Possible workaround.

If you are only using the transceiver on your desk at home, you could control the frequency using a computer.  Hook up a CAT interface of some sort.  Then use software like Ham Radio Deluxe to control the frequency.  

If everything else in the radio is working, it should allow you to use the radio.

If you want to fix it:  

Again, assuming that this is the only problem.  

By testing with a CAT interface, you could be pretty sure (maybe 99%) that everything else is working.

DISCLAIMER - I am not a professional radio technician.  I just like to play.

The main dial should be pretty simple.  It probably just contains two optical switches.  

Look at the PANEL-UNIT schematic for the radio.  In the lower left hand corner you will see the connector labeled "TO MAIN-DIAL".  So, it may be a pretty simple operation to change it out (depending on how difficult it is to remove and disassemble the face).  

There should be no alignment.  The part is most likely a sealed unit with nothing to adjust.  Plus it is just two switches.  It's not like the old analog days.

73,

Richard

My call sign was KG4PBG.  It was horrible both in voice modes and CW.  I wrote myself a program to rank call signs by sending effort.  I then took a list of available 1 X 3 call signs and ran them through.  I then picked one of the better ranked call signs for my region that would not be difficult to understand with voice modes.  I ended up choosing K4KRW.  I've been happy with the new call.

My guess is that the noise you are hearing on the repeaters with an S7-S9 signal strength is from the repeater's uplink side.  If there is noise in that signal (like from a distant station trying to make the repeater) that noise will be transmitted by the repeater on the downlink side.

It could mean that the repeater is an alligator (all mouth and no ears).  It could also just mean that the receiver section of the repeater is just not very good or that something is not tweaked right (like the duplexers that isolate the transmit side from the receive side).

All else being equal, a higher S reading should mean a quieter signal.

73,
Richard
K4KRW

>>I just buried a G5RV in the back yard, and it is working poorly. If I bury the rig also, will it work better???

No, No, No!  A buried G5RV is completely useless as an antenna.  And please don't bury the rig.  You clearly must not have completely read or understood a posting about burying G5RV's on the web.

After warring hams on 14.275 have ceased hostilities and decided it is time to get along, they bury their G5RV's therefore rendering their weapons useless.  This symbolic ritual demonstrating their desire to maintain peaceful relations evolved from the Iroquois ritual of burying the hatchet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bury_the_G5RV

Please read more carefully next time.

;~>

Dual core is no problem.  Even Dell's quad core machines can use XP.  All of the models I just looked at came with XP by default.  Personally, I wouldn't go with Vista.  

Just the built in DRM (digital rights management) capabilities are enough to eliminate it from my consideration.  If you are not familiar with DRM, do a little research.

Here is a good place to start:
http://www.eff.org/issues/drm

Plus add in the unavailability of drivers for many computer accessories.  Plus add in the fact that it is an absolute resource hog.

I have Windows XP and I am very happy with it.  As far as I'm concerned, the only new thing Visa has that could be considered a plus over XP is a little eye candy (again, if you have compatible hardware).

In the end, if I have to move to Vista, I'll instead move to Linux or a Mac.  

It is a shame Microsoft messed this one up so bad.  

Regarding DRM: Apple (iTunes), Amazon and others have finally realized that what DRM does best is aggravate your good paying customers.  So, they are moving away from it.  Hopefully, Microsoft will figure this out too and eliminate it from Vista.

73,

Richard
K4KRW

Get "The Wire Book" from The Wireman.  
http://thewireman.com/wirebook.html

He has very detailed instructions on how to solder on PL-259s.  I follow his procedures and I can't remember ever having a connector fail.

There is much in the way of good advice in some of the previous posts.  The book gives a lot of the same good advice (larger wattage iron so the shield work can be done quickly, good quality connectors, good quality solder).  I like using the silver plated Amphenol connectors as they heat up very quickly and the solder really sticks.  I have been using RG-8X for my short cables.

73,

Richard
K4KRW

Steve,

If you decide to get an FT-Meter, be aware that it is just a display device.  It shows whatever SWR the radio tells it to show.  It has no electronics within it to figure out the SWR itself.  Same with the other scales.  They just show what the radio tells them to show.

I will say that the FT-Meter's scale is a huge improvement over the internal meter scale.  I too found the FT-897's built in SWR meter to be useless.  Same with the power meter.  I ended up making an FT-Meter myself.  It is really pretty easy.  You just need to find a panel meter with a 0 to 1 milliamp DC scale.  Just hook the meter to an 1/8th inch mono phone plug.  Hook the tip of the plug to the + terminal on the meter.  Of course, you would need to make your own scale markings for the meter.

Once I finished my homebrew FT-Meter, I found that the SWR indications were fairly accurate when compared to an external meter.  But, again, you are getting the SWR as the radio computed it.  If your radio is having problems, it might lie to you.  I'd rather rely on a separate SWR and power meter myself.  You really should get one anyway.  It is a simple diagnostic tool that all hams should have.  

Best wishes for finding a solution to the antenna problems.  

73,

Richard
K4KRW

Doug,

I have used the Griffin iMic in the past for PSK, SSTV and APRS.  It worked extremely well for me.  You can get one for about $30 dollars.  They plug into your USB port.  You can leave your existing sound card in place.

http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/imic/

73,

Richard
K4KRW

James,

I have an FT-897D.  It has 200 memories. I do not segment the memories.  Here is how I use mine.

