A new BIG Radio on the way !!!

Cool! Now, for the best entertainment value, figure out where GF is, park a block away, close your eyes, and start randomly fiddling with the controls, and call CQ DX.

Sorry, couldn't resist. Enjoy, sounds like it'll be fun; just watch your antenna match if you stray too far; most shortened antennas aren't as broadbanded as many of those BIG RADIOS, and the PA stages aren't cheap to fix.

Have fun, & 73.
Handlebar

 

any body ever run a 10 pill amp in a volvo? should do 1500/2000 or so watts( 2 2879 DRIVING 8 2879 XCFORCE )?..some say it will hurt ecm and others say if grounded good will be no troubles..

thanks in advance...

 

I don't know if it will hurt the ECM, but any stray RF from a dirty amp might reek havoc on the ECM, and if you have electronic fuel injection, may cause engine stumbling.

Too much RF is not good to be around either. Just sayin...

 

The only way I'd consider running a kilowatt mobile is if the antenna is mounted on the back end of the trailer...

 

Do you know which XForce you have, class B or C (they make or made both)? I've had weird things happen running wattage that high like buzzing coming from the dash. Had a Davemade years ago (sold it) that started my windshield wipers. Never used an XForce but heard arguments from both sides regarding whether these type competition amps are clean or dirty. Stray RF will most certainly cause undesirable effects. The best ground in the world won't stop stray RF from a dirty amp.

 

Be aware that the vehicle manufacturers only design in RF protection for 100W or so. This is because there are still quite a few ~100W commercial/public service radios still in use, and it's quite possible your engine may one day be only a few feet from one of their antennas.

There's a very good chance that running a 2KW station in your truck could end up killing some of your electronics... like your engine computer. Maybe not right away, but the damage is cumulative.

 

Back in the late 70,s early 80's ( Home in KY ) when CB's were hot, had a radio nerd hook up a 1000w liner in my brother-in-laws truck.A couple weeks later he had a story that I just said -- Yea right -.. driving late one night, and trying to stay awake had the cb on and was in a net group that he wasn't talking much, but new that the net controller would be coming around to him. There was a vw bug coming by to pass but keep falling back, and when the bug did get up beside him the driver was mad as hell, found out that every time he keyed up he killed the bugs electronics .
So yrs later, while working for a R.R.'s signal dept, in Fayettiville ,N.C. there were 9 crossing's in a row that had electronics from the late 50's. and ever time someone came across one of them with a cb and keyed up, all 9 crossings would act up . ............................................

 

I love those stories. Back in the early '90s I would pull up along some bonehead who had his bass thumping, turned up to a volume that was deafening. A simple dead key (with mega wattage) was often enough to take out his FM stereo and render nothing but static noise. Was funny to see them fumbling around with the radio knob trying to figure out what was taking place.

 

When I was in college, I would leave my car's 2m/440 rig in crossband repeat mode on a couple of simplex channels that we used. I would leave my car parked in the main lot in the middle of everything, and I would have campus wide coverage from my handheld. Of course, someone would have a POS car alarm (Viper was the worst) that would sound off every time the radio keyed up.

Also would have fun whenever driving through residential areas when talking on the local repeater. About every other transmission would set off someone's alarm.

 

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That was a great approach with the handheld coverage campus-wide. It seems as if something is possible, someone always managed to do it in regard to two-way radio.

I heard stories about the alarms but never witnessed it myself.

Almost forgot and I'm sure you know it as well as I do ... can't forget to mention the drive-through at fast food restaurants back then. They had the cheapest, most horrible systems back then and it was really quite easy to interfere with it or place one's order for them. It was a ham who first showed me this trick and man, did we have some harmless fun with that technique. The stupid things that kept us entertained ...