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Originally Posted by answer

I thought I was writing posts in my sleep.
red interior lights for night driving.

I had these in my last car -- theatrical lighting gel installed in the reading lights. I used them every time I was driving at night. It didn't kill night vision but still registers in your mind that you should be awake. And it looks damn cool when done right. Hmm. Maybe I need to look into installing red LEDs in my newer car.

I also have a small mini-fridge in the car, highly recommend!

The next item I've been thinking about installing is a Keurig single-cup coffee maker. Unfortunately their large ones draw 1400 watts, the small one is only 700w but needs 3 minutes to run. 700w / 12v = 58 amps. Not going to be a cigarette lighter affair.

Re: scanner in the car, Florida has a similar rule -- OK for ham radio operators to have a scanner, even with the scanner set to police freqs.

I have an FM transmitter but it doesn't work well with my BB. I use a stereo jack adapter to take it down from 3.5M pin plug to 2.5m and I get a high pitch whine. Tried a few different jacks and different stereos at Radioshack with no luck. Didn't have that problem with my MP3 player.

Originally Posted by skwsproul

Just got pandora for my bb and wifes mytouch. Fricken awesome, thanks.

Pandora and mobile youtube only work for my BB if I have a wifi connection. I have nextel which is only 1g service, unlike Sprint that has 3g. Still can surf anywhere I have cell service.

BEWARE: DON'T INSTALL DYNOPLEX'S eOFFICE ONTO YOUR BB. I DID AND IT WAS LIKE A VIRUS. SCREWED MY BB UP AND LOST ALOT OF XLS FILES.

Originally Posted by KLEINman

Ipod, sirius, garmin nuvi, and just found a program for my bb to get free internet on my laptop....

So what program you use for free internet?

I completely agree with the scanner and everything else as well. I also carry a mp3 player, scanner, and gps. Scanners are nice for traffic, weather etc. But just dont get pulled over by the LEO's with that or they might take your scanner.

Originally Posted by argyle socks

I use an android phone, has it all, too. Pandora is great when you get sick of the music you already have. I think that have it for the BB.

Just got pandora for my bb and wifes mytouch. Fricken awesome, thanks.

So get your ham radio license & if you're in NYS, you're allowed to have a scanner in your vehicle! Comparative piece of cake for anyone who can troubleshoot HVAC systems, and there are plenty of road warriors out during the day on any area's ham repeaters if you put a 2 meter or 2 meter/440MHz dual-band radio in your truck.

Written into state law (can't quote it, but it's there.) (Course it doesn't stop the cop who is convinced that he knows all from jacking you up even when he's wrong & doesn't know the exception).

Back on track: Sirius radio. Comedy channels save my sanity.

Originally Posted by ampulman

A trunked radio system is one in which many users share a group of frequencies, rather than assigning a separate frequency to each user. It make more efficient use of the radio spectrum.

So a conversation can jump from one frequency to another; hence a special scanner (trunking) is needed to follow the conversation.

'Dual' refers to the fact that the scanner can monitor 2 types of trunking systems, such as Motorola and EDACS. There are others.

It is not illegal to monitor police communications as long as they are not encrypted. Several states (NY for one) prohibit having a scanner in a motor vehicle (only about 3 or 4).

While i roam the forums, my scanner (trunktracker4) is usually running.
Amp

I like that splitter. Must find one.

I switch to MP3 in dead spots.

Originally Posted by jrbenny

HTC myTouch has all of that, too.

Just wish they made a charger/fm modulator combo. Have to take a break from satellite radio and listen to local stuff to charge my battery.

I have a splitter for my phone (G1, the predecessor to the mytouch) from an old HTC phone I had. You can use a car charger and the headphone jack at the same time. I've got an aux input in my vehicle for it.

Only problem with internet radio is you need a data signal to keep going. Dead zones suck. I never got satellite radio because I always felt I'd be paying for channels I'd never listen to, kinda like with cable (500 channels and nothing on).

HTC myTouch has all of that, too.

Just wish they made a charger/fm modulator combo. Have to take a break from satellite radio and listen to local stuff to charge my battery.

