Mobile HF Rigs

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CycloSteve

CycloSteve

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Stuck between a rock and a hard place
Having passed my Element 3/General exam yesterday, now contemplating a new (or used) radio for the 80, and moving the FT-8900 over to the 45.

I like the FT-857D as it could still use the same mounting positions I have (radio in rear, HU in front OH console) and would even consider the FT-897D primarily used as a base / mobile when needed.

What have others done for 10M and below operations, and why? I like the Yaesu radios, but am not married to the brand if someone else has a better mousetrap (ICOM or Kenwood, perhaps). Not that I would be DXing every day in the truck, but would be nice to be able to at least have 10M as an option.

:cheers:

Steve
 
I am probably in the minority, but I have two mobile radios, one VHF/UHF and one HF. My mobile HF radio is a Kenwood TS-480SAT, but I don't like having DX QSO's while I'm driving (too difficult to keep a good log) so I mostly just set it up in camp at night with a Buddipole for an antenna. I also like to run APRS all the time so a dual-band VHF/UHF radio makes more sense for me there.
 
I too use the TS 480 SAT with ham sticks. On some of the long highway drives, talking HF breaks up the trip!
 
I'm in the process of getting mobile HF going. I will keep my FT8800 in the truck for VHF/UHF and install an FT-857D as well.
If I didn't already have the 857 I'd be taking a good hard look at the Kenwood. It's bigger but seems easier to use, nice display, built in auto tuner (if you go with the 100W version) or a 200W model available. Nice.

I got a Scorpion "shorty" and had Jason @ cruisin off road build me a mount. I hope to have the whole works installed and up and running in a week or 2.

8381819421_5757bf3d89_z.jpg
 
your drinking buddy said:
This looks neat, no experience with it though. I've been looking for a used 857 or 897 myself.
http://www.elecraft.com/KX3/kx3.htm
Click to expand...

Whoa, that is a nice looking unit, and the manufacturer is about 20 minutes from where I live...will get in touch with them to at least take a look-see. Might end up with two radios in the rig at this rate, and an antenna farm on the back.

:cheers: and 73

Steve
 
bj70_guy said:
I'm in the process of getting mobile HF going. I will keep my FT8800 in the truck for VHF/UHF and install an FT-857D as well.
If I didn't already have the 857 I'd be taking a good hard look at the Kenwood. It's bigger but seems easier to use, nice display, built in auto tuner (if you go with the 100W version) or a 200W model available. Nice.

I got a Scorpion "shorty" and had Jason @ cruisin off road build me a mount. I hope to have the whole works installed and up and running in a week or 2.

Click to expand...

I saw (and appreciated) your Scorpion install thread on 4x4ham.com. Still trying to figure out where to mount one on my 40. :hhmm:
 
For those with HF radios, look into the MARS cap mod to open it up so you can also use it on 11 meters for those days when all of your buddies have CBs. This mod is different for each model but allows you to transmit on 11 meters.
 
I'm looking at HF rigs also, to replace my Alinco that didn't stand up to much off-roading. I'm pretty sure it will be a Kenwood TS-480SAT like some of the previous posters have.

How do you guys like it? Have you had them long?

Here are some reviews, very favorable.


http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/3821
 
Contacted the folks at Elecraft, and they were more than happy to have a "drop-in" customer. Now just need to find a day where I can take some time off work to go past their facility and check out the radio in person. I am definitely warming up to the idea of something made in the USA and local. Software-defined radios are pretty interesting, as upgrading to the latest setup is simple, and they do this for free.

:cheers:

Steve
 
1911 said:
I saw (and appreciated) your Scorpion install thread on 4x4ham.com. Still trying to figure out where to mount one on my 40. :hhmm:
Click to expand...

Hmm, yeah I'm not sure where you'd mount one on a 40 that gets wheeled - I'll be interested to see what you come up with!


canucksafari said:
Looks good Norm. I'll have to check it out at a club next meeting. I have come to the realization that I need 3 radios. Just wish the bank account balance would agree. :hillbilly:
Click to expand...

