Car Installation

[VK2PR]

Hi,

I'm installing a 2m/70cm radio in the car. Power wires are going through the firewall to the battery, and the antenna will be mounted on a Z-bracket at the front of the car, so the antenna coax will also need to go through the firewall.

My question is... Is there any reason why I shouldn't run the power wires and coax through the same bung in the firewall, and have them running side by side from the radio to the battery and antenna? The antenna is going to be mounted on the same side as the battery, only about 1 foot away, so ideally I would want to run them together the whole way, but I'm just wondering if I would get any noise/interference doing this, as opposed to running them separately?

Cheers,


Peter VK2FWRX

[VK2VHF]

It will be fine for mobile installation.

Just be sure to protect the wires from sharp metal edges taht might cut them.

Cheers

[VK2TJF]

G'day Peter,

For UHF at least I've had no trouble routing coax and power cables together. I've only recently (in the past 6 months) fitted a dual band radio and have experienced no problems. For HF though, I always separate the power and RF cables. Having said that, I drive an old diesel so I don't think I'll run into the same problems as you might in a petrol car.

Short answer? Yup, run them together.

Shane
VK2TJF

[VK2PR]

Thanks for the replies, I appreciate it. That will make my job a lot easier. Now to go and make a start.

Cheers!