|
New to Ham Radio?
My Profile
Community
Articles
Forums
News
Reviews
Friends Remembered
Strays
Survey Question
Operating
Contesting
DX Cluster Spots
Propagation
Resources
Calendar
Classifieds
Ham Exams
Ham Links
List Archives
News Articles
Product Reviews
QSL Managers
Site Info
eHam Help (FAQ)
Support the site
The eHam Team
Advertising Info
Vision Statement
About eHam.net
|
| Reviews Summary for Yaesu FT-857 - all flavors |
|
Reviews: 347
|
Average rating: 4.5/5
|
MSRP: $769
|
|
Description: Yaesu HF/VHF/UHF Mobile Transceiver
|
|
Product is in production.
|
|
More info: http://
|
|
Email Subscription
You are not subscribed to this review.
Subscribe!
My Subscriptions
Subscriptions Help
|
You can
write your own review of the Yaesu FT-857 - all flavors.
|
K7GD
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Aug 28, 2010 23:30
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Excellent Radio
|
Time owned: 6 to 12 months
|
My brain still can't wrap itself around the idea that a radio this small is so impressive. Not only does the 857D transmit well, but its digital filtering makes mobile HF a dream. I mounted the radio head and microphone remotely with everything else hidden behind the seat of my truck and all wires/coax concealed and protected with split loom.
My antenna is a High Sierra 1800 Pro and the radio has no problem operating with this antenna including tuning. A very good combination.
The majority of the menu system works just fine with their factory default settings. The few menu items you need most are easy to access and easy to remember. The select buttons that exist on the detachable radio head are easily located and appropriate.
I have read complaints about the menu driven system, but I can't see a better way to pack so much technological choices for the operator. I think it is a trade off for the amount of technology included with the radio. I kept the manual handy the first few weeks until I got everything I needed down.
I recommend this radio to any mobile HF operator.
|
|
W1MED
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Aug 16, 2010 03:07
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
First HF Radio
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
Well after 10 years as a Tech I decided it was time to get into HF and upgraded to General.
I wanted something small that I could take portable as well as use in the shack and it was a toss up between the FT-897 and the FT-857. Well I ended up with a new FT-857D and it has been perfect for my needs. With all the info on the internet getting it set up was a breeze, I hung a G5RV Jr antenna and have made some Great DX contacts and the reports have all been Great !
|
|
N8AUC
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Jun 29, 2010 11:13
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Impressive at FD
|
Time owned: 6 to 12 months
|
Bought this rig in Oct 2009. Had fun playing with it in the shack. Having a "swiss army knife" of a radio was really fun. Tried to work some of the contests on CW last fall. That didn't work so well. The DSP by itself couldn't handle the strong signals so close together. So I added the W4RT 300Hz CW filter. Waited for Field Day as the ultimate test.
Between the 300Hz filter, and the built-in audio DSP, this radio impressed me more and more as I used it during Field Day. If I could hear it, I could work it. If stations were too close, I could separate them nicely. Turned the AGC off and rode the gain control, and it just worked very, very nicely.
I liked the radio before, but love it now. Before, it was just fun. Now it performs.
I'd give it a 4.5 rather than a 5, because to get a 5 it would need to do full break-in on CW, and it doesn't. That, in my opinion, is the only fault with this radio. Everything else about this radio I really like and would recommend it to anyone.
73 de N8AUC
Eric
|
|
KC5NYJ
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Jun 23, 2010 19:01
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Good rig
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
The first time I saw a picture of this rig, several years ago, I noted then and there that I did not like the look or the layout, and it seemed the buttons around the tuning knob doomed the radio to a narrow niche of users.
Fast forward to last month. 6m is coming alive, and my only 6m capable rig was a FT-817ND. Fun for QRP. 6m doesn't lend itself to QRP often just yet, so I started looking around.. I was almost set on a FT-450AT, when I found a deal I couldn't resist on that internet auction site.. $600 plus shipping for what was promised to be a new in box FT-857D. I figured, what the heck... 100w out on 6m, and DSP (albeit AF, not IF like the 450), and could use it as a spare 2m 70cm as well.
I can say I'm absolutely satisfied. I've been using it for phone and 6m digital modes with the new WSJT8 package. The CAT control makes it a "big" rig on my computer screen, and it sounds great on the air (I've been told), with a Astatic 10DA desk mic.
After using the front panel controls,I have to give kudos to the Yaesu engineers for creating a really easy to use layout, menus and all.
|
|
K6QT
|
Rating: 4/5
|
Jun 23, 2010 17:40
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Great rig, but dangerous to use while driving
|
Time owned: 3 to 6 months
|
I love this little rig. It took me 4 months to get to learn how just to dial up a frequency (and I'm not an idiot when it comes to radios), which can be done in different ways and with different speeds (which you will need, believe me). I would hit a button and then spend 30 minutes or more trying to figure out why I couldn't hit a repeater any more or understand anyone on the other end. The menu system is quite complex. I almost sideswiped a car last night while driving and trying to operate the radio.
