Observations from Scotland 3rd September 2006 GM1SXX
The Yaesu FT817ND.
SXX has been for some time thinking about portable operations. His venerable FT290 and FT790 while useful are now old and somewhat dated. I was looking for something with more functionality in a small package and the FT817ND seemed to fit the bill. I like operating in the hills while out walking with the dog and the FT817 offers DC-440Mhz multimode performance at the 5W level, an ideal replacement for my ageing transceivers.
As you'll see from the above photo, the 817ND is a TINY radio, much smaller and lighter than my FT290 yet it covers 1.8 - 440 Mhz all mode, BUT, there IS a catch, and it's NOT the small but excellent display but the photo above gives a hint of the problem. The display is actually a LOT better than it looks in the photo. The camera flashgun washes it out.
The basic specifications are as follows.
Frequency Coverage:
RX: 100 kHz - 30 MHz, 50 - 54 MHz
76 - 108 MHz (W-FM only)
108 - 154 MHz (USA)
144 - 148 (146) MHz (other markets)
430 (420) - 450 (440) MHz
TX: 160 - 6 Meters, 2 Meters
70 Centimeters (Amateur Bands only)
Ultra Compact: 5.3" x 1.5" x 6.5" WHD (135 x 38 x 165 mm)
Multimode Design: SSB, CW, AM, FM, FM-Wide (RX),1200/9600 bps Packet, Digital
(including PSK-31U/PSK-31L)
Power Output: 5 Watts (selection of 0.5/1.0/2.5/5 W)
Wide choice of power sources: AA Battery Holder included; FNB-72 Ni-Cd
Battery Pack (9.6 V, 1600 mAh); external DC cable included for 13.8 V operation
Two Antenna Ports: BNC on front panel, UHF (Type "M") on rear panel;
may be assigned via Menu on HF, 50, 144, 430 MHz
Built-in CW Electronic Keyer, Normal/Reverse Paddle connections, adjustable CW
Pitch, Normal/Reverse sideband
Built-in CTCSS and DCS Encoder/Decoder circuits
208 Memory Channels, including 200"regular" memories, assignable in up
to ten memory groups; Alpha-Numeric label may be attached to each memory
Dual-Color Liquid Crystal Display: choice of Blue or Amber display
Spectrum Scope records five channels above and below current frequency while
you're away
Optional Collins Mechanical Filters: 10-pole YF-122S (2.3 kHz) for SSB,
7-pole YF-122C (500 Hz) for CW
The main difference between the 817 and 817ND appears to be that the Ni-CD
battery and charger are included and the PA stage FETs have been upgraded.
But, there's a catch!
The small size and light weight of the FT817ND make it the perfect backpacking radio. Add to that the multimode coverage of the ham bands from DC-430Mhz plus airband and FM broadcast band receive and it's a VERY versatile little radio.
The receiver is excellent and can copy anything that my RACAL RA1772 can hear (and more) but the user has to learn to 'fly' it properly. By that I mean that the receiver preamp must be used in an appropriate manner. For some reason, Yaesu have elected to call the preamp switch 'the IP3 Intercept Optimiser or IPO Optimiser' ... read PREAMP! Stupid or what?
I was very impressed indeed by the receiver in what is essentially a budget radio. It covers 50Mhz TRX but NOT 70Mhz so if 70Mhz is your thing, look elsewhere. The receiver performance on all bands except 50Mhz is very good indeed. On 50Mhz, performance was less acceptable, probably due to the proximity to the 68.33Mhz first IF. The receiver is a dual conversion type with the second IF being 455Khz. On Wide FM, a 10.7Mhz IF is used.
Not being a great CW fan, I chose the YF-122S Collins mechanical SSB filter which results in better selectivity on SSB. The audio output power is 1Watt, more than adequate in the small speaker used and enough to make you deaf when using phones.
The quoted power drain on TX is 2 amps and on RX should be 400ma. I found that the RX took somewhat more that this, and with the battery tray holding only AA sized cells. On TX the rig takes two amps. You can now understand what the 'BUT' is...... put simply, the batteries are woefully inadequate.
I think Yaesu might have been better designing the radio to be even smaller and having an external clip-on battery pack with something like a 7Ah or 10Ah battery option. Alternatively, keeping the same size package, the space vacated by the battery could hold some optional extras, like more filters.
Battery life is the achilles heel of this radio. For myself, the solution is simple. Ditch the internal battery pack and use an external 7Ah Gell battery from our local model shop. The combined weight of the radio, battery, my wire antennas and a cheap fishing pole is still very acceptable. Apart from the fishing pole, the lot fits easily into a day bag with plenty of space left for nosh, dog food for my radio companion and my spirit stove etc.
Rather than spend my hard earned dosh on a lousy inefficient walkabout antenna, I just have some pre-cut wires I can string up as required to make a variety of antennas. They are 'terminated' at one end in some thin Dacron line that serves as both insulator and attachment point. With this simple kit, I can manage inverted Vee's,' slopers and EFHWA's. One end of each wire has a Dacron line and the other a crocodile clip. I made a simple T shaped plastic dipole centre with a couple of brass screws to which the feedline is connected and the wires just clip on to the screws and are led through a couple of notches in the plastic to take the strain.
The radio works very well with my Z11-Pro autotuner which is similar in size but very lightweight. The Z11 Pro
The transceiver is CAT equipped and the very excellent FT817 Commander or Ham Radio Deluxe software will drive it through a simple interface. Both software products are free of charge and VERY good indeed. As a bonus, Ham Radio Deluxe also sports a very acceptable satellite tracking program although sadly the FT817 is NOT a full duplex radio and therefore not the most suitable for satellite operation.
If you want a cat interface for this or any other Yaesu radio, don't waste your money and time ordering one from Yaesu. You can build one to the many designs available on the wobbly-wide-web or simply buy a ready made one for a fraction of the cost from ZLP g4zlp web pages
More on the FT817 etc.