Hay all! After having this nice truck for 9 years now,
im finally going hf mobile! Have Icom 730 rig, mounted
in 96 Ford F-350 powerstroke 7.3 Liter ?Diesel truck,
1ST- Mega noise on ignition system! NB doesnt help at
all. No matter what speed you drive it gets worse at
highway speeds, *Antenna here is a Henry Allen TX bug
catcher bumper mounted on left rear side. Homebrew pipe
bumper, solid, and yes its grounded! And its solid
20over S 9 signal generated from that truck engine.
Chokes, coils, torroids help? And yes this is long
bed truck so the antenna is about 17' or so from the front
the motor or engine compartment.

2nd- Biggest problem, is when you key the mic even not
modulating it, just keying it, slows the motor down
like you take your foot of the accellerator and applying the
brakes. This happens regardless what power I have the
icom set at! 50 watts, 30 watts, same thing! ***
I have tapped in the power fuse box thats under the dash,
for direct power to rig, would directly having it go to
the batteries up front help any? Or is this little rf
messing with the computer module under the hood next to the
firewall? Back in January I had the right side power
harness replaced, like the set of sparkplug wires that
go to the individual injectors on the right side of the
motor. Could there be a ground not connected from the
repair shop? Truck has 142K mileage, runs like clock,
but im affraid of the excessive rf power messing with that
computer module?

* Any tips or suggestions, calling the ford dealer in
Austin monday am, not sure if it would help, since most
people dont know what ham radio is anyway!

Thanks for reading, any tips zip them my way

PSE!!!

Steve, WD5HNI............ mail to:

TRy this:

http://www.w8ji.com/rf_noise_powerstroke_diesel.htm

Steve wrote:

Hay all! After having this nice truck for 9 years now,
im finally going hf mobile! Have Icom 730 rig, mounted
in 96 Ford F-350 powerstroke 7.3 Liter ?Diesel truck,
1ST- Mega noise on ignition system! NB doesnt help at
all. No matter what speed you drive it gets worse at
highway speeds, *Antenna here is a Henry Allen TX bug
catcher bumper mounted on left rear side. Homebrew pipe
bumper, solid, and yes its grounded! And its solid
20over S 9 signal generated from that truck engine.
Chokes, coils, torroids help? And yes this is long
bed truck so the antenna is about 17' or so from the front
the motor or engine compartment.

2nd- Biggest problem, is when you key the mic even not
modulating it, just keying it, slows the motor down
like you take your foot of the accellerator and applying the
brakes. This happens regardless what power I have the
icom set at! 50 watts, 30 watts, same thing! ***
I have tapped in the power fuse box thats under the dash,
for direct power to rig, would directly having it go to
the batteries up front help any? Or is this little rf
messing with the computer module under the hood next to the
firewall? Back in January I had the right side power
harness replaced, like the set of sparkplug wires that
go to the individual injectors on the right side of the
motor. Could there be a ground not connected from the
repair shop? Truck has 142K mileage, runs like clock,
but im affraid of the excessive rf power messing with that
computer module?

* Any tips or suggestions, calling the ford dealer in
Austin monday am, not sure if it would help, since most
people dont know what ham radio is anyway!

Thanks for reading, any tips zip them my way

PSE!!!

Steve, WD5HNI............ mail to:





--
Joe Leikhim K4SAT
"The RFI-EMI-GUY"

The Lost Deep Thoughts By: Jack Handey
Before a mad scientist goes mad, there's probably a time
when he's only partially mad. And this is the time when he's
going to throw his best parties.

Thanks! I will give that a try.

I know that this noise thing can be handled, just how
much is the case!


73's steve......

On Mon, 30 May 2005 10:05:01 -0500, Steve wrote:

Thanks! I will give that a try.

I know that this noise thing can be handled, just how
much is the case!


73's steve......

I believe Ford has certain electrical components that can be replaced
to reduce interference to communications systems -- your dealer should
know what's available for your model and have the tech sheets.

Lotta people in this user group have complained about Ford noise.

bob
k5qwg

Bob, yes Ive been keeping up with this subject for a
while, but i can believe the noise im getting!
It just could be the older rig, Im going to try the
strapping first, dont have any of that stainless braided
stuff, but older rg8 u coax will do the trick i think?

Then going to make a few turns of coax and make a rf choke
to maybe cutdown on rf feedback,
then the torriods are next. What really scares me is
that on 40 the engine is severely effected by just simply
keying the mic. I wonder what other cures are out there!

Bob, you run hf mobile? antenna? any power?

tnx, Steve.........

Steve wrote:
Hay all! After having this nice truck for 9 years now,
im finally going hf mobile! Have Icom 730 rig, mounted
in 96 Ford F-350 powerstroke 7.3 Liter ?Diesel truck,
1ST- Mega noise on ignition system! NB doesnt help at
all. No matter what speed you drive it gets worse at
highway speeds, *Antenna here is a Henry Allen TX bug

I have a 1995 Ford Explorer. Using an IC-706MKII and a Webster
Bandspanner antenna. I realize your vehicle is diesel and mine is gas,
but the solution may be the same. My problem stemmed from the fuel
pump. Ford has a retrofit electrical filter for the fuel pump. Noise
went from an S-8 to S-0.



