IC-7100 Ham Radio Install

[Austindude]

Holy crap, I thought we couldn't run an HF rig in the car because of all the interference. Now I'm getting excited at the thought of doing this with my Alinco radio. I haven't been HF mobile since I owned my Mazda GLC back in the late 80's. Of course the HF bands were great back then and at lunch time I'd just go sit in my car and work the world. Doing that today would be much more comfortable in my 3. The antenna will still be the issue. Nice work. N5KNV

 

[JJOhio]

I installed a 10M antenna and found no detectable noise,from the motors.
I even tuned down to AM broadcast (with the 10M antenna) and heard no noise from the motors and listened to a station 50 miles away..
Those folks that said an AM radio would not work because of the motor noise are wrong.

 

[rich0]

I installed a 10M antenna and found no detectable noise,from the motors.
I even tuned down to AM broadcast (with the 10M antenna) and heard no noise from the motors and listened to a station 50 miles away..
Those folks that said an AM radio would not work because of the motor noise are wrong.

I'm still pretty new to Ham, but I would wonder if you'd get the same result if you used the sort of antenna that most car manufacturers are more likely to use, like something built-into the window or whatever they're using for FM. Most Ham antennas are substantially larger than anything car manufacturers are likely to mount, even if you aren't tuned for AM broadcast specifically.

 

[Doutt]

This is going to cost me money....
Nice job. Very clean.

N6SQP

 

[Hammerli22]

Nice setup, if you hooked it up to 12v battery can you use more power ? Will that drain the 12v battery, it does the USB power come from the Tesla battery ???

 

[JJOhio]

There were too many reports of hooking directly to the battery causing problems, so I just used the outlet. If I wanted to be safe and go to full power, I think I would put a small secondary battery in the trunk well and charge it from the outlet with a 12V to 12V charge controller. You only need high power when you transmit and that is only a few percent of the time. (for me anyway) I don't think I will need it though.

 

[ckoval7]

You've got me tempted to move my FT-857 or my FT-1900 from my Mazda to my MS.

de K3CPK

 

[billmccl]

I went directly into the 12v battery and have experienced no problems. I nave never tried to limit my output power, except when using DStar via a ZumMobil and my hot spot when I use as little power as possible. Like most hams, I do more listening than talking. I remember that in the days of repeaters consuming most of our hamming, that the through-the-glass antennas were pretty standard. Mine is a two bander that works just fine. Didn't want to drill into the hood or the trunk lid.

KK4C

 

[Wennfred]

The question is, at 2 to 100 watts out on HF will the 12volt Battery be enough for this rig?

Fred (N6QJJ)

 

[Webeevdrivers]

Kinda cool.

VE6ROK and VE6ANG

 

[TomT]

Nice job! It gives me some ideas....
K6TGT

 

[ThisIsTrue]

Wait... a mag mount antenna? I thought all the body panels were aluminum? Don't tell me you found an aluminum magnet!

I was planning to use a Larsen glass mount, but haven't done it yet....

73 de K0RCC

 

[JJOhio]

The Frunk is aluminum. The trunk is steel. (at least on mine)

 

[DrGene]

I would like to know the Tesla mobile HF noise situation using the IC7100. Also, will the 12 volt outlet handle the current of the IC7100 at 100 watts? Finally how do you route the coax from the antenna so rain does not leak into the trunk? The Austin Amateur Radio Club is anxiously waiting to hear good news. I am intensely grateful for this post about the IC7100 in the Tesla. If HF works well you can expect to see sales of new Teslas take off like crazy here in Austin and around the world when the news gets out. All the other EVs and PHEVs are very noisy electrically on HF.... 73 de k5gp gene www.egpreston.com

 

[DrGene]

Wait... a mag mount antenna? I thought all the body panels were aluminum? Don't tell me you found an aluminum magnet!

I was planning to use a Larsen glass mount, but haven't done it yet....

73 de K0RCC

The front trunk and doors are AL. The rest is magnetic such as the fenders and rear trunk....de k5gp gene

 

[JJOhio]

I would like to know the Tesla mobile HF noise situation using the IC7100. Also, will the 12 volt outlet handle the current of the IC7100 at 100 watts? Finally how do you route the coax from the antenna so rain does not leak into the trunk? The Austin Amateur Radio Club is anxiously waiting to hear good news. I am intensely grateful for this post about the IC7100 in the Tesla. If HF works well you can expect to see sales of new Teslas take off like crazy here in Austin and around the world when the news gets out. All the other EVs and PHEVs are very noisy electrically on HF.... 73 de k5gp gene www.egpreston.com

I have not heard any HF noise to speak of. I need to go get a 40M antenna and try it there. The outlet is rated at 12 Amps continuous and 15 Amps peak and the IC-7100 draws a few amps on receive and 22 Amps max on transmit. So I just limited the transmit power to 10-20% for the time being. I need to get an ammeter on the 12V to see how high I can turn it up.
As for leaks, the VHF mag mount uses the real thin coax that I think will be OK but I haven't tested it yet. For that reason, I haven't firmly routed the coax yet. When I tried an RG58 size coax, I routed it around the taillight area which should be less susceptible.

I also did not notice any adverse reaction from the car's electronic systems.

 

[iMoe]

Looks great. I'll only rate 5 stars if you have the licence plate to match.

 

[Watts_Up]

Did you really drill a hole in your car? I would have use roof rack or a gunter mount instead. Thus making it more omnidirectional.

 

[JJOhio]

Did you really drill a hole in your car? I would have use roof rack or a gunter mount instead. Thus making it more omnidirectional.

No that's a mag mount

 

[Austindude]

I would like to know the Tesla mobile HF noise situation using the IC7100. Also, will the 12 volt outlet handle the current of the IC7100 at 100 watts? Finally how do you route the coax from the antenna so rain does not leak into the trunk? The Austin Amateur Radio Club is anxiously waiting to hear good news. I am intensely grateful for this post about the IC7100 in the Tesla. If HF works well you can expect to see sales of new Teslas take off like crazy here in Austin and around the world when the news gets out. All the other EVs and PHEVs are very noisy electrically on HF.... 73 de k5gp gene www.egpreston.com

More Tesla's in Austin? Well hell have you been driving around town lately? The damn cars (mine included) are everywhere! But yeah I agree, as a ham here in Austin I am very interested in going HF mobile once again.