[Elecraft] K3 going mobile?

[Jim Brown]

On Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:54:59 -0700 (PDT), J. Heide wrote:

>I oversee radio installations in patrol cars, and keeping he RF 
>where you want it is important.

Achieving That can be a VERY different matter at HF than at VHF, 
thanks to the wavelengths involved. The body of the vehicle is the 
other half of the antenna, so it carries a lot of RF current. Thanks 
to the excessive use of pain, the body of some (many?) modern 
vehicles has LOUSY electrical integrity, so at HF, that current 
establishes some rather substantial potential differences from one 
point on the body to another, which in turn can cause some very 
"interesting" results. At 100 watts on 20M, the computer in my 
Toyota Sequoia (big SUV) locked up thanks to that antenna current. 

On the other hand, once I bonded the license plate mount to the 
trunk lid of my Volvo S80 and bonded around the trunk hinges, I had 
no serious issues with that vehicle. 

I would expect a K3 to be a very good mobile rig once you work out a 
way to mount it. I've happily used a TS850, IC746, and Ten Tec Omni 
in various vehicles. I also used an FT100D, but the RX was so lousy 
I hated it. 

73,

Jim K9YC