X-caiver's Blog

Vector Offroad JK E-Dock RAM Mount dashboard thingy

2011-06-12T16:30:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I spent an hour installing the simplest + coolest interior accessory for my Wrangler - the Vector Offroad E-Dock. Read on for install instructions and a list of components...
I've officially given up on posting Jeep-accessory write-ups in any kind of sane order - the 5 half-written posts that I've got sitting in my 'Drafts' folder may be stuck there for a long time!

Vector Offroad makes a few unique products down in lovely Utah. I installed one of their tailgate tables a couple months ago (another blog post stuck in the 'Drafts' chasm), and am planning to buy a set of their UFO discs to replace the now-pointless rubber bumpers on my hood and rear gate, but most recently installed their E-Dock.

The E-Dock doesn't exactly 'do anything' by itself. It just provides a (slick) way for mounting RAM Mount bases without relying on suction cups, gluing anything to the dash, or drilling through the plastic. Once you have RAM bases you can pretty much do whatever you want.

I've driven on some rough roads and taken some speed bumps 'at speed' and everything is staying nice and tight. It took a couple tries to get the mounts positioned correctly, there is a minor amount of flexing in the arms when you hit bumps so my initial alignment had the radio too close to the CB and the camera too close to the windshield, so both would rattle and hit.

You'll notice that my E-Dock doesn't look quite like the one in their pictures. I had them make a semi-custom version, lacking the shelf and most of the front hoop, to accommodate another project I'll be working on this summer. The seemed happy to assist in getting me the customized version, and there was only a minor delay waiting for their next production run compared to getting a pre-produced one. (I can't find my receipt, but I'm pretty sure there was no extra charge either)

Theirs, with a center shelf and front rail :: Mine without that stuff
::

In this post I'll be using some of the pictures from their full-color PDF (all the ones with the red writing in on them), rather than taking all my own pics. I was impressed by the quality of their instructions - compared to many other Jeep part suppliers having 'any' instructions is a surprise, but having online instructions with full color photographs? Rare!

Part 1: Installing the dock

First, remove 3 parts of the dashboard:
Two little screw covers, one from each side (I used a flat head screwdriver because they were really stuck in there, and I didn't care about scratching them since they won't be reinstalled)

And the radio's top cover. The blue sticks in these pictures are body panel tools from Griott's Garage, they are firm plastic but soft enough that you don't run too big a risk of messing a panel up. There are a couple different shapes to fit in various cracks. The top panel is just held in place with some metal clips, not hard to slowly pry it up.

Once all the clips are popped up, slide it forward (towards the center of the cab) to unlatch the front, and then lift, rotate, and prop out of the way. Note the compass wires that you need to be careful of, don't go yanking it around.

The next step depends on when your Wrangler was put together and which radio you have. I have a 2008 with the CD/SatRadio unit, so my 'next step' is the complicated one. If the slot that is empty in this picture actually has a screw in it already then you can skip forward a bunch.

Anyway, since the two center mounting points were empty in my Jeep, I had to take the radio out to do my mount. You want to be careful with these steps because you can easily scratch up a bunch of the trim pieces. I use a combination of my plastic trim removers and painters tape. I completely cover the inside of the center stack's 'border pieces' with the tape to prevent scratching. (I use green 'frog tape' which is easier to remove) That isn't shown in these pictures, which I am reusing from my old 'CB Install' write-up.

With the top removed, you have access to two hex head screws holding the trim on at the top. I believe it was an 11mm socket driver I used.

Once those two are removed you can remove the air vents, by twisting them (the outside just an inch or so and then they slide out.

Now you can start to pull the trim forward. It is connected with a couple of clips as well. You aren't going to remove it completely (there are more screws down by the A/C control that you don't need to worry about.

You just need to pull it far enough forward that you can access the 4 hex head bolts on the radio (2 per side). Same head size as the previous two. The top two are easy to remove, the bottom two are a little tricker. You can either try to wiggle the driver through the opening like in my picture, or use a small ratchet through the open side.

With the screws removed, apply firm pressure to the top of the radio (wherever you can grab hold) and pull it out a little bit. It needs to come out far enough that your hand can get behind it to push the screws in to the slots, and get a little screw driver in there to hold it while tightening the nut. If you are clumsy or have large hands you may need to pull the front plastic off farther, which may include popping the bottom mesh net part out with your trim removal tools.

Now that the radio is out, push bolts in to those slots from the bottom up, drop a support bracket on it, and then put a nut on it. Be careful when you are doing all this that you don't drop the bolt or nut, it will be a pain to get it out.

When you tighten these down, push the support leg out so that it is as flush as possible with the dashboard trim piece. If you don't do that correctly the radio cover won't fit back on very well.

Now you can move on to mounting the troublesome front support bars. If you have your Jeep set up to fold the front window down, now would be a great time to use that feature. Unfortunately since Chrysler 'design sensibilities' have made folding it down take approximately 80 times longer than in pre-JK Jeeps most of you won't have that option.

Down in those two holes you opened up at the beginning are some upward-facing bolts. The nuts on these bolts go really far down so you'll need a deep well socket and an extension to reach them. Vector Offroad's suggestion to use a 1/4" drive ratchet is spot on, you are very close to the windshield.
When you are removing these buts do not actually remove them! Keep using your finger to check how far up the nut it. As soon as it is flush with the end of the bolt stop using the ratchet (unless you have one of those nice magnetic sets) otherwise you'll end up dropping the nut in to the dash where it will be impossible to retrieve. Instead, use one of those telescoping magnetic 'pick up' tools (Vector sells one, which I bought just to make sure I had one that fit, most non-lighted ones should work fine but the one I had was a little wide with a cheesy LED on the end of it).

Slide the bracket down in to the hole, use the magnet to start threading the nut. Then put a piece of painter's tape on the bracket so you don't scratch it up and then you can move back to the ratchet. You'll have to keep hold of the bracket so it stays aligned, and depending on the size of your socket you might have to really push hard on the bracket to get the socket out of the whole once it is tight.

Put some tape on the E-Dock bar around where the mounting tabs are. Set the bar in place and go get your RAM bases. Assuming that you already put your mounts/arms/pivots together you are ready to do some basic mockup. Decide approximately where you want the bases to connect to the bar. This doesn't have to be exact. When putting bases on the long part, slide them on from the end, don't try to press them in to place. If you do have to press them in to place (for example on the front hoop) put some painter's tape on the bar, the threads on the u bolts will scrape up the finish on the bar.

With the bases where you want them tighten them up. Tightening the bottom nuts can be frustrating when the bar is mounted, so try to do that now. Moving them a little bit after it is installed is not hard because you just need to loosen the top nut.

Now start mounting the dock. I loosely attached the two center/radio points first, and then moved to the end/windshield points.

Be very careful. I ended up dropping one of the bolts down in to the dash behind the steering wheel. There are all sorts of metal plates and crap in there, so I couldn't get it out. Appropriately sized bolts can be found at Home Depot - if you want ones that match (curved head, hex drive) those are over in the 'specialty fastener' drawer.

Part 2: The RAM Mounts

I've used a lot of different 'arm' mounts over the years, and these are by far the most secure and the most versatile.

There are a ton of different mounts available from RAM. The E-Dock is basically a 1 inch diameter tube, so you'll use the RAM-B-231U base for everything.

I got some of each size mounting arm - the short, normal, and long. The long arm turned out to not really be useful, luckily I only bought one of those. The short arm is useful for things that you want to mount right up on the window.

For the Garmin eTrex they have a specific mount -

Base - 1" tub mount - RAM-B-231U (this is the ball that goes on the E-Dock)
Now one complaint I have is that the u bolts are shiny and that is annoying since nothing else is stainless steel on my dash. RAM also has a black zinc version instead of the stainless steel, that would have looked better - but it isn't rust proof)
Standard length arm - RAM-B-201U (this is the adjustable arm)
Ball Plate - RAM-B-238U (this is the ball that attaches the arm to the device mount)
Garmin eTrex holder - RAM-HOL-GA16U (this is the actual piece that the Garmin goes in, there are a bunch of different versions so check their site if you don't have exactly the eTrex Vista HCx)

For the iPhone 4 I used one of their universal fit mounts rather than their iPhone-specific mount which does not accommodate cases

Base - 1" tub mount - RAM-B-231U
Standard length arm - RAM-B-201U
Ball Plate - RAM-B-238U
Universal Clamping Cradle - RAM-HOL-PD3U (this has a spring-loaded clamp at the top that really secures the phone)

The GoPro camera uses a combination of GoPro adaptor and RAM tripod mount

Base - 1" tub mount - RAM-B-231U
Short length arm - RAM-B-201U-A
Ball Plate - RAM-B-238U
Camera Stud - RAP-B-366U (there are a couple shapes/sizes, this one is a match for the GoPro camera mount)
GoPro Camera Mount - tripod mount (this setup is way more secure and easier to adjust than the GoPro-provided windshield mount)

The Midland handheld uses on of their universal mounts

Base - 1" tub mount - RAM-B-231U
Standard length arm - RAM-B-201U
Ball Plate - RAM-B-238U
Universal Finger Grip - RAM-HOL-UN4U (this has a bunch of different pieces that you put together to match whatever radio you are trying to mount, it is very secure even though nothing wraps around the front of the radio)

The Spot (which I'll make a blog post about!) has a specific mount

Base - 1" tub mount - RAM-B-231U
Short length arm - RAM-B-201U-A
Ball Plate - RAM-B-238U
Spot Mount - RAM-HOL-SPO2U (Like the GPS there are different mounts depending on which SPOT you have, so check their site)

I bought all of my RAM parts from The Mount Depot which had the best price+shipping costs, plus they had everything in stock to ship fast.

And lastly a view from the front, you can see the stainless steel u bolts look a little out of place, but overall it looks nice.

Warn PowerPlant and Viking winch line install

2011-05-31T19:05:00.000-07:00

Nearly a year ago I dropped a Warn PowerPlant HP winch + air compressor with some Viking Offroad winch line in to my front bumper. Here are some install instructions and thoughts on it all.

