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| Reviews Summary for Yaesu FT-857 - all flavors |
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Reviews: 391
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Average rating: 4.5/5
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MSRP: $769
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Description: Yaesu HF/VHF/UHF Mobile Transceiver
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Product is in production.
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More info: http://
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write your own review of the Yaesu FT-857 - all flavors.
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W7MY
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Rating: 0/5
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Jan 21, 2012 06:53
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Great BUT PROBLEMS
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have owned mine for 5 years and its great for what it is, all bands/modes and small package.
The only problem is 6M where the final amp has design problems and WILL fail if you use it long enough.
Mine was out of warranty by one month when it failed and of course they stiffed me for the repair. Because I complained so much, they held my radio for 6 months before they repaired it. MANY others on the Yahoo groups forum have had the same failure so I'm not alone.
The bottom line is that Yaesu SUCKS, the radio is great but expect a failure is you use it on 6M regularly.
Except for the failure, I love this radio.
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N2WJW
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 3, 2012 14:30
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A little rig that does it all
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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So I recently purchased one of these little gems "D" model and so far its more than I expected from such a small package and I base my review after owning dozens of different rigs in the sub $800 range. I have used it mostly on cw. Does not have a quiet QSK, meaning you will hear the racket of the relays, but personally, I never did like the QSK feature on any rig, even Ten Tec's smooth QSK, I find it fatiguing after a while.
The DSP noise reduction works very well on this model, especially on cw where the DSP bandpass filter (DBF) peaks the cw signal while cutting adjacent interference, being a cw operator I really love this feature, not quite like a cw filter but as close as you can get to one. Menu is very easy to access and has many good features and all the bells and whistles you'll need, once used to it, its a breeze. Receive is quiet enough and sensitive plus has just about every mode even FM and it has a very wide range receiver. Built in keyer works like a champ.
On transmit I get good signal reports both phone and cw and hard to believe this little thing can crank up to 100 watts and for the QRP'ers it drops down to 5 watts which I have used with good results on cw.
I have become a minimalist after years of owning many rigs and with this rig I don't have to give up performance for size plus I get VHF and UHF.
These little rigs are a bargain on the used market, if you can find one that has not taken a beating as a mobile. I like the build quality, has a solid feel to it.
So far I am very happy with this rig and I would purchase another one if I had to.
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K2CLH
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Rating: 4/5
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Dec 27, 2011 05:57
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Great all around!! Ok on HF!!!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I use my FT-857D as my base station. It doesn't have great filtering or transmit power. I'm sure it's great as a mobile rig bt just not enough for a base station, although in good conditions I work the globe with it straight to a 5BTV on the roof!!! Overall great radio for the price. If you have the right conditions a 5BTV and 100w out of a FT-857D and you'll hear yourself coming around the earth when you let off the key. When the bands are dead you go NO WHERE!!!
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KO4CH
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 8, 2011 18:07
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Super all purpose rig
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I purchased my Yaesu 857D 1 year ago and I use it strictly for base operations with a homebrew offset windom up at 100 ft with the md100 mike. I get a lot of compliments on both signal strenth and audio quality.
I did install a Inrad 2.9 filter and it really opened up the audio for both transmit and receive. I run it with Ham Radio Deluxe sofware and with a 21 inch monitor, you forget you are running a small rig.
I have been hamming since 1961 and have owned a lot of radios including some high end stuff. This radio with a little manipulation, will sound as good as the big boys.
It's really nice to listen to the FM broadcast band as the wfm on this radio hooked up to my audio system on my computer sounds awesome.
All the features work super except for the notch control for hetrodynes. It dulls them but does not take them out completely. Would be nice if you could adjust it.
I can't comment on the CW as when I passed my test for General with 13 wpm, I put away my key,but I bet it does a respectible job.
Bottom line,if you decide to purchase one for base use,do yourself a favor and purchase the Inrad 2.9 filter and the MD100A mike. They will all think you are on a high end radio with the audio.
73,
Jerry Koch (KO4CH)
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DL4NO
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 7, 2011 08:54
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Amazing Mobile Rig
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have used my FT857D for years as my mobile rig. The only problems I had were my faults.
I see some room for improvement, however. The RF noiseblanker could suppress better at relatively narrow-band mobile antennas. And I would like antenna diversity on VHF/UHF RX.
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EA3WR
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Rating: 1/5
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Dec 7, 2011 04:14
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Display problem
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Poor quality components and assembly.
After some years of use, display appears with dead lines, showing incomplete characters. Yaesu is not directly represented in Spain, just through a dealer that provides expensive and poor quality after sales service. Buying a Yaesu radio in Spain is really dangerous when it comes to service. I also have Icom and Kenwood radios and the experience with service is totally diferent.
