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Show all reviews of the Yaesu ATAS-120
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of the Yaesu ATAS-120.
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WA7VTD
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Rating: 0/5
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Aug 12, 2007 17:27
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Might as well be Chinese
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I owned an ATAS-120 which worked really, really well for several years, then simply quit. Trying to take that sucker apart is a bear. I still have it partially dissasembled and who knows when I'll get back to it.
I decided to try the 120A. I was told that it was a big improvement over the 120 because the weather boots temded to crack on the 120 model. I never had that problem, myself.
OK, so I used the ATAS 120A for a while and shortly after warranrty was up, it wasn't rising or falling. The threaded shaft inside was slipping and so the outer sleeve would not move.
It looked like this was also going to be hard to take apart, but I was wrong. As I was fiddling with it, the sleeve simply fell off. Five ball bearings fell out, too.
Examining the inside, I could not believe what an over-priced, cheap piece of crap this antenna is. The rotating threaded shaft inserts into a flimsy plastic (appears to be nylon) tube. The wire inside is thin.
The bottom of that nylon tube was all chewed up. It was possible to get the thing mated up so that it would rise and fall, but at a certain point it would slip again and either stay in place or the sleeve would fall all the way down to the bottom.
I don't see any way to repair this, though I'm still looking at it.
Meanwhile, I picked up a Sidekick and that antenna rocks! Even using a manual tuning switchbox, it certainly outperforms the ATAS. I never had any complaints about the ATAS 100 despite its inefficiency compared to competing models with other brands, and the 100 appeared much more sturdily contructed than the "improved" 120 model. But there is simply no comparison, really, between the ATAS 100 or 120, and a Sidekick.
I added an Antenna Boss II and an interface so the FT-897D would perform with the Sidekick as if it had an ATAS installed. I found that it worked well most of the time, but sometimes not at all. I wired up a homebrew control box that permitted me to switch between manual and ATAS-like operation. The ATAS-type operation was so erratic that I have gone back to manual control only.
Today I again tried to figure out how to repair the ATAS-120, as I would like to mount it on the hatchback of a very gas-efficient little veihicle I picked up for a song. It still has me shaking my head. It would have to go back to Yaesu. I am not keen on having a $300+ bill for them to rebuild it, when another Sidekick is less money and covers 80M.
Anyway, the ATAS-120 really is put together like the worst of the Chinese crap that has flooded the U.S. retail market generally. I truly wonder if it was outsourced to China. It is worth about $50 in my opinion. And for Yaesu to put out the 120 as "an improvement" over the 100 is a joke. The 100 withstood all sorts of rain and ice and snow and heat, but the sleeve on the 120 is truly shoddy and its internal construction is also a bit of a step down from the 100.
To put out the 120 and then for it to NOT be "suitable for outdoor use," is outrageous and borders on fraud...it is supposed to be a MOBILE antenna! What are we supposed to do with it, use it only in the garage? I just donlt get it. The FT-897D is a great little radio, so why put out a "mating" mobile antenna that is such a royal piece of poop?
I had a lot of fun with my ATAS 100 while it lasted, first using it with an FT-100D and later with the FT-897D, working lots of DX as well as local stuff, on HF. Likewise the 120 for the short time it lasted (I forgot to mention that the ATAS 120 was not on the car continuously, either).
But as far as recommending that anyone buy any model of the ATAS, I have to emphatically say "No way!" Get yourself a High-Q or a Sidekick instead, or any HIgh Sierra or anything by W4RT. The ATAS is constructed very poorly and you can count on it going bad sooner than later. That nylon inside tube will definitely wear out over time. Save yourself the headache and save your money!
I rate this antenna a ZERO, notwithstanding its convenience when it is new and working correctly, and notwithstanding that one can make good contacts with it despite its inefficiency. The description by another person of it being a "dummy load with a condom" is pretty funny, and not too far off the mark. You can do as well (actually, better) with a Hamstick or equivalent
and if the ATAS is going to crap out, the inconvenicne of having to swicth Hamsticks when changing bands is still better than having an ATAS that won't work at all!
Eschew poor quality crap. Buy American if you want an antenna of this type. You won't regret it.
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