How to mount yaesu ft- 857d in my tacoma?

H

hikerpaul

New member
I have a Tacoma access cab with a flippac. I have bought YAESU FT- 857D on advice of people in this forum, and now need to install it. It has a removable faceplate with a connecting cable, so I can mount the faceplate separate from the main unit.

Where and how do you suggest. I figure I can install my
Atas 120M power screwdriver > mobile antenna,for 2M, 440, 6M, HF on the front bumper mount that holds my winch,
but I'm not sure where the best place for the FT 857D is,

I use the access cab to hold 40 gallon plastic containers filled with things I might want quick acc3ss to from the cab, (snacks, water, first aid kit, compact disks, maps and state atlas etc, etc.) I guess on possibility might be on the side of the access cab behind the left or right door, but I'd like to hear what you've done and/or would suggest and details about installation, as I'm new to this.

, also how would you suggest I run the coax cable from wherever I install the radio, to the antenna mount on the bumper.

Thanks for any help or advice

Paul
 
Corey

Corey

OverCamping Specialist
Same radio I have and antenna, although the link below shows a different antenna, I swapped it out for the Atas 120.

Not all done with my installation, but you can see how I mounted the faceplate here.
http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=298097&postcount=22
Will be putting the main unit under the drivers seat when I get to it.

I like having the faceplate there as it is very easy to see and reach.
I know the company that I got the mount from makes them for Tacomas too.
 
frgtwn

frgtwn

Adventurer
K0BG for all things mobile

This ham has a great website and suggestions for many uses and installs. Not Tacoma specific, but useful nevertheless.

http://www.k0bg.com/



I have thought of placing the 857 in a Pelican case and having a portable rig and a mobile rig. Just detach the faceplate, place it in your case with radio and battery, and off you go. (Of course nothing is that simple, but it is possible.)

Some have mounted their faceplate to a bracket at the rear view mirror. It works well and avoids clutter elsewhere.

Another thought. By putting the radio in the camper, and having another remote faceplate bracket and wiring, you can have QSO's anytime you want.

Lotsa possibilities. Have fun.

Dale
 
taugust

taugust

Adventurer
I mounted the main body under the driver's seat, bolted through the floor. The head unit was mounted on the center console using a bracket from Icom (originally bought for my Icom 208H) The mike hanger was mounted on the side of the console as shown. My 2m/440 antenna is mounted through the roof and the HF antenna mount is a CB mount mounted to the driver's fender. Be careful of mounting the head unit too high on the front of the dash. It will become a projectile if the airbags deploy.
 

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tdesanto

tdesanto

Expedition Leader
gary in ohio said:
I fully agree. The ATAS is a marginal HF antenna and while it will work on UHF/VHF your better off having a separate antenna for those bands.
Click to expand...


Gary, isn't any mobile HF antenna a compromise?

I'm still new to HF, but this weekend, during national field day, I was quite surprised with it's performance. I mean, it won't compete with the 35-50' directional antennas that some of the experts at my local club had, but I was still able to reach the east and west coasts.
 
G

gary in ohio

Explorer
tdesanto said:
Gary, isn't any mobile HF antenna a compromise?

I'm still new to HF, but this weekend, during national field day, I was quite surprised with it's performance. I mean, it won't compete with the 35-50' directional antennas that some of the experts at my local club had, but I was still able to reach the east and west coasts.
Click to expand...

Depends on the band, From 20m-6m you can get a reasonable decent antenna close to 1/2wave length long, Going the other way from 20m the antennas start to get pretty big. The ATAS is not even rated for 80m and while it will tune 40m, that doesnt make it a good antenna for 40m.

Some of the larger diameter screwdriver antennas work reasonably well on 80m mobile. A 12ft+ and a good tuner will put a usable signal on the air also.
 
tdesanto

tdesanto

Expedition Leader
I guess that's why I've been happy with it. Not only am I new to HF, but I've mostly been on 20m. Maybe if I keep expectations low for 40m, then I won't be too disappointed.

I know what you're talking about with those larger screwdriver antennas. I'm sure they're better, but for overlanding, those are just asking to get hit by tree branches. Even with the ATAS I have to be careful with it. If I'm in a national forest, I end up removing it while driving and only put it back up if I need it.

I've been toying around with the idea of either buying or building a wire dipole antenna, something like these.

Gary, thanks for all of your input throughout many, many threads. You always seem to provide excellent advice regarding RF setups.
 