First off, I went with the Warn PowerPlant Dual Force HP rather than the HD. I'd originally placed an order for the HD but David from Northridge 4x4 called me up and talked with me about my intended application, and decided that the HP was a better deal. It is slightly cheaper, but more importantly it pulls faster. The Jeep Wrangler isn't big enough to need the extra pulling power of the HD 12000 the HP's 9500 is more than sufficient.

Second, I ordered synthetic winch line from Viking Offroad. Specifically b lack 3/8" x 100 ft line with a safety thimble on the end. The synthetic is safer (no deadly cable snap, no hand-piercing frays), lighter, and doesn't rust or kink. It is more fragile in circumstances where it is being scrapped across the edge of a rock or something - but you just need to put a rock guard down in that case.

Anyway, this thing comes packed pretty well. The easiest thing to do is take the entire box to your jeep and slice down the sides, peeling the box away. Do this on both the outer and inner boxes, and slowly take the loose components out of the packaging.

There are not very many pieces, this should be easy... Unfortunately there are a couple pieces missing from this picture which I did not discover until later - something that would have taken 2 easy-minutes ended up taking 20 angry-minutes.

My Shrockworks front bumper has a skid plate that needs to be removed to access the bottom winch plate bolts.

Here is the winch mounting plate looking down - since the skid plate has been removed you can push bolts up through those holes. There are multiple holes so various types of winches can be installed without modification. Go ahead and mount your fairlead at this time.

Next step is to get rid of the metal cable that was pre-installed. Do this by setting the winch in 'free spool' mode and just pulling it off. Make sure you wear gloves or your hands will get eaten up. When you get to the end there is a screw on the side of the spool that you remove to fully disconnect the cable.

Before going through the effort of installing, do a quick check to make sure the winch actually works. I used jumper cables to get power down to the ground.

The hardest part of the install will be getting it in to the mounting location. I put a foam mat over the front grill. It wouldn't protect if I dropped the winch, but it would keep minor dings and scratches at bay. Lowering the heavy winch in to place would be made easier if there were two people, or even easier with a strap on a hoist.

With the winch in place next step is to hook the winch line back up. Unlike the cable that originally came pre-installed, the replacement synthetic line has a 'safety thimble' on the end that is much larger than the original 'eye loop' and can not be fed through the fairlead. Feed that screw part through the front of the fairlead, reach a hand under around around the back, rotate the spool until you can find the hole and then rotate it so the hole is at the bottom, you need to have the line wrapping in the correct direction, and then cuss about how hard it is to screw it down tight.

Next step is to loosely attach bolts through the bottom of the mounting plate in to the feet of the winch. Once all four are in you can slide the winch around to get it positioned how you want it. Then you can tighten things up (make sure you don't forget your washers).

Route the power cables in a manner similar to these pictures, making sure to avoid any pinch points or sharp edges. When routing cables it is sometimes helpful to push a string through in the opposite direction (so from the top, dropping down) that you can then tape the ends of your larger cable to to pull it back through. Connect them directly to the battery (or to a heavy duty fuse), real in your line, and you are done.

But! A few days later I opened up what I thought was just the bag with the air compressor accessories - a thin hose and tire inflator. Alas, I discovered that there was an air filter in that bag, and that the air filter needed to be mounted in the engine bay.

Attach the adaptor to one end of the hose, attach the air filter to the adaptor, thread the hose down following the path that the radiator lines follow. Keep pushing it through until the air filter is about at the same level as the other caps in that section of the engine bay.

Remove the top of the winch (5 bolts and it pulls off) and thread the hose to the inlet on the compressor. Cut the hose to the correct length.

Now here is the hard part. If the winch wasn't jammed in to the bumper you'd be able to get your hand easily around the hose from behind. Since I'd already mounted the winch, getting this extremely tight hose all the way on to the inlet was a 20 minute curse-fest. My knuckles were bruised, had cuts on my hands, and my finger tips were raw. Using some alcohol-based lube helped but it was still difficult. Tighten up the hose clamp and put the top of the case back on.

Now you are really done.

Thoughts:
1) Of course connecting that air hose would have been way easier if I'd done it before dropping the winch in to the hole
2) I would have replaced the provided power cables with thicker ones (like these from Benchmark Designs) before installing - the power connectors are down at the bottom, probably impossible to get to without pulling the winch
3) If i'd waited on the line just a little bit longer I could have gotten a thimble that had a rubber puck behind it so it wouldn't scratch up the fairlead (purely cosmetic)
4) Also if I'd waited even longer I could have gotten a black anodized thimble instead (also purely cosmetic)
5) 3 of the bolts that hold the top half of the winch case on have rusted - they rusted in about 3 months. I need to get replacements (they are each different lengths, not standard Home Depot items), and after installing them I'll hit them with some paint to seal them.

Jeep JK Shrockworks bumper

2011-05-08T12:59:00.000-07:00

Zombie Killer's Shrockworks front bumper was installed back in April 2010, but I didn't have the Warn winch until August 2010. I was going to do one big write-up but it ended up too long, so I'll break it in to the two parts. Then I got super lazy and started failing at blogging... so now it is almost a year later.
Expand this entry for the walkthrough of the bumper installation.

The bumper I selected was the Shrockworks Mid-Width front bumper. There are a couple different front bumpers that look really nice and have similar features, so there is no reason to get the Shrockworks. Reviews at the time said that this company was worth the wait, but I don't know. It is nice, but I wouldn't recommend the company itself.

The wait was over 4 months and they charged my credit card in-full at the time of order. (When the credit card companies catch on these guys are going to be in trouble.) Aside from the long wait, they sent some of the wrong things (ordered black shackles they sent polished stainless steel) and the bumper itself was damaged in a number of places (not just chipped powder coating but actual gouges in the metal). The entire time communication from them ranged from non-existent to horrible.

The features I used to narrow my search were:

Mount points for factory fog lights (In retrospect this isn't very important, I kept the factory fogs for a year but will probably replace them in the next 3-6 months)
mid- to full-width (mid prefered, no stubby),
mounting points for aux lights, winch hoop (no stinger)
inset winch hole (not top mount)
mounts for D-rings (no hooks)
install that didn't involve welding or cutting the frame

Once I ended up with a list of 5, then a couple were knocked out due to poor reviews, so the final decision was purely cosmetic between the remaining 3.

The instructions were adequate, but should have included a full parts list so I'd realize some bolts were missing before I got halfway in to things. Their instructions plus my color pictures (click to enlarge) and comments should be enough to get anyone through the install on their own.

Removing the OEM front bumper is not rocket science, but there are a couple tricks. Getting the plastic push-rivets out of the flat decorative piece was a pain, I ended up taking punch to them. Once the two rivets are out you can slide the piece to the side pretty easy. You aren't removing it yet, just pushing it out of the way for access to bolts on each side.

Throughout the steps you'll find that turning the wheels to one side or the other will give you better access. Here you can see how the metal bar that runs the width of the bumper connects with a couple bolts to the frame mounts.

No amount of manual ratcher or electric drill worked. I went to the electric impact driver. Each side is mounted with 4 bolts, the inner pairs being the most difficult to get to. I actually put the battery through the opening first, then the drill body, then the socket. Once in the cavity I was able to attach them - it wouldn't fit otherwise.

Here is one of the brackets and nut pairs that hold the bumper to the mounts. There are 4 of these units.

Before pulling the bumper off, remove the bulbs from the fog light housing. There are apparently a couple different styles, mine worked different than the instructions said. Mine you just squeezed and twisted.

With both bulbs out you can pull the front bumper off. You need to remove the two foglight housings with a screwdriver if you didn't buy aftermarket fog replacements.

And here is what your Jeep will look like. When putting the new pieces together make sure you don't break the bulbs or pinch the wires. The two stock foglights are wired to each other.

A picture of the included fasteners. There ended up not being the correct distribution of bolt lengths/washer sizes, but a trip to Home Depot fixed that.

Here is a trick for getting a bolt connected to a tricky location. Press the nut on to some painters tape really well, then move the tape around until the nut is in place, and press the tape against the surface to hold the nut in place.

The tape holds the nut enough to get a little bite on it. Once you are good and connected you can just yank the tape and it will come out - or just leave it in, it is just paper and will eventually deteriorate. This first bolt is holding the winch plate on by the way.

Sliding the new metal bumper on is a little tricky. You can do it yourself if you use some straps to help keep it from falling while you screw around with the bolts. There are all sorts of regular washers, and lock washers, and nuts that you have to get in the right places. Some of these can be quite frustrating.

Drop some bolts in for some dry fitting / alignment.

Don't tighten things fully yet.

The silver one here is tricky, box end wrenches and locking pliers are very helpful in soem of these tight spaces. Sometimes you are putting these wrenches on bolt heads and then aligning them so they press against some other piece of metal for resistance, because there is not way to have your hands on both of your tools at once.

Did I say some were tricky? Check out the one beneath the winch plate - it is in the lower right of the pic, you can only see half the head in the shot, and that is more than you can see when you are trying to tighten it! Skinny arms that have two elbows are helpful here.

Loosely mount the skid plate. Bolts go through the skid plate, bumper, and winch plate so keep things loose for alignment. You want things as 'perfect' as possible. If either of the plates are not lined up it doesn't matter when you are just putting loose bolts through, but when you are trying to line the winch up it would be a huge pain.

Tighten things up and you are almost done. I didn't take pics of mounting the fogs back, it is just a couple screws and is covered in the directions. You'll see one of the fog bulbs still dangling.

You need to (very) carefully cut the tape around the bulb wiring harnesses. The new bumper configuration requires more wire length between the bulbs, so you have to make use of the slack that was bundled up. Twist the bulbs in and you really are done!

With the mid-width you have a lot more tire visible from the front, helpful on approaches - plus it just looks cool.

Side shot where you can see one of the aux light mounting tabs, and the angle of the winch guard hoop.

Undershot showing the skid plate. They say the plate is designed to protect your Rubi electronic discos too.

