Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: Yaesu ATAS-120

Category: Antennas: HF Mobile & Accessories

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : Yaesu ATAS-120
Reviews: 97MSRP: 325
Description:
Motorized Mobile Screwdriver Antenna 40m-70cm. Updated version of ATAS-100. Band change control with Yaesu radios FT-100, FT-897, & FT-847.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.yaesu.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00973.6
WA3ERQ Rating: 2008-02-12
Nice Antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had my ATAS-120 for about a year now and have made several DX contacts including Australia, Argentina and Asiatic Russia from Philadelphia.
I've experienced two problems:
When the temperature drops below 32F, it won't tune. I've checked and rechecked the ground and connectors with no help.
Also, if I attempt to tune in 6M, it gets stuck and takes about 5 re-tunes to begin moving. It actually sounds like it's jumping a gear when it's tuning 6M's on the very bottom of the antenna.

KE4WMF Rating: 2008-02-12
Great Antenna for the Beginner... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Hi,

I became a new General in March 2007. I went with the FT-857D and ATAS-120A to get myself on the air with minimal fuss. The ATAS-120A worked flawlessly for 10 mos of light usage.

I park in a parking garage during the week. So I had been removing my ATAS each Sunday evening and then remounting it each Friday afternoon for my weekly 320 mile RT home for the weekends. One day, the ATAS just stopped tuning.

I visited here and the YahooGroups. Yaesu was somewhat helpful by insisting the antenna was fine and that I had a ground issue. I knew they were mistaken about my grounding. But they gave me some decent ideas. But I really couldn't figure out if my tuning problem with with the antenna or with the radio. Eventually, I got some advice at YahooGroups and a troubleshooting guide posted there.

In short, the SO-239 is a good RF connector; but a poor DC connector. The center pin of my K400 mount came split four ways, perhaps to accept a variety of tolerances from various PL-259 center pins. I read somewhere that sticking a spring from a retractable pen into the SO-239 makes this connection more solid. Sure enough, IT WORKED!

I'm compelled to believe the ATAS is a good antenna. I've reached Brazil and Europe on 100W from my Virginia-based mobile shack. But I tend to agree with one poster here who said an NMO mount might have been better, at least to ensure a proper DC connection. Now I just need to see if the plastic gears or delicate PC card inside the ATAS fail as reported here and at YahooGroups. :(

I don't regret my purchase, especially since I got my ATAS on special for $260. It made the leap to HF very easy for a new General. But I think I'm going to start saving for a Lil Tarheel II and a Turbo Tuner. The Lil Tarheel II is smaller and, I believe, more reliable.

73,

Scott, KE4WMF.com
VA3MW Rating: 2008-01-29
not perfect Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had one for 3 years now running it here in Ontario in all sorts of weather. It is mounted on a Nissan Murano (fiberglass hatch), with a 1" ground strap from the PO mount (not the K400) to the frame.

I'm not sure if I can totally blame the antenna, but it very clearly needs an EXCELLENT ground system. You can't depend on coax to provide this. It should take you the better part of a day to get all your grounds in place. This is more important on days like now when the flux is 70. It is worth reviewing http://www.k0bg.com/ web page as he hits the nail on the head when running HF mobile.

That being said, on the FT857, it is very sensitive to tuning. Sometimes it works. Sometimes not. I'm ordering a Hi Q antenna shortly to try it.
M3UFZ Rating: 2007-09-06
Great bit of kit! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Ive had my ATATS 120 A (This is the waterproof version) for about a month and i am really pleased with it. I have already made a Canada contact from the middle of northamptonshire in a place called Chelveston. I find that it is a very good mobile antenna.

73s Anthony M3UFZ
W6GQ Rating: 2007-09-06
OH MY, IT'S RAINING Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Thats right, after 3 months of beating myself up with this POS I am now done with it. When it gets wet, its done. If the farmers almanac predicts rain, this thing stops working! Wow how can a mobile antenna be so prone to failure when used outside as a mobile? I have a High Sierra Sidekick and a Tarheel II, both of them blow this ATAS 120a away IN THE WATER! My kid now uses the ATAS as a throw toy for the Chocolate Lab.
N6BIZ Rating: 2007-08-12
excellent Time Owned: more than 12 months.
great antenna for mobile had mine 4 years not a bit of trouble trick is to find a 0 resistance from neg batt terminal to where its grounded where the antenna is in new cars that can be frustrating but it has to be done received many good reports with the 120 upgraded to the a model highly reccomene73
K7IWW Rating: 2007-08-12
Might as well be Chinese Time Owned: more than 12 months.
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.
KK8ZZ Rating: 2007-07-26
Mixed Results Time Owned: more than 12 months.
While I ran this with a nice FT-857D for about 18 months, the results seemed erratic at best. Always "tunes" and found a low SWR, but the radiation seemed spotty at best. It did NOT do well with winter cold in Ohio, nor rain, nor salt on the roads in winter. Replaced it with the Lil' Tarheel II and was very pleased with the new antenna's results. The Turbo Tuner works very well with it. I love Yaesu equipment and have purchased and used most of them, but this one is a tad substandard compared to other comparable antennas on the market. Remember that the original purchase price of a poorly performing antenna is long remembered, but the slightly higher price of one that really works well is quickly forgotten as it is so acceptable.
KE6GNK Rating: 2007-06-07
works as a flag pole from 10m to 20m, struggles at 40m Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I field tested a friend's atas 120 on top of a 10 foot lenghth of PVC pipe. I am restricted, as I live in an apartment. Used two large aligator clips, with 25' lengnths of counterpoise.
The antenna tuned perfectly with the ft-857, at 10m, and 20m, but could not get it to tune at 40m.
I'm still considering using this antenna as a base, if I can get results at 40m.
Any suggestions out there, will be of a big help, as I have not purchased one yet
ON4XA Rating: 2007-02-23
Perfect but hate rain Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Super great. But Yaesu's engineers didn't think about the rain... It's now years i use it and i contacted every country with it and with only 100 watts. But after 2 years, it didn't work anymore. A ham colleg had the same with his. And problem is that there is no fine hole that the water can go out the antenna. Results, antenna was overfload inside, some parts were corrozed. It costs me +/- 20 euros, 13$ to repair it. 2 weeks ago i cleaned it totally and painted it again. It's like a new, and works perfect.