That's a nice kit. I use the Z11Pro-II with both my FT-891 and my FT-991A. It's a fine tuner. I have no complaints. However, because the tuner uses latching relays (not all of them do), it only draws noticeable power (and only 1/4A max) during finding a match, and not while operating (there is a 25 micro amp draw during operation, presumably so that it can detect a need to re-tune). Additionally, during the tuning cycle, the radio operates at reduced power. So you're never going to come close to the battery's current maximum. The 20AH battery is all that you need. I run them from a single source (I have the same battery, and at home I use a power supply) and I have never heard detectable noise. (It's transmitting while tuning, and whatever is drawing 25uA isn't noisy.) I'm glad to see that you got the interface cable. It can work without, but you may forget and tune with higher power, which may shorten something's life (relay contacts, final amplifier transistors). LiFePO4 batteries are a great choice. They give a high energy to weight ratio. And they don't have the fire hazard that older lithium batteries to. Do be sure that the charge controller is for that specific chemistry, but it looks like you have the right one in the video. The Genasun controllers have an excellent reputation. I can't attest to that since I'm using the Budipole Power Mini 2. It's a bit pricey, and it's always out of stock, but I enjoy the battery totalization display, the choices of multiple chemistries, and the two load outputs (I haven't had to make a Y adapter for tuner and radio). BEWARE that LiFePO4 must be above freezing during charging, in case you do a solar boosted sub freezing outdoor operation. There is a conversion kit available to replace the power connector on the 891 with power poles. If you go this way, keep the original connector somewhere that you can find it, should you every want to send the radio to Yaesu for servicing. The TIA is a fine antenna. You may find that the tuner is unnecessary with it, because adjusting the coil and the whip will likely make it resonant. But you might want to add an end fed random wire (I've worked 160m with the Chameleon EMCOMM-II) or an end fed half wave, say for 40m, which should work well on 20, 15, and 10 (the tuner might help on 15, or depending where on 10 you want to work), and the tuner should let you get 30, 17 and 12. Such an antenna on its winder will easily tuck into that pack, and you can use your radial wires as a counterpoise.
Thank you, so far the kit has been working as expected and I don't have any complaints. When I was trying to figure out power management options I was looking at the Budipole Power Mini 2 you mentioned. Unfortunately they were out stock at the time I was looking so I ended up not getting one. How is the Mini 2 working out for you so far? I think I'll try to get one if they come back in stock.
@@PartisanCommsGroup I'm getting old, so there haven't been as many field operations as I would like, but so far the Power Mini 2 has been flawless. I think they're having trouble getting parts, which is a common story. There are microcontrollers, for example, that aren't being made, and the replacements aren't fully compatible. A redesign using a currently available micro is possible, but I don't know if that's their issue. And they just might have an investment sitting around in partially completed units that they would like to shift before investing in new boards, waiting for a promised part. The much discussed supply chain problems may not be the only wrench in the works.
I use the same tuner for my 891. I load the internal battery tray with lithium AA's, and with every day use, it's still going strong after a year. As a back up, I carry a 9 volt with proper adapter to power it. A 12ah battery for the tuner will power it for a LONG time. I really can't see the worth of the extra weight and complexity.
I've heard from one other person that the AA's last a while since the tuner doesn't use a lot of power. I have a few other things I run off my external battery so that's why I chose that route. But, if one wantee to travel light the AA's will do just fine.
Nice rig but that 12ah battery is way overkill for the tuner. It has latching relays and doesn’t need a constant power infusion so you can get away with something like a 4-6ah battery which is going to be a lot less bulky and heavy (not that the lifepo4’s weigh all that much) the 12ah battery will easily run the 891 for 3.5-6 hours depending on duty cycle too. The 20ah is a good long-day use battery though.
Thanks, it seems to be a decent rig so far and I'm pretty happy with it. Regarding the battery, it is overkill for the tuner but, I also use it to charge other accessories. If I was going to just power the tuner then a smaller battery would be more appropriate.
I'm curious as to why a separate battery & solar charge controller was needed for the tuner. Considering how little power the tuner needs, it could either be powered by the same battery that powers the FT-891 or use AA batteries internally. I read on the LDG web site that the tuner will run for about a year with normal use on one set of AA batteries, but I don't know if this is one of those devices that would cause the batteries to corrode over time. 73 KD5YOU
Thank you for the question, and you are correct, the LDG tuner does not consume much power. You can remove the cover and install AA batteries and it should run for a long time. There were a few considerations for the second external battery. The first is a bit of lazy argument, but, I didn't want to have to remove the cover to replace the AA batteries if they went dead, so I decided on an external power source. But, for simplicity it would easier to just use AA batteries. For those wanting to go the AA battery route, I'm not sure if you would run into corrosion over time or not? I haven't seen any comments in the various forums I researched for this build about battery corrosion, but I also didn't think to look for that; and is an interesting question. The next consideration was, I had thought about running the tuner and the radio off one external power source, but a concern I had was possible noise interference so I decided to keep the power sources separate. Lastly, when I build kits, I try to set them up for situations where I may not have power, and I like to have several batteries and charge controllers that are interoperable across all my gear. So, in the event I drain the primary battery for the Yaesu, I can use the tuner's battery as an emergency backup, and pop in spare AA batteries in the tuner if needed. 73.
