I purchased an Argo 650HD amphibious 6x6 for surveying that has a Briggs and Stratton Vanguard engine, Model 386447-0144-G1.  I use Topcon Hiper Lite Plus GPS equipment that consists of a base and rover that communicate via a 915 MHz spread spectrum radio link:

http://i581.photobucket.com/albums/ss252/N1048D/Argo800x600.jpg

The GPS radio link signal is normally usable out to about 1.5 miles in the relatively flat farm country I am working in.  I am loosing the GPS radio link at a distance of about 1/2 mile when I rev the engine in the Argo.  I regain the GPS radio link when the Argo engine is at idle or, of course, when it is shut off.

The gasoline engine in the Argo has resistor type spark plugs.  I am now in the process of deciding what to purchase or build, as far as filters for the charging system, etc.

Any ideas or suggestions on where to start?  I have contacted Briggs and Stratton, but have yet to get in touch with anyone that is knowledgeable.  Topcon is of little help since this is a very specific case, works fine in my pickup.  I am on my own on this one so any help would be very much appreciated.  I thought about going to a two-way radio shop and using a spectrum analyzer to gain some insight into the problem.

Now to make this post related in some way to amateur radio...Before I setup my internet remote base, I ran my TS-480 in my pickup while I was surveying.  Listening to amateur radio helped pass the time while spending 12+ hours per day in my pickup.  During the winter while the farm fields are too soft for my pickup, I will be spending long days in the Argo.  I may throw the TS-480 in the Argo and mount a hamstick on the overhead bracket behind the GPS receiver and make a few contacts.

Different antennas but same concept...

5 element 6 meter yagi at 123 feet
40 meter rotatable dipole at 117 feet turned parallel to the booms of the 6 meter yagi and LPDA
10 element LPDA at 109 feet

http://i581.photobucket.com/albums/ss252/N1048D/Antennas800x600.jpg

I am very pleased with this arrangement since each antenna exhibits expected VSWR curve, F/B and F/S, and otherwise performs well.  I also attribute the good patterns and VSWR curves to the fact that the first 38 feet of the top set of guy wires is RF transparent fiberglass pultruded rod.

I don't mind the 40 meter dipole being turned 90 degrees from the indication on my rotator since the 40 meter dipole has a rather broad pattern broadside and sharp nulls off each end.  I consider it more important to be able to turn the end of the dipole to a specific heading to help null out interference.

The following is a picture at a distance for a different perspective:

http://i581.photobucket.com/albums/ss252/N1048D/AntennasDistant800x600.jpg

For Christmas, I sent a QSL to Santa asking for Sunspots.  I noticed that there are zero today and I did not have my new Kenwood under the tree either

Nobody talked me out of it, so I purchased the THP HL-1.5Kfx.  In the end, the excellent pre-sales support from Bob and Jay at Array Solutions and the informative responses via email from Tom Rum made the decision easy for me.  The people supporting this product had as much bearing on my purchase decision as the product itself.

I am now going to look into controlling the temperature extremes and condensation aspects for all of the radio gear (including this amp).  Where the radio equipment is located in the corner of the shop building, I could actually even build a mini enclosure around all of the radio equipment.  Any ideas?

Does anyone want to vote for the SPE Expert?  After purchasing the external antenna switching gear and an IP camera to monitor the THP, I will be very close to the price of the Expert.  I have it in my head that the THP is more reliable and has better service and support, just in case I need it.  Anyone disagree?

After reading through the online manual, I think that would be the best solution for remote operation since you have to cycle power on the amplifier to clear a fault anyway.

The technical support person recommended placing a relay in the power cord.  No doubt he could not recommend modifying the amplifier.  Your suggestion is what I have in mind, just wondered if anyone has done it...

I am going to purchase a THP HL-1.5Kfx for my internet remote station, if I can work out the details of turning the amplifier on and off remotely.

I have relays that I can operate over the internet and I realize that I could place a relay in the power cord of the amplifier to completely turn the amplifier on and off.  But, I would rather leave the amplifier on and change from standby to operate so that I can take advantage of the automatic antenna switching built into the amplifier.

The SPE Expert solves all of these problems for me, but it is even more expensive and I am not sure of the reliability.

Any suggestions?

Okay...I finally have everything working with the Remoterig system, including remote rotator control.  The networking issues that bogged me down turned out to be like everything else, totally overwhelming at first but totally obvious after I gained an understanding.  There are a lot of subtle details about the setup that someone that has been through this can explain to you in a few minutes that might take you a week to figure out on your own.  Therefore, I would highly recommend that you enlist the help of someone that has successfully set one of these systems up.

