I've got my yaesu ham radio wired into my volt. I've got it set up so that when the car turns on my radio turns on. It's powered straight to the battery, but I'm using a relay with the trigger coming from a switched power source. I'd like to be able to use my remote start feature to turn my vehicle on, which also will turn my Ham radio on. My radio will act as a cross band repeater, allowing me to talk from my handheld to my vehicle, and then have the in vehicle radio re-transmit out at high power (50watts). I remember reading the vehicle will auto shut off after I believe ten minutes after remote starting, can anyone confirm this? And, if so, can that be changed anywhere? If the cars running, I assume it will charge the 12volt battery when it feels the need, correct? Ideally I'd love to be able to park my car at a site with a nearly full charge, and be able to use the remaining charge to just run all my.accessoties for a while without killing my 12volt battery. Sorry for the long winded post here, appreciate what anyone thinks on this. I probably need to research the relationship between the main battery pack and the 12volt battery to fully understand how the system works, but thought I'd see what you guys thought.
Battery power question - Ham radio
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In order of questions asked:
1) Yes
2) Possibly, but it is probably controlled via a microcontroller/software so probably very difficult to change...
3) Yes
A number of users here use the large traction battery with the APM to run a large inverter off the 12V battery. It requires keeping the vehicle on, in neutral, parking brake on and a rubber band around the gearstick on/off switch (someone correct me if I am wrong)....that keeps the vehicle on, the APM charging the 12V battery and is probably what you want...
1) Yes
2) Possibly, but it is probably controlled via a microcontroller/software so probably very difficult to change...
3) Yes
A number of users here use the large traction battery with the APM to run a large inverter off the 12V battery. It requires keeping the vehicle on, in neutral, parking brake on and a rubber band around the gearstick on/off switch (someone correct me if I am wrong)....that keeps the vehicle on, the APM charging the 12V battery and is probably what you want...
If you use the remote start the Volt will only run for 10 minutes, or 20 minutes if you wait 30 seconds after preconditioning starts and send a second remote start command. If you want the Volt to stay powered on you have to manually start the vehicle and depress the shift lever as previously described.
I did a lot of ham special events and after running my battery down in my old Acura a few times I started using a second 12 Volt battery. I did a lot of APRS in the early days and even 10 watt packet xmit keep making car alarms in the parking lot chirp.
We have a few Ham here that have installed radios in the Volt if you want to see install pictures.
My hatch back mount did not fit so I still have not put my 2m/440 in the Volt.
My Radio-Shack 2m hand held works in the volt if I open a window
We have a few Ham here that have installed radios in the Volt if you want to see install pictures.
My hatch back mount did not fit so I still have not put my 2m/440 in the Volt.
My Radio-Shack 2m hand held works in the volt if I open a window
Humbvolt: I too am an amateur radio operator. I sort of get what you are trying to do there, but I would have to question "why"? From your initial post you want to be able to run your mobile station remotely via your handheld. So you want to be able to remotely turn on the car so as to not draw down the 12V battery. Hence, you must be within keyfob transmitter range of the vehicle - correct? That is an absolute maximum of 60m away. I am assuming you want to use the remote radio because with your better mobile vehicle antenna and 50 watts you have better range than the handheld. Is that correct? If yes, would it not make a lot more sense, and be a LOT easier, and DOABLE, to simply install a really good VHF/UHF base station antenna at your location, to which you can attach your handheld? Even if you live in an apartment of some sort surely you could put an unobtrusive high gain VHF/UHF antenna on your balcony and get even better range than you could hope to get with a vehicle antenna on the ground somewhere...
Just my 2c worth...
Just my 2c worth...
I just use the phone app, which works anywhere I have internet. Itll work from hundreds of miles away. The car would be used as a repeater not at my home, but during various events. I could park it at the top of an event location, and if myself or other hams at the event found themselves in a bad spot for transmitting, I could easily switch my car/radio on from miles away and use it to cross band repeat. Simplex from handheld 8watts to the car, and then the car can transmit to a repeater at 50watts decently far away. Somewhat silly?.. absolutely, but could be quite useful in the event it was needed.
I don't know of any way to hack the remote start time out, and and additional limitation of it is that it will only give you 2 remote start cycles until you reset it by normally starting the car, so you get 20 minutes maximum from remote start.
Probably the best way to achieve what you want is to leave the car on. But with a decent amount of traction battery charge, that is a reasonable thing to do. It's not like the engine will be running. And you can lock the car like that.
Or of course you can mount an additional battery for the radio. Even one of those Lithium jump start packs would probably give you some usable run time. And you can set it up to automatically recharge whenever the car is on.
However, I would caution you against any temptation to use the Volt's 12V battery with the car off. This car is sensitive to low voltage and you really don't want to risk those problems.
Probably the best way to achieve what you want is to leave the car on. But with a decent amount of traction battery charge, that is a reasonable thing to do. It's not like the engine will be running. And you can lock the car like that.
Or of course you can mount an additional battery for the radio. Even one of those Lithium jump start packs would probably give you some usable run time. And you can set it up to automatically recharge whenever the car is on.
However, I would caution you against any temptation to use the Volt's 12V battery with the car off. This car is sensitive to low voltage and you really don't want to risk those problems.
Even with the Volt (ON) the FOB is needed to shift out of Park.
The Volt is great for field day here in Texas and I can sleep in the volt with A/C and no bugs.
1000 watt inverter is all I ever tried to run items.
Just don't park under the HF antenna - there is a bit of RF from the Volt.
The Volt is great for field day here in Texas and I can sleep in the volt with A/C and no bugs.
1000 watt inverter is all I ever tried to run items.
Just don't park under the HF antenna - there is a bit of RF from the Volt.
Yes, that is what charges the 12V battery and powers the 12V accessories.
Why not just leave the car running at an event where it might be useful? Off the lights, climate, radio, etc., and just leave it locked, "running", and otherwise asleep?
Say you drain like 250 watts/hour in this mode... out of a 14kwh usable battery, you'd have to have it on for literally days to deplete the charge (from full). The car will automatically start itself if the traction battery gets low, unless you're low on gas too, or in an enclosed area, I don't see the problem (unless this is more than just a day outing?).
Say you drain like 250 watts/hour in this mode... out of a 14kwh usable battery, you'd have to have it on for literally days to deplete the charge (from full). The car will automatically start itself if the traction battery gets low, unless you're low on gas too, or in an enclosed area, I don't see the problem (unless this is more than just a day outing?).
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You will also need to put the rubber band on the gear shifter, otherwise the car will turn off after 2.5 hours.
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