@@PartisanCommsGroup ok thanks for the explanation. I have the 817 LDG tuner that uses internal AA batteries, and I have yet to experience any corrosion. My other tuner is a MFJ 845 manual tuner so it doesn't use power except for illuminating the SWR/power meter.
@@PartisanCommsGroup I will also be using an 891, but i am going to start with my yaesu 200dr. i have a little more utility on 2m/70cm and gmrs at the time being. alot of that is driven by what i have for mobile antennas. Further. I can fabricate a chassis easier than i can spend the dough on the chassis. So I am going to roll my own. But while we are here, i wanted to say thank you. You blog post of the td-h8 helped me a lot this week.
@@Theleagueofpirates The 891 is a good radio, I've been using it for a while now and I'm pretty happy with it. I hope it's a good one for you as well. I'm glad the blog was helpful. I wasn't sure if anyone read it much, so it's cool to hear that the content helped someone.
Cool setup, but why not make it a lot lighter and simpler and just run a Xiegu G90, built in tuner , swr meter, waterfall display, and yes its 20 watts, but diff between 20 Watts and 100 watts is about 1 s unit. On top of that running 20 watts would allow u to use smaller battery.
I just wanted to see if I could do it, and make it all work. A G90 would be lighter for the field, and I was considering doing a video on one. But, I haven't been very motivated lately. I think I'm a little burned out on doing videos.
That's a nice kit.
I use the Z11Pro-II with both my FT-891 and my FT-991A. It's a fine tuner. I have no complaints.
However, because the tuner uses latching relays (not all of them do), it only draws noticeable power (and only 1/4A max) during finding a match, and not while operating (there is a 25 micro amp draw during operation, presumably so that it can detect a need to re-tune). Additionally, during the tuning cycle, the radio operates at reduced power. So you're never going to come close to the battery's current maximum. The 20AH battery is all that you need. I run them from a single source (I have the same battery, and at home I use a power supply) and I have never heard detectable noise. (It's transmitting while tuning, and whatever is drawing 25uA isn't noisy.) I'm glad to see that you got the interface cable. It can work without, but you may forget and tune with higher power, which may shorten something's life (relay contacts, final amplifier transistors).
LiFePO4 batteries are a great choice. They give a high energy to weight ratio. And they don't have the fire hazard that older lithium batteries to. Do be sure that the charge controller is for that specific chemistry, but it looks like you have the right one in the video. The Genasun controllers have an excellent reputation. I can't attest to that since I'm using the Budipole Power Mini 2. It's a bit pricey, and it's always out of stock, but I enjoy the battery totalization display, the choices of multiple chemistries, and the two load outputs (I haven't had to make a Y adapter for tuner and radio).
BEWARE that LiFePO4 must be above freezing during charging, in case you do a solar boosted sub freezing outdoor operation.
There is a conversion kit available to replace the power connector on the 891 with power poles. If you go this way, keep the original connector somewhere that you can find it, should you every want to send the radio to Yaesu for servicing.
The TIA is a fine antenna. You may find that the tuner is unnecessary with it, because adjusting the coil and the whip will likely make it resonant. But you might want to add an end fed random wire (I've worked 160m with the Chameleon EMCOMM-II) or an end fed half wave, say for 40m, which should work well on 20, 15, and 10 (the tuner might help on 15, or depending where on 10 you want to work), and the tuner should let you get 30, 17 and 12. Such an antenna on its winder will easily tuck into that pack, and you can use your radial wires as a counterpoise.
Thank you, so far the kit has been working as expected and I don't have any complaints. When I was trying to figure out power management options I was looking at the Budipole Power Mini 2 you mentioned. Unfortunately they were out stock at the time I was looking so I ended up not getting one. How is the Mini 2 working out for you so far? I think I'll try to get one if they come back in stock.
@@PartisanCommsGroup I'm getting old, so there haven't been as many field operations as I would like, but so far the Power Mini 2 has been flawless. I think they're having trouble getting parts, which is a common story. There are microcontrollers, for example, that aren't being made, and the replacements aren't fully compatible. A redesign using a currently available micro is possible, but I don't know if that's their issue. And they just might have an investment sitting around in partially completed units that they would like to shift before investing in new boards, waiting for a promised part. The much discussed supply chain problems may not be the only wrench in the works.
