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You can
write your own review of the Yaesu FT-847.
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VE6GWC
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 20, 2009 13:00
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Excellent Rig
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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This was my first rig when I got into amateur radio in 2005.
This is the one unit I will likely never sell.
All mode all band, satellite, digital work... a beauty
Good filters, knobs on the front make adjustments easy, clear audio, 4 antenna connections, can use ATAS-120A screwdriver antenna also.
This rig is more portable than my other rigs so I use this when camping or other.
I have read about the little problems and issues associated with this rig but all rigs have their little problems.
Currently I use my FT-847 for 2m & 70 cm as well as digital modes. I found it easy to connect for digital using HRD than my 950
Nothing bad to say about this baby.
I use an FT-950 and FT-1000 MP Mark V for HF work.
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G0KSC
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 7, 2009 15:51
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good rig with little factory misses
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I bought this rig for the purpose of 70MHz only and like G7VGG says, the powerout is sorted by a PA1O mod, removing a cap form the bottom of the PA board and snipping an alc wire does the job. HOwever, the reciever on 4M is poor. pre-amps will help but the real problem is the BPF. PA1O again has a fix for this, 10 components bring the receiver up form only receiving 1MV signals to 0.4MV. adding a pre-amp now will give 0.1MV signals on 4M. One other good mos is chanign all pin diode to high quality types, this reduces receive noise.
All in all a good rig once the half-done job of the Yaesu engineers is completed.
Justin G0KSC
www.g0ksc.co.uk
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9M6WST
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Rating: 5/5
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Sep 30, 2009 01:35
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Best Rig
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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Own it about a year. Never easily get hot during operation. Good audio and the DSP are so good. Easy operation and menus. Recommended rig to have.
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WA4RVB
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Rating: 5/5
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Sep 9, 2009 12:10
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NICE RIG
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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A GOOD ALL AROUND RIG..IF YOU WANT A GREAT HF RIG. FORK OUT THE 10 GRAND..
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KE5GFJ
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Rating: 5/5
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Sep 8, 2009 21:19
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Great all around rig
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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It seems you either love this rig or hate it. I have owned it for about 5 years and learned to love it even more the more I use it. What other rig can you buy that you can experience ALL of ham radio with? HF, 2M, 440, satellite, digital modes, whatever you can learn to do, this radio can do it. Yes, the hard core contesters who are not happy with anything but a $10,000 rig that can hear a pin drop in China will cut it down. But who gives a rip about that in the real world of ham radio? If you got into ham radio to learn, expand your horizons and experience all ham radio has to offer this rig can get you there. All the talk about problems with this rig is baloney. It's a great rig. The only thing that would impress me more was if I had two of them. There is not a rig on the market today that can do all this rig can do. The Kenwood TS2000? Great rig, but has a birdie right smack dab in the middle of the Satellite receive frequency for the most popular satellites. If Kenwood would get rid of that birdie, then I would conceed that the TS is better. But for some odd reason they can't seem to figure out how to do it. For that reason alone, most serious satellite hams use the FT 847. What other rig has held it's resale value like this one? Check EBay and you will see this rig has one of the best resale values, and holds it's value better than almost any rig made in the last ten years. That, alone tells the story.
So if any of you negative reviewers who hate this rig want to get rid of it, ship it to me and I'll gladly take it off your hands.
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AB4D
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Rating: 5/5
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Sep 2, 2009 06:19
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Great when used for its intended purpose.
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I’ve read several reviews here bashing this transceiver about its performance on HF, but some of them admit they have never even used the FT-847 on anything above 30 mhz. IMO, the FT-847 was NOT designed to be an HF rig with VHF and UHF coverage, and was never advertised to be a HF contest rig. The FT 847 was advertised as a satellite rig, much like the Yaesu FT 736r. The FT-847 is more akin to a VHF/UHF all mode transceiver that just happens to have HF coverage, IMO the HF was probably intended more for those who may want to use transverters, with the first IF in the HF bands, than to actually use it as a main HF transceiver.
On VHF and UHF the FT-847 has worked as well as anything I have used on both FM and SSB (Yaesu FT-736r, Ft-857, Icom 706 MkII, etc). I have used it occasionally on HF, signal reports have been good, and I find the receiver and DSP is adequate for most average HF use. The FT-847 is a nice semi-compact rig and can free up desk space which may be occupied by multiple single band FM transceivers. If your main interests are HF or HF contesting, no doubt there are better choices out there. However, if you are looking for a VHF/UHF radio that can serve as your main 2/6 meter and 70 centimeter FM rig, and can also accommodate satellite operation (which very few radios have the true capability), I certainly can recommend the FT-847 for consideration.
