HF Mobile Options - 6dB Gain for Some - MFJ-1661

It's a great time to consider HF Mobile Operation. Peter G3OJV ,explains why, and how those with small gardens can realise some significant gain.
MFJ01661 Mobile antenna Kit
www.hamradiost...
Discovery 500 Transceiver
www.hamradiost...

[@user-ux9nb4dw4h]

Thank You Peter, a great video on mobile radio, I operate POTA from my vehicle using mono band HF antennas know as Hamsticks, the equivalent of the MFJ HF Stick, I operate on 10,15,17,12, 20 meter bands and have worked stations all over the world. My mobile radio is a Yaesu FT857 wired direct to the battery with the antenna on the driver side rear corner of my vehicle. A cheap laptop with a solid state hard drive is used for logging, the laptop is good for four hours of operation and the vehicle battery is more than capable of that duration without having to run the engine. I have also used the same antenna and laptop in the field with the antenna mounted on a camera tripod and 4 counterpoise wires on the ground. I run 100 watts on SSB and 25 watts on digital modes. I hope to see you on the bands, Kevin VE3RRH

[@GordonHudson]

I worked VK on 10m on Saturday. 50w to a dipole in the loft. SSB too, which is a rarity for me.

[@robertabbott7770]

I do your little trick by running the antenna from my car into my shack . And yes it works very well, and the bonus is that you can get good DX off a vertical .

[@watersstanton]

Yes indeed. 73 Peter.

[@4youian]

Great ideas Peter! Thank you.

[@bassangler73]

Hope you're feeling better!

[@frankwc0o]

Are these Discovery TX-500 band friendly for the US? Are there TX-500 that are US friendly? Thanks Peter.

[@smiffykuk]

Excellent ideas Peter as usual.. i suppose the “earth” you are talking about, ( the car body), is actually capacitance to ground?… but my experience like yours is that mobile.. or static mobile,(portable).. offers excellent performance, band and conditions being correct at you operating time. Add the ability to move to an area that has low noise, therefore maximising your signal to noise ratio, or/ and operating near water, the DX possibilities are endless. Especially for QRP operating. Your idea of using the aerial on the car but fed from the base station is excellent if external aerials are forbidden.. on the higher band my guess it would possibly outperform the attic dipole for dx? Thanks for you interesting video😊

[@watersstanton]

There are two mechanisms, a big chunk of metal including engine, and the capacity to ground. Thanks for sharing. 73 Peter

[@somejackball]

hooakay buddy

[@JNET_Reloaded]

scalfold pole in garden or side of house!

[@watersstanton]

Yes providing you add tuned elevated radials.

[@Dan-56]

15 years ago I worked inspecting construction sites. The mobile setup I used was an Icom 706 with an Icom AH-4 “random wire” tuner at the back corner of the truck, feeding 8.5 foot long stainless CB whip with a spring base. Tough as nails, easy to fold down and clip to the gutter rail for low overhangs. Over the 5 years that I used it, I logged 755 mobile contacts, including a few DX, but mostly all were here in the US on 20 & 40m. (Where there’s a will, there’s a way 😉) 73 de Dan WD4DB

[@RobertLeeAtYT]

Huh, I have an old sgc237 auto tuner not being used for much. I think I’ll give exactly this a try. Was the AH4 good enough to match more bands, say from 40m down to 10m?

[@Dan-56]

@@RobertLeeAtYT Yes, the AH-4 allowed me to tune everything from 6m through 40m on the stainless CB whip. Of course the most efficient was on 20m where it was effectively 1/8 wave long, but still useable in good conditions on 40m even though it is only physically a 1/16 wave.

[@RobertLeeAtYT]

@@Dan-56 How interesting! You know what, you've inspired me to do some ghetto experiments. I've a couple of crappie fiberglass telescoping fishing rods. One of these goes out 20ft. So I'm thinking running copper wire up the pole and tying the ground side directly to some choice spots on the car chassis (much as a trunk lip mount). If the SGC can tune this across the bands, then I'm all in. I'll have to take the old FT-857 out of storage.

[@chasdj]

just wondering why you are supporting Russian radio suppliers ie the discovery 500 with whats going on

[@watersstanton]

It is not made or-marketed by Russia.

[@chasdj]

@@watersstanton Where is the Discovery TX 500 made? Last year, a company out of Russia started dropping hints about a QRP transceiver they were developing called the Discovery TX-500. The prototype photos looked like nothing else on the market: it was unusually thin--only 30mm thick--and sported a CNC-machined aluminum alloy body.2 Nov 2020

[@charlieoscar09]

Have you missed a safety opportunity asking people to run 100w from a vehicle. This is a 30amp draw. Maybe your next video. ' Dont Run an 100W Radio from the Cigar Lighter Socket ' 🆘️

[@watersstanton]

Many, many hams run 109W plus from mobile and portable gear. Basic common sense comes into play here.

[@charlieoscar09]

@@watersstanton With a separate battery or direct battery connection maybe.

[@donegalvolvo]

It’s not 30 amp. On a 12v system 100w is just over 8 amps. The cigarette lighter socket is usually a 10-20 amp fuse in any car I’ve ever owned

[@charlieoscar09]

@@donegalvolvo Try running 100w from todays modern 12v aux port (cigar lighter) firstly the red and white adapter will become so hot you may not be able to touch it. Secondly you have be absoulty sure the port can deliver the current. I have seen port connections with very thin wires and not the best soldering. My point was " Dont use the Cigar Port for your radio connection" and maybe this should have been mentioned as 100w radios require 20 to 25amps to run reliably

[@grandpaandlucas7054]

Not advisable running radios from modern vehicles. There fitted with complex wiring and electronics that wont tolerate high levels of RF. I know of a case in an Audi that suffered RF damage to the centre console. The head unit from an icom 7100 that sat on it destroyed the circuits which disabled the Audi's multifunction knob, radio, sat nav and numerous other features. The repair cost over £2000.