KB9YFI
07-06-2002, 04:41 PM
I'm not sure if you mean the ashtray hole or that little cubby hole under the radio where the CD-player would be if you had the Hi-Fi option installed from Toyota. I don't feel the ashtray is useless as it makes a very convenient coin holder for toll change because of the lighted feature in the Camry. I mounted my Alinco DR-605TQ in that location and it is plenty big for many full-sized mobil rigs and there is a lot more air-space/ventilation behind this area in the dash than down where the ashtray is.
As for the rig not wanting to come on in severe cold weather I have never had that problem but I have had it act really goofy and the LCD not wanting to light up. Transmitting on High power for a couple of seconds if possible will likely heat up the unit enough for it to start working. Yaesu has temperature operating limits in the specifications and I believe that the rig is good down to pretty darn low temperatures. I live in frigid Wisconsin but am fortunate to have an attached garage that never gets below freezing so the only time my car sits outside is when it is light out and I never had a problem with extreme cold weather operating.
I would recommend you getting an external speaker. I mounted mine on the back deck just in front of the rear brake light. The Camry has a little plastic plug there that covers a threaded bolt-hole. All you need is to bolt into this with your speaker bracket and shoot forwards to the passenger compartment. Getting the wire back there is quite easy and only took me 20 minutes to fish under the carpet, back into the trunk and through the rear deck using existing wire chases. This works really great for me. I use my FT1500 as a multi-purpose radio and not in my Camry but I have mounted in my wife's Camry on occasion with Velcro when we were on the road. I found that with a heavy-gauge wire and 10A lighter plug is works fine even on high power if you use the accessory jack standard in Gen4 and up Camry's. If you are using the cigar lighter then you might want to stick with 25W or less output. I found that Velcro glue backing will melt away if you operate on full power for too long as the radio heats up so it's not a good idea even if you have a good accessory 12v outlet that is rated at 10A.
Jim - KB9YFI
As for the rig not wanting to come on in severe cold weather I have never had that problem but I have had it act really goofy and the LCD not wanting to light up. Transmitting on High power for a couple of seconds if possible will likely heat up the unit enough for it to start working. Yaesu has temperature operating limits in the specifications and I believe that the rig is good down to pretty darn low temperatures. I live in frigid Wisconsin but am fortunate to have an attached garage that never gets below freezing so the only time my car sits outside is when it is light out and I never had a problem with extreme cold weather operating.
I would recommend you getting an external speaker. I mounted mine on the back deck just in front of the rear brake light. The Camry has a little plastic plug there that covers a threaded bolt-hole. All you need is to bolt into this with your speaker bracket and shoot forwards to the passenger compartment. Getting the wire back there is quite easy and only took me 20 minutes to fish under the carpet, back into the trunk and through the rear deck using existing wire chases. This works really great for me. I use my FT1500 as a multi-purpose radio and not in my Camry but I have mounted in my wife's Camry on occasion with Velcro when we were on the road. I found that with a heavy-gauge wire and 10A lighter plug is works fine even on high power if you use the accessory jack standard in Gen4 and up Camry's. If you are using the cigar lighter then you might want to stick with 25W or less output. I found that Velcro glue backing will melt away if you operate on full power for too long as the radio heats up so it's not a good idea even if you have a good accessory 12v outlet that is rated at 10A.
Jim - KB9YFI