But notwithstanding these things, I still have grown to love the radio - now that I know how to use it. I know what to anticipate now if I throw it out of kilter. Usually it's just that I've hit the mode button or switched into some kind of digital format, rather than analog. But it is well worth the money and does a lot of things that only $1000-2000 radios do.
I can't do HF from the car with it, but I assume that has something to do with a grounding problem I have, the low sunspot cycle, or something else. I figure I don't need it for HF, so I've bought a Yaesu FT-7900R for the car and I'm moving the FT-857D into the shack and buying a power supply. I've read nothing but praises and the 7900R is rated at 4.8/5, so if you need a VHF/UHF only rig for mobile use, consider that one. If you need HF, I can't really comment much on that, having only 1 contact from Pocatello, ID, only about 150 miles north of my home QTH. I heard one guy like he was in my living room from Oklahoma City (I'm in Salt Lake City, 1200 miles west), but he was using full legal limit (1500 W, of course), and naturally, with my small HF mobile antenna and only 100 W out of the radio, he couldn't hear me. Many nights I've spent outside in that car trying to get someone to hear me, but no luck with all but a single contact. Wish me luck with moving the rig into the shack. It also satisfies my UHF/VHF needs (except 1.25 M - PLEASE LISTEN YAESU!!! Why is Alinco, in many ways the "cheapo" brand of the big ones, the only brand that makes equipment for 1.25 M?!!!, my favorite band), so don't need other radios for that purpose (except my 1.25 M radio).
All in all, I'd say this is a good radio, although it can be difficult to use, as can be seen from the previous reviewer's comments. But I'm still glad to have it and it does, as I say, things that only much more expensive radios will do.
73 and good luck with your radio choices, de Shon, K6QT
|
|
G4XTA
|
Rating: 2/5
|
Jun 1, 2010 14:24
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Can't work it. Getting Rid
|
Time owned: 6 to 12 months
|
Now, I KNOW I'm the odd-man-out here, cos I can't get this radio to work at all. I've always wanted one, and was most excited when it arrived. I'm an honor roll dx-er and retired IT/Comms specialist, so I'm no mug in configuring complex soft-driven radios. BUT, I just can't work this FT857D!! It's been in my shack hooked-up to a dummy load for 8 months, sitting right next to the box that it came out of, brand new. Day-after-day I cheerfully bring my coffee into the shack and sit down hopefully for yet another 'learning' session with the manual and the radio. Each time, I leave the shack several hours later, angry, confused and frustrated. After eight months I still can't even do basic operations on the thing, and there's no chance of ever becoming proficient. I have 11 other Yaesu's in the shack, and I'm pretty expert on them all. But not this one. I'm frustrated and humiliated by it. I put it up for sale last night, just to break the deadlock, and I'm gonna walk away before I lose my temper and throw the thing out the window. I need a radio as a radio, not "an adventure in proramming" as this model has been described elsewhere.
I'm sure it's a great rig. But not for me.
|
|
K3AXR
|
Rating: 5/5
|
May 31, 2010 14:32
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Great rig
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
I just got this rig along wiith the "matching" ATAS-120 active tuning antenna. I've only had it a few days but have found it's performance to be fantastic. My first contact was on 20 meters and was with a station in Spain who gave me a 58. This little package is loaded with do-dads and is so compact it fits anywhere.
I've only had it a few days, but my comment to date is -WOW!
|
|
KB6HRT
|
Rating: 5/5
|
May 31, 2010 13:10
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Nothing comes close
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
|
Have helped 4 new HAMS in the last 2 years and 2 of them brought FT857 and being around them, heard this little rig and liked what I heard. Went out and got one myself to replace my FT7800 2m-440m rig, Had the FT7800 for six years it was a 5 also. The FT857 does so much well don't think it can be beat. This radio is so so much bang for the buck, wish they had something like it when I became a new HAM. Yaesu did a great job when they designed this radio, Its my FT920 and some!.....................KB6HRT
|
|
KE5DFR
|
Rating: 4/5
|
May 18, 2010 10:40
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Great small radio
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
It gets a 4.5 for function and price. I wish the dispaly was larger, but hey, it is a small radio. I use it in the truck with tha ATAS 120 antenna and a Larsen dual band antenna. I also use it when out with the RV on a home brew 20/40m inverted v dipole and the LDG 897 tuner. When operaing from the triler I can also use the ATAS 120 on the trailer and I run the radio with HRD and my netbook computer.
Keep the book handy and highlight the major functions you use to aid in changing things as you get used to this radio.
Never a single problem from it...it jsut works and I have talked to Europe, Mexico and South America while mobile.
Ken
|
|
WA0DTH
|
Rating: 3/5
|
May 15, 2010 20:24
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Crackle Box 857
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
|
I went to turn on my 857 this morning and heard crackling in the speaker like a severe thunderstorm near by. Well I disconnected the antenna and hmmm it was still there. Not only in the HF mode but in VHF and UHF. So it looks like the radio has developed a problem. Its out of warranty so I pay through the wazzoo to get it fixed or repair it myself. Anyone else seen the crackle problem with this radio.
|
|
If you have any questions, problems, or suggestions about Reviews,
please email your Reviews Manager.
|
|
|
|
|
