Yaesu FT-8900r Which antenna?

I am going to be getting an FT-8900r soon and have been looking at the Diamond and Coment quad band antennas. They seem long and rigid (no way to say that without it sounding dirty) at 50/51 inches and I worry about one breaking. My truck is a daily driver, but I do hit the trails as much as possible (every few months).

If you have a FT-8900 or another HF radio with a long antenna, please let me know how you have it installed (pics) and what you think of it. What would you do differently?



73
N7MCS

 

Don't waste your money on the 8900. It only has 10 and 6m in FM. No one does 10 and 6 in FM... only SSB. Not worth the extra cost for the extra two bands in modes no one uses on those bands and those quad band antennas suck. I would get the FT8800 and a diamond NR770 Dual band. Or better yet a Kenwood TM-V71A. I dont like how the mic cable comes out of the remote head on the yaesus. that means your stuck with your mic wherever your head is mounted. The kenwood has a seperate cable for the mic so you can put the mic anywhere.

 

Consistent with what Seth says, I have the 8900, but only use it with the dual band 1/4 wave antenna mounted on top of my cab.

I keep meaning to get one of those quad band antennas to keep in the bed, so I can try it out while camped out way out in the sticks. But I can't imagine rolling down the highway with that antenna attached.

 

Would be sweet if it did SSB... could get some great skip and do some long distance on the mountains.. but FM on HF bands is useless.

 

Yeah. I didn't figure out the FM only thing till after I had the radio purchased and installed.

Oh well. I spent the absolute max amount of cash I was willing to spend at the time, and wouldn't have been willing to pony up the extra cash for a multi-mode transceiver anyhow.

 

True but you could have saved money buying a dual band only..

 

Yes, I know the limitation of the 10m band and how dead it is right now. The sunspot cycle will be changing next year and should really open this band. There are several repeaters in Arizona that can pic it up and help bounce all over the place. If I had the funds for a FT-857D, then I would go for it, but the radio allow beats out my install budget.


I use my HT (2m/70cm) everyday during my drive and want to expand to more bands, otherwise I would just get an antenna amplifier.

 

here in SF i was listening to a ton of contest pileups up on 10. Prop was real good. Have you been up there lately?
EDIT forgot to say when-it was over this past weekend

 

SF or 10m?

I use to live in Petaluma and my parents are live in Alameda now.

No, I listen to 10m when I can, but not running a rig that gets it yet. I think next year the sun cycle changes and 10m will light up all the way across the spectrum.

 

I meant 10 meters yeah there are quite a bit of contesters and just regular conversations up there daily.

 

Right. But you guys understand it's not just how much activity is on 10meters per-se, but using FM vs. SSB AM mode on 10meters?

Just checking.

 

I have only heard FM used ther one time. Mostly usb and some gorgeous AM too.

 

BTW I am an HF listener-no ticket yet. So when I refer to 10 meters as "up there" it is from MY standpoint..you guys run mainly on 2m right? So it would be "down there" for you

 

ok, now I am leaning towards a FT-857D. It will blow my budget, but I can use my current cheap Comet 2m/70cm magnetic antenna until I can afford to upgrade my antenna(s).

It's all about scalability.

 

Much better choice for a mobile HF/VHF/UHF rig. You will get much more use out of HF with SSB ability. You will have to get a Screwdriver antenna though for the HF bands.

 

The 857D is going to eat my whole install budget (for now) but I already have a 2m/70 mag mount antenna for my HT. So I can get the adapter for it and I will be good for now. Then when I pass my General I can get the Yaesu ATA-120 antenna or something similar (Plenty of time to do the research on that).

Maybe when I get my radio it will be time to start a build thread.