The bumper weighs more than the original rubber one, but doesn't pull the front down too much. The springs were still pretty new at the time I did the install and took these pictures.

It is now a year later, and I've had no problems. A couple spots around the light tabs had poor powder coating so they developed small surface rust, but that was easily taken care of.

Overview of my flashlights (Part 1: A-E)

2011-04-03T16:10:00.000-07:00

Click to Enlarge

It has been so long since I posted a review of anything I figured I'd get back in to blogging with something easy - a write up of some of the flashlights that I use. So I took one of each type (or multiple if needed for illustration), piled them on the kitchen floor and took a picture.

Read on for brief descriptions and recommendations...

Click to Enlarge

Disaster struck! Something happened with Blogger and my entire post was blanked out! I didn't hit 'delete' or anything, I was just adding a link to some text and then everything disappeared and the auto-save immediately saved the empty version.

So reviews for A-E are going to be really short, I don't have the patience to rewrite everything.

A) Stanley 3-in-1 Tripod. AA. LED. The newer design of 'B'. It takes 2x AA in each section (so 6 total). When all sections are connected to the main housing they can turn on/off together. Has a tripod mode with isn't very useful since the heads tilt in separate directions. Each of the three heads actually has its own thin handle (the black part of the main body) so you can separate them. So instead of having one bulky overweight lower powered flashlight, you can have three even more poorly shaped underpowered flashlights. These are on the chopping block - will be donated to charity next time we have a critical mass of items.

Not recommended. Dim lights, junk plastic, useless tilt head feature.

B) Stanley Maxlife 369. AA. LED. The older, superior version. It takes 3x AA in each leg. With all the batteries in one leg charged you can use the light, the extra batteries make it last longer, but the brightness stays the same. The tripod and tilt-head feature work well. Unfortunately the LED is not really that bright. If you are using when it is light out already (working under a car in the sun, etc) you can hardly tell it is on. Standard Stanley plastic quality - so it should last awhile if you don't really use it, but once you start using it don't expect it to last long!

Not recommended. Not bright enough, legs or head hinge are likely to break. If you want an adjustable flashlight I'd suggest a Jobi.

C) Coleman Pack-Away. D. Krypton. A collapsable camp-site lantern powered by 4x D batteries. It is heavy but makes a pretty good camp table light. Built-in handle allows it to be hung from a hook or branch pretty easily to help illuminate your table. I have a number of these at home for use in power failures for general-purpose room illumination. Weight is the biggest problem - the light isn't lite by itselfand adding 4x D batteries doesn't help. It does give decent 360 illumination for 12 hours though.

Recommended for home power failure situations or taking 1 or 2 'car camping.' Too heavy, too bulky for any camping involving hiking.

D) Petzl Headlamp. AA. Incandescent. No idea why I still have my old incandescent headlamp. I would not suggest one of these to anyone nowadays, but when I got it (pre-LED) it was great. Now you can get ones that are much more comfortable, with smaller lamps and lighter battery packs.

I recommend a modern Petzl LED-based headlamp, but not this old one.

E) Home Depot Specials. AA. LED and Laser. Inexpensive metal flashlights from a Home Depot aisle end cap. Bought for the laser pointer feature. Very bright laser compared to the small 'watch battery / keychain style' ones we'd been using with the cats. The light is nothing to write about, it is a light, it shines. The laser pointer is very fun for the cats, and unlike the cheap keychain ones the switch is clicky (on/off instead of momentary) and the laser doesn't wash out in the sun.

Recommended if you have cats! (otherwise it isn't very useful)

New Vinyl

2011-03-23T22:30:00.000-07:00

Instead of finishing the posts I've been working on for like 6 months, or even the one I started 3 months ago titled 'a quick post while I finish the longer ones I've been working on for months'... Some shots from my cell phone of the new decals I installed.
There's a great guy named Don who runs a company called Pixel Decals. They have a number of pre-made exterior vinyl decals for Jeeps, from recreations of old logos (eg. the Sahara 'dunes' graphic and Willys badge) to movies (Star Wars faction logos) to full custom work.

Last year I'd ordered one of their 'semi-custom' stickers - custom text in the 'Rubicon font' sized to fit the edges of the hoods and thought the quality was pretty good. I miffed the install a bit, ended up with a bunch of bubbles, so I knew I'd eventually have to replace them.

Driver and Passenger side cowls

A few months after that I worked with him to get a custom graphic made to see how that process went - it went pretty well also, a couple back-and-forths so I could get the sizing appropriate for what his cutting machine could do. I was surprised that there were no good American flag images out there, so I had to make my own - my effort is your gain, they are now available on his site as a standard option (in a 1-color version or Don colored them).

Last month I decided to fill out my 'Zombie Killer' theme in time for the local April Jeep Show. I didn't want to follow the same path as all the other 'Generic Zombie Vehicles' that just go to eBay and buy one of the same 4 stickers that you see all over the internet, nor did I want to just put some ugly zombie face on the side.

Rubi-style hood lettering

So I decided to go meta. Instead of getting graphics to match the 'Zombie Killer' theme I came up with some graphics that would turn the 'Zombie Killer' banner (and plate) in to a 2nd level joke.

Everyone (well everyone who doesn't suck) loves the Half Life mythology that Valve created. In this world Black Mesa is not an Army base in Utah, it is a secret research facility in New Mexico that does pretty questionable research. The most famous portion is the Anomalous Materials lab where some 'Bad Stuff' goes down in the game.

I assume that there is also section that studies (and creates, it is 'super smart scientists without real oversight' after all) various diseases/viruses/etc. I've decided those guys would be named the 'Anomalous Disease Research and Development' team.

Med/Fire logo over the rear tire / below rear window

I then assume that since these guys are investigating man-made and 'alien' (from the Half Life storyline) diseases that they would need some quarantine protocols. So they'd surely be carrying at least minimal first aid equipment on their vehicles.

Quarantine logo on the passenger side above rear tire

And since they were weaponizing some of these things their quarantine protocols would be more than just some body suits & bio-hazard caution tape. They'd also have more 'active' responses to quarantine breaches.

For this theme I've decided that 'zombies' are really test subjects that have been exposed to a particular anomolous disease, and that containing these aggressive subjects would warrant serious response.

My interpretation of a Black Mesa vehicle identifier on the front doors

So in my head the door badge and the two 'gear' badges would be what came stock on their vehicles and that the 'zombie killer' banner would be more like the old military plane names/imagery that the specific teams got to make.

Skull & Shotguns behind front tires

So for some 'zombie killer' imagery this team gets a modified Skull & Crossbones logo, with bones replaced by shotguns.

Now final thing... If this is the kind of stuff that goes through my head that I actually act on, can you imagine the crap I think about all the time that I don't act on? ;)

Jeep Wranger Benchmark Dual Battery installation

2010-09-04T16:38:00.000-07:00

Zombie Killer got herself a power upgrade - two Optima D34 Yellow top batteries replaced the single original battery. Now the chance of having a dead battery is extremely low, even if I've been running a load with the engine off in the dead of winter.
Read on for a pictorial walkthrough of my install.

Lights, compressors, CBs/radios, and especially winches can really put a strain on a battery. The stock Jeep alternator is fairly beefy, but the battery is not so hot, and the alternator doesn't work when the vehicle is off anyway. I decided a dual-battery system would be one of my first 'big' mods. Replacing the single battery with a pair of batteries allows one to power all the accessories and with a smart battery controller it can be cut off from the main battery when the power starts to drop below cranking voltage. If someone the main cranking battery gets too low (let the regular headlights on, it was extremely cold, etc) the backup battery can be used to "self-jump start." I went ahead and upgraded from the normal OEM battery to Optima 'yellow tops' which are pretty rugged, can handle some deep discharges, and don't mind very low temperatures. Having a pair of quality batteries should mean I never need to get a jump start no matter what 'dumb' thing I do!

There are a couple different dual-battery trays for the Jeep Wrangler JK, but I went with the one from Benchmark Designs. They are active on the forums, local, and actually care about the products they ship out - unlike some of the other 'big name' Jeep accessory companies that off-shore everything with no quality control. Of their three models I picked the one they now call 'Stage 3' - the difference between the 3 versions is the wiring. 'Stage 1' the batteries are just permanently connected to each other, 'Stage 2' isolates the cranking battery when the ignition is off, and 'Stage 3' has an isolator that actually monitors the voltage in the batteries and 'does the right thing.'

In this first picture we see all the stuff included in the tray package. There are three categories if items - the big tray in the middle, the wiring (the silver 'thing' on the top shelf and the wires on the bottom), and support pieces (everything else).

Note: If you have questions/comments you can leave them on this blog, but a better source of discussion would be this thread on the JK Owners forum

The yellow tops. They have an interesting design where you remove the handle, and then remove the protective cap, then the cap can connect in two different ways to the bottom of the battery to fit your mount. These things are stupid-heavy, be careful when lifting them - since I was lifting them higher than my chest and then out and then down in to the engine bay I ended up straining my back for a week. The weight also means you really have to pay attention when buying them online - a good deal might be horrible when you discover the shipping fee.

Here is a picture of the stock battery layout. The thin red wire coming from the edge of the body is temporary wire for my CB. All the others (green, multiple black, multiple red) are what comes from the factory. That flat silver braided line is a ground strap connecting to the metal hood.

Zombie Killer is lifted (>3.5 inch Teraflex) and has larger (35 inch) tires so I needed to pull out my work platform to stand on.

Gotta love the rugged engineering of the Jeep! Instead of using the hood prop rod, I folded a beach towel, put it on the top of my front windshield, and put the hood all the way back. Since we'll be working way up near the hinges this is very helpful. You get way more light, more elbow room, and you don't whack your head constantly.

The instructions that came with the kit were very good, and had b/w pictures in them, so I won't be covering every single step in detail, just an overview with some larger color pictures and some personal comments that hopefully help whoever finds this in their search.

