Third Battery

chwilliams · August 27, 2023

Any ideas where to install a third battery in a '24 2500 L5P that's not in the cab? Doesn't have to be huge, capacity/size are totally negotiable (ideally at least 10Ah), use case is a UHF/VHF amateur radio transceiver.

kf9yr · August 28, 2023

Why do you want a third battery for your VHF / UHF rig?

My 2016 and 2020 Diesels never had a problem with an Icom 5100 or a Kenwood TH-710G hooked up to the passenger side battery.

I just bought my 24 3500 L5P a few weeks ago and I’m waiting for a little cooler weather to install a VHF / UHF rig.

If you’re worried about the rig drawing down your batteries when the truck is off I would get a West Mountain Radio ISOPwr+ and a 10-20ah lifepo4 battery. I have this setup in a battery box so I can take it anywhere.

I mount the radio under the back seat and the control head on the dash. The 24 dash doesn’t have the tray in the middle of the dash so I’ll need to come up with something different.

George / W7GES

chwilliams · August 29, 2023

On 8/27/2023 at 10:17 PM, kf9yr said:

Why do you want a third battery for your VHF / UHF rig?

My 2016 and 2020 Diesels never had a problem with an Icom 5100 or a Kenwood TH-710G hooked up to the passenger side battery.

I just bought my 24 3500 L5P a few weeks ago and I’m waiting for a little cooler weather to install a VHF / UHF rig.

If you’re worried about the rig drawing down your batteries when the truck is off I would get a West Mountain Radio ISOPwr+ and a 10-20ah lifepo4 battery. I have this setup in a battery box so I can take it anywhere.

I mount the radio under the back seat and the control head on the dash. The 24 dash doesn’t have the tray in the middle of the dash so I’ll need to come up with something different.

George / W7GES

My preference is to have a dedicated battery for comms to not worry about depleting the truck's system. An ISOPwr+ (or similar) is definitely in the cards. For mounting the Bulletpoint Mounting Solutions RubiGrid has really piqued my interest.

I'd love to pick up another Kenwood TM-D710GA, have one in the shack that I could repurpose but I really hope I can find another one at a reasonable price.

kf9yr · August 29, 2023

I see your point about the comms battery. Here in AZ vehicle batteries usually last 2 years or so. A far cry from WI where they lasted a lot longer. On the other hand I've never had to replace an exhaust since moving here.

I need to stay off these forums.

Now I'll be ordering that RubiGrid after I get home these afternoon.

Good Luck finding another Kenwood mobile. I'm hoping they come out with a replacement but the new HT hasn't shown up anywhere yet either.

chwilliams · August 30, 2023

Hah! Please let me know how the RubiGid goes. I'm holding off on ordering until I decide what to do about the radio itself, we're coming into the PNW hamfest season so there's a decent chance of me finding a D710. HRO in Portland has one NIB for $1k in their special display case off to the side, nope!

Edited August 30, 2023 by chwilliams

kf9yr · August 30, 2023

The RubiGrid doesn't fit the AT4 / Denali stacked dash so back to the drawing board for me...

Good Luck finding a D710.

I found one a couple of years ago that a local had won in a hamfest and didn't want to invest the time to learn how to operate. I wouldn't pay over MRSP for a radio that may be replaced soon.

I have a pretty good Kenwood collection, TS480 (200 W), TS890, D710 and the D74 HT.

George / W7GES