Anyone running an HF rig in a Toyota Prius?

Hi,

I will be taking delivery of a Toyota Prius today and would like to continue my mobile HF ops. Has anyone attempted this successfully? Current rig is an FT-857.

I know that the hybrid environment is very noisy electrically - is there any particular rig better suited/more immune?

Thanks,
Ken
WB4EJZ

 

I heard 3rd generation Prius ( ZVW30 ) have large improvement over 2nd generation Prius ( ZVW20 ) for HF noise.
link below show some of the picture of installation. Many commented Noise is between 28 MHz to 50 MHz.

http://www6.ocn.ne.jp/~kkcy.sky/prius.html

 

I have a 3rd gen Prius but have not yet installed any radios in it.

There was an article a few years ago in QST about installing radios in Hybrid cars. I remember that warned about the high voltages. There are two separate battery systems in the Prius; the traction battery and the accessory battery. The traction battery is a nominal 201 volts and the accessory battery the typical 12 volt nominal. The article warned about staying away from the high voltage (obviously). The 12 volt accessory battery is quite small compared to those in most vehicle. It will require you to be careful about operating time with the engine off. It is also in the far rear corner of the vehicle requiring fairly long power lines.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

Danny, W0JMP

 

Several years ago there was a thread on www.priuschat.com by a VE3 ham who solved the inverter noise problem on a Gen2 Prius. As I recall, basically he bought an inverter unit from a wrecked vehicle, took it all apart, and installed bypass caps on every wire.

Just for the heck of it, I tried HF mobile in mine once, using a big honkin' AGM battery and a 20 meter Hustler on a mag mount. I was able to make a few QSO's, but the noise level was S7 or greater. For VHF, I just use an HT and a mag mount, no connection to the car's electrical system.

Best car I ever had, but not ham friendly at all.