Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes
Reviews Home

Reviews For: Yaesu FT-897 & 897D

Category: Transceivers: HF Amateur HF+6M+VHF+UHF models - non QRP <5W

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : Yaesu FT-897 & 897D
Reviews: 340MSRP: 1049.95
Description:
It is the world's first multi-mode high-power base/mobile transceiver designed to fitted with internal batteries (optional) for portable use. The coverage is HF 160 to 10 meters plus 50/144/430 MHz VHF/UHF. Receive is 0.1-56, 76-108, 118-164 and 420-470 MHz. 7.9x3.2x10.3 inches (200x80x263 mm).
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.yaesu.com/amateur/ft897.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
353404.6
N1YWB Rating: 2007-11-26
Jack of all trades, master of none Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Likes
*Compact size
*Battery option
*Collins filters
*Good audio
*Lots of bands/modes

Dislikes
*Too big for mobile
*Not enough buttons or knobs
*Too many menus
*Mediocre RX performance
*Limited battery life
*No built-in TTL level converter
*Horrible display

A jack of all trades, master of none radio. Probably most useful as a first response portable field radio. For other applications, look elsewhere.

See my full review at: http://n1ywb.blogspot.com/2007/11/yaesu-ft-897-review.html
KB1PDZ Rating: 2007-11-12
Highly recomended Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I own the D version
Lots of features for the price in comparison to the Icom 706 and Icom 7000
If I had one complaint it would be the 2.2Khz filter for TX audio.
This can easily be fixed with an inrad 2.6khz optional filter.
After several 2-3 hour ragchews at full power I cannot even heat this rig up. Unlike icom 706 and icom 7000
Don't get me wrong the IC 7000 is a superior radio but is it 500 - 600 dollars better. I don't know . I will leave this for others to debate.
The portable feature is a big plus do to the fact I take several camping trips a year.
WA9FVP Rating: 2007-10-18
Stay away, "D" OK! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just learned today that the 2SC3102 VHF/UHF transistor that's used in the FT897 is obsolete. I’m not sure but I don’t think that the "D" version is affected. Yaesu claims in the FT-897 brochure that, "While on VHF maximum efficiency during battery operation is yielded by 2SC3102 bipolar PA transistors", (There's only one in the radio). I also learned that Yaesu will sell a redesigned PA board with a replacement power transistor but I don’t know the cost of the assembly or if the board includes the transistors. Yaesu quoted the $152.23 for the 2SC3102 but none were in stock.

Don’t get me wrong the FT-897 is still a good radio but you should be careful and make sure that you have a good standing wave on your antenna and don’t turn up the power beyond Yaesu’s specs. Some modification Web sites will tell you how to do it but they don’t tell you that it can damage the finals.

Icom had a similar problem with the IC-706-MK2G where Motorola discontinued the SRFJ7044. You can purchase a replacement board for the MK2G complete with RD70HHF1’s and an RD70VHF1for about $350. The FT-100 uses an SRF7043 in the VFF/UHF section that’s also discontinued.
FORMER_K0PD Rating: 2007-10-16
Nice Radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After buying my Ten Tec Orion i decided i no longer needed 2 large station's , so i sold my Omni V1 which was a very difficult decision but i also still wanted a back up radio.

I decided on the yaesu 897 as it's described features sounded to me like the perfect back up radio.Now i bought it used but must compliment Ed McCarroll KC0DX on a very excellent sale.

Now on to my early impression's on the radio. After using the menu on the Orion and then trying to understand the Menu and numerous function's of the Mem/VFO CH control on the little 897 is a whole new experience.The Orion's menu is straight out accessible and easily understood by computer illiterates like me.But not so with the 897. Also after spending almost a hour trying to find out how to access the scope on the 897 using the limited info in the manual and discovering quite by accident how to access it i discover than while the scope is in band sweep you have no recieve. So to me that is a totally useless function of the radio.

But to sum it up and not share to much of my illiteracy the radio it's self has to me a nice sound and seem's to overall be a very well built and operational radio outside of the menu system.Other wise i would give the Radio a 5 but only because of the menu and just figuring it out i only give this radio a 4 out of 5 and would add that just because i'm having a learning curve with it do not let that stop you from buying one as it is a very good radio....
VE3OIJ Rating: 2007-10-15
Great radio! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is my second HF rig, the first one that I bought new. My requirement was for an all-band, all-mode radio that could work portable. I don't use it in my vehicle, but I want to be able to carry it around and set it up in strange places. This is the radio to do it.

For all practical purposes, the guts of this radio are identical to the FT-857 mobile radio.

Pros:
- it works well on all bands and modes. Controls are easy enough to use
- works well on the internal batteries (I puchased two internal batteries for it)
- light enough to carry around. Seems sturdy, although I haven't tried kicking it or dropping it off cliffs.
- price is decent

Cons:
- the internal batteries are pretty obscenely expensive, IMO, and require an external charger (i.e. they don't charge when the radio is hooked up to external power).
- the display is a bit small
- there are dual VFOs, but you can't really use them both at the same time, so working satellite with this radio would be a challenge.
- it might be "all band" but doesn't have the 1.25m band.

