yaesu ft-891 and ATAS 120A

[BJ radionut]

Mudfoot: Just some quick notes before yard work!
I had the ATAS120A for about 1.5++ yrs. I had it on a 2002 / S10 Gold edition blazer mounted on the spare tire rear rack. The top of the antenna when first mounted, maybe the top 6 inches cleared the cab. It worked but like 6 shooter it would go into tune mode at will.
I had it coupled with the FT100D which I thought was a good rig. I added, 1 inch wide bond straps added after couple weeks from the rack to bumper. Then added 2 more from bumpers to frame on each side. (Gold Edition Blazer had real metal bumpers)
Helped greatly with the tuning issue!!! I however was not totally happy with preformance. Most notably on 20/40m.
Was commuting a lot from Indy to Chicago. Then wondered what it I raised it up some to clear the cab? I went down the street to a farm service wielding shop, had him look things over.
He fabbed a square tube extension from swing out tire rack, so the ENTIRE antenna was above the cab.
Holy cow what a HUGE difference! Then 40m and 20m came to life.
Then 15/10m was at, if I heard them could work them.
I traded to a full size Silverado later. I did the same set-up behind the cab, keeping the entire antenna above the cab. The truck improved it more. Then 20m up was hear'm - work'm. 40m was OK at night, daytime was good. I could easily check-in with the Mid-Cars guys and get plenty of good reports.
Next: Winter time, snow/ICE and road junk during that time...every month or so tuning would get sluggish. Take apart blow it out/lube and back to good preformance. I did not have issues with Rain after I added silicone the top around the whip and connections.
All in all for what I spent it did me well.
Now to your specific question: 2m/440...It did work on 2m..I thought. 440 never had much luck Simplex with the 25 watts on that band.
I then tried a cheap 1/4 wave dual band/mag mount on the roof of the truck. I quickly realized it was (ATAS120A)JUNK on those bands.
The 120A worked well on 6m FM freq's also, but 10m-20m mounted as stated I was happy.
I also when camping could remove the antenna and mount on about 7-8 ft. steel pole. I added radials about four, made out of flat 4 wire rotor cable and trimmed each flat wire for with 1 radial for each band on each of the flat cables. Worked very well, even on 40m!!!
So there my 2 cents worth on the ATAS120A antenna.
All the Best
Gary

PS: I sold the ATAS120A , when I wanted 75/80m mobile...went to a Predator clone made by Larry / KJ7U...Great Antenna been using it now at least 15 years on several different trucks.

 

[Mudfoot]

Thanks for the input.

I have an Diamond K400 that I'm going to try first. I can mount it directly to the top of my rear hatch. If this proves a dud, then I will punch a hole on top and run a NMO mount with a UHF adapter. If I don't like that, then I'll likely order a Breedlove ball mount and put it on rear quarter, then I could use it for a bigger Screwdriver in the future.

My main interest is working local friends on 40 meters and possibly 2 and 10, as well.

 

[NC7U]

I agree about the DSP, really annoying to turn back on every time!! I am also losing the ability to control the ATAS-120 at times. Usually happens after radio has been off for a day, or I have removed and re-installed the antenna. It will do nothing if you hit tune. I have to futz around, change bands, key up, turn off, back on, etc. Eventually it will work. And then it works fine until I turn the rig off again. Driving me nuts

My ATLAS-120 goes into no tune mode after changing bands, found that if you cycle the A/B vfo button once the tune works again.

 

[2RT307]

Hi guys!

Getting back into mobile with the FT891 and ATAS120A in my F150. I can't find anything on the KiralinkFT program. Did it die?

73,
Brett