001-050 Local UHF and VHF frequencies (repeaters ...)
080-089 A few VHF Aircraft frequencies
095-099 DX Beacon frequencies 14.100, 18.110 ....
101-126 Band edges for all of the CW portions of the bands
130-136 HF PSK31 frequencies
141-165 Band edges for all of the Phone portions
181-181 A local AM broadcast station
183-185 Local FM Broadcast stations
186-199 The FRS Channels.

For CW and phone bands I program the band edges for all licenses.  So, 80 and 20 meters phone for example look like this:

143 3.600 LSB Extra starts
144 3.700 LSB Advanced starts
145 3.800 LSB General starts
146 4.000 LSB Upper limit of band

150 14.150 USB Extra starts
151 14.175 USB Advanced starts
152 14.225 USB General starts
153 14.350 USB Upper limit of band

I really like having the CW and phone band edges programmed this way.  If I want to operate CW or phone on HF, I can switch from band to band just by going through the consecutive memory positions.  I just select a band edge and then tune into the band using the VFO.  If I want to switch from CW to phone, I just select the correct memory.  I never have to touch the band or the mode buttons.

I also preset all of my usual settings for each memory position.  So, for example, all SSB/CW band edge memories at 14 Mhz and below have the receive preamp disabled.

An added bonus of doing it this way is it really helps you learn the band edges if you are planning to upgrade.

So, I find I can use all of the memories they will give me.

73,

Richard
K4KRW

I have been using an SS-30 to power my FT-897D (same radio internally as the 857D).  It is a switching power supply.  So, it is smaller and lighter than the traditional power supplies.  I have not had a problem with noise.  I've had the radio and the supply for two years.  

The only thing I don't like about the supply is it does not have binding posts.  It is hard to connect more than one piece of electronics to it.  I ended up making my own 'Y' that has two sets of Anderson power pole connectors to connect to.

73,

Richard
K4KRW

Did you see these EHam articles?

http://www.eham.net/articles/11749
http://www.eham.net/articles/14970

73,

Richard
K4KRW

I got my Tech license in 2001.  I upgraded to General in 2005 and Extra in 2006.  Initially, I was only really interested in HF.  So, from 2001 to 2005 I didn't even use my Tech privileges.  Yes, my license just sat in my wallet.  Wow!  What a mistake!  Don't get me wrong.  I love HF.  CW and PSK31 are my favorite modes and I operate on 20, 40 and 80 meters.  But, I really missed out on some fun.

When I got my General license, I started looking for an HF rig.  My Elmer talked me into buying a radio that did HF, 6 meters, 2 meters and 70 cm.  I eventually put up a 2m antenna and at that point I started realizing that I had really been missing out.

Of course, I started using the local repeaters (mostly for checking into local nets and keeping up with local club members and friends).  I then found that SSB and CW on 6 meters and up was a lot of fun (especially during a contest).  I also started playing with APRS.  I just recently bought a D-Star HT and I look forward to playing with it.

The most fun I have had though is:

My friend Dave (K8ZK) and I started CarolinaEOS (Carolina Edge of Space) in 2005.

http://www.carolineos.org

We send weather balloons up 70,000 feet and higher and track them using APRS.  We have launched one ourselves and we helped the University of North Carolina at Charlotte launch another.  We are working on our next mission right now.  

Note: We are certainly not the first group to do this.  There are many others and some have been doing this for a very long time.  

We manage to find our own challenges in each mission.  We place cameras and other devices in the payload and see what we can learn.  The next mission will broadcast live slow scan TV pictures on 70cm.  It is kind of like running your own little NASA.  The only privileges you need to do all of this come with a Tech license.  We have a blast.  

At this point, If I had to choose between only having HF privileges and only having privileges on 6 meters and higher, I would probably choose the latter.  There is a lot of fun to be had on the higher bands.

Another piece of advice I would offer is the following:   Try to find a good local ham club.  If it is a good club, you will run into ham operators doing very interesting things.  They will direct you towards aspects of the hobby that you haven't even imagined.

Jump on in!

73

Richard
K4KRW

Bob,

I'm learning to use paddles and an iambic keyer too.  I ran across this PDF when looking for info on the topic.  It seemed sensible to me.

http://www.k7qo.net/sending.pdf

73,

Richard
K4KRW

Tube audio equipment can sound quite good.  Some of the best recordings I have ever heard were direct to disk recordings recorded using tube equipment end to end from microphone to the cutting head amplifier.  The company was Sheffield Labs.  Of course, most people listening to these recordings were using solid state equipment.

I've heard the 'Cary Audio' tube amplifiers on quality high efficiency speakers and they do sound quite nice.  

There is a lot of baloney though in the high end audio market.  I remember in the 80s and 90s people putting cinder blocks above and below their power amplifiers to dampen vibrations in the chasis induced by the magnetic fields in the amplifier and by sound waves coming from the loudspeakers.  They insisted they could hear a difference.  

The biggest laugh I ever got was when a high end dealer tried to sell me speaker wire.  The wire was very nice.  But, in addition to the normal marking on one wire for polarity purposes, it also had arrows pointing toward one end of the wire.  He told me that the end to which the arrows pointed to had to be attached to the speaker as the signal flowed through the wire more efficiently in that direction.  Even if that was true (it wasn't), last time I checked, the signal going to a speaker is A/C.

I often wondered if they were just trying to see what they could get away with.  Actually, sometimes they were.  I worked in a stereo shop where I heard a salesperson mention to a customer that a receiver had a lifetime framis warranty.  I later asked him what that was.  He responded "I don't know, I made it up".

I agree with earlier posts noting how much better the speakers were and how much larger the cabinets were in the older tube equipment.  

73,

Richard
K4KRW