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Reviews For: Yaesu FT-897 & 897D

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

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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
WB3BD Rating: 2014-04-26
Defective tuning encoder after one year Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The radio functioned reasonably well for me for just over a year, until the main tuning dial encoder began to malfunction to the point where it was unusable. I should point out that I used the rig very lightly over the time I’ve owned it, and that this is a problem that has been reported by other FT-897 owners over the internet . I replaced the encoder myself, and although not too difficult to do, it shouldn’t have happened. I even purchased a spare encoder for my -817ND (uses the same part), after reading about multiple incidents. I wrote to Yaesu about the problem, but they offered no explanation as to why this part would deteriorate over such a short period of time. Perhaps a defective lot of optical encoders? Another reported issue w this rig is a defective internal speaker, which my unit also suffered from (out of the box). Again, I replaced the speaker w an OEM part right before I got rid of the radio. Too bad – it’s otherwise well-built and an overall good value in a “DC-to-daylight” portable rig.
M0SAZ Rating: 2014-04-02
A real solid performer Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I was licenced in 2008 and started with this radio. After literally dozens of radios (some bought more than twice!) and many thousands of pounds to my endeavours I have sold everything and now have just 2 of these to my inventory - one set up as a base radio, the other for portable ops and as a standby. Alas becoming a home owner and having to be more careful has persuaded me to stick to my current setup for the foreseeable duration.

After having radios like the FTDX-5000MP, TenTec Eagle, Elecraft KX3 and so on why did I go back to my original rig? Well, it is simple, familiar, does a lot of stuff and doesn't do it badly.

It's not the quietest receiver, it would probably be in the bottom 10 on the Sherwood table, its DSP is so-so, VHF/UHF FM isn't as good as a dedicated dual bander and yet none of that matters. Its small and versatile and is very reliable. The price of it means you are not worrying about it falling apart or being stolen - its there and its there to be used.

With some tweaking of some settings, fitting of the optional filters, using a filtered speaker such as the SP-2000 and a decent mic like the MD-100 then it actually can yield some surprisingly good results on TX and RX.

CW is a dream to use especially with a narrow filter installed. I use an LDG YT-100 in the shack to add more effective bandwidth to my Cushcraft MA-6VA and the Alpha Delta DX-LB Plus. Its a CAT controlled ATU so it doesn't suffer from RF trigger from close by stations during field days and portable contests.

If you have never bought one or used one before but keep seeing them about, try or buy one to see why they are still selling after all these years.

Mike
M0SAZ
G4XSH Rating: 2014-02-09
CPU packed up!! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I wish I could give a good report having used Yaesu equipment for over 30 years.
My FT897D has had very little use since purchase.
I switched it on the other day only to find it would not boot up. Tried reset, contacted Yaesu who were very helpful but couldn't get it to reboot. It was sent back to Yaesu who having tested it reported a faulty CPU the repair price is at £150 at the moment providing nothing else has gone wrong.
The 897 has hardly ever been used on transmit and very little on receive, the men at Yaesu say it can happen. Little consolation.
KG7GNI Rating: 2014-01-24
Great Radio Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Like most people, I always lust after the latest and great "new" stuff. So, I had saved some money up to buy one of those new radios I have been reading rave reviews about. In particular, I looked to replace my 897D with a 590S or a K3X, but I had a chance to try some of the the newest radios in the $5 to $10K range.

So, I used this opportunity to do a side-by-side comparison. The newer radios were a bit quieter, not much, but a bit. There wasn't as much background noise or static. However, and this is lost in a lot of these comparisons, the SSB phone on the 897, was MORE intelligible. On CW there was no difference (I have the optional 300 Hz filter in my 897). Likewise, I couldn't one "weak signal" that was picked up by the newer radios, even the multi-thousand dollar newest rigs, that I couldn't get on the 897. What a surprise! And, that trip killed my lust for a new radio. So, I bought a bunch of really nice test equipment (the RigExpert AA-54, which is amazing), a Signalink, and upgraded my coax for my antenna's. Lesson learned -- try before you buy. The 897 is a *great* radio and, although I will continue to search, I haven't found anything better.
VK5HYZ Rating: 2013-12-20
Best for outback travel Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Ive had my FT-897 for about 3 years and in that time it has never faulted, just keeps on going,great for portable when traveling,and never lets me down.
You also have the versatility of VHF/UHF in the one radio,which means you don't have to have 2 radios in your 4wd, I have 2 antennas connected up the back of the radio, one a multi band VHF/UHF antenna and the other is a HF multi band antenna for all of the HF bands, if your looking for a great multi band radio, buy yourself a Yaesu FT-897D
K9ZTV Rating: 2013-12-09
Undocumented Dual-Watch Capability Time Owned: more than 12 months.
While the FT-897D manual (page 50 in the 2012 Yaesu website edition) accurately describes how to set-up DUAL WATCH between VFO-A and VFO-B, it does not discuss an undocumented feature whereby DUAL WATCH can be used between a Memory Channel and either of the two VFOs. The set-up, however, requires a step that is opposite from the way instinct would lead.

