I worked on Tuesday and that was the day my Mom was coming down for her first visit to my place south.
I set up being off while she was here and we were able to fit in most of the things she wanted to do or see. While the weather was brutal hot last weekend, most of the week the cloud cover and occasional showers kept the temps moderate and the humidity down.
She said she had a great time in the 3+ days she was here. I am
really glad that she enjoyed it and that she can still travel alone
without any assistance (she is 82!).
On Thursday, we lost about half the power in the house, and my neighbors were out wandering around since they were down on power. I walked to the stores right next to my complex (Dominoes, Convenience store, etc.) and they were all closed. Apparently, a transformer blew, but Florida Power and Light had it fixed in a few hours, so my refrigerator food was saved!
Since my Mom sleeps in in the mornings, I was able to get out and ride every other day, doing my normal routes north and south.
Riding
Since I missed the group ride last week by miscalculating my trip to the start (West Boca) I made sure this Saturday that I was there early. There were only 3 of us this time (I hear there were 6+ last week) and we left very promptly at 9AM.
This is the slow group and I picked this because on my last trip down, I tried to keep up with the road bikes with me on my monster Hybrid and wore myself out. The leader was on a Fixie so he was hammering a little but this was no problem for me. We did a quick 10 mile loop in about 40 minutes, heading up into South County Regional Park. After the ride, I headed home, dropped off the bike, and went for breakfast.
Car Stereo
Last week, after getting the Car Stereo installed, I ordered the recommended speaker replacements, which arrived on Thursday. Opening them up gave me an idea about how I was going to wire and mount them in the truck dash.
After breakfast, I remove the rich dash cowling with the mounted speaker and brought it into the A/C to figure out the mounting. It took a trip to Home Depot for some spacers and nuts/bolts and some more planning.
The other Blogger who recommended these speakers said these would mount in place of the old ones, it took me on a journey which had me drilling a hole in the dash for a extra screw mount. Since this is an old truck, it does not matter to me that the screw head is visible (a girl I know would look at that and say "You are such a guy!! How could you do something like that??).
Anyway, both speakers are installed and the Stereo sounds much improved...I need to road trip it and do some EQ adjustments on it to hear how much better this is. But, for $17 for the pair of speakers, it is hard to say I could have gone wrong.
Working outside on the truck has me secreting a fair amount of water so it is nice to come back in. I am off for a few days this coming week and plan to work on some in-house projects.
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Saturday, May 24, 2014
Riding, Driving, Jamming!
While I did not ride yesterday (it was a work day), in the evening I did read through all the doc for the new Truck Stereo unit and did some searching about pulling the existing radio out.
The plan for Saturday was to join a group ride out of West Boca. That was a nice idea and all, but I mis-judged how far the starting location was and after waking up early, working a bit, and dozing for an hour, I was rushing to get everything in the truck (bike, shoes, helmet, etc.) for the journey. Since I did not know the exact spot, I wound up about 8 minutes late! Oh well, I said, it was an outing and they have that ride every Saturday.
I drove back and thought to myself that I could still do a short ride on one of my regular routes.
The Ride
Back at the house (an hour or so later) I was planning on riding south into Pompano Beach and swinging around onto Ocean Blvd for the return. I noticed before leaving that I was painfully low on cash, so instead of going south, I went north since there is a CitiBank just up the road in Boca.
After that stop, I went north a few blocks, headed for Ocean Blvd, and then proceeded north for about another 4 miles. By this point the temps had climbed into the upper 80's as I swung west back to Rt 1 and back south. On the way, I stopped off at the "Flashback Diner" since it is now 11:30 am and I have not eaten anything except for some trail mix before originally leaving the house.
With the food stop complete, I continued to head south and headed back to Ocean Blvd again and sat by the Intracoastal Waterway to watch the fishing boats come and go.
Back on Ocean Blvd south, I headed for Deerfield Beach. By now, the temps were just hitting 90 and the sun was baking me pretty good so it was good to make it back to the house and the A/C!
Car Stereo Replacement Project
Back indoors, the plan was to head out to the Truck and take the dash apart in order to remove the stock AM/FM Cassette unit. Also, I wanted to validate that the left speaker was, in fact, toast. No reason to take a shower at this point since I would probably be out in the 90 degree heat at the Truck for most of the next several hours.
When I received the truck, the story was that the left speaker had not worked for years. I was assuming that even if I got that to work, I would eventually replace both speakers. The existing radio is stock and always sounded pretty bad, especially on one speaker!
