Radio installing for light weights
It was bound to happen some time. Communications installers have seen it coming for years. Metal dashes disappeared, then it was plastic roof liners — now it is the all-plastic automobile. Yes, all plastic — as in recycled pop bottles. Chrysler started it with the CCV, a composite concept vehicle made entirely from plastic. Why?
“It could be made from the same material used to make plastic drinking bottles, polyethylene terephthalate (PET),” said Tom Tremont, chief designer for Pacifica, Chrysler’s West Coast design studio in Carlsbad, CA. “PET technology has the potential to reduce manufacturing costs by 80% over conventional methods using steel.”
As if this were not interesting enough, now a French company will manufacture an all-plastic taxi powered by … air. Yes, air. About this time, you have to ask, “What is an installer to do?”
Well, for the near future, the North-American radio technician won’t have much to worry about. However, readers in Mexico City may face this problem today.
With no practical ground plane, the installer may find some difficulty with antenna mounts. Fortunately, this is not an uncommon problem. Although few of us have cut up a classic ’Vette for a NMO blind mount, most of us have installed antennas on Good Humor vans, polyfoam-insulated refrigerator trucks or the odd golf cart.
Short of gluing aluminized Mylar to the roof with contact cement, a glass-mount antenna should do the trick and keep the owners happy. The vehicle frame, or more properly, subframe, does contain a significant amount of steel. Antenna selection is not as limited as it may seem at first.
In addition to “on-glass” mounts, a magnetic-mount directional discontinuity ring radiator antenna may work as well.
Designed for urban use only, the vehicle should rarely encounter obstacles that pose a threat to chassis-mounted antennas. Hitting the occasional sleeping burro or armadillo should pose no repair problem to the experienced southwestern technician.
Tapping into suitable dc power for the radio may become problematic. The French vehicle made with PET, the MDI “TOP” (Taxi zerO Pollution — hey, it’s French, OK?), is powered by compressed air. But it does have a battery for lights, signals and the like. Any communications system that you install in a TOP should be sized for minimum power draw. Some models may be hybrid, running on both air and some type of hydrocarbon fuel — permitting a more “normal” powered installation.
Back to the air-powered part. The compressed air is stored under the floorboards in several steel or fiberglass tanks. Recharge is via an on-board compressor or at a central re-airing station.
One cautionary note for new installers: Care is needed before drilling into the body. Because the air is stored at 4,351psi, or 300 bars, any installer will do well to closely examine the proposed installation site. Measuring twice is a good idea. A high-speed drill bit hitting a tank or manifold would be — exhausting, to say the least.
A remote-head radio probably is the best choice. This will allow the radio to be installed next to the battery supply, and a thin — possibly fiber optic — control cable can be routed to the front. The cable can be easily glued into place to prevent movement.
Careful use of an X-acto knife and more glue would permit an overhead routing. The reduced weight of just this type of system is a positive factor, given the nature of the dash area.
Because PET seems to be the preferred choice of material for a composite auto body, the smart installer will closely test any glues or other attachment methods prior to use. Testing should pose no problems, judging from the amount of empty plastic soda bottles that seem to inhabit a busy work bench.
As with any installation, always check with the user for control placement and double-check before any drilling is attempted. By mounting the radio near the power source, you have less cable to run.
If you’re thoroughly confused by our anticipation of demand for working with this new technology, recheck the cover date of this issue. HAFD!
Contributing Editor Koehler, when he isn’t inhaling mounting glue, is a network operations manager at a major Alaskan communications corporation. His email address is [email protected].
Learn more (no joke)
To learn more on this upcoming technology revolution (think $5/gal for gasoline) check out:
- www.howstuffworks.com/news-item106.htm
- www.car-truck.com/chryed/concept/ccv.htm
- www.zeropollution.com/zeropollution/index.htmlfor photos of the plastic, fantastic, taxi of the future. Prototypes are running around France now; U.S. safety rules currently prohibit this kind vehicle on the road. Perhaps a large resort would find first use for this futuristic “air-power” system.