I rate the FT-847 a 5 based on its performance for which it was designed (VHF/UHF operation and Satellite work).
73
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GM4ULS
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Rating: 4/5
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Apr 24, 2009 22:24
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addendum
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Just a note to G7VGG's review. I think a better option for 4m is a 100W linear amplifier. I don't have a 4m antenna up at present, but I do have a linear, with a built-in rx pre-amp. I have run this from my previous location, using a separate psu for the linear. The antenna was a very simple groundplane in the loft - worked a treat.
By the way, if anyone has an 847 which covers 7.1 to 7.2 MHz I would be interested to know how they managed the modification.
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G7VGG
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 24, 2009 13:43
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Highly recommended!
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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In UK spec, its the only Ham radio available in the UK that covers every current UK Ham band from HF to 70cms (except for the experimental 5mhz band)as standard.
To most countries use of the 4m band is seen as virtually exclusive to the UK and a few other countries in Western Europe, and therefore Japanese rig manufacturers like Yaesu dont deem the potential market large enough to be worth designing it into their new radios. Because of this the FT-847 was never originally designed to cover 4m either...Understandably there can be problems. They fluffed up the 4m PA stage for instance as in standard spec it only produces 10 watts out on 4m at a consumption of around 20 amps! Thankfully an extremely simple mod, courtesy of Marc Vlemmings (PA10), can be performed which gives a safe 85 watts out on 4m at only 16 Amps consumption, whilst reducing power consumption on 6m too. Apart from the RX being a little hard of hearing on 4m thats about the only cons I can think of...Everything else about the FT-847 is big plus and I cant imagine ever wanting to buy any other radio!
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N4MJG
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 14, 2009 03:46
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Great Rig !
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I had mine over the years! this radio is awsome !never a problem or anything,i brought mine used from the store in Huntville, Al at gigparts store.
73
Jackie
KG4ORX
WWW.KG4ORX.COM
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NW7U
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Rating: 2/5
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Jan 4, 2009 15:39
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Satellite Radio w/ HF Afterthought
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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If you read the 5/5 reviews you'll notice something curious - nearly ALL of them have a "However" attached. No VOX, no QSK, volume that goes from "I can't hear it" to deafening in 1/4 turn. And then there's the receiver! Come on folks - 5/5 should mean perfect!
First things first - it's great fun! It's got all those different colored lights and lots of knobs and buttons and, even turned off, it looks great! And if you have the space and budget for a bunch of alien-looking antennas, the satellite side of this is well-thought-out. (Although it really should have 1.2 Ghz....)
The manual is second only to "War and Peace" in size and complexity. It was my bathroom reading for about 6 months. Every morning was an epiphany and I STILL don't pretend to know what's in there.
Where this radio falls apart is HF Receive. I've owned LOTS of radios and this has BY FAR the poorest selectivity on HF I've ever heard. This radio is absolutely unusable on a contest weekend. The front end is as wide as Montana and even your neighbors daquiri blender will overload it. With the Inrad 500 CW filter installed strong signals 40 Khz down will STILL thump in your ear.
If you ever owned an Icom 735, cranked the noise blanker to 10 and wondered why you couldn't copy anyone, you've got a limited idea of how this receiver sounds.
I guess we all accept that DC-to-Light radios have compromises. This rig is proof that "Too Much" is sometimes not a good thing. And this can be a difficult balancing act if you insist on doing everything on a minimum-wage budget.
If HF is what you're really after, go elsewhere.
In fact, let me make a recommendation - if you want all those bands but (realistically) aren't likely to make the investment in satellite antennas, get a 706 MKIIG. Considering how much is crammed in that little box, it's incredibly good, it's FAR FAR FAR better on HF than the 847 and it's several hundred bucks cheaper. (OK - I sold my 706 too, but I wish I hadn't)
[This is a "late" review - I was surprised to find I had not reviewed it much sooner. This rig was purchased new from HRO about 6 months before going out of production. It was the latest incarnation. I kept the radio almost a year before sending it off to the Middle East through an eBay sale.]
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