Ground your radio. And by "ground" I mean an RF ground which you get
by mounting the bracket directly to the metal and/or using a -=SHORT=-
ground wire. You can't fudge on this ground.

I'm using an L bracket screwed straight into my fender, it sticks out
from under the hood. Pretty sure it's grounded. I've tried a grounding
strap anyways on the antenna, and no difference, unless I ground the
whip of the antenna, then my antenna doesn't work

Dude, that's some terrible gas mileage. Maybe your car just needs a
tuneup..... hey, I thought you said it was a truck?

Yeah, well, I live on a VERY steep hill, my house in on stilts, our
driveway is fill dirt and flat enough to park a car on, but anywhere
beyond the fill dirt is so steep my truck will roll over. Unfortunately
my 'flat spot of parking goodness' isn't bigger than 50'x30 with the
powerline for the house going lengwith along it.

I guess I might want to look into a combo base/mobile rig, so I can run
some coax down the hill to an antenna and get away from the powerlines
or park in front of my neighbors house to talk. (People give you
strange looks if you park in their neighborhood with your dashboard
tore out, frantically trying to get a QSO).. One word.. TERRORISM.

On 26 Jul 2006 07:21:32 -0700, "SparkySKO" wrote
in .com:

Ground your radio. And by "ground" I mean an RF ground which you get
by mounting the bracket directly to the metal and/or using a -=SHORT=-
ground wire. You can't fudge on this ground.

I'm using an L bracket screwed straight into my fender, it sticks out
from under the hood. Pretty sure it's grounded. I've tried a grounding
strap anyways on the antenna, and no difference, unless I ground the
whip of the antenna, then my antenna doesn't work


No, I said ground the RADIO; i.e, the Midland.


Dude, that's some terrible gas mileage. Maybe your car just needs a
tuneup..... hey, I thought you said it was a truck?

Yeah, well, I live on a VERY steep hill, my house in on stilts, our
driveway is fill dirt and flat enough to park a car on, but anywhere
beyond the fill dirt is so steep my truck will roll over. Unfortunately
my 'flat spot of parking goodness' isn't bigger than 50'x30 with the
powerline for the house going lengwith along it.


I was just joking. But the power line is just the line going to the
house? I was under the impression that you were sitting under a major
distribution line or something. If the noise is coming from your house
power line you should be able to find out the source of the noise by
shutting off things in the house. A computer UPS or security backup
supply can cause gobs of noise, as can light dimmers and other small
appliances.


I guess I might want to look into a combo base/mobile rig, so I can run
some coax down the hill to an antenna and get away from the powerlines
or park in front of my neighbors house to talk. (People give you
strange looks if you park in their neighborhood with your dashboard
tore out, frantically trying to get a QSO).. One word.. TERRORISM.


It would be better if you could run the coax -up- the hill and mount
the antenna as high as possible.

No, I said ground the RADIO; i.e, the Midland.

Oh. yeah. Funny thing about that. I can remove the groundwire from my
radio and it'll get it's ground from the antenna cable. 1 wire power
. But yeah, Tried touching a groundwire to everything on the radio,
the coax connector, the back of the radio, the mounting screws. twisted
the negative battery wire, the negative radio wire and the ground wire
together, no change.

I was just joking. But the power line is just the line going to the
house? I was under the impression that you were sitting under a major
distribution line or something. If the noise is coming from your house
power line you should be able to find out the source of the noise by
shutting off things in the house. A computer UPS or security backup
supply can cause gobs of noise, as can light dimmers and other small
appliances.

That's a good idea, I didn't think about the noise coming from devices
IN my house. I have quiet a few noisy flourescent lights that interfere
with my shortwave radio. Cursed cheap ballasts.

It would be better if you could run the coax -up- the hill and mount
the antenna as high as possible.

I wish I could. Uphill is the road and my neighbors. Luckily, in
Oregon, we have huge trees. I'll say it's a christmas ornament.

On 26 Jul 2006 14:45:25 -0700, "SparkySKO" wrote
in .com:


No, I said ground the RADIO; i.e, the Midland.

Oh. yeah. Funny thing about that. I can remove the groundwire from my
radio and it'll get it's ground from the antenna cable. 1 wire power
. But yeah, Tried touching a groundwire to everything on the radio,
the coax connector, the back of the radio, the mounting screws. twisted
the negative battery wire, the negative radio wire and the ground wire
together, no change.


It won't make any difference unless that ground (from the car chassis
to the radio) is very short.... just a few inches. Bolt the radio's
mounting bracket directly to metal (or as close to it as possible),
then run a SHORT ground wire to the metal.


