On 12 Feb 2007 15:17:50 -0800, "KE5MBX"
wrote:

Hi,
What's all this business I hear people talking about blasting people's
car stereos or killing cars altogether with high-power RF? I run 2m,
10m, and 11m in my jeep and I'd like to sort out the fact from the
legend and find out what kind of power I can use without risking
damage to my jeep or cars around me. At what power level is front-end

You aren't going to directly damage any cars around you even with high
power, but you might affect some with a 100 on HF or even 2-meters.

overload to a nearby radio likely? At what power level is damage

Ham or broadcast? Broadcast is generally fairly sensitive to
overload. On-the-road it's likely to be for a very short duration so
I'd not worry about it.

likely, and to what componets?

With today's cars it's unlikely you are going to damage any components
unless you have a grounding problem and then the computer is the most
susceptible.


I am currently using only 50 watts on a 5/8 wave (2m), 25w on a 1/4
wave (10m), legal 4w on a 1/4 wave (11m)

I've run 160 watts on 144 which will *typically* desense another
2-meter rig for up to a 100 feet or so, but it depends on the rig.
I've also stopped the car next to another mobile with no *apparent*
problem although here certainly had to be some desense. I've also
"desensed" a mobile 50 feet away with a 5 watt HT (It did have a
clean signal) I also shut down the cable TV system for an entire town
with a 5 Watt HT at a demonstration, but that's another story other
than to say two days after the demonstration you couldn't find a cable
leak in the whole town. :-))

Some mobiles are running up to 600 watts on HF without problems while
others can't get a 100. Most of the car manufacturers are saying you
shouldn't go beyond a 100. I'd have no qualms about going to 500 or
600. If it works, fine. If it didn't I guess I'd have to pay for what
ever broke.

When I purchased my 4-Runner the Toyota mechanics ran the wiring for
my VHF/UHF rigs and that was about 6 years ago. My wife runs a 50
watt (Kenwood TM-V7A) in a Toyota Prius (Hybrid). I'm thinking of
leasing one while they still have good prices and a surplus of cars
available which will disappear sooner with the price of gas going back
up. Only problem with leasing the Prius is how to run an HF rig in
there. Their 12 volt system is very light duty and that 500 volt
batter might be a bit steep for my mobile rig. :-))


Thanks,
Nelson KE5MBX
Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com