Leaderboard

If the vehicles (factory) ground strap from the battery to the engine block fails, the radio acts as the negative side for the whole vehicle. The radio might not like seeing all the current of the starter motor. I have seen equipment fail this way, the end result is the junk pile or needs repair table at the next ham fest.... Yea I'm am back from my forum break

It's very common in expensive and/or high power Ham radio gear (100w+) to protect the vehicle. Most radio manufacturers fuse the B+ side at the battery so if the B+ power lead gets shorted to ground, your vehicle doesn't burn down. Some also fuse the ground wire to prevent fires. This is mostly a risk for vehicles with a separate frame and body. In a vehicle, the body is typically the ground for most electronics in the vehicle. If the body has a poor ground or the chassis ground is broken all together and the radio ground lead gets shorted to the body somewhere, all of the electronics grounded to the body will then try to use that ground wire as the primary ground. Obviously the positive fuses for all the other circuits won't blow because the current on the B+ side is whats expected. The ground wire is sized for the radio and not all of your onboard electronics. So, to stop the negative lead from burning the car down, it gets fused at the battery side for the same reason as the positive lead.

Yay! Persistent application of cognitive energy pays off finally!

Sorry... I misspoke. I do realize that you have stated what your objectives are. I guess I didn't understand why you are trying to get a multi-service beam or vertical. After re-reading, if you are trying to get the most value per dollar, that makes sense. Unfortunately, however, it doesn't work to our benefit very often. Most multi-function devices accommodate convenience at the detriment of performance. The map you shared is showing about 70 miles from point to point. That is the very edge for 50 watts on a vertical. Hopefully setting the antennas higher will do the trick. Good luck with the Amateur radio test. It opens up a whole new real of possibilities.