Is it considered "bad-form" to have a mobil radio professionally installed?

[K7PEH]

k7peh..   2-0   cable from the battery..   thats for a huge amplifier.

#10 would be plenty big for a 100 watt radio.
#8  if you like to over due a bit.
so anyone doing it your self,   do the research,  2-0 wire can hardly be bent...

#1 wire carries  119 amps. 

I was sort of guessing by a vague memory of what was installed.  So, I think it is possibly #2 wire, not 2-0.  I wanted it to handle about an 85 amp load because I was thinking I might want to add a 500 watt amplifier someday with a slave battery.  I haven't done that yet.

You also said that everyone's goal should be about learning everything about everything...

The reason I paid someone to do this work on my pickup truck because that particular skill is not only a waste of my time but it does not add one iota of knowledge that is useful to me.  I already know I could have strung those wires and done all that work if I wanted to but I chose not to.  Since money is not the issue here, I employed those degrees of freedom I have to pay someone else to do this job.

As for continuing the learning process -- that is mostly what I do but it does not involve working on my pickup truck. 

[KE4DRN]

hi,

a pro install is not bad form at all.

If you don't have the time or want to do it then farm it out.

Just like car repairs, you can diy or have the pro do it.

The pro shop may run the large cable for all the jobs they do.

73 james

[KG4RUL]

Is it "bad form" to have your appendix "professionally" removed? 

[AA4PB]

Phil, note that I said "in most cases" you learn nothing. That was purposely to allow for the guy who works with the professional installer and learns how to do it from him. In your case you obviously had a good deal of experience and could instruct the installer about the "RF"  and "grounding" issues and how you wanted them handled. The "average" new ham who knows little about RF or grounding or mobile radio installations and is depending totally on the audio guy at Best Buy to know what to do is probably in for a big surprise. Even commercial radio installers are likely not to have any experience in HF installations.

As for me personally, part of my ham radio hobby IS crawling under the truck and running wires to do a mobile radio installation. I would never consider paying someone $400 to do it for me. Of course that might change as I get older and have more limited physical ability.

I once had an experience where I needed to rebuild the valves in my water softener. I dropped in and talked with the owner at the local Culligan shop. He had me come back after hours where he had me help him rebuild one he had in for repair. Then he sold me the parts and I went home and rebuilt mine. So, I learned a new skill from that experience.

[K7PEH]

Everyone chooses those things to DIY and those to pay others to DIFY.  I have done my fair share of kit building and homebrew (back in the 1960s).  Currently finishing up my Elecraft KX1 which is my third QRP rig.  I don't work on cars -- ever.  Never did when I was a kid, never have as an adult.  This part of DIY never interested me.  I do a lot of woodworking and have built most of the furniture in our house.  I made my own hand plane (I took a class from James Krenov back in the early 1980s).

Everyone makes their own choices in life based on all kinds of things: age, skill, desire, money, time, whatever.  If someone chooses to pay someone for a mobile install, let them.  But, like Bob said, they should ensure that the "professional" does indeed know the tricks of the trade for dealing with RF issues.  When I did this, I found the shop foreman not only to welcome the suggestions I made for dealing with RF but he was getting interested in the whole thing.

[K1CJS]

Is it "bad form" to have your appendix "professionally" removed? 

Yes--if you don't have appendicitis!  ;-)