Previously, I posted on finally having my radios installed in my Blazer, since then I have not mentioned them much. I do plan on reviewing the individual components a bit more in the near future, but for the time being I will say that they everything is working about as well as can be expected. I have, however, noticed a few things about operating HF while mobile (especially in town) that make it a bit less fun than I had originally hoped.

The first thing that I noticed is somewhat specific to my choice of equipment. With the combination of the Tarheel II and Turbo Tuner, tuning is not exactly instantaneous; in fact, it can take a minute or two to go from the “park” position of the antenna to a given frequency on the 80 meter band. Going from “park” to the 20 meter band is much quicker as the antenna does not have to travel as far, but can still take a few moments. While this is not something that would deter me from choosing the same equipment if I had to start from scratch, it is something that limits the amount of use I can make of it during my daily commutes as it takes me somewhere between 10 and 20 minutes to get to work depending on traffic and stop lights.

Another thing along these same lines is that unlike with the VHF and UHF bands where most of the activity in a given area takes place on a few select frequencies, HF has a wide variety of frequencies spread out across the spectrum and there may be activity on any given frequency at any given time or no activity on any given frequency at any give time so finding activity and then being able to participate takes a bit of time, effort, and patience.

These things, however, become much less of an issue when driving down the highway because the trip is much longer so there is plenty of time to wait for the antenna to tune and scan through the bands to find some activity.

The second major issue I have noticed while using the HF bands on my FT-857D is something generally inherent with HF mobile operation, that is, the “noise” that the radio picks up. While I am certain that there is a bit of noise being produced by my vehicle when it is running (things like the alternator and spark plug wires) that is being picked up by the radio, there is quite a bit of noise picked up from things such as power lines. In this respect however, being mobile can also be an advantage.

With a base station set-up, one has to simply deal with and/or put up with any noise in the area, however, it is quite easy for me to drive a couple miles outside of town and get away from some of the noise if I want to. Conversely, with a base station, one can put up bigger and better antennas, put the antenna higher in the air, and/or ground the station a bit more thoroughly to help eliminate some of the noise.

The third issue that I will mention in this post is another one that is somewhat inherent in HF mobile operation. A mobile installation has a lot more limitations on antenna set-up and the ability to run amplifiers than a base station. With a base station, the antenna can be much larger and much higher in the air than with a mobile station. Having the bigger and better antenna generally means that more stations will be heard and more stations will hear you. Additionally, if an amplifier is used, more power is output and the signal has the potential to reach that much further. While I am sure that it is possible to have relatively large antennas and use amplifiers in a mobile installation, these options are generally beyond what most would deem reasonable and/or practical.

Even though mobile stations are at a slight disadvantage in terms of range and the ability to make contacts, they are still able to perform quite nicely. Plus, there is the advantage of being mobile. With a base station, the operating locations are pretty limited as you pretty much have to be sitting at home at your desk in front of your radio. With a mobile installation, you can operate from anywhere you can get your vehicle be it the lake, a park, or the parking lot at work during your lunch break.