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Alpha007

Alpha007

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Hey all.
Since I recently passed my Technicians exam in Ham and am studying for the General, I am considering putting a mobile in my truck.
The radios I am looking at are 50watts.
I think that is probably too much to expect a cigarette lighter to handle for power.
The kicker is my truck is a lease. I will probably buy it in a few years when the lease is up, but just in case, it sounds like I have to be careful what I do to the truck that could not be reversed, replaced, or repaired if I decide to turn it in at the end of the lease.

Any suggestions on an adequate power setup for the mobile radio.
Thanks in advance for any and all info.
 
Buy the fused power wire that plugs into a spare spot in the fuse box. Or there should a rubber grommet on the firewall that you can feed a wire through with a fuse inline to the battery.
 
If you have power seats you should be able to tap into the hot lead under the seat,
my seat is is fed with a 30A fused line.
Follow the hood release cable, most of the time it runs past the battery before it get to the latch.

Lot of good info here http://www.k0bg.com/install.html
 
Generally speaking, your best option is to connect the radio directly to the battery at the terminals. Other setups, especially the 12v adapter port or cigarette lighter are NOT designed to handle the current. Some people can get away with it with 25watt or less radios, but it’s still not advisable. In addition to overload it or other random fused circuits will introduce noise into your signal.

Best option is to find a grommet. Typically you can put a long screwdriver in the opening to the side of the grommet can work without permanent damage, it that it’s likely that anyone will look closely if you were to turn a car in.

Antenna mounting may be more of an issue. NMO mounts are obviously out. Magnetic antennas be hard on the paint. Look for a lip bracket or if it’s a truck, get a stake pocket mount.
 
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I spoke with the service department at the dealership where I got my truck, this afternoon.
They said the 12 outlet on the dash is not for a cigarette lighter. And also I would be fine plugging in a radio requiring 50 watts.
I guess coming from the horses mouth is the best I can do.
 
Alpha007 said:
I spoke with the service department at the dealership where I got my truck, this afternoon.
They said the 12 outlet on the dash is not for a cigarette lighter. And also I would be fine plugging in a radio requiring 50 watts.
I guess coming from the horses mouth is the best I can do.
Click to expand...
Any idea of what the wattage rating of the socket and plug are?

My two radios, an Icom at 50 watts pulls about 12 amps at 13.8 volts and my Kenwood at 65 watts pulls 14 amps at 13.8 volts. That's about 165 and almost 200 watts respectively.

You also need to consider the wire size. If it's too small, you will also get more voltage drop.
 
NMO mounts are just fine, just put cell antenna on it when you turn it back in.
 
Ok, I did find this out. The outlet is rated for 20 amps and a total of 240 watts.
I got this from the manual.

So I figure with a 50watt rated mobile, the rating of the outlet should be more than enough to handle the radio.

Please correct me if I am wrong.
 
Alpha007 said:
Ok, I did find this out. The outlet is rated for 20 amps and a total of 240 watts.
I got this from the manual.

So I figure with a 50watt rated mobile, the rating of the outlet should be more than enough to handle the radio.

Please correct me if I am wrong.
Click to expand...



Thats 50 watts radio output. I think the wattage draw will be different
 
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I used to run an amplifier straight off my battery. I ran 2 AWG, what with my amp capable of putting out several hundred Watts. The radio was fused through a seperate circuit in my fuse box in the glove compartment.

This gave me the capability to change radios without worrying about the power of the radio itself in my shopping around.

Still have the radio and amplifyer somewhere in storage.
 
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As everyone says: direct to battery, through firewall, fuse both leads.

NMO mounts are great. My last truck, I screwed a cap on there and sold the truck :) I keep a cap in the truck cab in case I need to unscrew the antenna (I don't have a fold-over mount) for a parking garage, car wash, whatever. They are a couple bucks.
 
As a side note, I took my General Exam tonight and passed it.
Gonna stay here at this level for a while.
I have got a lot to learn and do.
Maybe next year I will think about the next level, but for now I have reached my original goal.
Now to save up some money to invest in some very nice equipment.
 
Yup. Thru a grommet to the battery. There's a lot of rubber plugs in firewall that you can poke a a tool thru to make a hole for the power lead. Nobody will ever notice.
 
Alpha007 said:
As a side note, I took my General Exam tonight and passed it.
Gonna stay here at this level for a while.
I have got a lot to learn and do.
Maybe next year I will think about the next level, but for now I have reached my original goal.
Now to save up some money to invest in some very nice equipment.
Click to expand...

Congrats on the general!
 
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