[aprssig] APRS In A Car

[Dave Baxter]

A lot of modern cars do not have "Always on" power ports any more.  It
seems to depend on the philosophy of the individual maker.  The Honda
Accord I have now does not.  Other cars I've had in the last 5 years
have..

Many of them also will not support a continuous draw of more than say
10A for anything more than a minute or two.  They are ment for portable
beer coolers and other low current devices, not 20A HF rig's or VHF PA's
etc.  Even then, the volt drop is quite spectacular as the wire gauge is
not very big, even though it has high temp' insulation.  Also, the Neg
return can also take the scenic route, so your antenna coax or other
accesory lead to another device with a better ground can get warmed up
unexpectedly.

Take care..

Dave G0WBX.


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Andy Gonzales [mailto:KG6RWO at comcast.net] 
> Sent: Thursday, January 26, 2006 3:55 AM
> To: TAPR APRS Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [aprssig] APRS In A Car
> 
> If you are fortunate enough to have a newer vehicle, what is 
> wrong with the "always on" power ports.  (I wish they would 
> use some other form of connector than the cig lighter 
> adapter).  I connvert to Anderson PP at a distribution block. 
>  The line feeding the block has pos and neg inline fuses. The 
> block feeds the D700 and a laptop adapter.  I do not use the 
> highest power setting on the D700 with the computer on.