I was just joking. But the power line is just the line going to the
house? I was under the impression that you were sitting under a major
distribution line or something. If the noise is coming from your house
power line you should be able to find out the source of the noise by
shutting off things in the house. A computer UPS or security backup
supply can cause gobs of noise, as can light dimmers and other small
appliances.

That's a good idea, I didn't think about the noise coming from devices
IN my house. I have quiet a few noisy flourescent lights that interfere
with my shortwave radio. Cursed cheap ballasts.

It would be better if you could run the coax -up- the hill and mount
the antenna as high as possible.

I wish I could. Uphill is the road and my neighbors. Luckily, in
Oregon, we have huge trees. I'll say it's a christmas ornament.


You're in beaverland? I'm just over here in Spokane. Are you on the
wet or dry side of the state?

Frank Gilliland wrote:
On 24 Jul 2006 22:32:03 -0700, "SparkySKO" wrote
in . com:

People are reporting that I am transmitting alot
louder, without a 'whining noise', however, I now have a 'popping'
noise, lol! This is without the vehicle on, so go figure, probably
static or something.


Check your mic. You might have a loose wire or dirty switch in there,
or maybe just a bad mic element.
in the same sprit try working your concetions sometimes a bit dirt or
rust will introduce capatance into your circuts where the circut is not
expecting twist you you coax conection on thetogether a bit trying to
sort of grind some rust out out concent and disconect the mike to rub
the contact (if you have knobs trun back and forth a bit) this sort of
thing sometimes helps the darnest problems

It won't make any difference unless that ground (from the car chassis
to the radio) is very short.... just a few inches. Bolt the radio's
mounting bracket directly to metal (or as close to it as possible),
then run a SHORT ground wire to the metal.

This new radio I got, the Cobre 75, had a little matchbox that the
radio plugs into (it has the power and the antenna cable coming into
it, rest of radio is in a big microphone. I tried shoving that around
on various grounded UNPAINTED parts of my vehicle, and no difference.

I'm wondering how close a capacitor has to be to the fuel pump to
actually have an effect. I'm going to try putting a noise filter inline
at the fuse block, and if that doesn't work, deeply ponder whether I
want to work under the truck on my gravel driveway .

I was just joking. But the power line is just the line going to the
house? I was under the impression that you were sitting under a major
distribution line or something. If the noise is coming from your house
power line you should be able to find out the source of the noise by
shutting off things in the house. A computer UPS or security backup
supply can cause gobs of noise, as can light dimmers and other small
appliances.

That's a good idea, I didn't think about the noise coming from devices
IN my house. I have quiet a few noisy flourescent lights that interfere
with my shortwave radio. Cursed cheap ballasts.

It would be better if you could run the coax -up- the hill and mount
the antenna as high as possible.

I wish I could. Uphill is the road and my neighbors. Luckily, in
Oregon, we have huge trees. I'll say it's a christmas ornament.


You're in beaverland? I'm just over here in Spokane. Are you on the
wet or dry side of the state?

Yeah, Actually Beaverton. Wet side. I'm on the other side of the hill,
a few miles from downtown Portland. I'm smack dab in the middle of all
of the interestates and major highways in Oregon (at least within 5
miles). The 5, 405, 26, 84/30, 217. I wish I could reliably hear
traffic on the 5!!

My little portable shortwave radio is easier to understand than my CB
radio is on the same signals

Maybe I'll just duct tape that to my dashboard . Kicks major arse
with the 100 foot longwire.

On 26 Jul 2006 15:55:07 -0700, "SparkySKO" wrote
in . com:

It won't make any difference unless that ground (from the car chassis
to the radio) is very short.... just a few inches. Bolt the radio's
mounting bracket directly to metal (or as close to it as possible),
then run a SHORT ground wire to the metal.

This new radio I got, the Cobre 75, had a little matchbox that the
radio plugs into (it has the power and the antenna cable coming into
it, rest of radio is in a big microphone. I tried shoving that around
on various grounded UNPAINTED parts of my vehicle, and no difference.


Just to clarify, you grounded the "matchbox" part? And it didn't clear
up the noise? If so then that might be the best you can do. I would
focus on noise from some appliance in your house.


I'm wondering how close a capacitor has to be to the fuel pump to
actually have an effect. I'm going to try putting a noise filter inline
at the fuse block, and if that doesn't work, deeply ponder whether I
want to work under the truck on my gravel driveway .


As close to the fuel pump as possible. Just throw down a tarp. It's
worth the effort. You could also try using coax for the power line
from your battery (and grounding the shield), but that doesn't always
work.


