I hear stuff, I'm RX'ing just fine.

 

A buddy sold me the 75 but before I even tried it, I decided I wanted dedicated controls and minimal "multi function" in order to minimize distractions and keep my eyes up & ahead, and knobs in easy to reach places. The 75 is great for space savings, was sure tempted.

I'll do a writeup tonight.

I have quite a few photos - what's the best way to serve them up? Just upload them to tinypic dot com, or is there a better way? Also never did an official writeup before; is there an official place on the site for this, or just start a thread here in the CB/ham area?