First we have to remove the old battery. Disconnect the original battery cables (removing the entire clamps gets it done fast). I put some painters tape over the red power connector to help prevent accidental electrocution. Use a an extension on your ratchet and unbolt the battery retainer as shown in the pic. I didn't write down all the sizes, but I had 8, 10, 12, and 14 mm sockets out.

Remove the battery and you'll see a big plastic tray the held it, it is bolted to the firewall (the wall that separates the inner cab from the engine bay) and several places along the side of the engine bay body.

Get the air box out of the way. I took the top off (4 metal clips, the ones you pop to change the filter) for a little extra elbow room, but it probably wasn't necessary. You use a flat head screwdriver to loosen the silver band clamp you see in this picture. Don't undo it all the way, just loose enough that you can wrestle the flex tube from the molded airbox pipe. Grab the bottom of the air box and gently pull it up, you can see two of the three rubber sockets that hold it in place in the lower-left of the picture.

Next to where the airbox was you'll see the power steering fluid bottle bolted to the wall. Remove the bolt and push the bottle to the side.

Back over to the battery section, you need to disconnect several wiring harness connectors, the evap purge solenoid (the round vessel you see just to the right of the engine oil cap in this picture), and four plastic clips around the fuse box. Once that's all disconnected you can move the fuse box and the wiring out of the way. (do not disconnect the cables on the bottom of the fuse box, that is the path to sadness, you should be good with how my picture is) Then disconnect the black ground line connected to the side of the engine bay (near where that thin pinkish-black wire in my picture is, you won't have that pink one though)

Now go all along the big plastic battery tray and remove the bolts that mount it. Keep track of everything you remove, some of it you'll reuse! Wrestle with it a bit, don't get carried away because you don't want to yank any of the wires, and eventually it will come out. Disconnect the small plastic part that held the fuse box from the larger tray while you're at it.

At this point lots of stuff is just hanging everywhere, that's okay make sure you don't yank on anything. Look at the firewall and cut the piece of "T-shaped" insulation that separates the three original mounting bolts - a box cutter does fine for this.

More gentle wrestling. First get the tray down in there and bolt it to the firewall. For many of these steps you want to only loosely tighten things, as with most installations you don't want to snug things down until everything is in alignment. Bolt the fuse box carrier to the new battery tray piece, and bolt that to the main part of the tray.

Add the new support arm by using a bolt hole behind the shock tower. I decided to wait until I got my lift done so there would be room to work down in there, otherwise the original springs are all in the way.

Look up and you can see where the new support arm will connect to the bottom of the tray. Having a trained octopus pet will make this considerably easier.

Once all the bolts are in, go back and start tightening things up. Then you can clip the fuse box and the couple of harness connectors back together. You'll note that you can reconnect the evap purge unit but there is no longer a place for it to mount to. When the batteries get installed you can wedge it between the batteries and the fuse box so it doesn't move around, but it is still 'no mounted.' This is 'by design' and one of only two complaints that I have.

Remount the power steering fluid bottle to the body tab.

Now here is the first and only step that 'commits' you to the project. Everything other than this is non-destructive to put back (or doesn't matter, like the little piece of insulation we cut off). You have to cut the airbox mounting piece from the rest of the tray. Benchmark Designs has you reuse the original airbox mount, rather than provide a custom one, to make aftermarket airbox mods (like snorkels) work with this kit. Cut it so that the mount has a the verticle piece like shown in my picture. You just need a little hacksaw, the plastic isn't hard.

Mount the now-separate airbox mount to the two original bolt holes that it can still reach. You may have to trim some of the edge where you were cutting to get it to fit correctly.

Carefully drop the batteries in to place, in the orientation shown in my picture. They will try to yank on wires and hoses, they'll also try to crush your hands. I'd suggest leaving the handles on while doing this, they aren't hard to remove when you have them in place.

An important step, and my second complaint, is getting the battery stablizer bar+isolator mount in place. You have to drop these really long hook bolts down through some eyes on the tray, and that almost literally was the single longest step in the entire process. There has got to be a better way to secure the bar, but I'm not sure what it would be.

Once the bar is in place, bang the terminals on, and wire up according to the instructions (and common sense). I took this picture prior to being 'fully done' so you still see the braided ground strap uncovered, you will need to insulate it since it now can potentially lay down on top of the battery terminals. You also see the three wires coming off the isolator in 'temp wiring' condition - the black one you will connect to ground, and the purple and white ones you'll probably just cap off, but I'm going to wire them to an override switch in the cab.

Pop the airbox back in place, and reconnect its tubing, and you are done - other than connecting all of your accessories to the 'accessory battery' (the one near the edge of the vehicle, the 'cranking battery' is the one near the engine, all the OEM items connect to it).

Note: If you have questions or comments you can leave them on this blog, but a better source of discussion would be this thread on the JK Owner's forum

Off-road recovery kit

2010-06-27T13:06:00.000-07:00

No one should leave the well-groomed roads without some amount of recovery gear. It may not be cheap, but it is way less expensive than getting a tow truck out in to the middle of nowhere (if it is even possible). Plus you won't end up being known as the 'equipment leech' of your group.
Here is what I've put together. You could buy a ready-made kit from any number of sources, but you don't really save anything by doing that. Picking the individual pieces is not difficult, it lets you pick exactly what you want (length/capacity/quantity), and you can buy things in multiple batches so it doesn't cost a fortune all at once. You'll see that I did not buy everything from the same place / same manufacturer.

Going clockwise from the top, we've got a bag to keep everything organized. This is an ARB Large Recovery Bag, purchased from Northridge 4x4. You could use any duffle bag, but this one will help keep things from rubbing (and fraying) or getting tangled up. It has two side pockets for shackles, two wide interior pockets for the straps, a smaller interior pocket for the snatch block, a shoulder strap, and plastic closures that can be snugged down. The two white stripes on it are actually reflective, they are shining from the camera flash here but at night they'll reflect from flashlights to help you find your bag when it falls in the mud.

The bright green strap is a Viking 16 foot tree saver with a 26,500 pound capacity. This strap does not stretch, so you can use it with a winch. Its main purpose is to wrap it around a tree so you don't kill the tree with your winch line (ripping off bark will kill it) and so that you have something appropriate to connect the end of your line too (instead of looping it around and attaching back to itself).

The silver pulley is an ARB Ultra Lite snatch block with a 20,000 pound working strength. It gets used for changing the angle of a winch line, or for doubling your self-pull power by letting you connect the end of your own winch line back to your vehicle.

Then there are four shackles. Shackles let you hook things together in a manner that is safer than using hooks. You could get away with two, but I figure four gives more options in hooking things together, and losing one in the mud won't be as bad. The two red ones are Crosby S-209 3/4" shackles rated to 10,000 pounds. The two black ones were actually stainless steel from my Shrockworks bumper order, they were supposed to have sent the black painted ones, so I just covered them in black plasti-dip. They are rated to 10,000 pounds, but are of unknown origin so I'll be using my Crosby shackles primarily. (And if I need to buy more, I'll continue buying made-in-USA Crosby red-pins)

Next to the shackles is a pair of Mechanix Wear Impact Pro gloves. I'm going with synthetic winch line so I didn't need to get thick leather ones, but these do have nice thick padded palms and rubber guards on the top to help keep your fingers from getting bashed up. You can completely mangle your hand when using winches, so safety is key.

The orange strap is a Viking 2x 2 inch by 30 foot tow strap (aka snatch strap, recovery strap). With two layers of the 2 inch wide webbing the capacity is double, giving 35,000 pounds of strength. These orange snatch / recovery straps are stretchy. The stretch makes them dangerous for winching, but perfect for connecting between two vehicles where one is going to try to yank the other free. ARB's solution is to actually use a 4 inch wide webbing, which makes their version wider by the coil thiner, the coiled size of my Viking strap pretty much fills the ARB recover bag to capacity so getting an additional strap in there might be trouble (but would be the same problem even with an ARB strap, since it would fill the main pocket up width-wise anyway).

Rounding out the kit is Mango, my Pixie-Bob.

This is going to do for now. After I get a winch and decide on the length of line I'll spool on it, I'll decide on what length winch line extension to get. I'll also decide if I need to get a protective sleeve or not. (Some winch lines have sleeves pre-attached.) Other future purchases could include a winch line splice kit to repair damaged lines, and a set of 'spotter lines' which are basically rope with handles that can be attached at any point on your vehicle, including the roll cage, to help manually pull.

I haven't had to use any of this yet, but I think it is a pretty decent kit. Hopefully it helps you make a decision on what things to buy for your own recovery kit.

First aid kits

2010-04-25T23:16:00.000-07:00

I have a couple of different first aid kits that have been bought pre-made or custom assembled. Having a first aid kit (and being prepared for an emergency) is serious business - it is sad to think that a little $10 pre-packaged kit is more than 90% of people have in their car.

Our two cars always have standard hiking kits. These are Adventure Medical Kits brand 'Ultralight .5' pre-made packages which cost ~$15. The '.5' version is rated for 1 person on a 1 to 2 day trip, so pretty basic. It contains:

Antibiotic ointment, topical adhesive
Alcohol swabs, Anethestic/antiseptic wipes
Bug bite wipes
Antihistamine, Aspirin, Ibuprofen
Tweezers
A sheet of pre-cut moleskin
A small selection of bandages, gauze, and tape

I've supplemented them each with a bag of water and an energy bar.

Then for my Jeep I put together a slightly more comprehensive kit using the Smittybuilt First Aid Bag (link is to Quadratech which has an accurate picture, the pic on Smittybilt's website is not right). This bag has a velcro mounting panel that straps to the roll bar, and a plastic buckle strap to help secure it. So I always know where the bag is, and if I need it I can rip it off the velcro and take it wherever.

