ham radios and old cars

[KB9ZGB]

question? will new radios play nice in old cars???? will old generator type charging systems wreck havoc on modern radios. voltage swings ect. the car is a 63 ford galaxy 500 it is 12 volt. i think going direct to the battery is the way to go. fused both leads to the radio. any ideas??????

[ad4mg]

question? will new radios play nice in old cars???? will old generator type charging systems wreck havoc on modern radios. voltage swings ect. the car is a 63 ford galaxy 500 it is 12 volt. i think going direct to the battery is the way to go. fused both leads to the radio. any ideas??????

The old style generator will actually provide purer DC current without the AC ripple. An alternator generates AC current that must be filtered to DC.

The problem you might run in to is lack of current. While modern alternators routinely provide 120+ amps, generators were usually rated much lower ... 35-40 amps is what memory tells me. A 100 watt HF rig can use almost 20 amps when running some modes (RTTY, FM), but that current draw will be half that, and intermittent, using SSB or CW. And remember, if the voltage drops, the current rises! The rig will draw more current at 12v than at 13.5v.

Direct to the battery with both leads fused is the right way to go. Just watch that voltage!

[N9FE]

I would install another batt in the trunk.

[kd6nig]

Its either that or replace the generator with a modern one. I'm sure they probably have a drop in replacement for it that has a higher amp rating. I would wire direct though unless the wiring in the car has been replaced recently. Especially for the HF rig. You may want to do some rewiring anyway even if you want to run a GPS off the plug.

Heck I upgraded an altenator in a Geo Metro once for a guy who ran...ahem...wattage before. I think it came with a 65A stock one, we changed it out to a 120A one. Got more amps out of the little hamster motor that way :)