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Mon 23rd June 2014   
A decent audio system is part of the comfort of modern vehicle.

Components selection

Obviously, since we had nothing at all, we had to select and buy all the necessary parts:
  • auto radio
  • speakers
  • antenna
Considering how noisy our vehicle is, it looked like a no-brainer choice: Just pickup the cheapest things you can because it will not really make any difference in the end.

Unfortunately Norway, as many other countries, will soon be ditching the good old AM-FM standards that has been around for quite many decades and replace it by DAB+1.

That immediately reduced the available choice quite significantly!

Ultimately we selected a Pioneer DEH-X6600 DAB, not top of the range as far as auto-radio goes, but with DAB+ support as well as iPod/iPhone/USB and external input.

Pioneer DEH-X6600 DAB
Pioneer DEH-X6600 DAB

It's definitely not the best you can get, but the specs fit the bill.

A DAB antenna (designed to be sticked to the windshield) came in the box, so that was one less thing to worry about.

Finally for the loudspeakers we picked-up two sets, one for the front of the car, and one for the back.

Installing the speakers

For practical reasons we decided to install the front speakers on the separation walls we built the previous weekend.

Doing that would make it easy to pass the cables, and also make the speakers closer from our head; probably helpful considering the ambient noise2!

So there we go, dismounting them, and then drilling some holes.

Drilling the boards
Drilling the boards

At this stage, we knew that we would not have much more work to do on these board, so decided to make them prettier by covering them in a nicer material than raw plywood.

Some sand-paper action to round the edges later, the boards were ready to accept the carpet overlay.

A generous application of sprayable glue made it stick, and my cutter knife defined the final shape.

Carpetting
Carpetting

The final touch was to use a stapler to keep the edges clean.

Finally, all there was left to do was to screw the speakers in place.

Installing the speaker
Installing the speaker

The final walls
The final walls

As you can see, nothing really incredible, but I'm quite happy of the result.

The control panel

Since we did not want to have to remove the walls again, we built at the same time the control panel, using a quite similar approach.

First cut the board at the correct size and position the various elements3.

Positionning
Positionning

Then drill the holes to install the devices.

Drilling
Drilling

When it all fits nicely, make it pretty using the same glued and stapled carpet we used for the separation walls.

Carpetting
Carpetting

And finally pass all the cables and install in the final location in the car.

Connectors
Connectors

And we still have room for one more device!

Final result

When everything was finally put back in place, here is what it looked like:

We have power!
We have power!

The inverter is on, the batteries are charged at more than 60%, and the solar panels are active.

The final result
The final result

We are never going to win any beauty contest with this installation, but it's working!


1. Digital Audio Broadcasting
2. That was actually wishful thinking, at more than 90 km/h the tires are so noisy that they covered the sound of the speakers.
3. On the left is the pure sine Power Inverter remote control, on the center is the Tracer MPPT Solar Charge Controller control board, and on the right the switches for the 24v appliances in the car.
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