2nd- Biggest problem, is when you key the mic even not
modulating it, just keying it, slows the motor down
like you take your foot of the accellerator and applying the
brakes. This happens regardless what power I have the
icom set at! 50 watts, 30 watts, same thing! ***
I have tapped in the power fuse box thats under the dash,
for direct power to rig, would directly having it go to
the batteries up front help any? Or is this little rf
messing with the computer module under the hood next to the
firewall? Back in January I had the right side power
harness replaced, like the set of sparkplug wires that
go to the individual injectors on the right side of the
motor. Could there be a ground not connected from the
repair shop? Truck has 142K mileage, runs like clock,
but im affraid of the excessive rf power messing with that
computer module?

RF feedback into the computer is a valid concern. I would recommed a
direct connection to the vehicle battery. This is generally the
recommended method of connection for high current applications anyway.

What sort of feedline do have you going from the rig to the antenna?
I would probably go with RG8X. Have you checked the condition of the
UHF connector on your coax where it connects to the rig? Make certain it
has GOOD contact with the shield portion. How is the coax terminated at
the antenna? Is truck bed solidly bonded to the chassis frame?

You may try re-routing the coax cable to the opposite side of the vehicle.

It is possible a floating ground on the replacement wiring could be
causing your trouble. You mentioned "sparkplug" wires...which I doubt
you have.

Do these problems show up on ALL HF bands?

Steve wrote:
Mega noise on ignition system! NB doesnt help at

Assuming it varies with engine RPM, it is not ignition noise, it is
coming from the fuel injectors. See an earlier post suppression.

Travis, and Nitespark!

Well the that sounds nice, but dont think its the fuel
pump! Did the ground strapping on monday, my day off
for the holiday, seemed to lower the noise sum, did
make 6 turns of coax (rf choke) at the end of coax before it
goes in to rig, to cut down on transmission of rf chasing
back out!

But the engine still almost dies on 75 meters, not so much
on 40. Never did try 17 meters, bands been so bad of
late i just cant get motivated to do this!
May try this weekend, and you all say would ford dealer
carry this retrofit for noise suppression on their
vehicles? Or could i order via hr on the net? I see
lots of promises but do they really work?

Would some new coax help? some of the double shielded
stuff, RG-8 ???? with a foil wrapped on the outside of
the casing? Or could it just be this older Icom HF rig?

Now i did hear on the the newer 706's series the noise
blanker is better shape than the earlier ones?

keep posted folks, Im gonna get this sooner or later????

Steve.................

On Wed, 01 Jun 2005 20:36:19 -0500, Steve wrote:

Travis, and Nitespark!

Well the that sounds nice, but dont think its the fuel
pump! Did the ground strapping on monday, my day off
for the holiday, seemed to lower the noise sum, did
make 6 turns of coax (rf choke) at the end of coax before it
goes in to rig, to cut down on transmission of rf chasing
back out!

But the engine still almost dies on 75 meters, not so much
on 40. Never did try 17 meters, bands been so bad of
late i just cant get motivated to do this!
May try this weekend, and you all say would ford dealer
carry this retrofit for noise suppression on their
vehicles? Or could i order via hr on the net? I see
lots of promises but do they really work?

Instead of spinning your wheels, you could just call your Ford dealer
and get the appropos tech sheets and, if needed, parts. Then go from
there. A lot of Ford owners have had noise problems of this sort.

bob
k5qwg



Would some new coax help? some of the double shielded
stuff, RG-8 ???? with a foil wrapped on the outside of
the casing? Or could it just be this older Icom HF rig?

Now i did hear on the the newer 706's series the noise
blanker is better shape than the earlier ones?

keep posted folks, Im gonna get this sooner or later????

Steve.................

Steve wrote:
Travis, and Nitespark!

Well the that sounds nice, but dont think its the fuel
pump! Did the ground strapping on monday, my day off
for the holiday, seemed to lower the noise sum, did
make 6 turns of coax (rf choke) at the end of coax before it
goes in to rig, to cut down on transmission of rf chasing
back out!

But the engine still almost dies on 75 meters, not so much
on 40. Never did try 17 meters, bands been so bad of
late i just cant get motivated to do this!
May try this weekend, and you all say would ford dealer
carry this retrofit for noise suppression on their
vehicles? Or could i order via hr on the net? I see
lots of promises but do they really work?

Would some new coax help? some of the double shielded
stuff, RG-8 ???? with a foil wrapped on the outside of
the casing? Or could it just be this older Icom HF rig?

Now i did hear on the the newer 706's series the noise
blanker is better shape than the earlier ones?

OK, I was just making some suggestions. A Ford dealer should be able to
tell you if there is a retro filter kit for your model vehicle.

If you decide on going with bigger cable and you might want to consider
Belden 9913.

I might try a length of RG8X first though. It isn't going to cost that
much for a 20ft length.

My guess is, you have RF ingress and egress from the truck computer and
unless it is completely shielded with some sort of metal shroud, you
will continue to experience problems. Even that may not help, if the
spurs from the computer are emitting from the harness and the harness is
capturing the nearfield RF from your antenna.

A friend of mine is a comm tech for the local school board. He got a
1995 Ford Explorer as a service vehicle. When he mounted some VHF high
band and UHF radios in there for work, he was getting birdies all over
the spectrum. He never was able to suppress them, and basically just
had to live with them. I also have a 1995 Explorer and just out of
curiosity, we checked and our two vehicles were manufactured within 2
weeks of each other. When he took an HT on the same frequencies and
held it around the engine compartment of my vehicle, it was perfectly
quiet. He had even gotten a new computer to put in it, and that didn't
help.

You are correct about the newer 706 models. The IC706 had some serious
design flaws in the receiver. The 706MKII and MKIIG corrected those
flaws and added UHF in the "G" model.

I don't know that much about the receiver of the IC730.