Howard:

With the motor home, I can run the radio either off the battery, the "on 
board" generator, or commercial AC power when we have a camp site hook-up.

I don't know if I'll ever get to the point of being able to operate truly 
mobile on HF, since I have antenna height issues in relation to the RV, but 
at least I can have a blast operating it while we are camping at a camp 
ground.

My 718 set-up actually worked quite well in the RV, with my LDG auto-tuner, 
but I'm looking for something a bit smaller, and more accessible, which I 
think the TS480 is.

Thanks for all your advice, and if I actually make the purchase, I'll be 
looking for assistance from this list since I know a lot of you guys have 
480's.

73 from Tom Behler:  KB8TYJ

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Howard Kaufman" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, October 20, 2007 11:26 AM
Subject: Re: some basic questions on the TS480


> Tom, the antenna tuner can be bypassed.  The radio is about 11 by 6 by 3
> inches.  The control head has a 10 foot cable connecting it to the radio.
> They sell extention cables for the mike and key.  Everything runs from the
> head which has a desk or mobile mounting stand.  It depends on your batery
> and alternator in the motor home, if you have the power.  For a mobile set
> up, with the narrow band width of the antenna, I could see having the 
> tuner.
> It's still limited in range, but good enough to handle the changes across 
> a
> band.  The neat thing is that although the radio is very small, since you
> can stick it anywhere, all you need is a place for the head.
>