The new Stereo was sold as a direct replacement for the existing one and I bought a wiring adapter kit which should make the reconnect easy (famous last words).
JVC KDR330 CD Receiver
First item of business was to wire up the new Stereo harness with the adapter harness. Once complete, I headed out to rip out the old radio. It took some work to get all the lower Dash cowling pieces unscrewed and removed. As I suspected, it looked like the left speaker connector had come off!
Nonetheless, the speaker cones were falling apart so it is on my list to replace them anyway.
Removing the actual radio was trivial (4 screws) and once out and looking at it back upstairs to compare it to the new radio, I got more confident that it will fit properly. Also, the adapter wiring harness connector was identical to what was on the back of the old radio (amazing when a plan comes together!).
I removed the left and right brackets from the old radio and installed them on the new one. Back at the truck, the harness assembly plugged right in but it took a little maneuvering to get the new radio snug in place. Once there, the screws tightened it down without any issues. I put back only a few of the screws/bolts of the cowlings since I wanted to 1)make sure everything worked; and 2)will eventually get some new speakers to put in.
On engine ignition, we had liftoff!! The new radio lit up into it's "Demo" mode, and once I disabled that and selected FM, I could hear music out of both Speakers!
Please ignore the Duct Tape remnants on the right cowling....that was from someone mounting a camera on the Dash to record a youtube video while driving (whatever...).
The Road Test
I needed to make a food run anyway, so I brought all my tools back upstairs and headed out. At about Volume level 20, there was enough sound to hear the radio over the 4 cyl engine. New speakers would go along way to decent sound.
This Stereo has an AUX 3.5mm input on the front panel for analog connection mobile to devices such as my phone, a tablet, an MP-3 player, etc. It also has a rear AUX 3.5mm input which could be used with the Blue Tooth adapter (sold separately).
An update: This guy has a similar Truck and Stereo and recommends these replacement speakers for under $20!! Break out that card and go for it, Steve!!
In Closing
Installing this Stereo in the truck was one of my main todo's on this trip. I guess I now have no choice but to spend the rest of my time at the beach!
Until the next sign post, keep on riding!!
The plan for Saturday was to join a group ride out of West Boca. That was a nice idea and all, but I mis-judged how far the starting location was and after waking up early, working a bit, and dozing for an hour, I was rushing to get everything in the truck (bike, shoes, helmet, etc.) for the journey. Since I did not know the exact spot, I wound up about 8 minutes late! Oh well, I said, it was an outing and they have that ride every Saturday.
I drove back and thought to myself that I could still do a short ride on one of my regular routes.
The Ride
Back at the house (an hour or so later) I was planning on riding south into Pompano Beach and swinging around onto Ocean Blvd for the return. I noticed before leaving that I was painfully low on cash, so instead of going south, I went north since there is a CitiBank just up the road in Boca.
After that stop, I went north a few blocks, headed for Ocean Blvd, and then proceeded north for about another 4 miles. By this point the temps had climbed into the upper 80's as I swung west back to Rt 1 and back south. On the way, I stopped off at the "Flashback Diner" since it is now 11:30 am and I have not eaten anything except for some trail mix before originally leaving the house.
With the food stop complete, I continued to head south and headed back to Ocean Blvd again and sat by the Intracoastal Waterway to watch the fishing boats come and go.
Back on Ocean Blvd south, I headed for Deerfield Beach. By now, the temps were just hitting 90 and the sun was baking me pretty good so it was good to make it back to the house and the A/C!
Car Stereo Replacement Project
Back indoors, the plan was to head out to the Truck and take the dash apart in order to remove the stock AM/FM Cassette unit. Also, I wanted to validate that the left speaker was, in fact, toast. No reason to take a shower at this point since I would probably be out in the 90 degree heat at the Truck for most of the next several hours.
When I received the truck, the story was that the left speaker had not worked for years. I was assuming that even if I got that to work, I would eventually replace both speakers. The existing radio is stock and always sounded pretty bad, especially on one speaker!
The new Stereo was sold as a direct replacement for the existing one and I bought a wiring adapter kit which should make the reconnect easy (famous last words).
JVC KDR330 CD Receiver
First item of business was to wire up the new Stereo harness with the adapter harness. Once complete, I headed out to rip out the old radio. It took some work to get all the lower Dash cowling pieces unscrewed and removed. As I suspected, it looked like the left speaker connector had come off!
