[Kenwood] Hows Your HF Mobile Working Out For you?

[John Geiger]

I am currently not using a Kenwood for HF mobile, but am using an Icom 706
plugged into the cigarette lighter-so running about 40 watts.  I don't
usually drive to work, and only go mobile on out of town trips, so my setup
isn't permanent.

For antennas I use MFJ Mini-Hamsticks for 17 and 20 meters.  These antennas
are 3 feet long, and work fine with a 5 inch mag mount on the roof of the
minivan. I run the coax in through one of the rear windows, and use a pair
of MFJ mini paddles attached to a jar sitting in the cup holder of our 2007
Town and Country minivan.

Don't let the size of the Mini-Hamsticks fool you.  I didn't expect too
much out of them, but have worked 45 countries or so mobile with them,
including Australia, Japan, and Siberia, so some longer paths.  The 17m one
will cover the entire band with a very good SWR.  The 20 meter one is
limited to the CW portion of the band unless I use a tuner (rare) or retune
it. I also get on the CW county hunters frequency and have no problems
running stations. Did even break a pileup for 9Q (Zaire) last year on 17 CW
for a new band country, and worked KH5 this year on 17 for a new band
country as well.

The previous poster was correct-HF mobile is a blast!

73 John AF5CC

On Sun, May 1, 2016 at 1:39 PM, howard holden <holden7471 at msn.com> wrote:

> Hello Bill, up till I retired 6 years ago on the east coast I ran CW
> mobile with a Kenwood TS440S and a Hustler antenna system. Tried Hamsticks
> but the Hustler was quite superior. Ran 40 20 15 and 10, and worked very
> well all bands. DX on all, although on 40 best I could do was Europe and
> the Caribbean. The 20M setup was actually a 15M coil with a long stinger.
>
> Drew power off the cigarette lighter (yes I know that's a no-no but it
> worked ok) and the antenna was mounted in a small plate attached to the
> inner seam of the wheel well and braced with a bracket coming out from the
> trunk seam. RG58 coax fed out through the rear passenger door. Never a
> problem with it crushing. And no problems with any kind of RF interference
> on three different Buick LeSabres, the last a 2003.
>
> Good luck with it, mobile HF is a blast.
>
> 73 Howie WB2AWQ/7
>
> PS I'm a lefty so I had a Bulldog magnetic paddle sitting on a piece of
> steel bent over the door handle.
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On May 1, 2016, at 7:11 AM, "WD8ARZ" <wd8arz at ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>
> > Good Sunday Morning, from South Bend, Indiana. Looking forward to
> hearing from any of you about your Kenwood HF mobile experiences.
> >
> > WD8ARZ from South Bend, Indiana is monitoring:
> >
> > Channel 2: 5346.5 kHz USB  and  Channel 3: 5357.0 kHz USB Sometimes may
> get radio active on other bands off and on during
> >
> > the day, but when I am not radioactive   elsewhere, I will be monitor
> the two 60 meter channels listed above.
> >
> > 73 From Bill WD8ARZ
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