RF interference from 2 meter ham radio

I have an ftm 400xdr with the antenna mounted on a ditch light bracket on the passenger side hood hinge. When I beacon APRS, it interferes with my phone in that if there’s music or other audio playing from my phone, it will skip tracks, pause or similar.

I’m thinking I could move the antenna to the roof, which may (or may or may not) help, but the current location of the antenna has been getting good results and is reasonably safe from branch strikes etc.

I also would prefer not to move my phone.

Any ideas on what I can do?

 

I can’t help with the how to move it, but if you can run the antenna as far back it will help with reducing the interference. If you can get a donkey dick antenna or or a whip to make it high it will help with range.

 

Put a ferrite bead on the power cord for the phone?

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It’ll happen even when it’s not plugged in

 

Considering it, but not ready to yet. Not much real estate left on the roof or bed etc...

 

There’s something wrong with your ham radio or your install. A 2 meter radio should not be interfering with your phone or sound system at all.

How do you have your radio wired for power?

I have pretty much the exact same setup as you. NMO antenna mount on a ditch light bracket passenger side. I have a Kenwood D710A that I also use with APRS. Absolutely no interference.

 

that cant be a real thing

 

At least it doesn’t mess with your cruise control, a friend with a linear on his CB (yeah, dumb) would key up and his truck would accelerate when on CC.

Put a choke on the power cord for your radio, too? Also, have you checked the VSWR of your RF antenna? And how close is the XMTR to your phone and head unit?

 

Thats the most round about way to get a hand throttle I've ever heard of!

 

Its a nickname for the stub antennas. Bout 3-6 inches long depending on what band you're using. They have a cousin called the cowpie or the hockey puck as well. Next time you see an unmarked PD cruiser, look on the trunk. They are pretty common on LEO vehicles since their operating freqs are fixed. Donkey dicks and hockey puck antennas suck ass at operating across a whole band.

 

Braided ground strap to hood from bracket. Braided ground strap from hood to body of truck. Cures a lot of interference problems.

 

Yeah, if his antenna is not balanced, or he crushed his coax he could blow his final in addition to possibly getting interference elsewhere.

 

This^^^

 

Not antenna related, but a cherished army memory was watching the face of a squeaky new, very sheltered/religious, female PFC when she was told by the female SFC to go to supply, get a donkey dick, and bring it to the motor pool because "I need one right now so be quick about it".

 

This guy?

https://youtu.be/q_INBH_b19o

SWR is around 1.2:1 at 144.000

 

Radio is wired to auxiliary blue sea fuse box with, iirc, 12 awg wire with negative going to buss in the box which is mounted about 1’ from battery.

 

Coax should be ok. Not pinched anywhere and routed through firewall.

 

I’ll try that. I’ve been meaning to do some bonding anyway and have the braided strap here.

 

This could be an issue. Did you run coax and power through the same hole as the main wire harness that goes through the firewall? I ended up running my ham power and coax through a grommet under the driver’s seat. This keeps it separated from all the other wiring in the truck.

 

Yup, it’s OK to run cords across each other at a right angle but not parallel.