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Reviews For: Yaesu ATAS-120

Category: Antennas: HF Mobile & Accessories

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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
N8JFX Rating: 2007-02-05
Stay Clear Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Poorly constructed and cheap plastic junk. I looked at buying one of these for years from my local vendor in Michigan. Antenna broke first time I tuned. I called my local supplier in Michigan and the told me to send it back. When my supplier received it the told me they went going to replace it and had to send it back for repairs. So after taking a 30% restocking fee to get my hard earned money back. I will never even consider another one.
Let alone the actions of my local vendor whom I will never buy from again!
W1RPG Rating: 2007-02-04
ATAS120 and cold temperatures Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned my FT857D and ATAS120 since mide 2005. I enjoy the rig very much and was also enjoying the ATAS120 up to the last few weeks. It appears that it needs an electric blanket to keep warm when the outdoor temps are below 32 F. It does not move in temp in the twenties or below. I cannot find any reference to a range in regards to temp range in the paperwork. ANy ideas from the masses.
K4UUG Rating: 2006-12-28
PIG IN A POKE Time Owned: more than 12 months.
THE PLASTIC WASHER PART BROKE AND JAMED THE ANTENNA ITS POOR WORKMANSHIP IS SO CHEAP.I SENT IT BACK TO YAESU AND THEY REBUILT MY ATAS120 INTO THE ATAS120A AND CHARGED ME $86.00 AND IT WORKS FINE NOW .LOOKING BACK I WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER OFF FOR THE MONEY WITH THE TAR HEEL JR II AND THE TURBO TUNER.The ATAS 120 is not worth more than $150.00.For the same money I Paid for the atas120 The TAR HEEL would have added 60 meters 75/80 meters.
PD2RPT Rating: 2006-12-07
1 Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I use the Yaesu ATAS 120A with ATBK -100 and Ecoflex 10 coaxcable as a base rooftop- antenna, and it works better on HF as I ever expected. On VHF and UHF is the performance less better.
NW2M Rating: 2006-10-08
Integrated solution Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have this antenna mounted on the roof of my mini van. Yes, it is quite tall. The base of the antenna is mounted to a very small TV rotor that it folds down when not in use. Antenna/rotor hides between the roof rack assy. Two sets of braids make the ground connection to the body at the roof rack. I use this antenna in conjunction with the FT-857D radio. My ATAS antenna is the second or third generation of this antenna- the one without the rubber "boot".

Operation is so simple there is nothing for you to do! The 857D uses the coax cable to interface and control and antenna. You enable the "ATAS" feature in a menu location and the rig does the rest. You hit the Tune button and it will tune for the best match. The antenna covers down thru 40 meters. The ATAS-120 has a clutch feature so that you cannot jam or harm the motor or antenna itself if you drive the antenna to the extremes. So far the rig and antenna are a nice match. My signal reports have been very good, some surprised that I was mobile.

I do take the antenna apart yearly for cleaning, inspection, and lubrication. I have not experienced the problems that others have seen. It has worked so well that I am experimenting with an extra coil and a capacity hat for 75M phone.
KD7GKE Rating: 2006-09-24
So far, so good.... Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Read all the reviews, learned from them. Made sure mount was sturdy, and grounded VERY well, (Grounding strap from mount to body, another from body to frame.....Mounted my ATAS 120, with WX mod, on my 98 Chevy truck, Stake pocket mount, just behind the cab, mated to the Yaesu 857D. (UHF/VHF antenna on front cowl) Even in the rain, it still tunes...(Once, had to manually tune it, but it still tunes)...After the rain, ops normal. Last week, while teaching a class outdoors, I had my E-Z up set up about 50 feet from the truck. A strong gust of wind came along and took my E-Z up for a ride....hitting the truck and smacking the antenna. After close inspection, and straightening, I did an ops check...again, Normal. So far.....So good....
W4KEB Rating: 2006-08-23
Not suitable for outdoor use. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I absolutely loved the combination of my FT-100 and ATAS-120. Tuning was a breeze, signal reports were great, and it looked really cool on the car!

Unfortunately, I didn't realize, and the manual didn't state, that this antenna was not designed for outdoor use. After leaving it on the car for just a few weeks, the antenna simply quit tuning. It wouldn't move up or down.

I took it apart and found that the entire motor assembly had turned into a blob of rust!