The purpose of DUAL WATCH is to allow operation on one band while monitoring a squelched frequency on another band every five seconds. At work I use an FT-897D to occasionally listen to classical music from a local FM station (programmed into a Memory Channel), while also monitoring our local repeater frequency (programmed into a VFO register).

One would assume that activating DW (menu row G) would permit listening on the Memory Channel (e.g. classical music) while monitoring the VFO register into which the repeater frequency had been entered and in which register the radio would presumably be resting. But not so.

The radio has to be resting in the OPPOSITE VFO register.

Therefore, while I may have put our repeater data in VFO-A, the radio has to be resting in the VFO-B register (regardless of what frequency and mode is displayed there) in order for DUAL WATCH to function between a Memory Channel and VFO-A.



ON4VP Rating: 2013-11-13
After 10 years still my "do it all" rig Time Owned: more than 12 months.
First I like to make a quick comment on a few late reviews:

1/ Power output.

As many other radios around, also my FT-897 lacks a few watts on the calibrated Power Master II. I check ed all bands from 160 to 6 and I got between 87 and 92 watts out on a dummy load with swr being 1.02/1.

Seems pretty fair to me. Even my expensive TS-990 gives me 192 watts instead of the full 200 according the manual. Who cares? People that believe the last few watts make a difference should invest time in their antennas and not in looking for mods on youtube on how to increase the power. I'm sorry but frankly that's citizen band talk.

2/ CW memory keyer.

The manual states, and I set it up just like that, when you set the beacon time to 0 (zero) the 3 memories act as normal playback memories each capable to hold 256 characters. I set up mine to send my callsign and another for the report. This came very handy in participating contests while operation portable.

3/ Receiver.

I still praise the FT-897 for its performance on VHF and 6 meters. It does a very good job. On HF I fully understand there are better receivers out there. But with some clever approach I'm rather happy with its performance. For example I always use the 300Hz Inrad filter for CW and digital modes. On top of that I set the DSP CW bandwidth to 120 or even 60Hz when its a little croudy. Does the job for me. In SSB I don't think the standard Yaesu filter add a lot to the performance so I left it out. Better is to use antennas that are not broad banded resulting in overloading the front end's first stage of the receiver.

Another point is to carefully read the manual. when IPO is off, that means you are using the preamp. So do set it to ON as a standard. For 12, 10 and 6 meters it's okay to put it off when bands are quiet to improve signals. And I do use the ATT mostly on 80 and 160. It all adds to the receiver performance.

4/ Antennas.

Important is what kind of antennas you are using on this radio. Broad band aerials bring in more unwanted signals. But properly tuned antennas to a particular band help a lot in receiver performance. They suppress a lot of other band noise thanks to the high impedance on unwanted bands.

I had some other smaller radios. For some reason I always came back the my FT-897. I've owned the non-D version to. Lately I've been having a lot of fun working portable with only 25 watts and a end fed 1/2 wave vertical. Participated some EU CW contests and worked many stations on 40/20/15/10 meters. Knowing that you can take this relative small radio with you almost everywhere and have a built in power supply or batteries, does add to the portability and versatility of this fine all band performer.

Another big plus to me after so many years is the fact the FT-897 is very fine to work digital modes . It can also be a good radio to use a transverter and can be set up properly with correct frequency display.

I did some minor modifications. Temperature controlled fan, rear connection for 12VDC optional kits or stuff.

I also introduced the UP4DAR to the FT-897 using its 9K6 packet connection. That way I have a very good performing Dstar radio, even on HF.

This radio is on the marked for over 10 years. It offers a lot for the price you pay. And a lot of FT-897's can be found for a good deal second hand.

While I'm still very happy with mine, I hope Yaesu is working on a replacement. It's about time to introduce new stuff to the FT-897. A small wish list (Yaesu, are you reading this?):

- IF DSP
- Selection of roofing filters
- Voice keyer (recording/playback)
- USB connection to computer (soundcard + CAT)
- 4 meter band

73 ON4PV/Phil

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Earlier 5-star review posted by ON4VP on 2013-02-20

In my two previous reviews I already stated that this radio has a lot to offer, a big bang for the buck. Recently I used it on a frequently basis going portable with a HyEndFed 3-band wire antenna. I enjoyed using the radio a lot after many years in the shack. On batteries or with the built in power supply the radio offers a great deal of fun in a relative small but powerful package.

After owning two different Icom d-star capable radios I wanted to work d-star with a analogue radio and started looking at different solutions on the market. My choice: the UP4DAR board. In combination with the FT897D a really great d-star radio. The board can do a lot more but in this review I like talk about the FT897D and UP4DAR combination.

The UP4DAR board can be built into a metallic casing. Thanks to the clever design the standard MH31 mic works outstanding with the UP4DAR. Audio is truly excellent. I also use my Heil headset (been using it on the FT897D to) and also the Proset Elite 6 sounds wonderful on d-star. To change the FT897D into a d-star capable radio the UP4DAR board needs to be connected to the radio with a normal 6-pins mini din cable and the radio has to be set in PKT 9K6 mode.

