In message ,
writes
Kenneth P. Stox wrote:

I ran into one of those guys last summer, not just one but two antenna's
as described. I chatted with him a bit and found out he was running a
10KW CB rig. I was incredulous until he popped open the hood to show me
the 5 alternators running off the engine to power it. The engine was

Dear sweet heavens. astonished whistle Wonder what sort
of gas mileage he got. :-)


Well, 10kW = 13hp.
Allow 50% efficiency for the TX, so there's 26hp.
I don't know about the alternator - 70%?
That makes it 37hp before the vehicle moves.
Ian.
--

On Thu, 15 Feb 2007 12:16:08 +0000 (UTC), wrote:

Roger wrote:
CB-er in a large van passed next to me. He had one of those stupid fat
antennas with the gigantic "loading coil," and had to have been running

You are not describing a CB antenna.

Actually, he might well be. Perhaps you're lucky enough
not to have any of these people where you live, but in
my neck of the woods, in some lower-socioeconomic-status
neighborhoods, there was a wave of enormous CB antennas

Oh, we have a bunch. Local law enforcement says about a third of the
drivers up here are driving on a suspended or revoked license...or
they never did bother to get one.

They like to run those radios, but I've never seen any of *those* big
antennas :-))

It soulds more like a lot of the ham antennas up here, particularly
for 160 and 75 when they are running 500 to 600 watts. We have a
number of those "mobile porupines" covering 1.8 through 440 or higher.
Back in the 60's I ran one that required guys to keep it from laying
down and pointing to the rear. No big loading coils or top heats, it
was just *tall*.

with HUGE open-wire loading coils at the base, ones that
appeared to be made of 3/8" copper tubing or something
along those lines. No telling if the coils did anything
or were just for show; some of the CBers used high power

Go on e-bay. You can find some huge amps for reasonable prices... if
you don't care about what the signal sounds like. OTOH there's a 2K4
on there at present (2-27) listed as a 10 meter amp. They sure
aren't going to get much out of it driving it with 4 watts at 10db of
gain. :-)) Still they do get hold of much higher powered exciters.

and others poured their 4 watts into these enormous
whips .. I'm seeing fewer of them on the roads these
days but they're still around. :-/

Other than that one Chrysler model with the particular V-6 I've not
run into any problems. Still my 4-Runner doesn't lend itself well to
HF antennas.


_______________________________________________
Ken Kuzenski AC4RD ken . kuzenski at duke .edu
_______________________________________________
All disclaimers apply, see? www.duke.edu/~kuzen001
Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

On Sun, 18 Feb 2007 16:29:36 GMT, "Kenneth P. Stox"
wrote:

wrote:

I still see them occasionally, often on the top of big
old Suburbans for some reason. Not exactly a practical
thing--I imagine they're constantly raking trees and
overhangs and such. But I often get a grin when I see
the things. :-)

I ran into one of those guys last summer, not just one but two antenna's
as described. I chatted with him a bit and found out he was running a
10KW CB rig. I was incredulous until he popped open the hood to show me
the 5 alternators running off the engine to power it. The engine was
also modified to kick up the idle when the rig was one so it wouldn't
stall when keyed up.

If the tires don't skid when you key the mike you're running QRP!
:-))


I've pretty much come to the conclusion that the FCC has completely
given up enforcement on the CB bands.

They do nail a few of them that manage to creep up into 10 meters now
and then.
Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

On Mon, 19 Feb 2007 13:43:34 +0000, Ian Jackson
wrote:

In message ,
writes
Kenneth P. Stox wrote:

I ran into one of those guys last summer, not just one but two antenna's
as described. I chatted with him a bit and found out he was running a
10KW CB rig. I was incredulous until he popped open the hood to show me
the 5 alternators running off the engine to power it. The engine was

Dear sweet heavens. astonished whistle Wonder what sort
of gas mileage he got. :-)


Well, 10kW = 13hp.
Allow 50% efficiency for the TX, so there's 26hp.
I don't know about the alternator - 70%?
That makes it 37hp before the vehicle moves.
Ian.

We run multiple belts to propellers from engines running that much
power. :-))

When I get my plane done...Glasair III (fiberglass with carbon fiber
horizontal stab) I plan on having up to 500 watts on HF and I'd really
like to make it 160 watts on 2-meters. 30 to 50 is plenty on 440.
However I have a longggg way to go.

In the Beech I just run the HT clipped to the inside of the door which
leaves the antenna sticking up in the window. With that set up I
typically get 50 to 75 miles with 5W FM and the rubber duck antenna.
The problem with the antenna in the window is it tends to be pretty
directive...without any gain. I've worked 150 miles with 5 watts
from 22,000 feet, but that wasn't in my plane which has a service
ceiling of only 19,500.
Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com