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You can
write your own review of the Yaesu FT-817.
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N4MJG
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Rating: 5/5
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Jul 17, 2009 20:36
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Awsome Rig !!!!!!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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This year i took my 817nd with me at my vacation took up with deep marine battery and a dipole ant.
wookes very well how i set it up !
73
Jackie
KG4ORX
WWW.KG4ORX.COM
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K2GK
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Rating: 5/5
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Jul 17, 2009 16:43
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Worth the cost to me
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I think it has a great receiver that is worth the price alone. Plug in a hunk of wire and you can lull yourself to sleep while keeping tabs on "d-boys" until Morpheus takes you away.
Transmitting 5 watts or less is frustrating sometimes, and finally making some distant contacts is very rewarding. You'll wish your arms were long enough to pat yourself on the back!
If you are really addicted to radio and have the opportunity to travel, take this puppy along. It weighs almost nothing and fits in your pocket or laptop bag. The battery lasts a long time even if you talk so you can appreciate the extra benefit of playing radio while your wife drags you out shopping.
Last time I was visiting the kids in Texas, I stopped into a Radio Shack and bought some speaker wire and cut a 40 meter dipole and had a blast.
Boo hoo to Carnival Cruise Lines for saying "NO" to ham radio on their ships.
Gary k2gk
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W3PO
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Rating: 5/5
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Jun 30, 2009 07:21
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Still running
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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My 817 is 8 1/2 years old now and it is still my swiss army knife of radios. Since the arrival of the FT 1000D I do not use it as much as before but it sees plenty of action during 6m openings, and on the go ops, and to this day no issues whatsoever.
In a nutshell the 1KD is the best rig I have the pleasure to own and operate, and the 817 the most fun rig I have the pleasure to own and operate.
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N2UGB
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 6, 2009 08:58
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Still the best!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Just a quickie up-dated FT-817ND review.
This little guy is still aces in my opinion. Using my Buddistick out the window, continue making the contacts on 20 and 30 meters on or near the usual cw QRP calling frequencies. A few days ago an RST 579 from a Slovenia operator on 30M.
Have three of them puchased over a several year period. Each one sitting on an old Timewave DSP filter used occasionally, though the 500Hz cw filters do their jobs nicely. I do not knock the rig around. No abuse. Do not ask more of it than Yaesu says it should/can deliver. Don't mess about with "hidden" menues. No mods. Run it conservatively. No high swr permitted. I put those round stick-on things on the bottom of the rig to raise it a bit in order to have easier access to the lower push-buttons
Strictly an indoor operator so don't think the FT-817ND can't be your permanent base rig. Nice low-profile if you are space restriced.
Right now listening to the local classic music station on the FM band. Not stereo hi-fi but as background music sounds great.
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K6WAC
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 29, 2009 16:46
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CAN'T GO WRONG
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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THIS IS A GREAT LITTLE QRP RADIO. Its built in keyer and all mode/all band operation make it quite suitable for field day, backpacking, camping and most outdoor operations.I have made contacts world wide on ssb-cw-psk 31-as well as my local repeaters. Don't expect everything from an inexpensive piece of equipment. After all, its still a QRP radio. So before going through buyer remorse, one should take a bit of time to compile a want list of features required in a radio purchase. If one is menu shy or needs 100 watts output, the 817 is not for them. Before buying any QRP radio or accessory follow a few guidelines that will help making a decision.
1. If you want a full power 100 watt radio, save your money up and buy one rather than rather than feeling confined by 5 watts of RF output. After all, QRP is not for everyone; its an acquired taste.
2. If you don't like the menus of the FT817,DON'T BUY IT! There are plenty of other radios out there that will suit your operating needs if the FT817 does not.
3. Know what you are looking for before you buy. Research the product before laying down the green. Read these forums and critically digest the information available from operators with first hand experience. Talk with other hams about their experience with the radio. They will be happy to discuss both the pros and the cons with you.
My experience with this little radio has been great. It performs well on all bands under all conditions and I would recommend it to any QRPer.
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KE7GGZ
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 18, 2009 09:52
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I'm having too much fun with this radio!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I'd thought I'd give an update to this radio's performance.....My farthest contact was into Puerto Rico, yesterday on 14.236.5mhz from Quartzite, Arizona....Although I had to give my call sign 6, or 7 times and be patient with Otus, NP4G, I finally got my Call Sign repeated back to me correctly after he pulled me out of the mud! Everyone that I have contacted was surprised at the 5 watts that I am using on the HF bands including myself! What a great radio and I can't wait to make more contacts...The recieve is great, especially since Otus was a 5/0 on my S meter using my boom headst mic!
