I have 2 ham radios in my westy, 50 watts on VHF and 100 watts on 
     shortwave. I have my shortwave antenna mounted on the bumper and so 
     far (knock on wood) have had no problems.

______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: cold solder and other maladies
Author:  H2obxr@aol.com at NBS-Internet-Gateway
Date:    12/12/95 4:08 PM

In a message dated 95-12-11 23:07:55 EST, you write:
     
>	Besides disconnecting the battery before removing the brain box,
>etc, I'd STRONGLY recomend getting a ground strap and conductive, grounded 
>workplace for this kind of thing. VWs are obviously more stoutly built, 
>but more than 10 Watts of radio (like Ham radio) from a vehicle mounted 
>antenna blows up Toyota engine management systems. A Ham friend of my 
>brother's blew-up his Camry wagon's control box and was denied
>warranty coverage. A killer dose of static is easier to couple into 
>a brain box when its open than RF...
>
Also, there's voltage present at the tip of the soldering iron (if I remember 
correctly), so there's always the possibility of damaging sensitive 
components that are normally static sensitive.  I haven't tested the tip of 
my soldering iron personally, so don't know if this is true or not.