[Elecraft] Road Trip!
Charles Bland
[email protected]
Tue Mar 18 15:54:10 2003
> I was playing with my K2 mobile last weekend too. First timer. I
> noticed a huge increase in noise once the car was running. About 3
> S-units higher with NB on. Can someone point me to information on how
> to cure this?
At the risk of sounding trite, start with the noise blanker button.
I run mobile in my Chevy Blazer and the K2 Noise Blanker works wonders. Does it
get rid of all the noise? No, but certainly most of it. If it bothered me more, I would
add the chokes, etc.... but there will always be some noise as long as the engine is
running.
Secondly, Take your power leads as close to the battery as possible and use good
size wire to do so. I use the good stranded stuff for flexibility and low resistance. I
use the same ground that the battery does. Most new vehicles these days have a
great accessory power point under the hood. This location is more than fine as it is
usually fed by a good-sized wire.
Please note, I do not ground the K2 straight to the battery. I want to minimize the risk
of the K2 being the only path to ground in the event of a ground wire failure in the
vehicle. Typically, there is a ground wire from the battery to the chassis. I ground to
that chassis grounding point.
Next, make sure your antenna is well grounded to your vehicle. I use a mag mount,
but I have a ground wire from the frame of the mag mount to my chassis.
I do run with the KPA and I have done so with the engine off, but admittedly, not for
very long. I intend to add the second battery to my full-size Chevy Truck (long bed, 4
door, 1 ton, gas mileage rated in blocks - take that all you SUV haters!!!!! :-) Sorry
'bout that, but I feel better now!! ) but my Blazer has only the one battery. If you want
to run engine off, go ahead and turn the power down to disable the amp (or do it in
the menu). I worked Latvia and Czech Republic mobile with 15W (broke a pileup for
that matter) and a Yaesu ATAS Screwdrive antenna from a low spot surrounded by
hills (Jamestown, CA for the locals), so big watts ain't everything.
Hope this helps. Ignore the editorials; my Therapist told me to do that.
Maybe I'll hear ya on 17M some time.
Chuck - n6dbt
#1924
Note Andreas Hofmann's stunning brilliance and Chuck's apt reply (gack!)
Subject: RE: [Elecraft] Road Trip!
From: "Andreas Hofmann" <[email protected]>
To: "Elecraft" <[email protected]>
Date sent: Tue, 18 Mar 2003 10:18:01 -0800
> I was playing with my K2 mobile last weekend too. First timer. I
> noticed a huge increase in noise once the car was running. About 3
> S-units higher with NB on. Can someone point me to information on how
> to cure this?
>
> Also, are you guys running 100 W? If so, can you run with the engine
> off and how long?
>
> Andreas, KU7T
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Richardf McGaver [mailto:[email protected]]
> Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2003 10:04 AM
> To: Gregg Lengling
> Cc: 'Elecraft'
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Road Trip!
>
> Greg,
> I've done all sorts of thing mobile without putting holes in the
> vehicle, mounted off the trailer hitch, and now magnetic mounts I have a
>
> 4 if u want to use it!
> Rick
>
> NK 9G
>
>
> Gregg Lengling wrote:
>
> >Hey guys thought this would be a great place to ask a question.
> Haven't
> >run mobile HF in over 10 years. I will be taking a road trip later
> this
> >week and decided it would be great to put the K2 in the car to pass
> away
> >the hours. Now comes the question: Mobile Antennas.....I know there
> >are a lot of things out there....but I don't want to put any holes in
> >the Aurora..I'll be taking the K2/100 and KAT100 with me...any
> >suggestions????
> >
> >
> >Gregg R. Lengling, W9DHI
> >Camel Communications, Inc.
> >Politics is the art of appearing candid and completely open, while
> >concealing as much as possible. -States: The Bene Gesserit View
> >
> >
> >
> >
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> >
> >
>
>
>
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