The new radio, part four... Installation preparation...

OK, yet another geeky update...

Nipped out today to get a couple of much needed tools, and some replacements for some bits and bobs that I somehow mislaid in my home move a year and a bit ago.

Amongst the tools bought, a ratchet crimping tool, and a 'smart' wire stripper.

I also dug out my Stanley bench hobby vice, and a few other bits and bobs from storage.

All will come into play tomorrow, when I install the Yaesu FT-8900R into my car.

I can hear some of you wondering why the stripper and the crimper, when ordinary wire cutters and pliers can do the job? Well, yes, you can do it with those tools, but they're not designed to do the job properly; I've used cheaper non-ratchet crimpers in the past as well, and frankly, like pliers and other non-dedicated tools, they're not really much good for lasting or reliable joints.

In addition, the 'smart' stripper gives me an almost effortless right-first-time result, and I can also tailor the tool to repeatedly produce exactly the same length of bare wire on each cable stripping job, which helps give the job that much more of a professional result at the end.

Now, you CAN make do, sometimes, with tools that weren't designed for the job you use them for, but in tasks that deal with electricity and highly flammable fuels in close proximity, I prefer to use the right tools for the job.

Thus, having the right tools for the job means that you have a better than even chance of doing the job properly (you do, of course, need to know what you're doing), makes the job that much more easy, and often helps make the job take less time as well!

Oh, and before one of my very mechanically competent mates reads this, and comments with something similar to a very wet and loud raspberry, yes, I may not know one end of a spanner from the other, or even vehicle mechanics to anything more than a very basic level, but I DO know radio electronics and electrics (and have the 'sustifikate' to prove it!)