Joe:

Several Iron Horse "hamsticks", one for each band I transmit on. As I generally
run on 20 meters going uphill to work in the morning and 40 meters downhill to
the QTH in the late afternoon (local net on 7.088 in Hawaii) and my trip is
about 45 minutes each way, it isn't all that inconvenient. I've got an
extension out the side of my trailer hitch mount that is just in front of the
back bumper, with a pipe extending about 18" up to a spring and quick disconnect
where the hamsticks connect. It took a bit of retuning when adding the riser,
but the hamsticks seem to get a lower swr and slightly wider bandwidth this way,
and I certainly get out with this setup.

This morning I heard a fellow in Germany on the way up to work (though there was
such a pileup of high power stations I didn't have much chance to get to him
before I had to start work), and routinely communicate with a number of mainland
US stations without difficulty. Given that I haven't even bent one of the whips
on the hamsticks, even though the tips aren't much below the level the ATAS tips
were, I'm more than happy with the setup. I can't say the ATAS was a really bad
antenna, just not optimum for my particular setup. I've got sticks from 75
meters to 10 meters, and get out pretty well on all of them (I haven't tried the
75 meters beyond the Hawaiian islands yet, but that'll come in a few weeks when
I move, and probably won't have the QTH rig plumbed to an antenna for a couple
of weeks after that.

Thanks
--Rick AH7H


"Joe S." wrote:

So, after giving up your ATAS, what do you use?

Thanks.

--

-----
Joe

"Rick Frazier" wrote in message
...
Joe:

Why would you use the main tuning knob (the big one on the right) while
mobile
anyway? It's far too much trouble and takes your eyes off of the road (at
least
where I have the control head for mine mounted, at seat level just behind
the
gearshift in my Tacoma pickup).

I just set the rig for 1-khz and use the lower left hand knob on the rig.
If
you press the power button momentarily, it goes into "fast" mode (a little
running guy sort of icon appears in the lower right hand corner of the
display)
and it moves 2-khz per indent. Only if someone is on a ham band and
"between
the slots" do I actually use the big tuning knob on the right.

Another thing to know. If you press the lower left knob in, the tuning
moves to
1 Mhz per indent. This is useful for quick moves from one area to another
if
you are looking for swl that isn't near a standard ham band.

If you are using the ATAS-120, you'll find that swl receive is affected by
the
tuning of the antenna, just like transmitting. So long as you are close
to the
band you last tuned it's ok, but the farther away you get, the less
sensitive
the receiver will seem to be.

Also, check around the 'net and find the information on the "hidden menus"
and
write down all of the settings that you get for the factory settings.
I've had
several people indicate they've lost some of the settings from starting
their
car while the radio is operating (the input voltage drops below 12 volts
and it
does something to cause the settings to be lost). The most common
complaint if
this happens is a "mute receiver" or "dead receiver" because the
sensitivity
goes to pot.

Even knowing that, I routinely start my truck while the radio is on, and
have
never had a problem (but I live in Hawaii, and the temperature here
doesn't drop
all that low unless you drive up to the top of the mountain, so battery
capacity
isn't all that much of an issue compared to living in the great white
north...)

I really like my 857, it's going on 16 months old now, and still haven't
exhaustively explored most of the menus because I use it mobile all of the
time. I did give up the ATAS-120 though, because I kept breaking off the
whips
on overhanging branches, and got tired of re-soldering various connections
due
to high vibration where it was mounted.

Thanks
-_Rick

"Joe S." wrote:

A month ago I treated myself to a Yaesu FT-857D and ATAS-120 antenna.
Installed the rig on my old truck -- I work the 0400 to 1300 shift at a
building materials supplier 35 miles from home. I use the rig to chat
on HF
and VHF to and from work -- when the bands are dead, I SWL on the
FT-857.

I am very pleased with the rig and can hardly wait to get my new house
built
and move out of this damn apartment into a place with real antennas.

Question for you FT-857 people: The main tuning dial has a really soft
touch -- the slightest movement knocks it off freq. When I'm cruising
along
in an old truck at 0330 with my right hand resting on the gearshift,
trying
to tune the main tuning dial, it's tough to get a station tuned in. I
guess
I could change the tuning rate to the lowest possible, but, that's
another
problem. Is there any way to adjust the drag on the main tuning knob so
it's a bit stiffer and so the knob doesn't move so readily? I think not
but
thought I'd ask.

Thanks.

--

-----
Joe