Winter Mobile - Is Cold Storage of the Rig OK?

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eHam.net Forum : mobileham : Winter Mobile - Is Cold Storage of the Rig OK?

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Winter Mobile - Is Cold Storage of the Rig OK?	Reply
by VE3XKD on October 19, 2009	Mail this to a friend!
Hi All I am happily mobiling HF with my Prius (worked Florida on 40 last night), but winter is coming here in Canada e.g. last night was minus 8 C and its going to get really cold in a few months. Since I have my ICOM 7000 radio installed under the passenger seat and it is difficult to take out I was wondering if it is safe to leave it there during the winter when temperatures often go to minus 30 C or will there be damage from the cold/heat cycles if I try to operate HF mobile when the radio is cold? Does anyone have any experience with rig failure due to extreme cold?

RE: Winter Mobile - Is Cold Storage of the Rig OK?	Reply
by KI4SDY on October 19, 2009	Mail this to a friend!
If it was me, I would not try to operate a frozen radio. I would warm the car up first with the heater and after I had been traveling for a while, then try using the radio. If I encountered any malfunctions, I would turn it off!

RE: Winter Mobile - Is Cold Storage of the Rig OK?	Reply
by KI4SDY on October 19, 2009	Mail this to a friend!
If it was me, I would not try to operate a frozen radio. I would warm the car up first with the heater and after I had been traveling for a while, then try using the radio. If I encountered any malfunctions, I would turn it off!

RE: Winter Mobile - Is Cold Storage of the Rig OK?	Reply
by K3GM on October 19, 2009	Mail this to a friend!
My 5+ year old FT-8900 and IC-7000 see winter temperatures down to -10F, but each starts up fine and get daily play. I have to admit though that I almost never get in the vehicle and immediately start transmitting, not because I'm concerned about the temperature, but I have to get warmed up too! The liquid crystal displays are a little "laggy" until they warm up. I wouldn't be too concerned.

RE: Winter Mobile - Is Cold Storage of the Rig OK?	Reply
by AA4PB on October 19, 2009	Mail this to a friend!
Most ICs have a storage temperature down to -65deg C so I don't think you will have any problems. You may have to let the car warm up a little before you will be able to read the LCD display. Actually, turning the radio on should help to get its "innards" up to operating temperature a little faster. I've done temperature testing of electronic devices and never had a permanent failure from low temperature. They quit working but as soon as you warm them up they come back to life.

RE: Winter Mobile - Is Cold Storage of the Rig OK?	Reply
by AA4PB on October 19, 2009	Mail this to a friend!
Remember, the AM/FM car radio is subjected to the same temperatures and they don't use anything special in the way of expanded temp range components.

RE: Winter Mobile - Is Cold Storage of the Rig OK?	Reply
by K5LXP on October 19, 2009	Mail this to a friend!
The operating temperature range is listed in the specifications of the radio. For the IC7000 it's -10°C to +60°C. It doesn't come down to just what the parts will survive, there are tolerances to accomodate and while it probably won't "hurt" to operate the rig out of this range it may not function correctly either operationally or spectrally. In my experience even if the rig works at very cold temperatures you won't be able to use it anyway, since the display will be nonfunctional until it warms up to a certain point (at least with LCD's). Mark K5LXP Albuquerque, NM

RE: Winter Mobile - Is Cold Storage of the Rig OK?	Reply
by KD4LLA on October 20, 2009	Mail this to a friend!
I would be more worried about driving a Prius in the cold. In 1998-99 I was in Fairbanks, AK, when the temps stayed around 50-55(F) below zero for a couple of weeks. I never had any noticeable two-way radio, AM-FM, or a 6 Disc CD player trouble, other than slow displays. But then again I always let the car worm up for at least fifteen minutes. Mike

RE: Winter Mobile - Is Cold Storage of the Rig OK?	Reply
by KD4LLA on October 20, 2009	Mail this to a friend!
I would be more worried about driving a Prius in the cold. In 1998-99 I was in Fairbanks, AK, when the temps stayed around 50-55(F) below zero for a couple of weeks. I never had any noticeable two-way radio, AM-FM, or a 6 Disc CD player trouble, other than slow displays. But then again I always let the car worm up for at least fifteen minutes. Mike

RE: Winter Mobile - Is Cold Storage of the Rig OK?	Reply
by KD4LLA on October 20, 2009	Mail this to a friend!
I would be more worried about driving a Prius in the cold. In 1998-99 I was in Fairbanks, AK, when the temps stayed around 50-55(F) below zero for a couple of weeks. I never had any noticeable two-way radio, AM-FM, or a 6 Disc CD player trouble, other than slow displays. But then again I always let the car worm up for at least fifteen minutes. Mike

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