When I'm working near a radio station transmitter, I have to be careful not to touch anything that is close to or is grounded as the RF signals can shock the crap out of you. You can actually see a spark jump the air gap between your body and a grounded object, and yes the newer nitro cars are soooooo loud. I used to work next to running jet engines without ear protection, but when I go the the drags, ear plugs are required as my bones in my body are rattling too!
70 Nitrous Eater is 100% correct. RF ain't gonna generate an EMP pulse to get an EMP pulse to degenerate a cars electronics (if so the electronics in he RR would have crapped). I didn't read the articles about the mat or the bot, but these would have to use HIGH energy EMP pulse that is DIRECTED very precisely. There has been a ton of research on EMP and FCG to use as a surgical weapon, it has never been perfected. Your fathers friend would have been decadesa ahead of current scientific research.
Ron,
I would suspet the Cobra shut off due to the shockwave vibrating a loose connection. I have video of Eddie Hills car in the pits at Pomona in 90-91 (somewhere around there). I was literally 3 feet from the car with one of those giant RCA VHS camcorders and all it did was distort the video and sound from the vibrations, the electronics worked fine.
Ron,
I would suspet the Cobra shut off due to the shockwave vibrating a loose connection. I have video of Eddie Hills car in the pits at Pomona in 90-91 (somewhere around there). I was literally 3 feet from the car with one of those giant RCA VHS camcorders and all it did was distort the video and sound from the vibrations, the electronics worked fine.
Crazynorwegian, you caught the word from one of the two best knowledge bases for this question - the Ham Radio guys. Most Ham operators go out and buy vehicles based on "the manual"; not just what they think would be a good ride for their purposes. Radio gear and ECU's very often do not mix! And it doesn't even have to be a lot of power. The wife's Grand Prix (I hated that car for many, many reasons) had a fit every time I keyed up my Ham gear - 60 watts on VHF or only 45 watts on UHF would cause the (electronic) speedometer to "drop" 10MPH at highway speeds. This was funny, until I keyed up the radio when rounding a bend into a speed trap....the cruise control "read" the speedometer and guess how much "too fast" I was clocked at?
Just walked out to the carport and opened up the first vehicle I came to. Everybody should take SD's timeless wisdom about RTFM. From the inside back cover of the 2003 Dodge RAM (wife's truck) owners manual:
"Special design considerations are incorporated into this vehicle's electronic system to provide immunity to radio frequency signals. Mobile two-way radios and telephone equipment must be installed properly by trained personnel. The following must be observed during installation"
{Follows are 4 paragraphs regarding DC power and antenna routing. Boring stuff, if you've done it for a living (I have); but, if you haven't.....
Then comes these two fun little paragraphs}
"Mobile radio equipment with output power greater than normal may require special precautions."
{Yeah, 1kW would be considered "output power greater than normal" for a mobile installation)
"All installations should be checked for possible interferencebetween the communications equipment and the vehicle's electronic systems"
The book on the Generic Rice-Eating Chevy Truck says much the same.....and for those die-hards out there; tomorrow I'll grab the book out of the work F150 so we can "Read The FORD Manual". Bet it covers the same.
Don't want to hear from "the Amateurs"? You should read the tomes (means: "really big books") that take up a bunch of shelf space in your average professional Motorola shop regarding EMI issues on various vehicles. The '90 Crown Vic covered all kinds of dire circumstances if you didn't follow the factory recommendations (key the mic, get a face full of airbag
Yeah, an early "computer-controlled" car could realistically get taken down by a 1kW HF amp. No problem. To quote somebody's sig line from a couple years back, "You Make It, We Break It. Guaranteed"
Still Dreamin'
And when it comes to Radio; I was a NABER cert. professional before I became an "Amateur" - Jimmy, KC7BDP
Just walked out to the carport and opened up the first vehicle I came to. Everybody should take SD's timeless wisdom about RTFM. From the inside back cover of the 2003 Dodge RAM (wife's truck) owners manual:
"Special design considerations are incorporated into this vehicle's electronic system to provide immunity to radio frequency signals. Mobile two-way radios and telephone equipment must be installed properly by trained personnel. The following must be observed during installation"
{Follows are 4 paragraphs regarding DC power and antenna routing. Boring stuff, if you've done it for a living (I have); but, if you haven't.....
Then comes these two fun little paragraphs}
"Mobile radio equipment with output power greater than normal may require special precautions."
{Yeah, 1kW would be considered "output power greater than normal" for a mobile installation)
"All installations should be checked for possible interferencebetween the communications equipment and the vehicle's electronic systems"
The book on the Generic Rice-Eating Chevy Truck says much the same.....and for those die-hards out there; tomorrow I'll grab the book out of the work F150 so we can "Read The FORD Manual". Bet it covers the same.
Don't want to hear from "the Amateurs"? You should read the tomes (means: "really big books") that take up a bunch of shelf space in your average professional Motorola shop regarding EMI issues on various vehicles. The '90 Crown Vic covered all kinds of dire circumstances if you didn't follow the factory recommendations (key the mic, get a face full of airbag
Yeah, an early "computer-controlled" car could realistically get taken down by a 1kW HF amp. No problem. To quote somebody's sig line from a couple years back, "You Make It, We Break It. Guaranteed"
Still Dreamin'
And when it comes to Radio; I was a NABER cert. professional before I became an "Amateur" - Jimmy, KC7BDP