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Prerunner1982

Local Expert, Oklahoma USA
Launch Member
Member

Member III

3,372
Navina, Oklahoma
First Name
Jon
Last Name
B
Member #

16274

Right now I have a Yaesu FT-2900 in my Willys. I have a Yaesu FT-857D at home and have been thinking about running it in my Willys too. I have space to put it but am unsure about what to do for an antenna.
A 102" whip on a ball mount on the side just seems almost period correct. You could use an autotuner inside the vehicle to tune the antenna to the frequency you want.
 

TheBronze

Rank IV
Launch Member

Enthusiast III

1,033
Montebello, CA
First Name
Brian
Last Name
Washburn
Member #

20064

Ham/GMRS Callsign
K6GBW
Service Branch
US Army
A lot of people build “portable” HF stations that they can set up quickly. Low power (QRP) stations are very popular. I’m doing this because putting an HF antenna on your vehicle is pretty daunting. But you can do 10-12 meters pretty easily with an old CB antenna. The problem is the sunspot cycle is bad right now and 10-12 meters isn’t very useful at the moment.

Take a look at a Yaesu FT-818 or the new Icom IC-F705. One of those with a very basic dipole wire antenna or even a small end fed half wave will work very well when you stop for the day and set up camp.
 
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jeepinjeepin

Rank V
Launch Member

Advocate I

1,721
Wallburg, NC, USA
First Name
Josh
Last Name
Webb
Member #

20332

Ham/GMRS Callsign
NC4WD, WRTJ904
A lot of people build “portable” HF stations that they can set up quickly. Low power (QRP) stations are very popular. I’m doing this because putting an HF antenna on your vehicle is pretty daunting. But you can do 10-12 meters pretty easily with an old CB antenna. The problem is the sunspot cycle is bad right now and 10-12 meters isn’t very useful at the moment.

Take a look at a Yaesu FT-818 or the new Icom IC-F705. One of those with a very basic dipole wire antenna or even a small end fed half wave will work very well when you stop for the day and set up camp.
I run a FT-857D in my Jeep with a 40m hamstick and usually need most of the 100 watts she’s capable of. I have an FT-817 that I use for SOTA/POTA/etc. and the 5 watts is a real hindrance at times with short, coil loaded antennas, but string up a full size wire antenna and contacts come a lot easier. I worked Germany and Hungary on 20m ssb from my home station with a simple wire antenna on 5 watts today.