The only issue I have left to solve is that my transmit/receive audio cuts out every few seconds due to my internet connection on the control end of my link.  My problem has something to do with my laptop providing the USB to Ethernet conversion through Internet Sharing from my Droid 3G cellphone to the Remoterig box.  I suspicion that something like Windows Power Management or Norton Internet Security is the culprit because the receive audio always cuts out noticeably when I do anything on the computer, even operations that have nothing to do with the internet.

Otherwise, when connected to an adequate internet source, I am very impressed with the operation of the Remoterig system.  The operation of the radio is just like being directly connected by the supplied cable...you push the power button on the control head and the radio turns on and you start operating.

Upgrading the firmware and strapping the boxes for the TS-480SAT was fairly straightforward, but the networking issues prevented me from getting the system on the air yesterday afternoon.  Working through these issues has forced me to start understanding details about the internet that before I had taken for granted.  This has actually been a very good exercise.  I now have some understanding of DNS, DHCP, etc.

I will report back after I make another attempt.

I purchased the Kenwood TS-480SAT just because I too desire to turn the knob instead of click.  I purchased the Remoterig system to provide that functionality.  About 15 minutes ago, I got internet wirelessly transferred to the shop location where my remote base setup is located via a wireless bridge.  I will be on the road all day tomorrow, but will report back on Tuesday regarding how easy it was to setup the Remoterig system.

I have a Windows Tablet PC that stays in my pickup all the time.  I have been using my Motorola Droid cellphone to tether internet to the Tablet PC.  By utilizing Internet Sharing, I plan to also run internet remote from my pickup.  I like the idea of running HF mobile without a vehicle mounted antenna.

The ground rod that you designate as your "single point ground" needs to be located as close to your amateur equipment as possible, not at the AC power ground location, even though it is recommended that you connect the AC power ground to your single point ground system.  Your post seems to indicate that you have the rest of the concept correct in that you ground your tower, feedlines, lightning protection equipment, radios, etc. with one lead to your single point ground.

Your situation is different than mine with your tower being located so far from your shack.  A few years ago, I installed an extensive single point ground system for my business repeater system and recently connected that same ground system to a new tower at the same location for amateur radio use.  I have the ideal situation because my radio gear is located within about 3 feet of my single point ground rod.  Everything inside the building is tied to a copper entrance panel which has 2 six inch copper straps running straight down to the single point ground rod.

I think you would be better off with more 8 feet ground rods than a few 20 feet ground rods.  Just remember to space them twice as far apart as they are long, 16 feet separation for 8 feet ground rods.  I dug shallow trenches with a backhoe in 3 different directions from the tower base and used a large diesel powered air compressor and jack hammer to drive 31 ground rods that are tied together with copper strap.

I want to add 60, 80, and 160 meter operation to my internet remote station.  Here is what I have to work with:

http://i581.photobucket.com/albums/ss252/N1048D/Amateur%20Radio/LowBandAntennas091310.jpg

I recently came to the realization that I have TOO MANY TREES for easy access for end supports for inverted-v's and OCF dipoles. In other words, I would have to trim too many trees to get to the ones I would want to use for end supports. And to make matters worse, if I was putting up wire dipoles, I would want to mount dipoles 90 degrees from each other to add directional control.

I decided to try to "localize" my low band antennas. One possiblity I am considering is to tie quarter wave wires for 60 and 80 meters and a 90' wire for 160 meters together and support the top end by the tower and use the 50'x80' metal building roof as the primary ground plane, as shown in the drawing above. I could actually extend the roof line without much problem with wires if it would be worth the effort.

Another possiblity would be to run half slopers fed near the top of the tower and tied to the same feed.

I would probably utilize an SGC SG-235 tuner at the feed of either antenna setup. Even though it would not be absolutely required with the tuner, I would go ahead and cut individual wires for each band to optimize the pattern and reduce losses in the tuner.

Which setup would you recommend, verticals worked off the metal roof or half slopers fed from the top of the tower?

My primary interest is in operating the higher HF bands and I will no doubt work most all of my DX there, but I do want to at least have reasonable antennas for the lower HF bands. I have 14 acres to erect antennas on and could put up a quarter wave vertical for 160 meters if I so desired, but I just don't want to go to that much trouble and expense for the lower bands.

Thanks...Since I need to complete the work this weekend, I fell back on the old pocket knife technique.  I am going to order the correct tool though.

My wife says that I overthink things, but it seems like every time I am in a hurry and order something without first researching it to death, I end up with the wrong thing.  This time it really aggravated me because I paid overnight shipping for the tool which was about twice what the tool cost

I ordered a coax stripping tool to install several Type N connectors on BuryFlex coax.  The company sent me an HT-322S3 Coaxial Cable Stripper.  It is a three blade tool, but don't I need a two blade tool for Type N connectors?  After measuring the distance between the three blades, I don't think it is possible to simply remove one of the blades to come up with the correct dimensions.

Please advise me of the correct tool to strip Bury Flex for installation of Type N connectors.