OICU812 wrote:

:

I thought about hooking my Kenwood TS 520
up to my car and doing the mobile thing also.Only problem is I have a
Honda
Civic and it does not offera lot of room for the rig and was
wondering about
current draw on my alternator ie would I need a bigger alternator for
that
etc.

The alternator is probably ok, being you probably won't even be
50% duty cycle...The early 520's will work on 12v, but they are
sort of weird, being the voltages and regulation are not quite
as good as on 117v. But it will work. Probably at a reduced
power compared to 117v. Yea, kinda large too. Would have to
keep it on the seat, or floor...You might wanna save for a 12v
rig. Much easier to deal with mobile and portable. I had a 520
I rebuilt about 4-5 years ago..Sold it to a friend, and he ran
it mobile for a short time...It worked, but was kinda funky, and
he got a TS-450 shortly after that...He liked the 450 much better
when mobile, needless to say...I ran a IC-730 for a long time, but
the display board pooped out, and I couldn't get the part..
"goofy small 9 pin transformer in the dc-dc converter circuit"
So I broke down and bought a IC-706mk2g. I still plan to fix the
730 one of these days, when I get another junker to get the part.
Shame for it to collect dust...Other than the display board,
it works great...It's easier to use when driving than the 706,
cuz it has no menus...I can work nearly everything on it, just
by feel...MK