Good idea. Bad engineering.
K6SDW Rating: 2006-08-09
Review revisited! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Well, I'm writing here to publicly apologize to Mr. Yaseu (is he still alive, is this a real name in Japanese?) -- I'd been badmouthing my Yaesu ATAS 120 antenna complaining about my tuning woes when it wasn't the antenna's fault at all, but as it turns out it was the stinkin' commercial mount I've been using!!

Its all about grounding with this screwdriver antenna....any resistance (impedance) at all between the antenna base and the vehicle body and the antenna goes nuts!!

So....the antenna works great -- except when it rains, then like so many others have written, mine stops being able to tune correctly. Once the antenna dries up it works great again!

It really does.....

Cheers All!

----------------------
Earlier 3-star review posted by K6SDW on 2005-12-09

This pains me to give this antenna a lousy review.....I had read and was warned about this particular antenna having problems when it rains and sure enough, after months of flawless performance mine too stopped moving since the rains have begun around here -- and yup, once it gets throroughly dry it starts working again!!

Come on Yaesu, figure it out and make it right!!

Anyways, the antenna does perform well when it works, but I'm thinking I will check into the other screwdriver manufacturers like High Sierra and Tarheel...I've heard really great things about both companies....

Cheers All!
W6OFG Rating: 2006-08-05
After a long illness, it finally died. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I installed the ATAS-120 mounted on top of a pickup truck toolbox in the fall of 2004. I was using a Yeasu FT-857d and wanted the auto-tune capability of the two working together. I tried to use a duplexer so the antenna would handle both the HF and VHF/UHF outputs from the radio. In operation, when tuning 2 meters, a point in the process set up a spurious resonance and knocked out the VHF final on the radio. It took three trips back to Yaesu before we figured this out. I began using the ATAS for just HF and installed a separate antenna for the higher frequencies.

From day one, the antenna would tune intermittently. Sometimes it would tune to 10 or 15 meters and sometimes it wouldn't. It would always tune to 40 meters and I had very good signal reports on that band. On 20 meters I had to install a RF choke to get the garble out of my SSB signal. The antenna only tuned to 6 meters once in more than 20 attempts over the 20 some months I used it.

I almost forgot that early on I had to return the antenna to Yaesu to have a "rolled O-ring" repaired when it wouldn't tune at all!

For the last couple of months, the antenna would only move about +/- an inch around the 40 meter resonant point so I sent it back to Yaesu. They called this week and let me know that the tuning sensor is bad and it will cost $285.00 to repair the antenna. I told them to just trash it (I've got enough paper weights).

In summation, if you are considering spending $300 bucks on an ATAS-120, I would recommend that you just give the money to your teenager. You'll get just as much benefit our of it and avoid all of the frustration.
KX4BSA Rating: 2006-07-18
Using mine with an FT-857D Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I got my 857D during a Yaesu promotion, where I got a $70 rebate and a free YSK-857 separation kit. So for HF, I got the Yaesu ATAS-120 moble antenna. Yes, at $289 it's expensive- but it's worth every penny because it's so nicely married to the radio from the front menu.

Reading the other reviews as to engine noise and grounding issues of the antennas, I paid careful attention to ground my antenna carefully (I ran grounding wires to the frame) and to place the antenna in the rear of the vehicle, by using a Diamond hatchback mount ($70) with the thin HF cable. (Another great little item.)

What a sweet installation! I told the radio that I was using a separate VHF/UHF antenna, told it that I had the ATAS-120 installed, and then even found a menu setting (thanks to KE4QDC) that all but eliminated my engine noise.

Finished installing it about 8 pm, and my first 20 meter contact was 10 minutes later with another mobile station in Cape Cod (I'm in North Georgia). The next afternoon while driving through the mountains I made a nice 17 meter contact with Puerto Rico, and the same evening while sitting in my driveway after checking into the 2 meter net I made a very nice reported 5x6 contact with Argentina, again on 17 meters. Simple and painless.

Heard a very nice 6-meter st, but he was too busy having a rag chew for me to speak to him before I got home and had to shut it down.

By having the ATAS-120 married to the radio, about all I'm having to do at this point is to select the proper band, tune up by hitting the "tune" button and talk. SWR is down in the basement.

This is my first Yaesu radio and antenna. Won't be my last.