Ham Radio in the Truck

When I ran OTR, I had an 857d in my truck and ran with simple cheap Hamsticks.....Talked all around the world too....

 

What good is the FT-8900 other than 2m/70cm. 10 & 6 m are mostly SSB band. The 857 does everything he'd need and more. HF is the way to go if OTR. The FT-857 will work very well with a screwdriver like the little tarheel II. It's small size will not take up much room.

http://tarheelantennas.com/big_rig_photos

 

Tarheel makes a good screwdriver antenna, and Diamond has one too. Just watch total length because you don't want it reaching past 13'6".

 

To be honest, the ATAS is considered to be the worst performing "screwdriver" antenna on the market. (I have one for my FT-100.) Go with the Tarheel. There's a controller available to make it act like the ATAS.

 

Atas is a very bad antenna. Get the Tarheel for your Big Truck. If you got a Ham radio from Amazon you really over paid. Ft-2900 $135 at HRO on sale since June.
http://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-010078

FT-857D $806 after rebate
http://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-007098

 

hi the atas 100 auto tunes as it takes a data cable from the radio to the tuner to control the tuning so you do no more than just key the mike and it also has memories in it so it get to tune quicker as a couple of overs and it wont put you over the legal limit for a truck when mounted on the mirrors as for the mounting of the radio there are several way in which you can mount it without drilling the holes it depends on the truck but if possible you will be better of mounting it on the dash so that the face and controls are visible without taking your eyes off the road for that i suggest you use some silicon rubber like the clear bathroom caulking and let it set over the weekend bye the way i did not mean to caulk the radio to the dash but the mounting bracket hope this helps.

 

I run a Icom 7000 with a HI Q 6/80 antenna on the back of the cab. I pull tanker so no interference.
I made a rack to install all the radio equipment in and it sits in front of the passenger seat. The HI Q antenna
moves inside the height does not change. It's set at about 13' 6". I also run a metron amplifier.
I also am a company driver. luckily the company allows me to do about anything.

 

A cheaper and a bit simpler setup then a screwdriver for HF (although not quite as good a performer on the lower bands) would be to use an auto tuner and a long whip.

I use an ICOM AH-4 auto tuner and a 102” whip with my IC-7000 and it performs quite well on 20 meter and up. It will work on 40 and 80 meters as well but is not as efficient as a good screwdriver on those bands (a screwdriver will outperform it on 20 as well but not by much). The longer the whip the better it will do.

The AH-4 can “tune a wet noodle” as the saying goes and is designed for ICOM radios but I have seen simple circuits for using it with Yaesu radios as well. With an ICOM radio it can be setup to tune just by keying the Mic so it couldn’t be simpler to operate. It is rated for 80 – 6 meters but I use it on 160 meters as well by adding wire to the whip when stationary just by clipping on extra wire with an alligator clip on one end.

 

Mr. Balakov: seems as if U do not have a clue. Your advice to OP to go with the
Failure FT8900 left me on the ground in #### near tears. LOL ....Im still tickled!