I have a Tech license right now. I am looking to upgrade to a General. How many people run HF in their vehicle? What kind of rigs and antennas do you use? I have a Silverado with a topper on it. Looking to see best way to set it up. Looking at Yaesu ft-891 or Icom IC-7100. Looking at Tarheel antenna also. Any suggestions, pros, cons out there?
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Ham HF mobile users
- Thread starter Wdfnds
- Start date
CUCVDRIVER
Rank 0
Contributor II
I run a 891 with a Tarheal Little II 
CUCVDRIVER
Rank 0
Contributor II
I really don't ever operate 160. My antenna is the Tarheal Little II 80-6m . I have made some great contacts HF mobile. Yeah my 2m/70cm is the FT-8800.
Member III
I really need to get my HF control head mounted back into my Jeep.
I have run hamsticks previously and though they worked I broke 3 in 2 years, good thing they are cheap. I hit my antennas on trees daily and it took it's toll on the base of the fiberglass section.
Now I run a 102" whip with a home made manual adjustable loading coil similar to the Wolf River coils. It too gets beat on trees daily and I have run it down the highway during a torrential thunderstorm and so far it has held up well. I am sure it will work fine once I get it tuned correctly. Since I don't have my control head mounted I haven't really put much work into tuning it, I believe it needs a matching coil.
Another common offroad HF antenna option is a 108" whip with an auto-tuner. Not all that efficient and probably won't get you below 40m but the 102"/108" whip is tough as nails.
The Tarheel seems to be a good antenna and if you have the money that is likely the better way to go, I just couldn't justify hanging a $500+ antenna off the side of my Jeep.
I have run hamsticks previously and though they worked I broke 3 in 2 years, good thing they are cheap. I hit my antennas on trees daily and it took it's toll on the base of the fiberglass section.
Now I run a 102" whip with a home made manual adjustable loading coil similar to the Wolf River coils. It too gets beat on trees daily and I have run it down the highway during a torrential thunderstorm and so far it has held up well. I am sure it will work fine once I get it tuned correctly. Since I don't have my control head mounted I haven't really put much work into tuning it, I believe it needs a matching coil.
Another common offroad HF antenna option is a 108" whip with an auto-tuner. Not all that efficient and probably won't get you below 40m but the 102"/108" whip is tough as nails.
The Tarheel seems to be a good antenna and if you have the money that is likely the better way to go, I just couldn't justify hanging a $500+ antenna off the side of my Jeep.
Enthusiast III
Following... I have been considering upgrading to General License as well but not sure how much i would use it. Currently have a Yaesu FTM-100 2m/70cm mobile and a Yaesu VX-7R handheld.
Traveler II
I've got a Kenwood TS-480 that is currently being used as my base station and was bought with the intention of mobile use when/if I decide to move everything from the shack to one of the vehicles for a trip. I'm kind of with Jon as far as maybe using a 102" whip and a tuner, but I haven't decided exactly how to set it up or if its even worth it right now. Purpose built HF mobile antennas are just too dang expensive for the lack of durability and can be a bear to fool with if you're moving a lot. If I had the extra cash to blow and do some testing, I'd actually like to try either a Little Tarheel or a Diamond SD330. The SD330 is roughly $150.00 cheaper than the Tarheel, but only goes up to 10M, which isn't a deal breaker for me since I don't use 6M much, if at all now. Since I'm using NMO mounts on my Tundra and 4Runner now, I'd likely just get an NMO to 3/8-24 adapter, ground the hell out of the trucks and then see what happens. The 4Runner would be the biggest PITA since its got a Diamond K515 rack mount, but it is still something on the bucket list to experiment with.