I use the same tuner for my 891. I load the internal battery tray with lithium AA's, and with every day use, it's still going strong after a year. As a back up, I carry a 9 volt with proper adapter to power it. A 12ah battery for the tuner will power it for a LONG time. I really can't see the worth of the extra weight and complexity.
I've heard from one other person that the AA's last a while since the tuner doesn't use a lot of power. I have a few other things I run off my external battery so that's why I chose that route. But, if one wantee to travel light the AA's will do just fine.
Nice rig, I like the pack. Looks like the pack has enough room for everything you will need in the field. Great video
Hey man thanks for the suggestion on the Falcon 2 bag, just came in and it’s gonna work great for me.
Awesome. I think you'll like it. So far the one I got has held up well for me.
Very sharp indeed sir. Maybe next week we can try a contact but I don't think I have enough wattage in my cottage to make it to your zip code.
We can definitely give it a shot.
Nice rig but that 12ah battery is way overkill for the tuner. It has latching relays and doesn’t need a constant power infusion so you can get away with something like a 4-6ah battery which is going to be a lot less bulky and heavy (not that the lifepo4’s weigh all that much) the 12ah battery will easily run the 891 for 3.5-6 hours depending on duty cycle too. The 20ah is a good long-day use battery though.
Thanks, it seems to be a decent rig so far and I'm pretty happy with it. Regarding the battery, it is overkill for the tuner but, I also use it to charge other accessories. If I was going to just power the tuner then a smaller battery would be more appropriate.
Like your set up. Can you show what everything looks like in the pack? I like that Harris pack. Thanks. 73
Yes, I'll post some photos to the community tab and tag you. 73.
I'm curious as to why a separate battery & solar charge controller was needed for the tuner. Considering how little power the tuner needs, it could either be powered by the same battery that powers the FT-891 or use AA batteries internally. I read on the LDG web site that the tuner will run for about a year with normal use on one set of AA batteries, but I don't know if this is one of those devices that would cause the batteries to corrode over time. 73 KD5YOU
Thank you for the question, and you are correct, the LDG tuner does not consume much power. You can remove the cover and install AA batteries and it should run for a long time. There were a few considerations for the second external battery. The first is a bit of lazy argument, but, I didn't want to have to remove the cover to replace the AA batteries if they went dead, so I decided on an external power source. But, for simplicity it would easier to just use AA batteries. For those wanting to go the AA battery route, I'm not sure if you would run into corrosion over time or not? I haven't seen any comments in the various forums I researched for this build about battery corrosion, but I also didn't think to look for that; and is an interesting question. The next consideration was, I had thought about running the tuner and the radio off one external power source, but a concern I had was possible noise interference so I decided to keep the power sources separate. Lastly, when I build kits, I try to set them up for situations where I may not have power, and I like to have several batteries and charge controllers that are interoperable across all my gear. So, in the event I drain the primary battery for the Yaesu, I can use the tuner's battery as an emergency backup, and pop in spare AA batteries in the tuner if needed. 73.
@@PartisanCommsGroup ok thanks for the explanation. I have the 817 LDG tuner that uses internal AA batteries, and I have yet to experience any corrosion. My other tuner is a MFJ 845 manual tuner so it doesn't use power except for illuminating the SWR/power meter.
thanks for the video on this. its interesting to see your take. i am working on something similar to this for my own purposes.
Thank you. What radio are you planning on using for your setup?
@@PartisanCommsGroup I will also be using an 891, but i am going to start with my yaesu 200dr. i have a little more utility on 2m/70cm and gmrs at the time being. alot of that is driven by what i have for mobile antennas. Further. I can fabricate a chassis easier than i can spend the dough on the chassis. So I am going to roll my own. But while we are here, i wanted to say thank you. You blog post of the td-h8 helped me a lot this week.
@@Theleagueofpirates The 891 is a good radio, I've been using it for a while now and I'm pretty happy with it. I hope it's a good one for you as well. I'm glad the blog was helpful. I wasn't sure if anyone read it much, so it's cool to hear that the content helped someone.
Cool setup, but why not make it a lot lighter and simpler and just run a Xiegu G90, built in tuner , swr meter, waterfall display, and yes its 20 watts, but diff between 20
Watts and 100 watts is about 1 s unit. On top of that running 20 watts would allow u to use smaller battery.
I just wanted to see if I could do it, and make it all work. A G90 would be lighter for the field, and I was considering doing a video on one. But, I haven't been very motivated lately. I think I'm a little burned out on doing videos.
Well if u ever do make a g90 video, I’ll be sure to look it up . Thx
see the video again perfect job thanks very detail a professional 73 from kb2uew
Thank you.
Great job thanks 73 from kb2uew
Thank you.
Hand mics are gay