The units does what it says it does. Chances are if you are running, say, 50 watts , you might not need it. If you are trying to run 150 watts you are pushing the heating on the wires, and spiking the fuse. So is 75 watts for a second or so on CW, with ignition noise filtering, helpful? That's your decision.
just tap into the overahead lamp socket the photons make the RF go farther, especially at night !! it's traue i heard it from Tesla myself
from crutchfield dot com subwoofer amp capacitor info page Q: How do I hook up a capacitor? A: If you don't have the instructions that came with your capacitor, you should know first off that a cap can be dangerous; it can charge and discharge so much power so very quickly that it can weld metal objects, like tools and jewelry, and melt its own insides out. A new cap comes completely discharged, so it's safe. A resistor or wired light bulb usually is included in the package. Wiring the bulb or resister across the cap's terminals allows the capacitor to discharge slowly and safely. The same bulb or resistor, wired differently, also gets used to charge up the cap safely. As in all car electronic installations, start by disconnecting the ground cable from the car battery. In this installation, also take out the in-line fuse on the amp's power wire next to the battery. A capacitor should be mounted as close to the sub amp as possible using the shortest wires possible. This is so the extra charge doesn't have far to go to get to the amp quickly. Make sure the cap gets mounted securely and won't become a dangerous flying object in the event of an accident. A capacitor has two poles: a positive and a negative. They should be clearly marked on the capacitor. The positive connects to the same positive power lead that goes to your sub amp's positive, 12 volt, connection. Use the same gauge wire as the amp uses for its power.
I worked as a mechanic at Toyota/Lexus. Every other day a car came in/Towed in with burned up wiring from, stereos, car alarms and other crap hooked and spliced to the power ports. I don't even want to get into other stereo shop butchery, I had a car come in with the aftermarket alarm spliced to the passenger side airbag system! Burn out one of the half dozen smart boxes in a new car and your wallet will be a lot lighter. Drilling a small hole and grommet sure is cheaper than a voltage conditioner and could keep you from being stranded by the side of the road because of an electrical failure. Its your car so it your choice. So maybe you can run 100 watts HF from your cigarette lighter, you can also do extended burnouts with your donut spare tire, but why?
Today's cars are all about saving weight. From getting rid of the spare tire to thinning/doing away with wiring...every ounce asssumes to count. Surely you've seen cars on fire from electrical wire overheating...That didn't happen 60 years ago or was very rare...
You are correct Sir! I grew up as a kid working on cars from the 60's and early 70's would love to go find a 1960s car and look at what gauge wiring was used for the cigarette lighter just to see it with my own eyes again! A lot of new cars you are not supposed to splice the wiring even if you could because it is so thin, you just order that new section of harness!
60 years ago, the only electronic item that could be found in an auto was an AM radio that sounded like crap with a 5 watt PA. Lot like ham radio today, stuck in 60 year old tech.
The point is that cars have become so constrained for non-manufacturer add-ons (including ham radio) that its almost dangerous to add anything on electronically"-) I wanted to add a CD player to my ATS...Cad dealer made we wait until a 'specially trained technician' was in the New England area . They had a weird headed screw driver to discombobulate the glove compartment....and didn't want a third party messing with it.
I agree, but cars today are greatly improved in all areas, and much of it has everything to do with electronic controls. I am 62 and as a teen and into my 20's liked the muscle cars from late 60's and 70's and put monster size stereos. That GTO and Mustang I had always had problems and got terrible gas mileage. Today my Lexus will run circles around the vintage muscle cars, gets 30 MPG, 400 watt stereo, ventilated seats, and luxury ride wrapped in leather. Like the last few cars I have owned never went into the garage for repairs. Just routine maintenance. Still like the old muscle cars, how they look, but require a lot of work. The muscle cars of today are just awesome in performance and luxury. The irony is today is some the fastest production vehicles are EV's.
Agreed. There is so much one needs to do to run mobile HF in a vehicle especially modern vehicles. I run my rig from two golf cart batteries in the back along with a transfer controller for them. Yes its not easy to route 2 ought wire in most vehicles but it can be done. Add in all the grounding like exhaust and specific engine components. I upgrade my alternator also. Current one is 310a. That usually gets forgotten but apply a big load on a stock one and you will soon hear some noise and soon have to replace it. I get great signal reports running a screwdriver and can even hear the same stations. Without grounding I could not. I know people who have tried the simple route and none were successful. Promoting such shortcuts is a disservice.
There is a reason that the original fuse is rated at 10 amps.. I'd be concerned with the awg of the wire behind your cig lighter getting fairly hot (depending on the current draw of your ic-706).. Flame On...Safety First.. 73 n6spp
The Schematic shows 6 25F caps in "Series" to increase their voltage capacity for a total of 25 / 6 = ~4.16F as the manual points out. 2.7v 25F caps are easy to find. 2.7V x 6 = 16.2 rating, wonder what the V rating of the caps are inside the MJF, any look inside?
In the old days there was a cigar lighter outlet made of metal and it could withstand a lot of heat. The newer Power Points are made of plastic and can melt if there is a loose connection, That happens from vibration while driving. Tapping into a wire that has a properly rated fuse would be best, Then deal with alternator whine as needed. Most operators just live with the wine and eat crackers, But a cap and coil can normally get rid of the whine.
Yes, I corrected myself in post #21 - as you repeat, it's 6x 25F caps in series for a bank 4 farads plus change. I don't have a MFJ-4403 but based on pics and other reports I would say they are 2.7vdc caps too. Also realized this MFJ product is not new at all. A more in depth test report on the MFJ-4403 was published in Dec 2014 QST by @AD5X using a IC-706 as a test load. That article goes further into its application as an improvement on the compromise of using automotive accessory jacks for temporarily powering rigs up to 100w on SSB or nominal Morse code CW with appropriate derating. His measurements substantiate the claims and underline the limitations. Some good tips to beware of on UL2089 Vehicle Battery Adapters (automotive accessory plugs) too.
