Using Ham equipment in a Prius

[Jeri]

Are there any hams out there using HF or 2M equipment in their Prius? I would like to know if anyone has experienced interference problems with the car or radios. I noticed a blurb on TV that newer cars (not Prius) warn against using any such equipment as it may interfere with vehicle computers.

[Canuck]

No problem using my ICOM IC-V8 2 m so far but power and make might be different. Suggest you ask at your local ham club/net/or national web forum.
VE7GJE

[hdrygas]

Well it was a long long time ago when I tried for a ham license and failed because of dyslexia. In those days code was a necessary first step and my "spelling" problems I never passed the code test. As I remember the issues of interference were a major part of the test. That was the easy part. Is that not the case any longer? Should not any licenced Ham operator be able to deal with this? Have things changed?

[Frank Hudon]

Jeri, if you go back a long ways here on PC there was a ham that had lots of equipment in his Prius and there was one thing he said and I can't remember the feq but it made the ICE stumble when he key'd the mike. It was back in Feb or March last year. Even his name escapes me now but do a search and it should come up.

[jayman]

Theoretically, CANbus will reject stray RF emissions. Note that I said "theoretically." What sort of power will you be putting out at 2 meters?

[Canuck]

hdrygas, funny you mention your problem learning the code because I also have a slight problem with dyslexia but was able to achieve 35 wpm using the stick (pencil) during my days as a navy cloak and dagger communicator. Not nearly as fast as some. The amateur radio equipment in use today has, for the most part, eliminated most of the various types of interference as mandated by the FCC and Canadian and other international standards groups.
Another PriusChat poster was telling me tonight about fitting his single-sideband rig in his Prius but I'll leave that for him to relate.
Code, by the way, is no longer required up here in Canada.
You should take up the hobby because as you probably already know it's not just about yakking between ourselves but involves, among many other interesting things, satellite coms, TV and packet/data experimenting and development, antenna design, computer related communications equipment and probably, like Prius owners, making many great and long lasting friendships.

[Jeri]

I'm not the ham in the family so I wouldn't really be disappointed if the ham gear stayed out of the Prius. Need a good reason though. I may have this wrong as after many! years I still don't get the language of ham radio. His handi talki would run at less than 5W, probably 2; and the HF transceiver uses 25-50W at 146 mhz. If you understand any of that, a definative answer would be nice. I couldn't find the thread from last year; I must be entering the wrong info into the search box. Any idea at what amperage the auxiliary plugs are rated?

[wb9tyj]

no problem with 2MTRS...using Yaesu FT 2600M at approx 50w output into a diamond ant...no problem...i do also know NIU (northern Illinois University) is using prii on the police force with VHF equipment. so therefore 144-148MHZ (2mtrs) would prob be ok...i do recommend at least a 1/4 wave antenna located on the hatchback...do not use glass mounted antennas(like old cell phone antennas)...as far as the plugs go...i believe they are at 20amps but dont quote me on that...but i would recommend direct wiring to 12v it keeps things nicer and stray RF would not be as much as a problem...in essence the shorter the cable runs for 12v, the better as well as coax runs too...dont have a bunch of stray cable/wires laying around under the seats,etc... hope this helps... --... ...--

[K6YXH]

I'm having no interference problems running 50 watts on 2 meters.

I mounted an SBB2 dual-band antenna on a Diamond K400 mount on the upper right edge of the hatch. The radio, a dual-band Yaesu FT-90R, is mounted in the space above the wheel, on the right, with all control wires run along the side of the rear seat, then to the center, and then to the front. The antenna lead is only 6 ft long. I would advise making sure the SWR is low, so you're not dealing with significant radiation from the coaxial cable inside the car.

My power connection is also short - I connected directly to the 12V battery below the radio - here's how:

There are 3 points at which the red plastic positive post cover is attached (see photo, attached). I used a screwdriver to gently pry each of the attachment points loose, rocking the cover to keep it from reattaching.

The red cover attaches to a black plastic assembly that is molded on to a metal tab that is bolted to the positive post - that assembly contains fuses and such, but I didn't see any convenient place to tap into the +12v.

So, you can't just grab the red and black assembly and pull up, because the black assembly is bolted to the positive post! And you can't just pull the red cover off, because it's firmly attached at three points.

Attaching to the +12v:
Once the red cover is off, it looks like a simple job to remove a nut, slip a round crimp-type wire termination on the post, and replace the nut - there's lots of room to work once you remove the tray that holds the tools and the mats above it.
Attaching to the -12v:
Either do it at the negative battery post, or a the end of the short lead that attaches the negative post to the chassis.

.
The total length of my power connection is less than 2 feet. I fused that connection and brought it out to a standard Anderson PowerPole connector so I can plug in other 12V accessories as well - it's handy for vaccum cleaners and compressors. BTW, the FT-90R has a battery voltage display, so a side benefit is the ability to monitor the 12V battery.

Finally, I enabled the "auto-power off" feature on my radio so it powers off after 1 hr of inactivity - that's an important consideration with this low amp-hour battery!

There hasn't been a Morse Code requirement for the entry-level Amateur Radio License in the US for a long time - there are several on-line practice exams and all of the questions and answers are posted on-line. The entry-level license is the Technician - the exam consists of 35 multiple choice questions and a passing grade is 27/35 (you can get a license even if you miss questions like, "What should you do to avoid contact with high voltage?"

Try this URL to get started: ARRL web site

[jayman]

I don't use ham equipment but the above posts have many good pointers. Like any car with electronics, it's in your best interest to do everything possible to minimize stray RF in case of possible interference with the car onboard systems.

Long cable runs are a no-no, as you can get coupling effects. Safety is also an important issue, as you have to plan where an airbag will deploy. Some early Ford Crown Vic police interceptor cars had problems when the mobile data unit was placed in the path of the passenger airbag, some injuries resulted after crashes.

Generally, I would think a remote-head system would be best for the Prius. Put the transceiver body in the hatch area, so the coax for the antenna is as short as possible.

I've never had good luck with glass-mount antennas for *any* application. For me it was a performance issue. A body-mounted antenna properly adjusted to SWR will provide best performance and minimize stray RF.

In the early 90's I had a contract with Cellular One in the Mountain States when they were upgrading from AMPS to TDMA. We had Motorola digital bag phones to use, and they put out 3w. With an external mag mount antenna, everything worked well.

With the 1/2 wave bag phone antenna, a friend of mine tried placing a call from the rental car. It should be noted we were in a fringe coverage area, as the new site wasn't up yet. The rental, a Ford Taurus, was running with the tape player on. When he placed the call, the radio went bonkers.

Since then, car manufacturers have made a lot of progress to eliminate interference from "obvious" RF sources like cell bands 800 MHz-900 MHz, and 1,800 MHz - 1,900 MHz.

I looked at the Icom site and their IC-207H remote dual band appears to be a nice unit.