On 5/24/2014 3:09 PM, qrv@kd4e.com wrote:
That said, what if I mount the HF antenna on a small
trailer, electrically decoupling it from the frame of
the Prius
Whatever you decide to do with any antenna, three things are VERY important.
1) SERIOUS ferrite choke on the antenna at the feedpoint, following the
guidelines in my choke cookbook.
2) Home run of TWISTED PAIR from the rig to the battery with a SERIOUS
ferrite choke on it, located near the battery.
3) SERIOUS counterpoise for the antenna. In many (most?) modern
vehicles, this can be quite difficult, because pieces of the body are
insulated from each other by paint. To solve this, one must bond those
pieces together. BIG job.
Although my XYL just bought a Prius, she doesn't even let me drive it,
let alone put a rig in it. :)
Another thing to watch out for with anything Toyota. I bought my 2006
Sequoia (big SUV) when I began my move from Chicago in the fall of 2005,
and tried HF mobile on some cross-country trips. That quickly ground to
a halt when I learned that RF was getting into the car's computer and
putting me in "limp home" mode. Since I was deep into moving, I had no
time to troubleshoot it, and once I had moved, no longer wanted to do HF
mobile. :) Items #1 and #2 are aimed both at this issue, and also at
minimizing RX noise.
73, Jim K9YC
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