After reading about Steve's project, last night I finally found time and energy to reinstall my trusty FT-857 in the car. I have been QRT for a while after finding a blown fuse on the wires from the battery to the boot where the radio used to be installed. It turned out that the insulation on the wire was destroyed. I have now reinstalled the radio and put the new wires inside a protective rubber sleeve I got from a school mate that used to work in a workshop.
I'm now able to work both HF and VHF/UHF with an ATAS-100 screwdriver antenna and a short 2m/70cm whip from MFJ called MFJ-1724B. And just for the record; my FT-857 is always turned down to 5w on HF...
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Begali Simplex Basic
8 hours ago
I look forward to reading about what contacts you manage to make using QRP mobile. Personally I believe that 10W can still be considered QRP on SSB, and I have managed to work to the USA using 10W from my K2 and an MP-1 antenna.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning I too had an FT-857 in the car some time ago but took it out as just could not get rid of the QRM from the engine. I now have a new car and will be checking your blog with interest to see how things go? First I will have to purchase a new mobile rig as I sold the FT-857.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments! I will keep you updated, that is if I can get the ATAS-100 to work! When I was tuning it today the sound of the motor suddenly changed and it seemed that the moving part of the antenna fastened.
ReplyDeleteI have tried to loosen it manually with no luck. This has happened before so I hope I will be able to fix it.
Last night I brought the ATAS-100 antenna inside to test it with a variable power supply. I powered it with 8V and 11V dc and it did both extend and retract. A fellow amateur here in Skien tipped me that the center pin of the ATAS-100 sometimes has problems with the connection to the socket. He told me he had to drop a metal spring from a ball point pen inside the center of the SO-239 socket to get a good connection. I will try this with my antenna tomorrow.
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