[aprssig] APRS In A Car

[Robert Bruninga]

>... Maybe someone else had this problem, 
>it was a scary experience. ...  I imagine if it was 
>left unattended it would have caught fire.

Yep I learned that lesson the hard way.
GPS was running on the same power cable as
the radio.  But was using small #26 wire.
Yes, radio is fused at 10 amps, but when the
GPS cable shorted under the seat, the #26
got red hot (still drawing less than 10 amps)
and caught the center console on fire.

I got me, and the radio and laptop out of the
car and then chucked the flaming center console 
out of the car.  In another 10 seconds the car 
would have been toast.

Lesson is that fuses only protect if the WIRE is
big enough to blow them.  This is often overlooked
when hanging small 100 mA devices off of the
radio power cord.

Bob