I've stuffed it pretty close to max capacity with:

Adventure Medical Suture/Syringe kit (several needles, suture, syringe, not what I wanted but will do for now)
Various sizes of gauze, self-adhesive wraps, and tape
Various band-aids, and pre-cut moleskin
Cleaning items - irrigation syringe, q-tips, alcohol wipes, antiseptic wipes
Bug bite wipes (anti-itch + antiseptic)
Some headache, alergy, diarhea, heartburn medicines, eye drops
Carmex lip balm (normal sticks can melt and make a mess, this stuff can also help sooth minor burns and itches)
Duct tape, whistle, pins, safety/bandage shears, tweezers, thermometer w/ tip covers
Gloves, single-use CPR shield (in the littly black pouch near the thermometer)
A bag of water, some M&Ms, and an energy bar
Instant cold & instant hot packs, not pictured, I need to rearrange how I packed the bag these didn't fit
Snake bite sucker - mine was cracked, need to get a new one

Note: The cat and fur mouse are not normally part of this kit!

And for camping trips / disaster mode I'm going to be piecing together a massive kit. Right now all I have is the case, I expect it will take a few months to figure out (and afford) exactly what I want in it. It is an orange Pelican 1550-EMS (1550 size plus special dividers and multi-level lid organizer with pockets for tools and pills) to which I have added (front & back) Star of Life decal and letters to spell out 'FIRST AID'.

Until that is completed my home first aid kid is random medicines in the pantry, random cleaning items in the bathroom, and an old commercial lunchbox-size first aid kit in the garage.

Tuffy under-seat JK security drawer

2010-04-10T15:59:00.000-07:00

Hopefully everyone realizes that a Jeep soft top is basically no more secure than a topless one. It is surprising how little effort Jeep put in to designing secure storage areas in them. Tuffy Security Products realized the problem, and has created a number of different products to address it.

Tuffy designs and manufactures all their products in Colorado, so along with getting some extra peace-of-mind about storing your valuables you also can have a good feeling about supporting a local company. It seems more and more local companies are going under, not able to compete with the prices of mass produced foreign goods - we are losing our ability produce hard goods and that is quite dangerous.

The product I purchased is the 'JK Conceal Carry Security Drawer' which is a very sturdy locking drawer that installs underneath the driver's seat. Due to the design of the box it only mounts under the driver's side. There is currently no passenger-side box, in part because some Jeeps have a lot of OEM stuff pre-mounted on that side so there is no room.

The drawer arrived well packaged, and pre-assembled. Inside the drawer were a bag with two keys, a bag with a bolt/washer/nut, warranty card, and a page of instructions. The instructions show the included nut as an optional piece that you can add to give extra security. You have to drill a hole in the floor and the bolt goes through the inside of the drawer - so you have to already have the key to unlock the drawer in order to get to it. I decided the extra bolt was not necessary, the two main mounting points are already secure enough. It is a 'no-hole' install if you skip that extra piece.

Here are the two 18mm hex bolts we'll be using. Pull steering wheel all the way up, and move the driver's seat all the way back to make things easier.

After failing to budge the bolts at all (even using the rubber mallet to whack the wrench handle) I switched to a DeWalt 18v impact driver. That thing can (slowly and loudly) beat any bolt or screw in to submission.

Not these though. After making a ton of racket all that I accomplished was making my hand numb and the socket hot. So I switched to a cheater bar on the wrench.

I couldn't move the handle far since the door frame was in the way, but I slowly got the bolt broke free. After getting it an entire turn I was able to switch back to the impact drill to go the rest of the way. Took 10 minutes for the first one, but under 5 for the second using the cheater-bar-break-then-impact-driver combo.

Before sliding the drawer in place, push all the wires to the side. You'll snag and pull them if you don't pay attention.

Slide the drawer under the seat, and when the mounting tabs get near the seat's feet position the tabs correctly. The console-side tab goes on top of the seat's foot. The door-side tab goes underneath the seat's foot. I had to lean on the seat a little to get that foot to raise up.

With the bolts secured, the seat can be moved back to its normal position. With the door open you can barely see the drawer.

Even looking in from the rear window you can't see it. So you get a little bit of 'security through obscurity.'

The drawer is roomy, and there is still plenty of space under the seat for the wires and adjustments.

Cobra 75 and Firestick Jeep CB Install

2010-02-06T14:32:00.000-08:00

Part of being bad-ass is being able to outwit the 5-0. One way to do that, and make it easy to keep in touch with other folks in your caravan, is to install a Citizen's Band AM radio set.

I ordered a Cobra 75wxst all-in-one unit, a Bullfrog/Toad CB mount, a Firestik 2 antenna, and a CoolTech spare tire antenna mount kit. Read on for an installation write-up.

Installation is really 4 parts: Mounting the CB, mounting the antenna, running the lines, and tuning the system. Luckily those 3 parts are all discrete enough that you don't have to do that at the same time - it was cold and rainy the weekend I put this stuff together.

First, all the parts. A Cobra 75 WX ST that I got for 'free' (hurray Chase Amazon Visa rewards!), a 3 foot Firestick 2 with quick-disconnect and cable, a CoolTech sparetire mount bracket, and a radio mount CB holder from Toad.

Mounting the CB Handset
This part is easy to do even in the cold rain, since you are entirely in the cab the whole time.

First thing to do is pry off the radio's top cover. The blue sticks in these pictures are body panel tools from Griott's Garage, they are firm plastic but soft enough that you don't run too big a risk of messing a panel up. There are a couple different shapes to fit in various cracks. The top panel is just held in place with some metal clips, not hard to slowly pry it up.

Once all the clips are popped up, slide it forward (towards the center of the cab) to unlatch the front, and then lift, rotate, and prop out of the way. Note the compass wires that you need to be careful of, don't go yanking it around.

With the top removed, you have access to two hex head screws holding the trim on at the top. I believe it was an 11mm socket driver I used.

Once those two are removed you can remove the air vents, by twisting them (the outside just an inch or so and then they slide out.

Now you can start to pull the trim forward. It is connected with a couple of clips as well. You aren't going to remove it completely (there are more screws down by the A/C control that you don't need to worry about.

You just need to pull it far enough forward that you can access the 4 hex head bolts on the radio (2 per side). Same head size as the previous two. The top two are easy to remove, the bottom two are a little tricker. You can either try to wiggle the driver through the opening like in my picture, or use a small ratchet through the open side.

With the screws removed, apply firm pressure to the top of the radio (wherever you can grab hold) and pull it out a little bit. Doesn't have to come out far at all.

Just far enough that you can see the little 'spike' piece fully exposed.

Wiggle the handset mount behind the radio. It has 3 holes, two will line up with the screw holes, and one will slide around the little 'spike'.

Reattach everything in reverse order, and you're left with a nice looking sturdy CB handset mount that does not interfere with radio controls.

Mounting the Antenna
The only hard part about mounting the antenna is getting the antenna cable through the rear gate and in to the cargo area. The rest is pretty trivial.

First, remove the spare tire. Your lug wrench is in the 'hidden compartment' in the cargo area. Once the tire is off the mount, you'll see the big plastic offset mount bolted to the gate, and a rubber grommet near it. That's where we'll be mounting the antenna.

Remove the grommet from the outside. I couldn't get my fingers under it, but pressing firmly in the center made the edges raise enough that I could start slowly prying it free.

Open the gate, and you'll see the big plastic trim panel near the top of it. Pry that off, starting with the clips on the bottom.

The first big hole (closest to the hinge side) is where the cables will emerge.

Now prepare for the hardest part of the antenna install (hardest part of the entire CB install actually). Poke a 1/4 inch hole in the center of the grommet. (the rubber will press back on itself, so the hole will look way smaller than your cable) I started trying to use an awl but that was too hard, eventually switched to a drill bit and rasp. Put the grommet in the hot water and let it sit. Fill a bowl with hot water. Tape the end of the ground cable (the side without the the connector) about two inches below the end of the antenna cable (the side with the mini-connector), and spiral the tape up to make a smooth unit, continue the tape beyond the end of both wires to make a thin tail. Take the grommet out of the water, and pour some wire pulling lube or regular old dish soap in the hole. Use something thin (like a match stick) to push the electrical tape tail through the hole - you want the tape to start on the 'outside' of the grommet pushed through to the 'inside' (refer to the picture, if you do this backwards you'll be very sad when you eventually get back to your Jeep). When the tape tail stick through use some plier to grab on and slowly pull it through. This is going to be a pain in the butt, getting both those wires through the tiny rubber hole will make you crazy. You don't want a big hole though, otherwise water will leak through. Eventually you will succeed and have ~ 2 feet pulled through. At this point I'd suggest a beer before continuing.

Return to the Jeep, and bring a buddy. Insert the still-taped cable pair through the exterior hole.

Have your buddy wiggle the cable around until you are able to grab it through the inside hole. A pair of thin needlenose pliers helps here. Unwrap the tape to separate the cables, and pull almost all of the cable through. I found leaving ~2 feet of each cable on the outside worked.

Decide if you want to mount the bracket 'up' or 'down'. I went with 'down' so the antenna wouldn't be quite as high. Put a washer on one of hte antenna bracket mounting bolts, slide the ground wire connector on, slide the bolt through whichever bracket hole will be the 'top' in your config, then slide the bracket spacer on.

Remove the two spare tire mount mounting bolts that are above/below the grommet hole. Barely attach your new top bracket mounting bolt to the top hole. Pull the ground wire the rest of the way through the hole (leave the ~2 feet of antenna cord hanging still), and press the grommet back in to place. Put the bottom bolt (with washer and spacer) in place. Arrange the two cables as shown in the picture (ground on the inside of the mount, antenna on the outside). Tighten both bolts down. As you turn the top on, make sure the ground connector stays pointing in the right direction.

Connect the antenna base to the mount as shown in the picture. (cable boot, plastic spacer, bracket, plastic spacer, washer, antenna base, quick release base). Pull the remainder of the antenna cable through the grommet, and tighten the antenna base connections down.

On the inside of the gate, zip tie your cables to the existing cables, and to the inside of the webbing that gets the existing cables in to the cargo area.

Snap the trim piece back in place, and things look nice.

Mount the antenna to the quick release, put the spare tire back on, and ta da, nice looking antenna addition is done!

Running the Lines
Now on to the easy but time consuming part that changes whether you have a good install or a bad one. Getting the cables where they need to be, without being visible.

