Mobile Ham Radio

Some have asked if I’d consider getting a Starlink Mini. Coincidentally, I’ve said many times that I’m running out of space for more electronics in my small car. Okay, I may have said that I’m already out of space! 😀

Starlink’s monthly subscription fees are reasonable, especially when toggling between Standby and Roam plans. However, the $500 equipment price was more than I could justify since I live within abundant 4G/5G services. Recently, Starlink dropped the purchase price of the Mini to $200, likely to make room for a forthcoming hardware update. That got me interested in at least a little bit of experimenting! And since it’s a standalone unit that mounts outside the cabin, I have plenty of room, right? 😉 Continue reading →

I’ve had several pure sine wave voltage inverters in my cars over the years. The first “pure sine wave” inverter was a 400-watt unit by Wagan that I mounted under the front passenger seat. I carried a standalone power station by Jackery from 2020-2023.

I mounted a 3000-watt monster by LiTime on my rear seat delete in 2024. It proved to be overkill for my usual needs. Sure, I like overkill, but the LiTime also emitted radio frequency interference (RFI) on key frequencies that I use during ham radio events. I finally decided it was time to pay a little more for a quality inverter that’s “RF-quiet.”  Continue reading →

I’ve been using Yaesu’s ATAS-120A since 2007. It’s an “easy button” for their mobile HF radios. I bought a Scorpion mobile HF antenna in 2021. I hadn’t been on HF in several years, which meant that I didn’t have an immediate comparison against my ATAS.

Even if I had logged as much data as possible, and on the same car, the solar cycles were certainly different between the two purchase times! The ATAS has seen many mounting locations on three different cars. Today, it’s mounted to a roof rack and the Scorpion is mounted to a trailer hitch.

Many hams, including myself, have been curious to know how a high-mounted ATAS performs when compared to a low-mounted Scorpion. Continue reading →

As if my mobile ham station wasn’t already kooky enough, I’ve gone “full nerd” by adding four Diamond K9000 motorized antenna mounts! WHY? When my VHF rover had only three Yagis (50, 144, and 432 MHz), I was comfortable with rotating the beams and just letting the ATAS-120A’s radial drag under the lowest boom as it passed by.

The shorter antennas would either barely touch or miss the lowest boom altogether. However, adding the fourth Yagi (222 MHz) reduced the clearance for my verticals. I was no longer willing to accept the collisions. Continue reading →

Some Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePo4) batteries can be bought with internal heaters. However, most batteries don’t have them. I added my own heating pad in the bottom of my battery box. Still, I had to ask myself, “Is a heater really necessary in my application?” Is one necessary in yours?

Sometimes I take a bit to get to the point. So, here’s my answer right from the start: If your battery is portable and will be brought indoors when not in use, then the easy answer is NO. I think most hams use or build portable batteries. But what about everything else? Continue reading →

When I last posted, I had shared that my four year old component-built 100Ah Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePo4 or LFP) battery had degraded to a capacity of only 74Ah. Given the cost and shipping charges for a replacement cell and the chance that it might only present a different problem, it seemed faster and more economical to just replace my setup with a new 100Ah battery. WattCycle’s 100Ah Mini LiFePo4, just $160 in December 2025, could probably fit perfectly in place of my existing battery for less than 25% of what I paid for 100Ah in 2021.

It would also restore my lost 25Ah of capacity… for a while, anyway. Remember, all batteries degrade over time. How long would it take for another 100Ah battery to wind up right where I was in November 2025? Continue reading →