I was just joking. But the power line is just the line going to the
house? I was under the impression that you were sitting under a major
distribution line or something. If the noise is coming from your house
power line you should be able to find out the source of the noise by
shutting off things in the house. A computer UPS or security backup
supply can cause gobs of noise, as can light dimmers and other small
appliances.

That's a good idea, I didn't think about the noise coming from devices
IN my house. I have quiet a few noisy flourescent lights that interfere
with my shortwave radio. Cursed cheap ballasts.

It would be better if you could run the coax -up- the hill and mount
the antenna as high as possible.

I wish I could. Uphill is the road and my neighbors. Luckily, in
Oregon, we have huge trees. I'll say it's a christmas ornament.


You're in beaverland? I'm just over here in Spokane. Are you on the
wet or dry side of the state?

Yeah, Actually Beaverton. Wet side. I'm on the other side of the hill,
a few miles from downtown Portland. I'm smack dab in the middle of all
of the interestates and major highways in Oregon (at least within 5
miles). The 5, 405, 26, 84/30, 217. I wish I could reliably hear
traffic on the 5!!


I worked at a radio shop in Albany in the late '80's and drove through
Portland on occasion when they were building all those highways......
gawd what a mess!!! One time it took me two hours to drive just two
miles! I hope it's improved since then.....

Just to clarify, you grounded the "matchbox" part? And it didn't clear
up the noise? If so then that might be the best you can do. I would
focus on noise from some appliance in your house.

Yeah, I don't have the matchbox mounted yet, but I've grounded it to
all sorts of places, and no change.

You're a genius tho, I solved my "powerline" noise problem at home! I
isolated the problem to a compact fluorescent lamp. Turn it off, S0,
turn it on, S3. My truck is 40 feet from the light too!!!! Have to
chuck this thing in the garbage.

As close to the fuel pump as possible. Just throw down a tarp. It's
worth the effort. You could also try using coax for the power line
from your battery (and grounding the shield), but that doesn't always
work.

Powerline for the fuel pump or the radio? That's a good idea for the
fuel pump, never thought about it. Radio... I question whether or not
the noise is coming from the radios power source.

I worked at a radio shop in Albany in the late '80's and drove through
Portland on occasion when they were building all those highways......
gawd what a mess!!! One time it took me two hours to drive just two
miles! I hope it's improved since then.....

Doesn't take 2 hours to drive 2 miles, but it can. Usually an hour for
20 minutes... They designed the interchanges stupider than crap, and so
those eat up 50%+ of your time at near idle speeds.

On 26 Jul 2006 18:01:33 -0700, "SparkySKO" wrote
in .com:

Just to clarify, you grounded the "matchbox" part? And it didn't clear
up the noise? If so then that might be the best you can do. I would
focus on noise from some appliance in your house.

Yeah, I don't have the matchbox mounted yet, but I've grounded it to
all sorts of places, and no change.


It's still best to ground the "matchbox". It may not help much in
receive, but may make a difference getting your signal out during
transmit. And it -will- stabilize your SWR.


You're a genius tho,


Many here will disagree.


I solved my "powerline" noise problem at home! I
isolated the problem to a compact fluorescent lamp. Turn it off, S0,
turn it on, S3. My truck is 40 feet from the light too!!!! Have to
chuck this thing in the garbage.

As close to the fuel pump as possible. Just throw down a tarp. It's
worth the effort. You could also try using coax for the power line
from your battery (and grounding the shield), but that doesn't always
work.

Powerline for the fuel pump or the radio? That's a good idea for the
fuel pump, never thought about it. Radio... I question whether or not
the noise is coming from the radios power source.


If the noise is coming through the radio's power line then a cap from
positive to ground, as close to the radio (or 'matchbox') as possible,
should reduce the noise. Otherwise, the fuel pump is creating RFI and
transmitting it on -its- power line, and is being picked up by your
radio. In that case you need to cap the fuel pump -at- the fuel pump.
I would do both..... but that's me.

I never thought about running coax for the fuel line -- sounds like a
good idea. I'll have to try that sometime.


I worked at a radio shop in Albany in the late '80's and drove through
Portland on occasion when they were building all those highways......
gawd what a mess!!! One time it took me two hours to drive just two
miles! I hope it's improved since then.....

Doesn't take 2 hours to drive 2 miles, but it can. Usually an hour for
20 minutes... They designed the interchanges stupider than crap,


.....no kidding....


and so
those eat up 50%+ of your time at near idle speeds.


Yeah, I never could figure out if they were designing that freeway
system from plans or if they were just using 'the force'. Eventually I
learned how to sneak around the quagmire via Sandy. I remember
Portland used to have a Heathkit store..... what ever happened to
that?