73 Joan EA3WR
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LU8ENU
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Rating: 4/5
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Dec 4, 2011 02:40
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Good rig
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Hello friends.
I have had several movile rig, including Icom IC706xxxx. now I have a Yaesu FT857, it really is best value for the benefitis, does not heat even during TX time, everything works very well. A pity that is so ugly.
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SV1DPP
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 29, 2011 08:09
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FANTASTIC SMALL MULTITOOL
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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After two years of hard use continues to do everything..Fantastic small multitool!!
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VE3FAX
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Rating: 3/5
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Nov 27, 2011 09:45
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Ok rig for the money-not great
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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So many 5/5 ratings?
3.5/5 is more suitable after really spending years using this rig. It's OK for the price, but certainly NOT a 5/5. Here are the negatives that are missing from the reviews and a few common long-term problems:
Display matrix loses pixels after a few years-making reading displayed characters difficult.
RF transistor BIAS often mis-adjusted from factory and requires regular re-adjustment (drifting?). This causes ALC/RF output instability, especially when reducing down for digital and QRP ops.(Often heard as squealing, fluttering et.) There is some Internet info on dealing with this problem- check-out an Italian Technician's website.
High noise and artefacts while in XMIT idle (and with audio input). There are mods to reduce this somewhat.
High SWR fold-back does not seem to protect rig when running QRP, likely due to the BIAS instability problem mentioned above? Cases of blown finals as a result. CAREFUL.
Six metre oscillation AND all band AM mode distortion problems were common on some production batches. After repair by Yaesu, my rig is now OK, although their Tech did a terrible job aligning and setting-up carrier offset et.
In QSO RCV, menu knobs and features can be mastered, but can be difficult. This is typical when rigs are made compact. Computer control makes it easier, but not when mobile or working pile-ups et.
Optional filters help very little. They do help with some close-in AGC pumping, and use of menu driven IF offset but knob/menu must be mastered to shift away from interfering signals. Filter WILL help, but is it worth the price for "the casual operator" when considering over-all receiver quality? Get the narrowest SSB filter possible!
AHH , now for the DSP. Don't forget, it has Audio DSP, not I.F.DSP. It works great for CW, and can be helpful for SSB, but don't expect miracles. Noisy conditions can be improved to pull-out some signals. Using IF shift and DSP audio pass-band adjustment helps SSB, but a lot of twiddling is required with marginal usefulness. One thing for sure: the auto notch DSP is almost useless. Needs an S-9 heterodyne to work! I find it sometimes works better filtering general QRN.
This Rig(like others), can be effected by RF getting into power cable and control cables.
RF and power spikes have been known to change/corrupt menu settings.
Receiver is "OK", but after trying to use it for a band-blasted ARRL Field-Day, we broke down and went to my 1980's Yaesu FT-102 Hybrid Rig instead. Long-time Hams were blown-away at the difference in front-ends and how amazingly better the FT-102 was for receiving. Not a fair comparison, I know. But if your after a quality receiver for fair price, rather than ALL BAND ops., maybe consider an older high-end rig.
So, keep these things in mind should you have problems down the Log or if you are expecting a 5/5 Rig.
Don't get me wrong! For the money and frequency agility, I WOULD buy this rig again. I get excellent mobile report running Hamstick type antennas. It's light-weight and easy to move from car to home to suitcase.
Lots of Computer Control and Digital In/Output options that work well and interfaces can be easily homebrewed and work well.
Having HF,6m, V/UHF in one Rig is nice and after my repair for AM distortion, even get good AM reports.
So, over-all a neat little rig, but depending on the kind of operating, you may be slightly frustrated or disappointed. But comparing price based alternatives, its generally a good rig, but NOT worthy of a 5/5 !
73 es GL
Greg
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KJ4NWZ
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 22, 2011 03:23
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FT-857D
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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When I purchased the FT-857D from Gigaparts in February, 2011 I had light-weight portability and the FT-817ND in mind but I was warned not to purchase a QRP rig as the first radio for a new General Class licensee with no amateur radio experience.
The 857D was designed primarily as a mobile rig and has no internal battery capacity. At 4.6 lb it is a bit beefy for pedestrian operations. Add a 12v/7amp battery and the total weight is 9.6 lb! By the time I add the supporting gear (antenna, ATU, etc) the weight on my back is pushing 15 lb! Not what I had in mind.
The radio, however, is a marvel. Easy to operate. Would I buy the 857D again? In a heartbeat! I grin and bear the extra weight on my back but I am just luvvin' 100 watts!
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