escape the ordinary
CB and Ham radio, satellite communicators.
TL;DR - The spot where my NMO ham radio antenna mount punches through the roof has been rusting for years. I think this was due to poor design of my original antenna. I've cleaned up and repainted the roof, and I think the antenna I use now will not cause the same problem again.
"Factory"-ish.
I like to keep the cab of the Tacoma tidy. And, I'm not great at keeping the cab of the Tacoma tidy. Really, I think most folks would say that the inside of the Tacoma is amazingly clean-looking given all the adventuring I do, but to me it always feels dusty and a bit of a mess. I've added various containers in order to contain some of the chaos - largely in the extended cab area, with the 12v house battery box and some cardboard storage containers for our clothes - but one of the things I haven't ever done…
11 CommentsMay 22, 2023 With the Tacoma living in Las Vegas now, it's harder to perform various maintenance tasks as they pop up and between trips. As such, with a few general maintenance issues - oil changes, tire rotations, etc. - and a few items in recent Rig Reviews needing attention, I drove the truck home from the Three Days of R&R trip for a little TLC (Tacoma Loving Care). On my list for a warm spring day were the following tasks: Routine maintenance - Change the oil, Rotate the tires Grease drive train. Check the new SPC UCAs for play in…
10 CommentsOne of the jokes we always make about the folks (ok, let's be honest, it's 99% guys) we hear talking on the 146.520 simplex ham radio frequency that we have tuned in the Tacoma most of the time, is that they are always talking about their radio setup. Whether they have just tuned a new antenna, are calling for CQ ("anyone out there") from the top of some mountain, or are reorganizing their "shack" to fit a newly acquired transceiver, every radio operator seems to be... a nerd. Guilty as charged. My first mode of communication in the Tacoma was…
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The inReach Mini is now part of what I take on every hike.
TL;DR - After a couple solo trips where I had limited cell coverage, and some thinking I should have done long ago, I now have an inReach Mini.
Leave a CommentIn the last post, I outlined the Materials and Prep necessary for sound deadening a 1st gen Tacoma. This time, we'll walk through the specifics on how to do the actual deadening. As a reminder, all you really need to do this job are the following: Sound Deadening Mat and Foam (below is the "most worth it" option - bang for the buck, really - but there are others that are better, and others that are cheaper) Dynamat Xtreme - Sound Deadening Mat - 1 kit @ 48sqft Dyaliner - Sound Deadening Foam - 4 kits @ 12sqft ea 3/8"…
12 CommentsWhile I believe the saying, "They don't make them like they used to," generally does apply to a 1st gen Tacoma, it most definitely does not apply to the sound deadening of these old trucks. Nearly any vehicle you get today will have better sound deadening than a 20-year old truck and after thousands of freeway miles, I decided it was finally time for some peace and quiet in the cab. Or at least, that was the plan. Oh, and while I'm definitely no audiophile, I figured I might as well put in some new speakers while I was at…
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TL;DR - the dual battery system is working amazingly great. It was extremely nice to not have to worry about powering the fridge, even when the overnight temps were in the 50°F's.
Leave a CommentWell, this post is a long time in the making. In fact, I assumed this was a project I'd get taken care of in the dead of winter, since much of it would be done in the wood shop, and none of it required the truck to be outside in the rain and cold. But like many well-laid plans, mine got comfortable and took a six-month nap. So let's start at the beginning... My Battery History To date, I've only had to replace the battery in the truck once. I did that back in 2011 after owning the truck for…
28 CommentsJanuary 16, 2018. The Kenwood D710GA has been working well since it was installed. Transmission and reception seem good, the APRS has worked as expected, the display is nice (but not quite as nice as the Icom 5100A), and it's great having it securely mounted under the passenger seat. But the built-in speaker - that leaves something to be desired. With the Icom, I had no trouble hearing what contacts were saying, but even with the volume turned all the way up on the Kenwood, it's just slightly too quiet for me to parse what's being said. Luckily (and of…
3 CommentsI got asked a few questions about APRS, and figured that the topic would make a good post. This isn't everything there is to know about APRS (by a long shot), but it does explain things in (I hope) a way that can help clarify how various components in the system work... At any rate, here were some of the questions that got asked: I've been checking your post here turbodb and must say it's helping me get started in aprs. Very nice write up ! I'm wondering what tablet you use ? I have a windows based laptop for…
Leave a CommentHaving 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…
2 CommentsNovember 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…
20 CommentsNovember 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…
4 CommentsAfter running the CB for two weeks straight on The De-Tour, there are a few notes I'll make about it for anyone considering the same setup: It's a really nice setup. It fits so perfectly, especially with the AC housing "mod," that you don't even really need to secure it in any way...which is nice if you have to remove it for any reason (I did a few times to tune it). Even when wheeling, it didn't dislodge at all. The antenna setup worked out well - it tuned up really nicely once I got a SWR meter on it.…
Leave a CommentSeptember 10, 2017. When I got the ham radio, my hope was that I'd just skip the whole CB thing. I mean, when you've got the real thing… 🙂 But, as it turns out (and let's be honest, I knew this when I installed the ham radio), a lot of folks don't have a HAM license, so CB's are the common denominator on trips. About to set-off on a 14-day De-Tour of Montana and Wyoming, it was time to get the CB installed. For First Gen Tacoma's, there's really only one option for a CB radio IMO - the Uniden…
4 CommentsJuly 23, 2017. Ham radio is for old guys. I must be getting old. As the truck has gotten more capable, and as we’ve started doing longer and more remote trips, I’ve started carrying more tools, extra parts, etc. in order to make (minor) road repairs - hopefully enough to limp back to civilization. But in the back of my mind there is always a little voice that’s been saying, “What happens if you’re many miles out?” I knew I needed some sort of ability to communicate. I considered getting an inReach device a SPOT tracker, or some other ePRB/PLB,…
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