Originally Posted by chaard

Blackberry. Has GPS, internet, games and MP3.

I use an android phone, has it all, too. Pandora is great when you get sick of the music you already have. I think that have it for the BB.

Originally Posted by sprintmj19

What is a "dual trunking scanner"?

If it's a scanner for police channels, that's a major violation most everywhere.

A trunked radio system is one in which many users share a group of frequencies, rather than assigning a separate frequency to each user. It make more efficient use of the radio spectrum.

So a conversation can jump from one frequency to another; hence a special scanner (trunking) is needed to follow the conversation.

'Dual' refers to the fact that the scanner can monitor 2 types of trunking systems, such as Motorola and EDACS. There are others.

It is not illegal to monitor police communications as long as they are not encrypted. Several states (NY for one) prohibit having a scanner in a motor vehicle (only about 3 or 4).

While i roam the forums, my scanner (trunktracker4) is usually running.

Amp

Yikes, what a mess. Are you the run capacitor bandit? 120 miles of your helper organizing your van. Of course I shouldnt really talk mine is a complete wreck right now...

Seriously, though I would consider moving the Tomtom to the lower left hand side of the windshield. Its less noticeable for thieves and more in eye shot while driving. Mount the sat radio near it or up at the top. Then route the wires under the dash and up.

I have a Tomtom and Sirius with no visible wires. I even have the RDS-TMC traffic receiver for the Tomtom with its wire routed behind the A pillar and along the top of the windshield above the roof liner. I have a couple hat on my dash that I've slid up so you cant see the GPS at all from outside unless you are looking down on the van somehow....

You can see the wire for my Ipod but thats just because of the FM transmitter I bought. BTW. DLO FM Transmitter for an Ipod is the best you can get IMO. The wire it has isnt the prettiest but it powerful, I can find the clearest radio station and tune it too that and it will over power it and I'll get my Ipod music. Its great if you work in the city and there are no open stations for FM transmitters. In case anyone was in the market...

Blackberry. Has GPS, internet, games and MP3.

I used to drive 129 miles to a jobsite every day and then 129 miles back home every night. Left my house at 5:30AM and usually got home around 5:00PM. Bob and Tom got me through the mornings and my Ipod got me through the evenings. Long meaningful cell phone chats with the old lady were common also.

Originally Posted by ct_hvac_tech

Only one problem. It's a CHEVY!

I drove Ford vans from 2000-2003 new van every 90K miles. They were OK except the brakes were horrible. These were 1/2 ton vans. Way to lite for HVAC work. In 2004 I got the new design Chevy van. It was a 1/2 ton also. I liked the ergonomics better than the Fords. Seemed to be more comfortable. The 4 wheel disc brakes were fantastic.

Both the Ford and Chevy had V6 engines. No power niether one held up that good. pretty much a goner at 75K. Chevy tranny was terrible. would not last more than 30k on any of the 15 we had.

Now I drive a Chevy 4x4 2500 HD extended cab pickup with an ARE topper and a great ladder rack. The interior is cloth ergonomicaly adjustable bucket seats. It has the tow package, 6 speed auto/manual tranny, built in XM satellite radio, Garmin Nuvi, laptop stand, 1000 watt inverter with two batteries, wireless 3g air card, I can use any AT&T Internet access portal for free, but the kicker is the 6.2 liter Vortec V8 engine @ 403 HP. Plenty of power to scoot right on down the road. At 12 mpg I am glad I don't pay the gas bill.

They had to talk me into this truck. I wanted a van. I sure am glad I got the pickup. Make those 360 miles in one day calls a lot more bearable. I will never go back to a van unless I have to.

Let's not forget the most important thing to have.....

My Garmin Nuvi 750 has a built in FM transmitter and media player. I stick a loaded 16GB SD card in it and have more music than I can listen too in a month of driving. The nice thing is that if I have it routing me somewhere, it will pause the music, tell me to turn, then unpause the music.

Looks like a severe choking hazard with all those cords

Garman and Sirius are a must. Got the new Droid phone from Verizon. That thing is great.