Amateur Radio in 2013 Prius C

Most of what you are reading is Toyota Lawyer speak to cover their asses!
I have had a Yaesu FT-8800 in my Gen II since I bought the car!
NO PROBLEMS!!!

 

only on the new 2013 Cs have the jumper terminal under the hood. but mine is a 2013 built in 1/13 and it does not have the jumper spot. so its only most recent builds of the C. but if you are running the radio in the car, then you can easily access the battery which is under the rear seats.

 

I run a 50 watt 2 meter rig for aprs tracking in our C. Have not had an airbag blow yet.
Good to have another radio operator here.
Dan

 

The 2012 still has the hot wire, so the only difference is the terminal connector.

 

Just curious, what do you guys mostly use those radios for?

 

sounds like it would be perfect for end of the world type stuff. zombie apocalypse or something.

 

I've been running 2M in my lift back for over a year now. No issues whatsoever. I have heard guys say the Prius generates a lot of noise at 40M, but I've never tried it.

 

I would not say that but it is perfect when the cell towers go down like in hurricane Katrina. Only communication in and out of New Orleans. All of the police radio equipment wasgone and they also used ham radio operators. Great hobby. I do way more listening than I do talking.
Dan

 

In my case it's talking to friends, I can talk faster than I can type. It also is a wideband receiver, I have Burbank Airport within 10 miles of me, I can listen to air traffic, plus news helicopters!
And other stuff!

 

OK, one more KW7A

Lets see if we can get a bit technical.
Do we do that here or somewhere else?

I'll be moving my Yeasu FT-857d from my old car to the new 2013 Prius C2.
Also a Little Tarhill II screwdriver antenna.
And a dual band Comet VHF/UHF antenna.
And to top that off a "Turbo tuner", "for one button push" automatic HF antenna tuning.

Now the basics.:
Any thoughts on mounting the remote head and where to hide the radio body and turbo tuner?
They used to be in the rear of my Saturn VUE down under with the spare tire,

DXCC / PriusC here we go.


John
KW7A
Central Utah, USA

 

I think KK6PD might be able to answer your questions. I run my hf gear in the motorhome. Only run an aprs tracking radio in the Prius. It is under pass seat.
Dan

 

I keep my Icom in the side compartment in the back and have the control head left of the steering wheel. I don't know how applicable that would be for you since I have a lift ack
N3zy

 

John, Hi there! Yeah, I have plenty of thoughts on mobile radio installs!
Measuring just 6.1” x 2” x 9.2” (155 x 52 x 233 mm), the FT-857 is the world’s smallest full-power HF/VHF/UHF multitmode transceiver!
Good choice!
However before you go through all the effort of the install, I would jury rig power from the 12 v battery to the 857, get the antenna on the car, without making any holes yet. Last step is turn on the ACC PWR and fire up the rig. Get an idea on your locations noise floor, find somebody weak, and then turn the car full on! What happens? Some reports state the nose floor will jump to S9 or more. That kind of renders the HF thing moot.
On the other hand there have been several great write ups, one by a ham, who shielded the bejezus out of the car and had significant success on dropping the noise floor down to usable HF op levels! If you find after the test, you can live with what you hear, or you plan to shield the bejezus out of your car go for it! The display for the 857, due to its size 6.1" x 2" you could mound above or below your mirror like I did using a "Blend Mount" I run a FT-8700!


As for the rig body, hide it in the back of the car, I buried mine in the Gen II's left rear pocket in the back. Fits perfect. I actually ran my coax through the hatch's wiring channel, going through the water proof boot. I use a Diamond K-400 mount, what you have will work. The setup is neat!
Good luck, let us know how you make out!

 

I do have a cigarette lighter 12V plug for the radio. I also use the diamond mounts one for the HF screwdriver antenna and one for the VHF/UHF antenna.

4 setscrews and a plug into the cigarette lighter and I should be able to test it.
No holes to drill.

Now I know what I can do with my spare time tomorrow (I'm retired so have time to burn).


Great suggestion!


John
KW7A
See my profile on www.QRZ.com

 

OBTW:

Some of my DX work while mobile I've done from parking lots,
I pull over, switch out my mobile whip on the Little Tarhell II screwdriver to my 9'6" telescoping whip. (A 30 second change over). I add another 18" extention and can then do 160M if I want to.
Turn to car off and call CQ. I've managed to have QSO's with Bulgaria, Japan, South America, and K5B on three bands when they were on a DExposition, just to name a few. All from the Salt Lake City area.

All DX doesn't needs to be done while mobile. And I have logged some while mobile.

Of course there is the ISS to play with.
Did you know you can do PSK31 using an Android app and the speakers from your car?


John
KW7A

 

Another Ham here as well. No rig in the Prius though.

73 de VA3HST