Hopefully it'll be fully operational by then :o
This will make 3 for me, I guess you could use the 857 as your VHF/UHF as well, but no dual band/dual receive and I would miss that.
 
jonb96150 said:
I'm looking at HF rigs also, to replace my Alinco that didn't stand up to much off-roading. I'm pretty sure it will be a Kenwood TS-480SAT like some of the previous posters have.

How do you guys like it? Have you had them long?
Click to expand...

I like mine, and have had it about two years. The audio quality is good, and the DSP and filtering is adequate for my needs. I have the optional filters to install but have never got around to it. The tuner is nice to have, and I use it with an OCF wire dipole at home to get 6-40 M easily and sometimes 80. Away from home, it works well with my Buddipole, usually configured as a vertical with a single counterpoise. I have made contacts all over the world with this radio, barefoot with 100 watts and less-than-optimal antenna(s).

IMG_0920.jpg


IMG_0921.jpg
 
Last edited:
SanDiegoCruiser said:
For those with HF radios, look into the MARS cap mod to open it up so you can also use it on 11 meters for those days when all of your buddies have CBs. This mod is different for each model but allows you to transmit on 11 meters.
Click to expand...

Gigaparts has the ts-480sat for $929.00 with free shipping. For another $49.00 they will open it up for you and not void warranty.

It did not occur to me to use it as a CB, which I absolutely refuse to install mainly due to lack of space. So for an extra $49 I get a !00 watt CB? I assume you could use upper and lower sideband on 11 meters as well? MY sideband CB cost north of $200 20 years ago and has been sitting in a box for at least 10 years.

Thank you for pointing that out! I looked up the mod, I could do it, and I have opened up VHF radios myself but they were under $150.00. On a radio of this expense it is worth the money to me to keep the warranty.

http://www.gigaparts.com/store.php?action=profile&sku=ZKW-TS-480SAT
 
Glad I saw this thread, as I was thinking about starting one of my own about what people are using for HF and how.

My work is ending our marine HF service in a few months and I will soon have a few working ICOM M710s that will be pulled out of service. Have one on the shelf already. Removing a diode apparently opens the HAM bands from just the marine bands (?).
She's a little big to mount with my dual band Yaesu for mobile use, but I like the idea of keeping it in the truck for campsite use. Had thought about using it with my 3-piece 8m stick (housed in a PVC tube holder mounted on the side of the roof rack for travel) held up by a tripod that I can mount my coupler on as well. Kinda like a less pretty version of the earlier setup (1911's) with the buddy pole. Mine's more like an ugly stick :p

Some good ideas already!
 
bj70_guy said:
......a good hard look at the Kenwood. It's bigger but seems easier to use, nice display, built in auto tuner (if you go with the 100W version) or a 200W model available. Nice.
Click to expand...

So has well does the built-in tuner work. I mean, can you do a random wire and get results across the bands (80m to 6m) are does the antenna need to be close to resonance?

This is the main reasons I've not gotten an HF radio (FT857), meaning you buy the radio then buy "another radio" with the tuner/matcher, controller, antenna, etc.....
 
Kofoed said:
So has well does the built-in tuner work. I mean, can you do a random wire and get results across the bands (80m to 6m) are does the antenna need to be close to resonance?
Click to expand...

My TS-480SAT built-in tuner is good but it won't work miracles. I have an OCF wire dipole set up at home, and it's not very long (forget the exact length but it's resonant on 20M). The SAT tuner will tune 40M where the SWR is about 5:1 but it doesn't so very well at all on 80M where the SWR is 12:1. It will tune all the higher bands because SWR < 5:1 on all of them. So my experience with just that one antenna is that it will for sure tune anything with less than 5:1 SWR and maybe a little more.

When I use it with my Buddipole, the tuner is hardly necessary since the Buddipole is simple to tune resonant on any band.
 
I have nothing constructive to add except do y'all sport them fancy pocket protectors? :flipoff2: Ducking for cover!!

Carry on.....
 
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