The 897 is a good starter rig. The 857 is cheaper, but it lacks the TCXO, something I think that is mainly
of use to someone using the rig outdoors. However, don't forget to budget in your antenna system.

My HF rig is the 897's baby brother, the 817. I like charging into contests with one hand tied behind by back.

73,

-- Tom

I have 5 handhelds, all with their own specific features and quirks.

I have a Yaesu VX-7R (covers 6m, 2m, 70cm, and low-power 1.25m), a Kenwood TH-F6A (covers 2m, 1.25m, 70cm), an ICOM IC-80AD (covers 2m, 70cm, with D-STAR and a GPS mike), an Alinco DJ-G7T (covers 2m, 70cm, 23cm), and an Alinco DJ-29T (covers 1.25m, 33cm). All are nice radios, but I find it's easier to hit repeaters with a mobile because of the power. I haven't tried every repeater in my area, though.

I guess your best option boils down to what your budget is.

73,

--Tom

I use an Emtech ZM-2 tuner. You can get them preassembled, full kit, or kit with toroids pre-wound. It will tune just about anything.

Depending on how you build your loop , I think you can get "hand capacitance" issues that will make finding a proper match tricky.

-- Tom

I have an FT-817ND. When I bought mine, here were the differences:

897 - 100W, comes with DSP and TXCO

857 - 100W, comes with DSP

817 - 5W, TXCO available as an option, and while aftermarket DSP exists, nothing from Yaesu itself.

The 857 looks like it is mainly designed for mobile use. The 897 can be used as a base station, or
run off of a battery pack.

With my 817, I bought the TXCO, and a 300hz filter. BTW, if you didn't know TXCO is temperature
controlled crystal oscillator.

I did work HK0NA on 20m SSB with my 817. Keep in mind that my signal report was a 51.

73,

-- Tom

I got them once on 20m SSB. My signal report was 51. I run 5 watts, so I'll take it.

It took him a bit to get my call sign right, but he stuck with me, so when I filled out the form
for the OQRS, I added some extra $$ to it. Thank you N6OX! Thanks to the whole team for
the hard work!

73,

-- Tom

With regard to tuners, are you limiting yourself to auto-tuners for any particular reason?

My favorite tuner, my Emtech ZM-2, requires no power, and will tune just about anything (well, from 10-80m).
I currently have my 817/ZM-2 combination hooked to a LDG 4:1 Balun, which splits out into a random wire and
a counterpoise. The random wire runs out my 2nd story window, across the porch roof, and down a wooden
fence on the high side of the yard. My farthest contact (SSB, I'm still practicing CW) was to Moldova, 4862
miles from my QTH according to QRZ.

73,

-- Tom

Only once on the eham forums have I made mention of someone's grammar/spelling/sentence structure. I would never
do that on a forum where someone was asking advice on a technical subject. The one time I did it was a guy who was
explaining why he did a PayPal chargeback after he had received the item. He obviously had reading comprehension
problems as well, as he thought he had paid twice. End result: for once PayPal sided with the seller, he had not paid
twice, and had received the item and the chargeback was disallowed.

Both sides were arguing on that forum, and I merely pointed out that when one of the posters wrote fairly clearly, but
the other posted like a "tween" text message, I had a bias on whose side of the story to believe.

I don't think you were in there, so I don't think it's me that you're angry at. In any case, that particular dispute just
got me angry enough to post. Normally, I don't do things like that unless you somehow rile me up with personal insults
first.

73,

-- Tom

A low response rate can also come from the way the call sign is sent, can't it? For instance, is KJ4FUU/M the same as KJ4FUU? I was told that it wasn't. My response rate is probably just under 40% overall. I'm wondering if some are being sent to KJ4FUU/QRP (what my card says) vs. KJ4FUU (what I'm set up for in LoTW).

I do know that I worked a station that was portable to Bermuda, and I didn't get the LoTW confirmation until I logged it as VP9/call sign.

-- Tom

Is there a radio club near you? Hopefully, they would have someone who would know. They may even know of a used rig and get you a lower price than the classifieds. If there is a hamfest nearby, and you can go with the club or and experienced ham, you may be able to pick up something relatively cheap.

Do you know Morse? CW-only rigs are generally cheaper.

A wire dipole can be set up at pretty reasonable cost. If you cut it right, you wouldn't need an antenna tuner, providing you were only using it on the resonant band. You will likely have to have either a power supply, or a battery/charger of sufficient capacity in addition to the radio.

73,

-- Tom

I'll second the buying them online. Just remember you may have to use Internet Explorer, as the US Pestal Service apparently developed their website with IE in mind. The last time I tried using FireFox, it choked on the password screen.

My post office told me to buy them online, because they said that no local POs carried them anymore.

-- Tom

I operate QRP with a less-than-optimal wire antenna, and I got 5 contacts in California,
4 different counties. Watch for contests and special event, and you should get the state
before long.

Yeah, I know I'm a parasite, making everyone elses' antennae and receivers do the hard
work, but I'm having fun!

-- Tom KJ4FUU

Usually, when I hear someone from outside of a state participating in a state QSO party, they will usually call "CQ xx QSO party xx stations only".

-- Tom

I read the Tech and General books, and took those tests on the same day.

I read the Extra manual, and took that test a couple of months later. However, I still didn't know as much as I wanted to about radio and antenna design, so I bought a bunch of other books, which I'm currently reading.

The license manuals are only a start. As in every hobby, you can get into it as deeply as you want to go. I would like to eventually be able to homebrew a transceiver from scratch, but for the time being, I'll settle for being able to understand why a project was designed the way it was. I love building kits (but I hate SMT), but that's not for everyone.

73,

-- Tom

1.) I don't work for them,

2.) I've never bought anything from them,

3.) The difference might be between replace and RETURN FOR REFUND.

73,

-- Tom

Yes, it bothers me a bit, but not because I'm inconvenienced by reading it, but because it shows me how education has gone downhill. When I was in school, I only knew of a couple of people who spelled like that, and I think they were passed along because nobody wanted to see them next year. Unfortunately, it seems more common  today. It's the steady supply of this quality of student that keeps the telemarketers and spammers in business.

In my old age, I *occasionally* slip up with "their" and "there", but never "they're", but I usually catch it before it goes out. I really hate the confusion between "loose" and "lose".

On one of the boards here on eham.net, I saw an argument between someone who could form sentences, and someone who couldn't. Guess which side I thought was more correct?

73,

-- Tom