Kenwood TK 790H VHF radio install remote head and speaker (lots of pics)

[mpk1996]

I know there has been a lot of VHF radio install threads, but I did a few things different and didn't find a lot of info in one place for how I wanted to install it. So here it goes.

I got my radio from an online retailer (and ebay sales) place named Gallad Group Inc. They have a website and sell everything from their or ebay. The owner was awesome. I had a bunch of questions and he answered them super fast (like in minutes) even on a Sunday. So I highly recommend them. He offers up to 16 channels programmed. I had wanted more and he emailed me the software to do it myself, and also provided a link to a USB programming cable. He tests the radios before they go out, so its not like ordering from a DRMO place where they have been pulled from fleet vehicles and you have no idea whats going on with them. It comes with new power wires, tested remote head wires. Basically ready to go. Oh and about 1/3 of the price of some of the other places. Its really a no brainer to get one here.

For those of you who are worried about programming and think you need to buy these radios from somewhere that programs them for you, you are worried about nothing. I copied the list from the "only VHR radio thread" and just typed everything in. Super easy. The other cool thing by doing things this way is you can custom name the channels and program the buttons to do whatever you want. Again super easy. Once the radio was in the truck and powered (didn't have a 12v power source to do it before) it literally took 2 min to program. I couldn't believe it was that easy. Here are a couple of screen shots of what the program looks like. you just type in the freqs and save it.




I was hoping to put the main radio body under the passengers seat, but it wont fit. Luckly I have the builtright industries rear seat hooyas that make getting behind the seat a breeze. I decided to put it behind the rear seat since it was going to be easy to route the antenna wires that way. I am running a GJ 3rd brake light. Plenty of install threads on those, so i won't go into that here

I do have to say once again that the Tom at GJ is awesome. I had orig purchased the light without the ant mount. So I called and asked if he could send what they use to install it and i would just drill the holes and mount it. He also sent the terminal ends loose (the ones that mount to the antenna side at the light) so i could cut the coax cable to the proper length. Once I got it I had a quick question about wiring. He emailed a pic right away (like while we were talking), i pulled it up (still on the phone) and it answered all of my questions. I would never hesitate to use those guys and frankly, would pay more for a similar product knowing its coming from them.



Anyhow, I found this spot that had some raised areas and a bracket that I figured would be a good spot to mount the radio bracket to and not have to go through the back of the cab.

If you look, the left hole on that lower bracket is where the trim piece for the C pillar mounts to. I used a small 1/4-20 bolt and nut to mount one of the bracket mounts in the right hand hole. The bracket lined up so that I was able to use two other self tapping screws to mount it and not go through the cab. I could have pulled the rear seat and gotten another in, but this seemed pretty solid. And the rear of the seat is there as well.



mounting the bracket through the back panel does crush some of that vent space in the back panel, but I think it will be ok.

 

[Muchmore]

Feels good to find people that care and aren't just about making all the money they can.

 

[mpk1996]

Once that was all done, it was time to mount the radio and run the power and remote face wires. I ran both in the factor wire channel along the base of the door sills. again, pretty easy.





I decided to run the remote face in the center console due to easy of mounting and mic placement. I had thought I wanted to run the remote face in the roof by the sunglasses holder, but decided against it for a few reasons. One, not wanting to have to make some sort of cover if I ever get rid of it. Two, not wanting the mic hanging down. And three, the out of sight, out of mind idea and not having a lot of stuff visible for prying eyes.

I pulled the front passengers seat (4x15mm bolts) and unplugged the main power plug. Then I just pushed it into the rear seat area since I didn't remove the seatbelt mounting point. Didn't matter, sliding it in the back gave me all the access I needed.

This is what I did with the extra wire for the remote head. I just ran it in the center console and zip tied the extra to the space between the power cord for the seat and the rear air tube.



There is a little hole in the rear of the center console that I was able to run the cable through, after exiting the rug in the aft inboard hole for the seat bolt. This is also a good time to vacuum all those areas we normally don't have access to!!!



I was able to "bend" the outside panel enough to get that wire through. I may go back and cut a notch for that wire, so it doesn't create an area for a bunch of stuff to fall though. My center console is already a black hole for things as it is.