Last edited:
G

gary in ohio

Explorer
tdesanto said:
I've been toying around with the idea of either buying or building a wire dipole antenna, something like these.
Click to expand...
If its just a dipole, then build them. They are not difficult to build. Takes a little time to tune (built or bought) but an easy to use antenna. great way to learn about antenna's.

BTW, Univerisal is a good source of items if you do need to buy something. I get over there every few weeks, Great place to take a long lunch break.
 
tdesanto

tdesanto

Expedition Leader
gary in ohio said:
If its just a dipole, then build them. They are not difficult to build. Takes a little time to tune (built or bought) but an easy to use antenna. great way to learn about antenna's.

BTW, Univerisal is a good source of items if you do need to buy something. I get over there every few weeks, Great place to take a long lunch break.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I want to either build one or start with something and learn from it, then build one. These were pretty inexpensive, so I thought maybe my time might be better spent tuning it or using it so I could learn more elsewhere.

I do buy from Universal. Their customer service is excellent. Actually, it's a good thing that they're all the way up there...otherwise, I might spend a bit too much there ;)

So, I had another question about my ATAS...I was thinking about what you said about it not being useful on anything below 40m and not so great on 40. If I wanted to use it on something longer than 40m, could I not change out the whip, and add a much longer one cut to the proper length for the band? Or, do you that's oversimplifying things, given that this is an auto-tuning system?
 
G

gary in ohio

Explorer
tdesanto said:
So, I had another question about my ATAS...I was thinking about what you said about it not being useful on anything below 40m and not so great on 40. If I wanted to use it on something longer than 40m, could I not change out the whip, and add a much longer one cut to the proper length for the band? Or, do you that's oversimplifying things, given that this is an auto-tuning system?
Click to expand...

The ATAS is just over 5ft tall and just not enough of a coil for 80m. Keep in mind each leg of a 40m dipole is over 30ft long and 80m is 60ft. With a small coil round screw driver you just dont have enough length. 20m is about 16ft and 10m is down in the 7ft range. with a coil and whip, those bands are not to hard to match.

Now if you go to a good whip/longwire tuner and a 12ft+ whip You can get a reasonable signal on 40m and usable signal on 80m or if you go to one of the big, 9ft tall screw driver antenna then 80m and some claim 160m is possible.
 
xtatik

xtatik

Explorer
I'm actually pretty pleased with the ATAS. Yes, ALL mobile antennas are "compromise antennas". I also own a Hi-Q 3-80 and my Dad (W6HTW) runs a Scorpion SA-6160. The Scorpion and Hi-Q's are massive, heavy and in my opinion, they would beat themselves to death while offroading.....I won't risk it. And, neither of the larger, higher Q antennas will do VHF/UHF. The ATAS is lghtweight, reasonably durable (the 120A, not the 120) and is very CONVENIENT. Push button tuning between bands is a no-brainer....no more having to stop to tune the HI-Q.
I continue to be impressed by the ATAS. Here is an example of some DX contacts from my log while using ATAS for this past month only. All were on 20m SSB from my driveway here in Costa Mesa:
Lithuania, Jonas LY1000A
Estonia, Vello ES5QD
Azores, Marty CU2KG, IOTA
Russia, Andy UA3TCJ
Ukraine, Igor UT7QF
Poland, Elek SP7AID, Silvio SP2FAP
Japan, Teruo JA3JOT
New Zealand, John ZL1BYZ, IOTA
Tasmania, Laurie (m) VK7ZE, and Doug VKYGK, IOTA
Solomon Islands, Jan H44MY, IOTA
Tabuaeran (Fanning) Island, Chuck T32NCC, IOTA
Multiple Hawaiian Island stations nightly.

On 40m it works fine for stateside QSO's coast to coast...which is about all 40m is going to afford anyone on SSB these days. Right now, most of the DX work on 40 is being done on CW.
As for its VHF/UHF performance, I've noticed no difference in it vs. my Ft8900/Cr8900 combination for my purposes on local repeaters and between truck simplex operation. It's no longer in the the truck....no need.
Perhaps it's the abundance of available repeaters as to why I don't notice a difference. Simplex seems to be fine in the usual 10-20 mile range regardless of terrain, and 20-70 miles line of sight....which is all I will personally rely on for short range FM signals.

The trick to getting performance from this antenna is the same as with all others (hf). Proper bonding, noise suppression, and most particular to this antenna...grounding as it uses the coax outer to deliver voltage to the motor.
 
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