Ham radio people... power from chassis or house batteries?

[Detroit80]

While I've got the van gutted, I figure this is the perfect time to plan for the antenna farm as well. I'm planning on putting in one of my spare Kenwood D710s for mobile use, and probably a Yaesu FT-100D for fixed HF use.

Thinking about powering these though.. Wondering if it might be better to power both off the house batteries, as I don't think I'll draw enough with the Kenwood that the alternator won't be able to keep up with it though the isolator, but not sure if that isolator might also cause any kind of odd interference or power issues?

I'm thinking it won't really matter either way, but not having any experience with RV setups, figured it doesn't hurt to ask either.

[@Michael]

Originally Posted by Detroit80

Thinking about powering these though.. Wondering if it might be better to power both off the house batteries

Or both?

My Coachmen-installed in-dash radio is powered from both chassis and house batteries via inline diodes.

[Detroit80]

Never heard of RVs coming with comm radios factory...what did they put in?

[@Michael]

Originally Posted by Detroit80

Never heard of RVs coming with comm radios factory...what did they put in?

This is how they wired the aftermarket AM/FM/Sirus in-dash receiver/infotainment screen.

I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work for a Ham radio.

[phantomjock]

Originally Posted by Detroit80

While I've got the van gutted, I figure this is the perfect time to plan for the antenna farm as well. I'm planning on putting in one of my spare Kenwood D710s for mobile use, and probably a Yaesu FT-100D for fixed HF use.

I'm all "ears!" I'm looking at what to include on my "farm." So far I have a marine VHF I'm hoping to drag along and tune to Ham VHF, an HF Outbacker (maybe build a tripod mount0, and a NOAA APT Dipole (V) for weather sat and an ADS-B for air traffic. The latter 2 will be on an RTL.SDR to laptop.

Originally Posted by Detroit80

Thinking about powering these though.. Wondering if it might be better to power both off the house batteries, as I don't think I'll draw enough with the Kenwood that the alternator won't be able to keep up with it though the isolator, but not sure if that isolator might also cause any kind of odd interference or power issues?

I'm thinking it won't really matter either way, but not having any experience with RV setups, figured it doesn't hurt to ask either.

I'm building a GoBox and am including a a Step Up Converter. It runs from 10v to 14+V, and outputs a constant 13.8v. That will be my interface to the ham rig. I plan to just pull off the house bank, wiring in a couple of Anderson Pole Plugs. If using the isolator - wouldn't a step up converter keep your power consistent enough? I eliminated my isolator and now run a B2B. And my GoBox is not finished yet. (So many projects, so few hours in the day...)
73s de KF4JQB
Cheers - Jim

[Hatteras Jim]

I think you'll get more answers on the Facebook group HAM RADIO. I run VHF/UHF mobile from the vehicle battery, since most of the time I am on the radio, while the wife is driving. I don't generally use it while parked. No noise from the MB alternator. I also have a FT-100D and I only use that when parked, and I run that off shore power through a small switching power supply (powerwerx). I never tried it on the house batteries with the cheapo RV charger/power supply. aa3id

[bobcat66]

I operate off the coach battery since I have solar on the roof of the Travato. I only operate fixed, not mobile, so I simply plug the IC-7000 into one of three cigarette lighter sockets. One is located near the front of the interior, another inside the rear door, and another on the passenger side exterior. This allows me to operate from any of these locations quite easily.

I use portable antennas...either end-fed or vertical.
Jack W9JH