I can't complain - the cons are generally minor and the radio does what I ask it to do, and does it well. The bulk of my station is designed to be fully portable (including the computer for digital), and this radio forms the cornerstone.
KD7HVL Rating: 2007-09-19
This is a Gotta Have Radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
this is a gotta have radio. Why? well just think about it, look at the bands, look at the modes the sensitivity of the receiver the transmitter output power, what you can do with it, base, mobile and even battery operated portable. Now look at the SIZE, just think how much stuff you would have to have on your operating bench from the 70s' to do the same thing and still not be as good. THEN LOOK AT THE PRICE. If you don't want to use it as a primary rig fine But YOU STILL GOTTA HAVE A BACK UP. Rig does everything but cook dinner for you and wash the windows. For the price YOU GOTTA HAVE ONE. enough said
AA7LG Rating: 2007-09-19
fantastic PSK portable PSK transceiver Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have been using my FT-897D for two years now. I use it for PSK & some CW for portable use. I find it to be an excellent PSK transceiver. With the SignaLink USB it is a breeze to operate. I don’t find the menus to be an issue. I would rather have a small menu tree that is simple to understand than a large radio with dozens of knobs that is no longer portable and capable of operating with internal batteries. I have to agree with other users that the DPS might not be state of the art, however, the Collins mechanical filters are great. This radio does not compare to my Orion II and I wouldn’t expect it to, however, it stands alone as a fantastic full featured portable transceiver. Yaesu is on the mark with the design criteria on this one! 73, Bob AA7LG

----------------------
Earlier 5-star review posted by AA7LG on 2007-01-15

Incredible radio, I use it for PSK,SSB & CW and it works great in all modes. It has great ears and fantastic audio through headphones. It appears to be built like a tank. This transceiver has made portable operation a reality for me. The menu system is simple enough for the beginning ham to master. Some people complain that the display is small or it needs more buttons to do the many functions that a full featured radio needs. Well, then the radio would be larger and no longer and awesome portable package. One might as well carry around a full size desk radio and a car battery. I feel that Yaesu has considered all the features and made the appropriate design decisions on this one.
N9GRG Rating: 2007-09-18
Ok if all you do is SSB but CW and digital modes are cumbersome Time Owned: more than 12 months.
It's a nice radio that can be made portable quickly. But I do CW and PSK modes exculsively and find that having only 3 buttons to access nearly 100 functions via a menu is too cumbersome to use in a serious fashion. QSK CW is hard on your ears as the relay is quite loud. Because of the menu system, accessing rf power, filters and other settings such as CW pitch and CW key speed require many steps, not a simple on-the-fly adjustment.

The DSP is not IF-based so AGC pumping is still a problem and the DSP filtering is not that great, helpful but not great.

My take on this radio is that if you're going to take this on the road and only use the mic you'd be OK. But if you want to do CW, or bring a laptop and work digital modes, while trying to battle QRM, QRN and QSB as the current band condx are giving us, then you may be as displeased as I was with it.

In the end I sold it as I found it too much of a pain to use regularly and found myself struggling to remember the menu system and fumble with the settings when I did use it. Operating a radio is fun, wrestling with it is not.
G8JNJ Rating: 2007-09-14
Great fun to use Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I bought this model after originally considering the FT-857D, as the overall size seemed more suitable for desktop and occasional portable operation.

I think it offers excellent value for money, especially if compared against tranceivers you may have bought previously (or all the separate boxes I traded in to buy it, which just about provided the same functionality).

Providing it’s only considered as a low cost product, for average use with a modest antenna, then you won’t go far wrong in buying one. However if you are expecting contest grade performance, or are interested in ESSB or Hi-Fi SSB, buy something better.

My only criticisms would be:-

• The MH-31 stock microphone gives muffled speech (with my voice).
• The ALC circuit provides speech compression which can cause splatter.
• The ‘in channel’ noise floor on transmit is poor (clock noise).
• The front panel is fastened with four flimsy plastic tabs which break.

Otherwise it’s very difficult to fault. Great fun to use, and highly reccomended by me.
W4AMP Rating: 2007-07-11
Fantastic value Time Owned: more than 12 months.
My rig is the original FT897. I ran mine as a base for the last four years and it never let me down one time. I just replaced it with an FT2000. I added batteries to it and bought a mobile bracket for it. I am going to run it mobile with the FC40 auto tuner and a steel whip. I have a miracle whip and a comet dual band antenna that I mount directly on the back of the rig and run portable. So I have a 20 watt rig I can take anywhere. The only negative on this rig is the small display. But it's price, frequency coverage, dependability, and versatility far outweigh the display. I love the little rig. Go Yaesu!