Mobile antenna comparison - ATAS 100 VS

[2E1HJE]

I've borrowed a Yaesu ATAS 100 from a local opperater and I've been playing with it today. It seems a good bit of kit and I was genuinely suprised how a £200 antenna compared to my Watson W-7900.

I flicked through a few local repeaters wondering what sort of readings I get from them in the car on my drive.

Reading - Watson W-7900 - 5 & 9 +20
Reading - Yaesu ATAS 100 - 5 +6

Bracknell - Watson W-7900 - 5 & 9 + 10
Bracknell - Yaesu ATAS 100 - 5 & 7

I was going to compare more but it was quite obvious that on 2m and 70cm the ATAS 100 really wasnt comparing to the Watson.

This is quite a shame really as I can't drive around with both the ATAS and Watson on the car.

The one thing that has come of this is how sensitive my Yaesu FT897 is compared to my old Yaesu FT8500. A good 3 S points higher on most stations meaning some were not audible at all on the FT8500 but on the FT897 they were coming through clear enough to have a QSO.

Makes me want to take the 897D out in the car with me now

[YB135]

ATAS100 is really a HF antenna to be honest, not really a fair comparison

[2E1HJE]

That may be true but I was going on the basis of "metal in the air" and the ATAS seems to be pretty much the same size at the Watson.

I'm not comparing it for output but I was shocked to see how much it impacted receive

[crowman]

Pm sent chris

[bonehead]

the ATAS is nothing more than an emergency compromise at VHF/UHF, and acts as a 1/4wave on those bands, so no comparison to the 7/8 on VHF and multiple 5/8 on UHF that the 7900 has.
even if it is the same physical size.

[2E1HJE]

Fair enough. I know a lot of things try to do everything to sell more but I didn't realise how much fail the ATAS 100 was compared to the 7900 i've got.

I'm only borrowing the ATAS100 at the mo, I'll replace it with a less complex antenna later.