Check your owners manual.  There should be a page in there dedicated to that 'power point connection' stating how much current can be safely supplied at that point.  

I still feel the best and safest way to power any ham rig is to run separate wires through the firewall directly to the battery--you will avoid overloading the car electrical system and picking up stray electrical noise that way, but to each his own.

"what happens if you dig a small trench, say a foot deep and lay the rod in sideways??"

Then Tom, you'll have a ground rod laying down on the job!!  ;-)

Even though I didn't reply--OK--you velcome!!

Uniden has a good small set as well, and they are available at most Wal-Marts for about $40.  These sets are good basic sets with no bells or whistles, only an on/off/volume control, a squelch control and a channel selector.  I've had one in my tractor alongside my ham rig for a long time now and it works very well indeed.

You need a good antenna for the rig as well, a through the glass antenna just will not do it, neither will one of the 'cell phone look alike' ones available at Wal-Mart.  I would recommend Radio Shack for the antenna, one with a good mount, not a magnetic mount, either.  A trunk lid clamp or a mirror bracket mount is the best choice.

Good luck.

Two 4 foot rods are not as good as an 8 foot rod generally speaking.  One of the keys to a good ground is to get the rod (conductor) near or into moist ground, the closer to the water table the better.  That is why the electrical codes specify an eight foot rod driven down into the ground.

Of course, that is an electrical ground.....or a lightning ground, an RF ground doesn't actually require it.  If you really need to use four foot ground rods because of rocky soil or a ledge in the way, you need to drive at least one eight footer into the soil somehow--at an angle if necessary--keeping in mind that it will not be as effective as an eight footer driven straight down.  This way, the national electrical code is satisfied.

One guy I know drove the eight footer down near his septic tank--the only way he could get it driven down into the ground.  The ground rod was driven in about twelve feet away from the foundation, and eighteen feet away from the electrical service entry point.  He was required to show the installation to the inspector, but on explanation was complemented and had the certificate issued with no further questions.

A lot of new additions on that hill?  Did the noise start after those new additions were put up there?  Does the wireless broadband company have any other 'sites' around your town--even small installations on poles that may 'rebroadcast' their signals?

All of these things may have to be checked on.  Get your local club behind the effort and contact the company that has the installation on the hill.  They may be unaware of the interference and may welcome your help.  (Yeah, right, I may be dreaming, but you never know.)

Check for loose connections on the antenna lead and the power leads to begin with.  The next place to check is the mike plug and jack, make sure they're clean.  After that, I guess the mike switch may be checked if there is nothing else found.

My V-8000 did the same a couple months ago, I disconnected and cleaned the power, antenna and mike connections and the problem disappeared.  I guess high SWR may cause it--I didn't check mine when the problem occured, but I know its now about 1.3 to 1, and the rig works fine.

Good luck!

Unless you order one specially made, I think you're out of luck.  

If you do use a circular saw blade, make sure it does not have any kind of widened teeth on it--either carbide or formed (bent).  It may go through the sheet metal of the roof or at the very least put dents in it from the underside.  Not at all desireable in a new vehicle.......

The newer vehicles definitely have flimsy sheet metal body parts.  For that reason, the aluminum plate suggestion is the way to go--it'll spread the strain and stop minor flexing.  

Get it 12" x 12" and center it on the mounting hole.  Try to bend it to the shape of the roof, them secure it to the inside of the roof with the antenna mount, through the center hole.  After you've got it up there, put small dabs of epoxy glue on the corners and along the sides to secure it to the roof.  

If you've done the job properly (or even near properly), you'll have a sturdier roof and a better mount.  I'd still be careful going under tree branches, however.  The sheet metal of the roof will still tear if enough force is put on it.

Good luck and 73!

The Icom T7H also fits your posted requirements, however, you can only use one band at a time.....

Your key was made by The Signal Electric Manufacturing Company of Minominee, Michigan, manufacturers of various radio, electrical and medical devices.  They also made devices for the government and armed forces as well as being the owner of radio station KFLB in the mid 1900s.  Signal Electric was either bought out or went out of business many years ago.

The devices manufactured by them seem to use parts commonly available at that time.  From what I've been able to gather, the key may have been made for the US armed forces, it may be constructed to a more robust standard than other more common keys.  

I agree with an earlier poster, a watch or clock shop may be the best way to go for you, they may be able to restore the key or provide the parts for you to do it yourself.

Good Luck and 73!  

Oh, one other thing.....if you accidently got into the computer's set-up mode and changed a critical value the last time the unit was running, the same thing may happen.  You may try holding down the 'delete' key while the system is booting and see if the set-up screen comes up.  If it does, highlight the 'default settings' line, answer the question 'yes', then the 'detect hard drive' line and answer the question 'yes'.  After that, go to 'save settings and exit' and answer 'yes'. You may just luck out and get it running again.

As AA4PB said, the beeps indicate a hardware failure.  In some cases, it could be as simple as an unplugged keyboard, (the screen would usually tell you that, though) a defective or loose card in a motherboard socket, or a power supply fault.

If something banged against the computer (or it fell down or over) it'd probably be something that jarred loose.  If not, it's probably a failure.  If the screen does nothing during the boot process (not even flicker) it just may be the video card gone bye-bye.

Only your technician would know for sure.  

Phil,

Turning off the electronics in the house isn't near enough.  Most of the electronics nowadays are still on even when turned off.  UNPLUG everything--even the air conditioners (if automatically controlled) the fridge and all the lights.  Even better, leave everything plugged in but shut off all the breakers except the mains.  

Then run your receiver with a battery or on a separate circuit that you know has nothing else on it.  If the noise is still there, it probably is at a neighbors house.  If not, turn on the breakers one at a time until the noise returns.  When it does, leave that breaker on, turn all the rest off, and go hunting with a plug in lamp.  Chances are you'll find something you never even expected to find--maybe even a forgotten wall wart.

Good luck!