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W0DKM
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 9, 2008 16:32
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FUN!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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FUN,and Quality.
I have the ft817nd, and the ic703 for QRP portable.
The 703 is almost twice the size and has twice the Power out.
Both great rigs. I like them both.
Qrp is not for new hams, But if you are seasoned like myself These Qrp rigs are a blast.
Its FUN Yelling your brains out in a pileup.
FUN, FUN, FUN,,,...
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W4UDX
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 24, 2008 06:26
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Best rig per square inch
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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I'm on my third FT-817. I keep selling or trading them off for 100 watt radios, but then end up with another 817. These radios are the best deal on the ham market when you figure features per square inch. They even have carrier oscillator shift for USB and LSB on receive and transmit. This feature is found on the much larger FT-920, but not many other rigs and certainly on no other radios in the $500 price range. As far as fun goes, in a recent EUDX contest I worked Wales, Germany, Portugal and Slovak Republic with 5 watts on sideband. The Slovak contact (OM7DX) amounts to over 1100 miles per watt! Not bad for SSB mode at the bottom of the sunspot cycle! The secret to this radio for fun is good antennas and avoid the 100 watt temptation or you will not persevere and cave in and use the 100 watt radio. But what fun is that? Anyone can put 100 watts into a tribander and work DX! 73 Mark W7ARF (ex W4UDX)
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K2ID
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 23, 2008 21:28
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My goto rig
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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People often ask why I bought this rig. After all, if I want to work QRP I can just reduce the power on one of my other rigs. My reply is usually something along the lines of too much temptation when using a more powerful rig to crank it up when things get tough. I usually forget to mention that I can just carry this rig outside and plug it into an antenna and get on the air. I can bring it downstairs into my living room and monitor Dx and take it with me when I travel to monitor and work ALL bands. I have bought a hand held Yaqi to work satellites with it and have various qrp antennas to suit different situations that range from a simple telescoping antenna for monitoring to a Par three band end fed wire antenna. I even have a great QRP antenna tuner that I use with magnet wire to make random wire antennas inside of hotel rooms. Magnet wire will fit through the holes of a screen window in a hotel and no one notices it hanging down 5 floors. If nothing else, as I found out at the Dayton Hamvention, even if I do not make a QSO from inside my hotel room, this rig and a bottle of Jack Daniels can easily provide an evenings worth of fun. :)
I curently own a Yaesu FT-2000D and an Icom 746 Pro along with three HTs but I use the 817 the most. Since I do not own a VHF/UHF rig, I added a 45 watt Mirage VHF/UHF amp which gives me the same power as I would get from a mobile rig. I use it to listen to commercial radio, HF, 6 Meters and VHF/UHF. When I am in my office/shack, it is the rig I turn on to keep me company.
Then there is the thrill of a QRP contact and my most thrilling moment was workig Ducie Island with the 817 using a randow wire antenna. That is over 5000 miles from my QTH. Granted that the Ducie Is. Dxpedition had great ears but it still was a thrill for me. Right now the solar cycle is at a lull but I expect to be using the 817 more and more for transmit as the propagation improves. I have seen what can be done with just 5 watts and a length of wire.
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WB0FDJ
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 23, 2008 19:34
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Fun little radio
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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This radio is the real deal. Yeah, it doesn't have every bell and whistle known to current technology and there are things that it doesn't do. But for a lot of us who enjoy QRP this is a staple in our diet. I think back to 1979 when my sole rig was a Ten Tec Argonaut 509. The two years I owned by 509 are the best of my ham radio experience. With it I discovered QRP and honed my operating skills. That radio had no options, no filters, no nothing. I turn on this rig and the options it DOES have take my breath away! It small enough that I can actually put this in some of my larger coat pockets. I have the 500 Hz CW filter and also use the SCAF filter made by Idiom Press. This is a good "all purpose" QRP radio. I have used it with a portable antenna, set up in a local park, to work DX. This summer I worked ME and OH running the full 5W to an indoor slinky on 50 mHz. I compare this to the old Jeep CJ's: not pretty, sometimes not comfortable but will always get you there.
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