HF Radio Install Considerations

[Kilgore]

https://www.radioddity.com/collections/accessories-antenna/products/radioddity-hf008-antenna

This came up in the Radioddity spam the other day and I'm strongly considering this one. Probably inspired by the "Outbacker" antennas that seem to have utterly disappeared. Mate this with a FT-891, or similar, even a Xeigu ? For a hundred bucks it looks to be worth a try, cheaper than the ATAs.

de N8FF

Back in the 70's I ran Hustler whips and resonators with a Kenwood TS-520 rig. Band changes required stopping, diddling/changing the resonator, and continuing on.

Fast forward to today. Still run HF mobile buts it's with the FT-891 and a screwdriver antenna. My preference is the Diamond SD-330. The one I just retired from my Jeep has over 100k miles on it and works just fine. Screwdriver antennas get beat up by the elements so regular maintenance is mandatory. Wash off the bugs, a wax job, tighten all the screws and connections once a year. It pays big dividends.

I splurged and bought a West Mountain Radio Target Tuner when it came out. Now band changes are just a matter of keying the Mike and the target tuner sends a command to the screwdriver antenna to change. Super convenient.

https://www.westmountainradio.com/product_info.php?products_id=targetuner

https://www.diamondantenna.net/sd3301.html

73, de wb6age

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[MtnTopComms]

The yaesu ft-891 And the ATAS 120 is a great opton for a HF mobile. Also i see that you have a fusion capable 2m rig I have a repeater and you can contact me on my fusion room the # is 80751

73
ND1C

I will 2nd this. The FT-891 and ATAS 120 is a fantastic option. A friend of mine uses it in his truck and is a fabulous setup. When my Wildtrak arrives my plan is to employ this same setup.

I used hamstudy.org. Each day, I would read the questions from a sub element briefly, then do study mode for 20-30 minutes until my “aptitude” level was at 100%. That’s probably overkill, but it was attainable without too much effort. Ten days later, I finished the final sub element and took the exam the same day. I got 35/35. I completely credit the spaced repetition memorization system that hamstudy uses. The key is to set a hard deadline and just rip the band aid off. Seriously, 20-30 minutes a day for ten days will get you your license with flying colors if you use it.

Nothing beats Hamstudy, I got through Tech, General, Extra in 4 months using it about 9 years ago.

The biggest mistake I see from people is they try to "learn" all the material, short of being an electrical engineer with a phd it is not practical. The best solution is memorization and hamstudy works great for that.

There are so many aspects of radio it doesn't make sense to try to learn them all, get all the licenses you can and then focus on the areas you enjoy and learn those.

Curious if you have ideas for mounting an ATAS on the Bronco. I had a thought of mounting it to the front bumper, but I don’t think there is enough clearance. Rear bumper is plastic, and I’d be wary to mount it higher for vertical clearance issues.

My current plan for ATAS is to go with a flagpole type mount next to the spare tire. Since I've just ordered my WT it will be awhile before it arrives so I have time to change my mind several times between now and then...


Best of luck

Brandon
AE7BF

 

[ontheheel]

I will 2nd this. The FT-891 and ATAS 120 is a fantastic option. A friend of mine uses it in his truck and is a fabulous setup. When my Wildtrak arrives my plan is to employ this same setup.


Nothing beats Hamstudy, I got through Tech, General, Extra in 4 months using it about 9 years ago.

The biggest mistake I see from people is they try to "learn" all the material, short of being an electrical engineer with a phd it is not practical. The best solution is memorization and hamstudy works great for that.

There are so many aspects of radio it doesn't make sense to try to learn them all, get all the licenses you can and then focus on the areas you enjoy and learn those.


My current plan for ATAS is to go with a flagpole type mount next to the spare tire. Since I've just ordered my WT it will be awhile before it arrives so I have time to change my mind several times between now and then...


Best of luck

Brandon
AE7BF

When I read this, I figured that would be a good solution, but when I looked at my rig, I remembered that I’ve got a shower tent mounted to the back of my roof rack that protrudes enough to interfere with any tall antenna mounted towards the center of the tailgate. That got me thinking about lip mounts on the side of the tailgate.
Curious if anyone has mounted a K400 (or similar) to the passenger side lip of the tailgate? The concern there is that the tailgate hinges slightly inward from the body panel, which could cause some clearance issues as lip mounts have a protrusion towards the outside for stability. Without actually having one on hand to test the clearance, it’s hard to say if it would swing clear.

 

[ontheheel]

Resurrecting this thread. Between then and now, I’ve had a deployment and PCS move. Finally feeling settled and ordered an FT-891 and ATAS-120.

At the moment, I’ve got a K400 inbound to do a hood mount, but am interested in doing one of the fender mounts that fits between the hood and fender. So far, I’ve seen one NMO version and one with a 1/2” hole. UHF is 5/8”, which would require a little drilling to use the Topsy mount, but it already has a disclaimer about using antennas over 3’. The ATAS is much larger than that, and I’m not sure how bad it would be, much less with taking out more material by drilling it out.

Anyone have experience with this?

 

[MtnTopComms]

Resurrecting this thread. Between then and now, I’ve had a deployment and PCS move. Finally feeling settled and ordered an FT-891 and ATAS-120.

At the moment, I’ve got a K400 inbound to do a hood mount, but am interested in doing one of the fender mounts that fits between the hood and fender. So far, I’ve seen one NMO version and one with a 1/2” hole. UHF is 5/8”, which would require a little drilling to use the Topsy mount, but it already has a disclaimer about using antennas over 3’. The ATAS is much larger than that, and I’m not sure how bad it would be, much less with taking out more material by drilling it out.

Anyone have experience with this?

So this has taken a bit of a back seat in priorities for me. Our home was lost in a wildfire on September 1 and literally lost everything. Insurance is doing great by us and we're in the process of getting life put back together but needless to say my radio endeavors for the Bronco will likely have to wait until spring.

One of the things lost was a brand new ATAS-120. Now I am having some power issues with my existing VHF/UHF setup so I was going to get that sorted before I went back to adding the HF. When transmitting at high power (50 watts) on VHF the screen does a full blown restart and carplay completely drops out. I am attributing this (perhaps incorrectly so someone can feel free to tell me otherwise) to a large voltage drop on the power system. Also I notice that my starlink mini does restart if I shut off the bronco and start back up again which it shouldn't do because it's on 15 min timer from when it shuts off it is supposed to keep power to that distribution block.

My plan to address this is moving towards the Genesis dual battery setup and running all the radio gear off the accessory battery. Again haven't got to that yet.

My plan for the ATAS was something attached in the back near the spare tire, however I may need to custom build a mount for that because most everything you can buy for that area is too flimsy for my liking.

Best of luck with your install.

 

[ontheheel]

Installed and works great. Made contacts to Michigan from Key West. Have the K400 mounted forward on the hood but am not crazy about it. The hood is so flimsy that the heavy antenna wobbles - especially at highway speeds. Definitely considering an alternative.

Trying to figure out how to make a trail sight mount work. They don’t appear to be grounded.

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