First, take care of the antenna bracket ground line. We'll use one of the tie-down brackets for this, as I don't have a subwoofer in my cargo area to connect too.

After unscrewing the bracket, start peeling the floor and wall carpet up. Trim the ground cable so it reaches the bolt hole in the floor, while still being long enough to hide behind the carpet. Strip a small amount of insulation off, crimp the connector on, place it on the floor, and screw the tie-down point & carpet back down on top of it.

Next, start routing the antenna cable around the top of the cargo area, but pulling the carpet back and following the existing cable bundle.

Bring it down to the bottom part of the rear door. Use zip ties to the existing cable bundles were possible.

Go to the front door and start pulling out the plastic rivets that hold the trim pieces down.

There are a pain, but you'll need to fully remove 3 of them. Two on the part that covers the seat belt area, and one from the floor trim, near the front mounting bolts for the chair.

Your goal is to get your cable to come out the same place where the original cables come out, up under the dash.

Since I was in the front removing panels, I took a break from running the cable and removed all the other panels I'd eventually need access too. Remove the glove box by opening it, and then squeezing the sides near where you see the 'plastic cylinder' in the picture. There is one on each side, and once cleared from the dash you can pull the entire unit out.

Remove the panel below the glove box, by reaching inside and undoing a couple clips on the top, then gently prying the rest out.

Remove the side air vent (same slight-twist to unlock as the center ones used). Reach through the hole and push the side panel out.

Back to cable running. In order to get from the back seat to the front seat through the trim, and without removing a ton more stuff, I'm using my household cable tools. The green stick in the picture is a fiberglas rod ("fish stick", etc) used for getting cable through walls and attics. I've taped the end of my antenna cable to it, and push it through the same area that the original cables go. Be gentle, back it out a few times, eventually it will go through following the correct path.

Push the stick through far enough that you can unwrap the tape, and then pull the stick back out. Pull the cable the rest of the way through, and zip tie the part in the rear.

A combination of pushing, tucking, and scowling will eventually get the cable through the last foot and out where the original bundle goes. You'll end up with a foot or two of antenna cable dangling in the foot well now.

Time to mount the connector box for the CB. I put industrial velcro across the bottom, and the other part of the velcro on the bar I was going to mount it to. I also used a pair of long zip-ties to hold it in place. I didn't want to mount the box with sheet metal screws in case I decided to move it.

Here is the bar beneath the glove box that I mounted it too. The power line and antenna connector are facing the outside of the vehicle, the box is mounted on the 'inside vehicle' side of the bar (that bar has a rib on the bottom, it isn't just flat). The connector for the CB handset hangs down next to the center console. It has provisions to hard mount it, but I have elected not to do that - no compelling reason for me to drill a hole for the connector.

Go ahead and attach the full size antenna connector to the mini-connector on yoru antenna line.

Move on to routing the power lines now. Near the side panel we removed there will be a hole filled with yellow foam. (I also partially disconnected the door retainer strap so the door would be out of the way. Just disconnect the first hook, not the entire thing or the door will slam in to the side of your Jeep!) Open the hood. Stick your fish stick through it, the foam will easily break away.

Eventually (again, you'll have to back out and go forward a few times to get the alignment right) the stick will come out the front.

You can route the CB power lines up through the foot well to the side panel. Follow the existing cables, and make use of the open areas behind the trim panels. Stick the power line through the hole and bring it out the front of the vehicle. I wired directly to the battery (the line is fused) and to the ground point in front of it. This is temporary cabling until I get my battery tray and accessory fuse block.

Now finish zip tieing everything down, reattach all the trim pieces except for the two glove box parts, and tuck all the carpet back in. Now you're done running your wires, congrats!

Tuning the System
CB radios don't work very well if you don't 'tune' the system. You need a SWR (standing wave ratio) meter to do this. RadioShack sells one for around $50 that is usually sufficient. You'll also need to pick up a short (1 foot is enough) antenna cable to connect the tester.

Attacht the short cable to the CB connector box and the 'input'/'radio' connector on the SWR meter. Connect the actual antenna cable to the 'output'/'antenna' connector on the meter.

Now follow the instructions on tuning your antenna. I found the instructions (and other documents) on the Firestik website to be vastly superior to the instructions included with the SWR meter.

Once you're tuned, disconnect the short cable & tester, connect the real antenna cable to the CB box, put the trim piece and the glove box back in place, and you're done!

Kilby Enterprises Wrangler Cargo Panel install

2010-01-31T16:36:00.000-08:00

To facilitate future mods, I installed a set of Kilby Enterprises JK cargo panels. These are basically two pieces of bent sheet metal cut to fit.
They don't actually do anything at all. So what's the point? The point is that they give you a nice surface to mount things on.
Read on for install pics.
One of the pictures on the Kilby website shows a couple of 12v power sockets mounted in them, and that's what I intend to use them for. I'll mount a couple of 12v sockets (aka 'cigaratte lighter things'), as well some 120v power outlets (there is room behind the panels to hide a dismantled inverter), and some mounting hooks.

The panels came in a big box, wrapped up in paper to keep them from getting scratched up.

Also got a bag of 6 t-handle bolts to replace the hex-head bolts that came with the hard top.

Before pic.

The 3 holes on each side are where the hard top normally mounts. These panels are thin enough that the hard top can still be installed just fine.

The panel has cut outs and the front and back to fit around the soft top plastic mounting pieces also.

If the front of your panel interferes with the plastic door surround (used when you are running the soft top) you have an early production version, and need to contact Kilby.

Here you can see the difference between an early (front) and current (rear) panel. The early panel works with hard tops only, the current design has a larger cut-out in the front which lets it work with the soft top plastic rear door frame.

Their logo is nicely done, looks like laser cut metal, but I'd rather make use of the holes.

I bought 4 lifting eye bolts off eBay. Neither Home Depot nor Amazon didn't have any short enough to keep them from rubbing against the carpet. The threading is 1/4-20, and on these the bolt part is about a half-inch long, with a 1 inch eye.

Mounted, with flat elastic bungee cord handing from the eyelets.

Simple Wrangler body mods - steps,de-sticker,soft top, and black antenna

2010-01-29T21:07:00.001-08:00

Made a few body mods right away - installed some OEM side steps, removed almost all of the branding, installed an OEM soft top, and blacked out the antenna.

Factory side steps, Removal of stickers, OEM Soft Top, Black out the antenna(no separate write-ups for these)
Factory side step install was an easy 1-man job. Even though they are long the way the clamps work you can slide it on and it will stay put without any bolts. The trick is realizing that the bolt holes in the frame are hidden underneath gummy tape stuff. If you try to line the side step up with the frame holes that are exposed you'll be confused why things are a half-inch out of alignment!
Sticker removal is done with a hair dryer gently applied to loosen the glue, then the decals peel off. Water+finger can get any remaining glue off the body. The stickers in the front non-tinted windows (theft deterrent and something else) can be done with a razor. I left the Trail Rated badge and the front grill's Jeep lettering on.
OEM Soft Top install is a big pain in the butt. Read the instructions several times, and watch the 'how to use your softtop' video on Jeep.com before attempting the install (the pictures in the instructions totally suck). Seeing a soft-top from the inside in real life would help a lot.
Blacking the antenna is done by unscrewing the antenna, taping a wire to the threads (so you have something too hang it by and so the threads don't get gunked up). I used spray Plasti-Dip, which is a black rubber available at the hardware store. Hung the antenna upside down, thin coats to prevent dripping, 20 minutes between coats, 3 or 4 coats, then left to fully dry for 6 hours before screwing back in. (spray in the spray paint aisle, can in the tool section)

Minor Jeep accessories - floor mats and grab handles

2010-01-29T21:02:00.001-08:00

Installed Quadratech floor mats & cargo liner, and MasterCraft front & rear grab handles.

Quadratech floor mats/cargo liner (5-second install thread)

MasterCraft grab handles (5-second install thread)

Jeep lighting upgrades

2010-01-29T21:00:00.001-08:00

I swapped out the parking lights, side marker lights, and headlights...

White parking lights and White side marker lights installation write-up thread

IPF H4 Headlights (installation write-up thread)

My Bad Ass Jeep (An index of my mods)

2010-01-29T20:58:00.000-08:00

I'll keep this post updated like an 'index' every time I throw another mod on my 2010 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited during its journey from 'showroom' to 'mine'.

It started life as a Charcoal Grey Pearl 'sport' with the hard top, auto tranny, tow package, and satellite radio.

In order the mods I've completed are:

Added factory side steps
Removed stickers
Installed factory soft top
Replaced floor mats and cargo mat with Quadratec mats
Blacked out the antenna
Installed white fog/parking light lenses
Installed white side marker lenses
Added Kilby cargo panel walls
Installed front and rear door grab handles from MasterCraft
Replaced headlights with IPH from Northridge 4x4
Cobra 75 WX ST and Firestik CB Install
Shrockworks front bumper
Benchmark Designs Dual battery tray
Side mirror drilling
Dual-blade windshield wipers
Soft top rear quick releases
35" Duratracs on AEV argent Pintlers
Mopar door sill protectors
Superchips programmer
3" Suspension Lift, driveline upgrade, 5.13 regear, Crown purple brake extensions
Tuffy under-seat security box
Assembled a first aid kit
Assembled a recovery kit
Warn PowerPlant winch
Switchblade rear bumper
Blacked out the muffler (use high-temp BBQ grill paint)
Rotopax gas and water tank carrier

No big value in listing specific "in the future" mods that haven't been ordered since plans change! Here it is as-received:

And here it is as of today:

Weather Now v2.4 Released (Davis Vantage Pro software)

2009-08-03T13:55:00.000-07:00

I've done a pretty horrible job at updating my blog, but I have updated some software at least.

Weather Now has been updated to version 2.4.

Weather Now v2.4 is now available through either the local 'Downloads' section on XadaTech.com or via VersionTracker.com.