@Wdfnds the traveling is doable, but rag chewing like you can on 2M/440, not so much.... Propagation plays the biggest role in HF work and isn't all that great ATM anyway, so adding a moving vehicle into the mix likely won't work very well, if at all. You also have the problem of tuning around. Its not like UHF/VHF where you can program frequencies for repeater and simplex into the memory and then just pop to or scan through them very easily. The bandwidth is just too great on HF and what's open now might not be 30 seconds in the future. You pretty much have to tune around the bands, which can only safely be done while sitting still. ETA: unless you were doing something like tuning into a net on a specific frequency at a specific time and even then the propagation at the time will still play a huge part in what you can do.
@Michael G. , DO IT! IMO, its better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. The General test isn't hard at all and the upgrade will give you access to much more of the spectrum than Tech. Extra, on the other hand, is a whole other animal. I'll get Extra myself at some point, but other than the prestige of having the top class, I don't feel I'm missing out on too much bandwidth. There's more than enough to keep me happy for now.
@Wdfnds the traveling is doable, but rag chewing like you can on 2M/440, not so much.... Propagation plays the biggest role in HF work and isn't all that great ATM anyway, so adding a moving vehicle into the mix likely won't work very well, if at all. You also have the problem of tuning around. Its not like UHF/VHF where you can program frequencies for repeater and simplex into the memory and then just pop to or scan through them very easily. The bandwidth is just too great on HF and what's open now might not be 30 seconds in the future. You pretty much have to tune around the bands, which can only safely be done while sitting still. ETA: unless you were doing something like tuning into a net on a specific frequency at a specific time and even then the propagation at the time will still play a huge part in what you can do.
@Michael G. , DO IT! IMO, its better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. The General test isn't hard at all and the upgrade will give you access to much more of the spectrum than Tech. Extra, on the other hand, is a whole other animal. I'll get Extra myself at some point, but other than the prestige of having the top class, I don't feel I'm missing out on too much bandwidth. There's more than enough to keep me happy for now.
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Member III
I thought the same thing..... until the DX I wanted to work was in the extra portion. Took me 5 yrs though before I upgraded.
The lack of constant connectivity is what I am hearing. For now, I may upgrade, but will have to think putting a radio in the vehicle. On top of it all, as of July 1st I am not sure if you can hand hold a mic in Illinois while driving. It will be illegal to even have a cell phone in your hand while driving. They will consider that distracted driving and the first time now is considered a moving violation. I am not sure how radio fits in with this yet.
Traveler II
Definitely read the fine print in the new law. I’m pretty sure that there ‘should’ be an exception for mobile radios. From what I’ve read in the past, the FCC rules will take precedence as far as a radio not being classified like a phone. If an exception is in it, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a copy with you that you could show them.
I thought I had read the exemption in the past. I will look for the document to carry with me. Years ago a state trooper in Kentucky got in trouble. He was ripping ham radios out of vehicles since the can receive police freqs. I know in the states that DC powered scanners outside of home or business buildings are illegal the ham licence trumps the state law.
Member III
Member III
One thing I like about mobile HF is that I always have the radio with me, see a spot for a DXpedition....take a break and go try to work them.
I've also caught nets or dx while mobile. You really don't have to take your eyes off the road. Turn the dial and listen. Sure signals can change due to being mobile but that's part of the fun.
Mobile 2 way radios are typically exempt, either specifically or by definition.
I've also caught nets or dx while mobile. You really don't have to take your eyes off the road. Turn the dial and listen. Sure signals can change due to being mobile but that's part of the fun.
Mobile 2 way radios are typically exempt, either specifically or by definition.
Member III
Two-way radios, CBs, and amateur radios are specifically excuded: http://ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext.asp?DocName=062500050K12-610.2
Enthusiast III
We had this come up in California a couple years ago, the government brainiacs exempted handheld microphones after the Highway Patrol opposed this since it would apply to law enforcement, CHP also felt it was not distracting like a cell phone is.
Need to have an advocate fight it.
Need to have an advocate fight it.
Influencer III
HF mobile often on road trips. I usually use an old Radio Shack HTX10 all mode 10m rig. Sometimes I’ll use another if I want to work 17 or 20 meters.
