Electrical problem

woody · Post by **woody** » Sun Oct 13, 2002 9:27 am

I have installed a dual band spectra in a Dodge Durango. when the PTT is pushed to talk it causes eletrical items to come on such as the windshield wiper and sometime blows fuses. Could this be a grounding problem.

Jay G. · Post by **Jay G.** » Sun Oct 13, 2002 9:44 am

It could be a few things:

Where did you take power from? Direct from battery?
Where is antenna? How much Tx power? Is antenna properly tuned?
It may be interfering with the trucks computer.

ExKa|iBuR · Post by **ExKa|iBuR** » Sun Oct 13, 2002 10:27 am

Probably RF into the computer as the above post stated.

I had a 1990 Olds Ciera that, whenever I keyed up on my VHF radio, the radio (AM/FM) would go weird, the car would accelerate suddenly, only when I'm in cruise control (!!), and the Service Engine Soon light would come on. (acted as a nice "ON-AIR" thing)

Funny though..ONLY my Radius Mobile, and ONLY into a 3db gain antenna, and ONLY in the center of the trunk. Any other combination of radio, antenna or location (and frequency), it wouldn't do it.

Mike

KitN1MCC · Post by **KitN1MCC** » Sun Oct 13, 2002 3:44 pm

It is due to that fact it is a Dodge.

I put a 100 Maratrac in a Dodge Stratus 2000 I am surprsed the radio did not make the car go Boom

KG6EAQ · Post by **KG6EAQ** » Sun Oct 13, 2002 4:43 pm

I'm not sure where the computer is in your car, but the transmitter may be too close to it. Either that or there may be a problem in the antenna installation that is causing a lot of RF to leak into either wires going to the computer or the computer itself. I had a like problem in a Jeep Cherokee but when I moved the radio to the other side of the back all the problems stopped. BTW, is this a dash mount or a remote mount spectra? You said radio and not radios so I am assuming that you are only talking about a remote mount.

woody · Post by **woody** » Sun Oct 13, 2002 6:52 pm

Thanks for the info. I will start tracking the problem down.

Will · Post by **Will** » Sun Oct 13, 2002 10:16 pm

Some causes;
Antenna mounting and lack of a proper ground at the antenna mount and lack of proper and enough ground plane. Also poorly shielded coax cable (ie; Radio Shack).

High reflected power due to an incorrect antenna or mounting.

Poor or too long of a ground lead on the radio. Radio main power NOT connected DIRECT to the battery.

izzifureal · Post by **izzifureal** » Fri Oct 18, 2002 10:18 pm

what i always did with regards to grounding and antennas, was to ground everything to 1 point so there was no chance of difference in grounding, and i always put the antenna in last. i did this because i would use a mag mount to determine where it should go with the least chance of rf interference. with me, it was fords that presented a great problem, especially the higher frequencies and higher outputs. i never told the customer where the antenna would be. looks in an install are one thing, but saftey and function are more important. keep your antenna cables as far from data paths and comp modules as possible to begin with. rf bleed can be a :o

elkbow · Post by **elkbow** » Sat Oct 19, 2002 6:41 am

I would go with some of the guys above, poor grounding of the antenna. You have to watch this, because if you are not getting a ground, a transmitter failure could occur in your radio when using a ground plane antenna that is not properly grounded.

Will is an expert and I think he hit most of the places to look. Let us know what you find.