[aprssig] Mounting 2M Xcvr in '05 Toyota Camry

[Joel Maslak]

On Jul 25, 2006, at 3:48 PM, Steve Noskowicz wrote:

> Yes there is an issue as to what the feed line was doing with the  
> mag mount.  Oh yes, this was 2 meters.


Good grounding of the antenna is a major factor in reducing in-car  
noise.  Magmounts are horrid for this.

I noticed a huge change in the amount of interference to my car's  
subwoofer when I transmit just by properly installing an antenna.   
Going from an on-glass antenna to a drilled mount on the trunk deck  
eliminated a whole lot of interference - I can transmit 50 watts  
without problems, whereas before with the on-glass antenna I could  
use only 10 watts.  The ironic thing - the trunk-mount antenna is  
several feet closer to the subwoofer!  (and the RFI was coming in  
directly from RF - I eliminated the subwoofer's power and signal  
wires as ways of carrying in the RFI during testing).

Personally I'd take the risk, be a ham operator, and use good  
practice - have a good quality antenna mount (with a hole!), good  
quality feed line, and a properly matched antenna and 50 watts  
probably won't be a problem.  Heck, the state trooper driving past  
you may be transmitting in the 150 mhz band with 100 watts, and may  
be a lot closer physically to your car's computer than your own radio  
equipment is.

You'll also be surprised at how much better your radio works when  
it's done the way professionals do it (look at how 2 way shops do  
installations - why don't you see marked police cars with magmounts?)