The three main new features are:
Twitter support - You can now tweet the current weather conditions, the forecast, or a combination of them. An update will only be sent if the content has changed. In order of 'tweetiness' the options are:

Both - During every update cycle (i.e. 15 minutes or whatever you picked) both the forecast and current conditions will be tweeted, as two separate tweets. Since even a single degree difference is a change the current conditions tweets go out almost every time. Since the forecast doesn't change as frequently you won't get quite as many of those.
Current Conditions - Again, since the temperature or pressure can change rapidly you'll get a new tweet almost every time.
Alternate - Every update cycle either the forecast or conditions will be posted, alternating each time. This almost cuts the tweet frequency in half, since the current conditions only get posted every other time, and the forecast may skip its turn if nothing changed.
Forecast - The least number of tweets come from picking to post only the forecast. It can be hours, or even days, between when the forecast changes depending on the conditions.

Roku SoundBridge support - If you have access to a Roku SoundBridge you can have the conditions sent to the display. SoundBridges make unique scrolling displays in your business, garage, kitchen, or wherever.

Low battery alerts from any of your wireless sensors are now displayed in the Extended Monitor. The low battery alerts can be a little 'funny', sometimes taking over a day to reset after you change the battery, and sometimes throwing a false alarm, so use them as a piece of information not a 100% sure-bet. (a misconfigured sensor can throw false alarms, and putting the console in 'battery change mode' for a few minutes can help reset stuck alerts)

The release also includes some other minor changes to the interface, and some bug fixes & enhancements in the code. Version history is available at http://xadatechnology.com/weather-now-history

Davis Vantage Pro interface, Weather Now, released

2009-04-02T19:57:00.000-07:00

Most of you know that I dabble in software. Well on April 1st (just a coincidence) I released version 2 of my shareware application Weather Now.

Weather Now 2 is a Mac OS X application that talks with a Davis Vantage Pro weather station via the data logger console option. You get an on-screen display of the weather, an option to log the data out for history, and an easy-to-understand AppleScript dictionary so you can pretty much do anything you like with the weather data (for example, using it with Perceptive Automation's Indigo home automation software).

'Battlestar Galactica' at the UN: A night of geekery, human rights, and fantastic curtains | PopWatch Blog | EW.com

2009-03-19T16:01:00.000-07:00

Apparently someone decided that the guys over grom Galactica should address the UN. It sounds fairly loopy, but Robert Orr, the Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Planning said, "You've got people thinking about issues that we try and get people thinking about every day." and that does make sense.

For years Science Fiction (and Fantasy as a whole) has had stories that tackled various social issues in a way that made them approachable. The current version of Battlestar Galactica has put many issues in front of its viewers - from torture, to martial law, morality when people are pushed to their limits, government styles, and even what does it mean to be human - when you can't tell the difference between man and machine, what is the difference?

An article is at 'Battlestar Galactica' at the UN: A night of geekery, human rights, and fantastic curtains | PopWatch Blog | EW.com, though the linked video is currently down.

NameCheap refusing to refund $7.45

2009-03-14T17:45:00.000-07:00

Update: I finally got ahold of someone who had common sense. My money was refunded within 24 hours.

The domain registration company NameCheap.com is refusing to refund $7.45 that is due to me. I had purchased a 1 year email hosting subscription, but they cancelled the service (and replaced it with a similar service, but didn't move previous customers over!) when I had 5 months remaining. It takes very little rocket science to figure out that if a customer buy a 12 month subscription and it only functions for 7 months that the company should refund 5 months worth of subscription fee.

Oh, did I mention that they didn't bother to notify me that they were about to shut down my email service, and that I only noticed because my dad sent me email (from his work account) saying his home computer was not working anymore?

After the jump, one of the messages I sent them after they twice refused to refund my money. Updates will occur when something happens.

My purchase of the ‘hosting package’ had nothing to do with my POP3 Pack problem or the patteefamily.com domain name. One of your techs simply noted that I could use my hosting package to make up for the trouble I was having with the POP3 Pack problem. I have done that in order to get my parent’s email functional again.

I described the POP3 Pack problem in my initial ticket submission. Instead of getting technical support it was forwarded directly to billing. The problem is very simple:

1. I purchased a 1 year POP3 Pack subscription on 7/28/2007 for $17.88 (subscription to expire 7/28/2008)
2. A year later, I purchased a 1 year POP3-RENEW on 7/27/2008 for $17.88 (subscription to expire 7/28/2009)
3. A week ago my father informed me that he was unable to receive email anymore, 3/9/2009
4. I logged in to NameCheap and loaded the information for patteefamily.com, and discovered that on the DNS setting page that domain had its Mail Settings changed to Free Email Forwarding, even though the POP3 Email Setup page still listed the two email addresses I had previously set up.
5. I was unable to figure out how to get the email settings back to what they were supposed to be for the POP3 Pack subscription to work.
6. I submitted a support ticket [187666] stating that on 3/11/2009 at 10:41 pm
7. 4 minutes later, 3/11 at 10:45 pm, support person Dennis M. responded that he was forwarding the issue to Billing and Accounting
8. The next day 3/12 5:52 AM Tanya B. informed me that NameCheap had discontinued POP3 services, and suggested that as a work-around I use the Pro Hosting subscription that I had purchased previously for use with a different web site by using the Addon Domain feature
9. I then noted that I should be refunded for the remainder of my POP3 subscription. There are still approximately 5 months on the subscription. At $17.88 for a year, that is $1.49 per month. With 5 months of my year-long subscription not working, due to NameCheap cancelling the service, that is $7.45 that is owed to me in pro-rated subscription cost.
10. In a message on 3/13 Tanya B. noted that you were not going to be refunding my money because a 3rd party that NameCheap previously worked with was not going to refund money to them.
11. In a response I note that that makes no sense. I have nothing to do with NameCheap’s contract with any 3rd parties. I paid for 1 year worth of service, and received 7 months worth of service, and expect the 5 remaining months to be refunded in the amount of $7.45.
12. On 3/14 at 4:55 am Tanya B. re-stated that NameCheap would not be refunding the unusable portion of my POP3 package. In that message support also confused my not-related web hosting subscription that I purchased recently with this issue, and also stated that I had never said I had a problem with my email.
13. On 3/14 at 4:55 pm I attempted to send a reply (this post, but only bullets 1-11), and received a mail delivery failure from namecheap's mail server. I attempted to resend at 5:03 pm and it bounced again. At that point I decided to post to the forum so someone else at NameCheap could help get my issue to the correct person.

About my Vette

2008-10-04T12:00:00.000-07:00

A couple pics and the order list for my 2008 Chevrolet Corvette....

This is what is listed on the 'window sticker' which, despite the federal warning on the sticker that says 'do not remove prior to delivery to ultimate purchaser', was not on the window at all. It was folded up with the rest of the 'day 1 info packets'. I was glad it wasn't on the window because it meant they washed the sticker goo off and I didn't have to worry about it.

2008 Corvette Coupe

Exterior: Black, Interior: Ebony
6.2 Liter 436 HP Engine, 6-Speed Paddle
City MPG: 15, Highway MPG: 25, Average: 18
77% of parts from US/Canadian sources, Engine and Transmission Country of Origin: United States
Final Assembly: Bowling Green, Kentucky, USA

Standard Equipment (what every Vette coupe comes with this year)

Mechanical

LS3 6.2 Liter engine
6-Speed Manual Transmission
Active Handling
Traction Control System
4 wheel independent suspension system
Power speed sensitive rack and pinion steering
Differential limited slip
5 spoke aluminum wheels
Extended mobility tires w/ tire pressure monitor (this means it shipped with run-flats)
Oil life monitoring system

Safety & Security

Airbags, frontal, passenger sensing system
1 year OnStar Safe and Sound
Keyless access with push button start
Theft deterrent system and alarm
Antilock brake system
4 wheel disc brakes

Exterior

Power heated outside mirrors
Power driver outside mirror with auto-dimming
Roof panel, removable
Headlamps, xenon, high intensity discharge (fog and high beams are xenon, the regular ones are HID)
Fog lamps
Daytime Running Lamps

Interior

AM/FM, CD Player, MP3 Formatt, Input Jack, Radio Data System
XM Satellite Radio
Auto dual zone air conditioning
Floor mats, carpeted
Auto dimming rearview mirror with compass
Driver Information Center
Cruise control with resume
Windshield wipers, intermittent
Seats, bucket, leather seating surfaces
Power seat adjust-driver, 6 way
Leather wrap steering wheel
Power door locks and windows
Electric rear window defroster
Remote hatch and fuel door release
Power hatch pull down (this is a 'last inch' positive closure feature, it isn't a 'from full open' deal like some newer SUVs and minivans have)

Options (things I picked to have installed at the factory)

3LT Preferred Equipment Group (they used to offer 3 'packages' of features, then for 2008 they added the 4LT group that just had a different type of leather that I didn't care for) includes:
- AM/FM, 6 disc CD changer, MP3 format, Bose Premium 7 Speaker System (an unfortunate inclusion, I plan on ripping this stuff out, but didn't realize there was going to be a bose logo on the speaker grills for each of the doors, that is going to be an issue)
- Heads-up display (speed, tach, and radio on the window, but also oil temp (well several temp options), gear, and a g-force meter, customizable of course so you only see what you need)
- Power telescoping steering wheel
- Heated Seats
- Memory package (each key automatically recalls settings, including moving the seat and steering wheel, then when you shut the car off moves them to 'easy exit/entry position' which rocks)
- Universal home remote (which GM decided to screw up by moving from HomeLink that everyone understands to Car2U which isn't as popular yet)
- Side impact airbags, driver and passenger
- Seats, adjustable sport bucket with perforated leather inserts
- Power seat adjust passenger, 6-way
- Luggage shade and parcel net (I put the shade on, it covers the trunk area, but did not put the net on. I haven't had trouble with things flying out of the luggage area and it doesn't look very nice)
Steering wheel radio controls
Magnetic selective ride control, includes driver selectable tour and sport settings, larger cross-drilled brake rotors
Dual roof package (instead of just the solid removable roof, I have the solid and a tinted glass one)
Transmission, 6-speed paddle shift automatic (has regular auto mode, sport-tuned auto mode, and paddle-shift mode with computer override so you can't blow the engine)
Dual mode exhaust (at low RPMs the exhaust is 'quiet' (it is still a Vette though) but when you hit 3500 it opens the exhaust up and it roars - one of my earliest mods was a manual override so I can turn off 'quiet mode' when i want)
Competition gray aluminum wheels (no dealers had these to look at, one dealer said he wouldn't 'let' me order them because they were ugly and only chrome was good. well, I bought them, and I've gotten complements from some other dealers, some service people, and a random guy in a parking lot, they look hot on a black car)
Front tire - P245/40ZR18
Rear tire - P285/35ZR19

My Cherry Vette

2008-10-04T11:55:00.000-07:00

Just like I set up a set of blog entries to talk about my photography gear I am setting one up to track my Vette mods. This post will be the main one, just a list of item names, that links out to individual posts that go in to more details about a particular item. Load the full entry to see the list...

