"farah nur" wrote in message
om...
Gurus,

My brother who is working for an NGO is east africa wants me to buy
him an HF ham radio where he can communicate with his colleagues in
other parts of the world. His colleagues use CODAN, but he can't
afford that brand.

Is your brother a licensed ham? The FT-857 only transmits in the ham bands
and he would require a ham license to use those frequencies.

A local dealer is recommending that I buy FT-857 with ATAS-120.

Here are my questions?

1- Is this combination a good fit and how reliable is it?

The FT-857 is a compact HF/6m/2m/70cm radio that puts out 100W
on HF and 6m, 50W on 2m, and 25W on 70cm.

It has the built-in circuitry to control the ATAS-120 for auto-tuning from
40m up
It does not work on 160m or 80m, though the radio does.

I have that radio and antenna installed in my Ford Explorer and it works
well
for a mobile.

However, if he's not going to be operating mobile, wire dipoles at a decent
height will outperform the ATAS-120, and can be built for a number of bands
for far less than the ~$300 price of the ATAS-120.
(If he's going to be operating mobile, the ATAS-120 works well, with the
limitations
of no 160m or 80m, and its cost is less than many other "screwdriver"
antennas and
the necessary adaptor box to make the FT-857 "think" that they are an ATAS
for
autotuning.)

2- Can he communicate with other radios as far away as 3000 miles?

One day a couple of months ago, as I was driving back to my home in
Pennsylvania
from a meeting in New Jersey, I worked stations all up and down the US east
coast
on 40m, then switched to 20m and worked a station in Germany, then switched
to
15m and worked a station near San Diego, California ... propagation varies
and he
would need to select the right band for solar conditions, time of day, etc.

3- Do I need a duplexer if he is using just the HF band?

No. There are separate ports for HF/6m and for 2m/70m (a pair for those
combinations. If he's not going to use 2m/70cm, he can just leave that port
unconnected (but would have to be reasonably careful not to accidentally
switch to those bands and transmit with no antenna).

On my Ford, I use the ATAS-120 for 40m-6m and have a separate 2m/70cm
antenna on the same kind of mount on the opposite side of the SUV. That
way,
I don't have to wait for the ATAS to autotune between HF and 2m/70cm if I
want to switch between HF and the local repeaters.

4- The radio will be mounted on a land cruiser? Where you recommend
the antena mounted on?

I used a CP-5M "heavy-duty trunk lip/hatchback" mount and put the pair just
behind the leading edge of the top of the rear doors (the Ford is a 4-door).
The ATAS (and most antennas) will work best up high and in the clear. If
there
are roof racks - and if they are metal and solidly grounded to the body of
the
vehicle, that might also be an option.

Many many thanks for your help.

You're welcome ... just remember, the FT-857 only transmits in the ham bands
and your brother will need a ham license if he doesn't already have one - to
use
the ham bands without a license could get him in deep hot water
(confiscation of
the equipment, heavy fines, and maybe even some jail time, depending on the
country ...)

73,
Carl - wk3c