Nonetheless, the speaker cones were falling apart so it is on my list to replace them anyway.
Removing the actual radio was trivial (4 screws) and once out and looking at it back upstairs to compare it to the new radio, I got more confident that it will fit properly. Also, the adapter wiring harness connector was identical to what was on the back of the old radio (amazing when a plan comes together!).
I removed the left and right brackets from the old radio and installed them on the new one. Back at the truck, the harness assembly plugged right in but it took a little maneuvering to get the new radio snug in place. Once there, the screws tightened it down without any issues. I put back only a few of the screws/bolts of the cowlings since I wanted to 1)make sure everything worked; and 2)will eventually get some new speakers to put in.
On engine ignition, we had liftoff!! The new radio lit up into it's "Demo" mode, and once I disabled that and selected FM, I could hear music out of both Speakers!
Please ignore the Duct Tape remnants on the right cowling....that was from someone mounting a camera on the Dash to record a youtube video while driving (whatever...).
The Road Test
I needed to make a food run anyway, so I brought all my tools back upstairs and headed out. At about Volume level 20, there was enough sound to hear the radio over the 4 cyl engine. New speakers would go along way to decent sound.
This Stereo has an AUX 3.5mm input on the front panel for analog connection mobile to devices such as my phone, a tablet, an MP-3 player, etc. It also has a rear AUX 3.5mm input which could be used with the Blue Tooth adapter (sold separately).
An update: This guy has a similar Truck and Stereo and recommends these replacement speakers for under $20!! Break out that card and go for it, Steve!!
In Closing
Installing this Stereo in the truck was one of my main todo's on this trip. I guess I now have no choice but to spend the rest of my time at the beach!
Until the next sign post, keep on riding!!
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Arrivals and initial planning
Since arriving yesterday, everything in-house looks the same. Apparently, I had set the thermostat to 71, which is lower than it should be. This partially explains why my electric bill was so high.
I was able to get the tools and initial parts (Crimp tool and butt splices) needed from the hardware store for the Truck Stereo Replacement project.
The weather here in [near] south Florida is, in a word "SPECTACULAR!". Mid 80's and sunny during the day along with moderate humidity and low 70's at night with diminishing humidity.
One item I began to think about earlier this year was a way of reducing the amount of light in the bedrooms at night (Bedroom light Blackout Project). Both master bedroom windows and the 2nd bedroom window are along the walkway outside that has lighting. The mini-blinds do a reasonable job of blocking out the light but the roller shades outside of the blinds are each an inch or more off the window edges, leaving a nice gap for light.
At Hone Depot in January, I got a rod and two curtain panels to try (Martha Steward brand!). I never got to test it before, but with the existing faux ruffle pieces (and curtain rod) at the top of the windows, I was able to get an idea of the effectiveness of these panels by running the panels through the new rod and resting the rod on top of the existing rack.
These panels are about 84" long so the rod would need to be a few inches above the window such that the curtains are off the floor. It looks like two panels will easily cover the window and shut out most of the daytime light. Will leave this to try overnight.
The window over the bed will be more of a challenge to mount anything since that entire wall is mirrored. More on that later.....
I was able to get the tools and initial parts (Crimp tool and butt splices) needed from the hardware store for the Truck Stereo Replacement project.
The weather here in [near] south Florida is, in a word "SPECTACULAR!". Mid 80's and sunny during the day along with moderate humidity and low 70's at night with diminishing humidity.
One item I began to think about earlier this year was a way of reducing the amount of light in the bedrooms at night (Bedroom light Blackout Project). Both master bedroom windows and the 2nd bedroom window are along the walkway outside that has lighting. The mini-blinds do a reasonable job of blocking out the light but the roller shades outside of the blinds are each an inch or more off the window edges, leaving a nice gap for light.
At Hone Depot in January, I got a rod and two curtain panels to try (Martha Steward brand!). I never got to test it before, but with the existing faux ruffle pieces (and curtain rod) at the top of the windows, I was able to get an idea of the effectiveness of these panels by running the panels through the new rod and resting the rod on top of the existing rack.
These panels are about 84" long so the rod would need to be a few inches above the window such that the curtains are off the floor. It looks like two panels will easily cover the window and shut out most of the daytime light. Will leave this to try overnight.
The window over the bed will be more of a challenge to mount anything since that entire wall is mirrored. More on that later.....
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