First off, a page about the 2008 Chevrolet Corvette couple I purchased and the features I ordered from the factory
Then in order of date-added (with the most recent things at the bottom of the list) pages about the mods
Info on the original purchase
AC control black chrome knobs
Window Valet
Temporary roof cover
Visor safety warning blackout
Rear bumper protector
Mild2Wild NPP exhaust controller
LED bulb replacements
GM debadging
Mud flaps (yea, seriously)

First 3 Vette 'mods'

2008-09-27T18:07:00.000-07:00

I hesitate to call these 'mods' since they are so trivial, but typing that is easier than typing 'replacement parts, add-ons, modifications, and after-market accessories' every time. Couple pics and links to purchase some black chrome air conditioner control knobs, the black out stickers for the lame painted-on visor safety warnings, and a nifty product that lets you drive topless without fear.

These were a couple of the things that I purchased after I had ordered my Vette but before it had even come in. Some simple upgrades that didn't cost a bunch of money.
First is a set of 'black chrome' knobs for the air conditioner. These replacement knobs were created by Custom Corvette Accessories as part of the original venture in to the 'black chrome' business. It was around $60 for two knobs, but they do look nice. In this picture you can see the new knobs on the A/C controls compared with the old plastic ones on the radio. They sell 3 sets of knobs (A/C, standard radio, navigation radio) though I just bought the A/C ones since I plan on replacing the stock radio in the near future.
http://www.customcorvetteaccessories.com/c6blackchrome.html

Lots of storage...

2008-09-27T00:15:00.000-07:00

It has somehow been 4 months since I managed to post anything in my blog! I've been working on a number of things, and have several partially-written blog posts in the queue. None are ready, but I'll give a teaser of one.

Just a little screenshot of the 4+ terabytes of hard drive storage and 9 gigs of RAM that I've got going on. (Ignore the 'Used' numbers those aren't accurate as I hadn't moved all my files where they needed to be)

A future post will go over the creation of the backup array, and will likely feature an even higher capacity by then.

Overview of my photo gear

2008-08-07T23:45:00.001-07:00

Back in the days before blogs I had a website with pages dedicated to various 'stuff.' Keeping those pages up to date was a pain, so they inevitably fell in to disrepair. Blogs (or rather the content management system that most blogs use) are great for this. Instead of an index web page you make a primary blog entry that you update, and instead of sub pages you just link future blog posts.

This one will be about my photography gear. This post will be the main one, just a list of item names, that links out to individual posts that go in to more details about a particular item. Load the full entry to see the list...

Ambient alerts

2008-05-01T17:41:00.000-07:00

Home automation is not just about 'clap on / clap off' bedroom lights. A good home automation system has many aspects that are not noticable by the occupants, things that you don't notice until you move to a new house that doesn't have a system. Occasionally you do need your house to give you information before it does something, and doing that in a smooth way is important to keeping the system 'in the background.'

This post will be about one of the ways my house communicates with me - controlling dimmable lights.

One of the tasks I've given my system is to shut off lights that are not in use. There are three sets of lights that would frequently be left on by a certain-someone that lives here who isn't as concerned about wasting power as me. There is a light in the entry way (right inside the front door), there is a pair of lights at our pantry (one inside the pantry, the other outside the door, both on separate circuits), and then the main set of kitchen lights.

The entry lights are on a simple timer, you turn it on and you have 15 minutes to get inside before they shut off. I can't imagine a time when it is going to take more than 15 minutes to put my shoes on and grab my keys and cell phone from the shelf.

The lights in the kitchen are not so simple. Cooking can take a long time, sitting and talking can take a long time, but the lights shouldn't stay on for hours and hours. Rather than going with motion detectors, I decided to go with what I deemed 'smart timers.' These are timers that start counting down, give you a warning before firing, and are resettable.

I have implemented the 'warning' as a brief dimming of the overhead light. Enough to notice briefly, but not enough to distract or disrupt things. You notice the brief fade in/out, walk over to the switch and tap the 'on' position again and you reset the timer.

Now for the details, how it is implemented. These instructions are for using Indigo v2, a great piece of Mac software, but the concepts should easily be converted to most any decent home automation software, and even some of the more robust hardware-based control systems. It might sound complicated, but once you get it set up once you can just clone the various pieces for use on other devices in your house.

First, lets assume that you have a dimmable light in your house, and you've named it 'Kitchen Overhead'.

Next, make a Trigger Action called 'Kitchen Overhead Watcher - On', and set it to watch for the 'Kitchen Overhead' light turning on. Don't worry about making it do anything yet, just save the trigger.

Then make another trigger called 'Kitchen Overhead Watcher - Disable', and have it watch for the light to turn off. Again, don't worry about making it do anything.

Create one more trigger called 'Kitchen Overhead Watcher - Reset', but this time you don't want to look for the light turning on or off, as this will be used to reset the timer while the light is still on. Instead, you want to set this up to just watch for the 'on' button being pressed.

Now switch to the 'Time/Date Actions' section, and create two Time/Date Actions called 'Kitchen Overhead Watcher - Off' and 'Kitchen Overhead Watcher - Warning'. Don't worry about making them do anything, and just set the time and date to the 'now', these will be programatically controlled later. Make sure that these are 'disabled', you don't want them to start going off on you.

Now switch over to the 'Action Groups' section and make one action group called 'Kitchen Overhead Watcher - Off'. This isn't necessary if your software doesn't support it, it is just a 'macro' to do a couple actions at once. It does make your other actions look nicer.

Okay, now that we have all these things made lets go back and make them 'do stuff.' You'll see in the next steps how having the various items made and named is a prereq to making any of them 'do stuff.'

First, switch to the Trigger Action tab and open up the 'Kitchen Overhead Watcher - On' trigger; we need it to do three actions (and they need to be done in order, if the 3rd one I list is done 1st you'll have a problem).

The first action should be to "disable time/date action 'Kitchen Overhead Watcher - Off" and the second should be to disable the "Kitchen Overhead Watcher - Warning" t/d action. Basically that clears the system.

The third action should be to run embedded applescript. Type the following:

tell application "IndigoServer"

set now to the (current date) + 55 * minutes

set the absolute trigger time of the time date action "Kitchen Overhead Watcher - Warning" to now

enable time date action "Kitchen Overhead Watcher - Warning"

end tell

What that does is to set the 'warning' time to 55 minutes in the future. Obviously you can set this to whatever you want. This is the 'warning' time, not the time that the light will actually be shut off.

Save those actions off, and open up the 'Kitchen Overhead Watcher - Reset' trigger action and do the same 3 steps. You could get fancy and change the number of minutes in the 'reset' trigger to be smaller than the original set. This would basically be enabling something like 'you get an hour to have the light on, tap the button to extend it by a half hour' compared to 'you get an hour of light every time you tap the button.'

Now open the third trigger action, 'Kitchen Overhead Watcher - Disable' and this time only add the first two actions. (the 'disable time/date action...' pair)

Now switcher over to your Action Groups and open your 'Kitchen Overhead Watcher - Off' action group. Add three actions to it, first one to "Turn Off 'Kitchen Overhead'" to actually shut the light off, then the next two actions are the familiar 'disable time/date action...' pair. (Yes, that action pair could have been made in to its own macro since they get repeated several times, but really there is no big benefit to doing it.)

Only two left now, and they are on the 'Time/Date Actions' page.

First open up the 'Kitchen Overhead Watcher - Off' one. The only action you need this to do is to "Execute Action Group 'Kitchen Overhead Watcher - Off'".

Now open up the 'Kitchen Overhead Watcher - Warning' one. This is the one that does the smooth 'ambient alert' dimming trick via 3 actions.

First an embedded applescript one that says:

set foo to the brightness of the device "Kitchen Overhead"

dim "Kitchen Overhead" to 30

delay 1

dim "Kitchen Overhead" to foo

So what that does is record the initial dim level (in case it had been manually dimmed to something other than 100%), then tells the light to dim down to 30% brightness (which obviously you can change) and then 1 second later go back to the original brightness. When combined with a SwitchLinc's built-in 'smooth dimming' / 'ramp rate' feature this enables a very brief 'whoosh' of light. Adjust the dim level and time to suit your needs, the key is to set them to something that is obvious but not jarring.

Next action in this set is to disable the time/date action 'Kitchen Overhead Watcher - Warning' - i.e. turn itself off. The warning just fired, so it needs to go ahead and disable itself for good measure.

The third action is another embedded applescript:

tell application "IndigoServer"

set now to the (current date) + 5 * minutes

set the absolute trigger time of the time date action "Kitchen Overhead Watcher - Off" to now

enable time date action "Kitchen Overhead Watcher - Off"

end tell

Which should be familiar since it is the same basic code used earlier. This time the system is set to turn off the lights 5 minutes from now.

Now, with all of these triggers and timers in place you are ready to go. When you first turn the light on the 'warning' clock gets started (55 minutes in this case), when the warning fires you have 5 more minutes before the light is shut off. If you tap the switch again during those last 5 minutes the timers are reset and you get another hour of light.

Congratulations, you now have an even smarter smart-house!