Mobile scanning in electric/hybrid vehicles.....

[fires999]

Evening from a cloudy UK,
Just a quick question - I do most of my scanning/monitoring whilst driving to and from work with a couple of radios running through the 12v accessory socket (or cigarette plug socket) to supply power the radios.
Radios and scanners are coupled to mag-mount style antennas on the roof.
I was wondering if anyone has any experience in radios in cars that are dual fuel as in petrol/electric or 100% electric...wondered if scanners suffered with any type of interference/noise etc ?
I know radio users at home struggle with listening certainly on the HF bands with interference and noise caused by power supplies, flat screen monitors etc , so if a vehicle is part of full electric does that cause an issue ?
Reason for asking is due to car change in next few weeks and electric is the buzz (excuse the pun !!!) word.

As always, thanks in advance and for all those US readers , happy memorial weekend.
Although UK does not celebrate that , we have Queens Jubilee coming up with extra days holiday, however I WILL be celebrating Memorial weekend as I work as a Firefighter on US Airforce Base here in East of England.
Be safe, thanks for taking time to read,

Kevin (fires999)

 

[dlwtrunked]

...
I was wondering if anyone has any experience in radios in cars that are dual fuel as in petrol/electric or 100% electric...wondered if scanners suffered with any type of interference/noise etc ?
...

Simple answer, yes, interference on HF it is particularly an issue but it is highly vehicle dependent. The air conditioner on my vehicle is particularly a culprit. Also, if you use an inverter, you need to shop for one with less interference (meaning buying and trying).

I have used all sorts of filters and wired directly to the battery but always have had some amount of problem still. So I usually park when I want to seriously listen.

 

[mmckenna]

My wife and I had a 2009 Ford Escape Hybrid for 11 years. I had a VHF mobile radio installed in it. Power was directly from the 12 volt battery under the hood. Antenna was a 1/4 wave NMO mounted on the center of the roof.
Never had any issues with noise on receive or transmit while driving in any mode (electric only or hybrid).

I agree with dlwtrunked, it's vehicle dependent. Some manufacturers are better than others at controlling RFI. The Ford Escape of my era was used in a lot of public service applications, even some police agencies using them as utility vehicles.

You'd need to look at all vectors that RFI can get into the radio. Accessory sockets are always a crap-shoot. You never know what other wiring it's bundled in with. Antennas and coax are another path in, and careful placement of the antenna and routing of the coaxial cable is important. Grounding of the radio plays an important role, also. Often people mistake the negative power lead as the only ground the radio needs.

My sister has a Tesla 3, but haven't tried any radios in it.

 

[fires999]

Hi Forum,
Thanks so much for quick responses. Seems like I will just need to do a little more research. I'm having a 100% electric Citroen on 48 hrs i n a few weeks so might be a little cheeky and take a handheld with micro-mag on the roof and see !!!
I agree with comments on 12v sockets inside car - both my main scanners can be powered via their usb leads , so again need to experiment.
The radio I use alot in the car is my Icom R2500..it's remote head is lightweight and main body of radio can hide under seat. That is powered using 12v accessory socket. Great reception on HF , so reluctant to leave that out.
Thanks again
Kevin

 

[jaspence]

I have had 3 Ford C-Max plug-in hybrids over 7 years with no problems for my scanner or my dual band ham radio.