{"id":2681,"date":"2021-11-13T06:03:11","date_gmt":"2021-11-12T22:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projectkeira.com\/home\/?p=2681"},"modified":"2023-03-07T08:55:11","modified_gmt":"2023-03-07T00:55:11","slug":"radio-permanente","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.projectkeira.com\/home\/radio-permanente\/","title":{"rendered":"Radio Permanente"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the end of my iPad custom mounting post, I said, “…as soon as I finished this mod, I saw this and the gears started turning again:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

…but we’ll save this idea for another day.” Well, today is that day LOL<\/p>\n

After the last mod and having time to dwell on it, I realized that I wasn’t quite happy with the end result. It’s not that there was anything functionally wrong with the setup, but it was cumbersome. So I thought about how I could further revise and (hopefully) streamline my off-road comms, and I came up with some targets for the revision:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. A more “permanent” GMRS radio would probably be better, for fewer things to bring in and out of the vehicle;<\/li>\n
  2. If I get an FCC Part 95 type certified GMRS unit, then I’ll be legally using GMRS (along with my valid GMRS license);<\/li>\n
  3. Stick with the “hidden” theme, for less outside attention;<\/li>\n
  4. Quicker setup, less steps to get the GMRS on and ready;<\/li>\n
  5. Somehow bring the iPad mount even closer to the driver’s side of the vehicle.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    After looking at what was available and watching a lot of product reviews, I decided that the Midland MXT275 GMRS 2-way Radio<\/strong> had the right combination of features I needed. Thanks to some excellent CSI on the Internet, I came across a 25% coupon code that was still valid for use on the Midland USA’s online store, so I took full advantage of the situation and within 4 days this showed up on my doorstep:<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    First good feature: I bought the updated version with a USB-C port, as opposed to the older USB-A port; this meant that I could power my iPad Pro directly from the Midland unit instead of the current USB-C cable that I have running all the way to the USB charger in my center console. Second good feature: all of the radio’s controls (including the power button) are on the handheld mic itself. Third good feature: I can mount the main radio unit somewhere hidden and not have to worry about direct access. Fourth good feature: The detachable radio mic uses a standard CAT-5 connector… which gave me another custom add-on idea for the install (more on this later).<\/p>\n

    Here’s the radio bits out of the box, the main unit is nice and compact:<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    …and it’s installation time. I removed the center mounting arm (no longer needed since the iPad mount would go onto the left-side arm) and in its place, I installed the MXT275’s quick-release bracket (note: photo below shows the glove box upside down):<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    Next, I ran the cables out of the rear of the upper glove box through an access hole I cut in the rear-corner:<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    …and in less than 30 minutes (including cutting some strategically-shaped foam pieces to use as trim) I had the main radio unit installed. Here you can also see the 90-degree CAT-5 extension cable I used on the left-side port, and the USB-C plug on the right-side that will provide direct power to my iPad Pro:<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    That 90-degree CAT-5 extension cable leads… to the next mod, which will be in the next post =)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    At the end of my iPad custom mounting post, I said, “…as soon as I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2686,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,625,24],"tags":[719,63,354,599,597,153,720,144,607],"class_list":["post-2681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-custom-mods","category-electronicgadgets","category-off-roady-things","tag-custom-install","tag-custom-mod","tag-custom-mounting","tag-fcc","tag-gmrs","tag-midland","tag-mxt275","tag-off-road","tag-usb-c"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.projectkeira.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.projectkeira.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.projectkeira.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectkeira.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectkeira.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2681"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectkeira.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2681\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2849,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectkeira.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2681\/revisions\/2849"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectkeira.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.projectkeira.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectkeira.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectkeira.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}