So once in a while I cruise eBay to see what kind of deals I can find.  A couple of weeks ago I found a TS-480 listed pretty cheap, no reserve so I stuck it in my watch list and forgot about it.  

Well yesterday I get a ping on my phone.  Auction about to end.  I had no idea what for.  So I pull it up and see a TS-480 (with a couple of installed filters) about to sell for $600.  Long story short, I have a radio in the mail that I paid less than $650 for.

I guess I'll have mobile HF next week :)

gah.

At first I thought it'd be as easy as slapping a radio and an antenna into the car.

Nope.

Someday I'll have good mobile HF.

Yeah, I didn't say "good" mobile HF.  Though being a long-bed pickup and a stake-hole mount, I'll mainly end up with 2 big pieces to bond together.  

I ordered mounting gear for the head, and a handful of hamsticks for antennas (note, I didn't say "good").  

Now, at least, I'll have something to do while I wait for my daughter to come out of school in the afternoon.  Well, even more to do once the bands get better.  :(

I can't tell... is that good or bad?

This wasn't an accidental purchase.  I pulled the truck over and sniped the bid. Based on what's coming with it, new price is about $1200, so I got it for about 54% of the new price.  

Assuming (feel free to quote benny hill at me) it works as advertised I got a good deal. (at least I feel like I did)

In case you don't know about this....   http://www.k0bg.com/

No, you did good. I just double-posted. lol.

You did good. The radio is a very good mobile rig. You'll like it.
HRO often sells them for under $1000. You still got a good deal. Is it a 100W or a 200W version?
Look at installing a Tarheel Screwdriver type antenna. They are not very cheap but worth every penny.

Yes, k0bg is open in another tab at this very moment :)


This is the 100W version with the tuner.  I'll probably end up with a screwdriver sooner or later.  Figured I'd go with the cheapo hamsticks for now.

So I carry a spare battery in my truckbox.  I'm planning eventually on hooking up a solar panel and charge controller (mounting the panel on top of the box).  I could mount the body of the radio under the back seat near where the wire could come through and not only would the run be about the same length as the one from under the hood, it would separate from the rest of my car's electrical that might interfere with my signal and/or audio.  

I haven't thought it through yet... what are the drawbacks?

You'll be fine. Just make sure to use at least 12 Ga (8-10 Ga is better) MTH wire and connect both positive and negative directly to the battery. Install one 30 A, automotive fuse on the positive lead as close as possible to the battery. Make sure to have the negative lead fused as well.
HamStick antennas will work ok on 20-10m bands. HamStick antennas for 40 and 80m bands are very narrow banded. You will probably get as little as 15KHz bandwidth on 80 meters. Your radio's internal tuner won't help much to cover the entire 40m band. Forget about covering the entire 75-80m band.

Cool... I've got some 10ga in red & black for power runs.  I'll use that.  I think I've got some fuse blocks somewhere.  My plan was to put a pigtail on the battery with the 30A power pole connectors and put the fuse blocks between the connectors and the battery.  I picked up at 75m hamstick for $7 at a closeout sale a while back.  I might toy with it, but I don't expect much.  I've got a 40m stick in the mail, we'll see how it works for me.  If I end up using it a lot, I'll probably pick up a better tuner for it.  I've got an mfj993b on my desk, and there is a remote model for it too.  We'll see which way I go on that.  

I've also got 40ish feet of fiberglass poles and a receiver hitch holder for the poles.  Looks like a decent vertical next time I go to the beach  :)

And it even works.  

Waiting for more RAM mount parts to come in, and the rest of the antennas.  I'll install it this weekend maybe.