For the power wire, I drilled a hole right next to where some of the factory wires exit the cab, put a grommet in it, and ran the wires. I then put the factory tape back over it and added some gorilla tape to it for good measure. I put a unused grommet next to it for you guys to see what I used.

 

[mpk1996]

Once all of that was done, it was time to mount the remote face. I used the included bracket and just drilled a couple of holes in the side of the center console. Connected everything up and it works great. I wanted to mount mine a little lower as I use the top tray and normally keep it on the passengers side. That way I can get access to the center console for other things I put in there. When I run the radio, I will just slide the tray over and have complete access. worked out perfect for me.



So, one of the big concerns with mounting the radio head in the center console was the speaker. I talked to Gallad and he said he could get me a kenwood kes-5 speaker. but that thing is a tank and not really the look I wanted to go with. After a few emails he said if I got a kenwood molex connector, I could wire up any speaker I wanted. So that's what I did. Basically you can run it off of the connector on the face plate or the main radio. I ordered the connector for the radio. Of course that was when I was planning on mounting it under the front seat. no big deal, just a little bit longer speaker wire.

On a side note, I had called the guys at PCI radios about mic extension, speakers, etc. They told me that the only way to do it was to send the radio in for an external speaker mod. Not sure what they do, but they were flat out wrong. you DO NOT need to do this. for the cost of a speaker and molex connector ($7) you can use any speaker you want.

I planned on flush mounting a car speaker to the drivers side of the center console, just below the shifter. As I started looking around and pulling panels, I found the perfect spot! just forward of the shifter and behind the gas pedal. That panel has a little pocket behind it that fits the magnet of a 4" speaker perfectly.

I pulled that panel, drilled and cut the hole and mounted the speaker.





It works great. I went with this kenwood as it was a 4 ohm speaker and the cheapest I could find that actually came with the grill. I got the pair for like $25 off ebay, brand new. I may try and mount up the other one on the passengers side. I need to see if I need to (might not if this is loud enough) and the best way to wire it as adding the second one will either double the impedance, or cut it in half. Need to see how the radio will handle it.

for you guys wanting to do this, here is a screen shot of the manual with the pin locations. I suggest you google and download both the users manual and the service manual. The service manual will tell you how to do EVERYTHING with this radio. It has every wiring and circuit diagram too. These radios are capable of way more than we ever need doing raptor runs, but its nice to play sometimes.

here are the links for the two different molex connectors. 9 pin is for the main radio and 12 pin for the radio head. Either one will be good. the pos wire goes in pin 6 and the neg wire in pin 2 for the 9 pin. There is also a way to increase the output from 3 watts to 13 watts. by pulling out a resistor in the main unit. I may give it a try if the speaker isn't loud enough.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/KENWOOD-TK...d=link&campid=5338805043&toolid=20001&mkevt=1

https://www.ebay.com/itm/KENWOOD-TK...d=link&campid=5338805043&toolid=20001&mkevt=1




Thanks for reading all of this. let me know if you have any questions

 

[mpk1996]

BTW here are the links for the manuals

http://radiomanual.info/schemi/Surplus_Civil/Kenwood_TK-790_B_H_HB_serv_2001.pdf

https://www.kenwood.com/usa/Support/pdf/TK-690-790-890_B62-0970-20.pdf

 

[zombiekiller]

got a link to the programming cable?

 

[mpk1996]

got a link to the programming cable?

here you go

https://www.ebay.com/itm/FTDI-USB-K...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

 

[mpk1996]

BTW Guys

I emailed a copy of all of the raptor channels to Gallad. So if you are interested in a radio, he can sell them with all the freqs we need/use preprogrammed. On this radio (the 790h) its VHF only, so you wont get the channels in the 400 range (FRS1-14) but you will get everything else

The only thing I changed was on the name of SNOW1 and 2, I changed them to SNO/RTO1 and SNO/RTO2 as those were the freqs that Collins said they used for the RTO events as well. That way I could remember which ones they were.

 

[1BAD454SSv2]

Nice job I like the speaker ,here is mine installed overhead , i was able to put the amplifier under passenger seat on my 10scab, mic is remote mounted as well

 

[1BAD454SSv2]

Is that a .50 action express bullet in your console tray?