Going Mobile

I had another nibble on my FT-7800R I have had for sale for about 4 months. Still no luck in selling the entire set up. I decided to take it out of the box and connect it to power supply and the 3-el 2m beam vertically polarized I have on my roof. Thankfully I have been able to reach the K6LRG repeater, which was my aim. This left me in a quandary with no mobile rig. Unfortunately my limited set up would not let me hit his repeater on a regular basis, one for a few miles when I was true line of sight.

I have been looking and reading about the Yaesu FT-857D. This is a rig that is within my mobile budget, comes with a separation kit and will work with the ATAS-120 mobile antenna (which I am buying tomorrow). I went to HRO today with no intentions but walked out with a new FT-857D. I still need to secure some sort of mobile mount and decide on a location to mount the antenna. Currently I am looking at the top of the toolbox that is direction behind the cab. The only problem is finding a mount that will work, which can be bolted to the toolbox and possibly tilted down on top of the toolbox if necessary.

I have sent many hours on Alan’s site, K0BG that discusses all aspects of mobile installation. I also joined the FT-857 Yahoo Group, so between the two I should be able to get the rig and antenna installed by next week and begin some HF work while I am mobile to and from work. I am looking forward to this possibility. Hell I might even sit in my truck and try some RTTY. Hopefully this set up offers many more options that I don’t currently have. Stay tuned, more info and images coming.