On Sat, 04 Dec 2010 11:34:51 -0600, randiR wrote:

i have a car charger that recently causes my scanner to display 'iilegal
voltage'. so i took out the fuse and it is a F250v 2A. Before I go out and
buy a new fuse (not knowing that is in case the issue), is this fuse in
fact strong enough for this radio? I always heard 8000mah was minimum. any
ideas/comments?

Well, a fuse regulates current, not voltage, and it does so by breaking the
circuit when too much current flows through it. The fact that you said the
charger "recently" causes the radio to display the illegal voltage notification
leads me to believe that previously, you have used this charger without any
problem, so the question becomes, what has changed since then that has in turn
changed the voltage the scanner is seeing?

So if your scanner is telling you there's something wrong with the voltage, you
should first check the voltage being supplied by the charger - which can be done
with a simple multimeter. The most common problems are a connector that's loose,
or shorted, or the safety clip that holds the connector together is broken, but
some component of the charger itself may have recently failed and now be
defective - in which case you need a new charger, not a new fuse.

You might also want to check the voltage of the vehicle's electrical system,
which can drop too low when you're running the heater/defroster on full blast,
using the windshield wipers, etc. Various problems in a vehicle's electrical
system which can cause voltage drops should be handled by your usual repair shop
unless you're handy with automotive electrical repairs. The voltage can also be
too high, as often happens when there's something wrong with the vehicle's
volrage regulator - and a defective voltage regulator can also drastically
shorten the life of your vehicle's battery so if this is the problem you'll want
to get that fixed ASAP!

Hope this helps.

John, W2PIO
Tonawanda, NY