May 4th 04, 06:21 PM
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On 4-May-2004, (Dan) wrote:
12 feet of RG58, plugged into the cigar lighter using one of those
radio shack adapters. I tried hooking it directly up to the battery
and had the same problem. Also hooked it up to a 10Amp power supply.
Nitespark wrote in message news:XHKlc.38165$NZ4.16447@lakeread05...
Dan wrote:
I just got my first mobile, a used HTX-212 (45W on high power).. When
I have the car engine off the transmit bars only light up about half
way. When I drive they go up farther but I still have trouble hitting
the repeater while my HT hits it with no problem. Are these power
fluctuations normal?
Thanks,
Dan
KE5BCC
What is the gauge of wire (for power) you have feeding the
transciever??? and how long???
Where is your power lead hooked in??? Is it hooked into the battery or
do you have it running through the fuse panel????
RG-58 center conductor is pretty small diameter for the 10 Amps needed at 45 Watts. Also, cigarette
lighter plugs have very poor central contacts. If you have a voltmeter, DVM, etc., try measuring
the DC voltage at the radio while transmitting. If it drops much from the 13.8 Volt battery
voltage, the power out will drop drastically. For a proper installation in a mobile, you should run
two #12 wires directly to the battery terminals for positive and negative. Don't depend on a ground
wire to the car body for the negative. And include fuses in both leads at the battery. This might
seem like redundancy, but it will protect the radio from being burned up by stray currents if the
chassis ground comes loose. 73.
Ken Fowler, KO6NO
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