I've been working some repeaters and also simplex. Once both settings in the FT897D and UP4DAR are correct (printed in the UP4DAR manual) the FT897D becomes a d-star radio that rocks. The possibilities depend on the software not the FT897D.

After years of use in the shack and in the field the FT897D now becomes a fine d-star radio giving me again some years of joy playing with it. If you take that into account together with all the other stuff I talked about in previous reviews, I just don't know why I should part from this fine radio although I own some radios that cost 5 times the amount of the FT897D.

After years I still love the FT897D even with its flaws. It's just a great value for money packages to take on the road or for new experiments. And today it became my prime d-star all band radio.

Info on the UP4DAR d-star board: www.up4dar.de
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Earlier 5-star review posted by ON4VP on 2013-01-10

The 897 is in my house for over 9 years. The first one I had was the non-D version, the second one the FT-897D. My radio is fixed with 300 Hz Inrad filter and built in power supply.

I owned and still own top end radio's costing over 6000$ and for sure they play ball in an other league. Nevertheless I find it hard to depart from my little 897. It's just that handy. It puts out 100 watts but when running qrp is easy on the battery and for sure I have better receivers in other radios but on the road or used portable this radio is a joy to use.

I still use it for VHF and UFH a lot, even dx and I have used it on 6 meters to. It had been used driver 1,5 Kwatt amps and has been connected to both portable and mobile antennas and large antennas at home.

This radio follows me wherever I go. I pick it up, hook it to a battery or put it in the mains. I have a small shack with me from 1,8 to 450 Mhz all mode. I used it with hand mics, headsets and boom mics or desktop mics.

I personally like the rugged military look. I agree the display is rather small and some menus need to be entered to work with the radio but using the PF buttons and a good setup will get you up and running without to much fuzz.

It is not the way it performs but what it can do for you that makes me keeping this radio. Considering it price it is a powerful multiband, multimode toolbox. Not with the best specs but very versatile.

I own a Kenwood TS480 to. If it comes down to receiver performance and operating, the 480 outperforms the 897. So if you are looking for a very good HF+6 only small radio I advise people to investigate the TS-480. It even holds up very well to bigger radios in a shack.

But I will advise the FT-897 if you're looking for a very versatile all band, all mode radio that stays compact, runs cool all day and don't drain to much power while receiving.

To me the FT-897(D) is a very powerful and capable radio that fits a specific niche of operators. And for the price, even after 10 years it is still hard to beat. But now with new models coming out, perhaps Yaesu should start considering a new and updated model with DSP specs up to todays standards, IF filtering and f.e. usb support.

Looking at it's capabilities I still rate it high.
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Earlier 5-star review posted by ON4VP on 2011-10-22

I had one of the first 897 non D models. I found a second hand (almost new and few months old) 'D' model in 2006. And now 5 years later I bought a third FT-897D to put in the shack. Thanks to the wide spread info on this radio it is easy to optimize it for different approaches. After more than 300 reviews we all get the picture of this 'shack in the box' radio.

It shines while 'on the go'. It's fantastic to use for cw or digital modes. I now use a Microham controller for digital modes. I urge to install optional filters. I use Inrad filters (300 and 2300) and I tailored some passband settings. Combine all of this with dsp and a nice larger speaker, and you're settled for hours of pure fun.

It's just not correct to compare this rig with 5000$ radios. This radio is not meant to work that way. It is designed to use portable or in a base station or mobile. For me, even at home I enjoy it a lot. Once I got used to the menus and settings, it operates just like any other modern radio and is loaded with nice features.

The local ham radio shop confirms that the FT-897D is the bestseller compared to other radios that come for less than 1000$. My one has filters, build in power supply and I have the LDG s-meter on top.

For the time being I don't have directional antennas but I work with dipoles and verticals. I get trough all the time working barefoot.
I had a lot of different radios but the charm of this military looking rugged box is that you can work all bands, including vhf and uhf and have it all at your fingertips with one radio.

There is always room for improvement. Sure. For example a programmable 'tune' button would be great. Comes handy when using remote tuners like SGC of MFJ or CG. The rig stays cool after hours of continue use at full power but it would be great that the ventilators would have been just a little quieter.

To sum it up. It's hard to beat this radio considering the price tag and what you get back for the money spent. After years and 3 in a row, I still enjoy the FT-897 a great deal. It's hard to depart from this radio.
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Earlier 5-star review posted by ON4VP on 2006-11-19

I have owned a non-D model in the past. Had a lot of fun with it and sold it after a while for a larger base set. But because of work and almost 24/24 hours occupation my hamstation got dusty and a lot of things I sold during that period. So last year I got back on the air and first bought myself a Kenwood TS-480HX. Great little radio with good specs but I really missed the vhf/uhf features and I sold it again.

Now I recently got my hands on a almost new FT-897D. It was only one month old and came as new in the box. I got a MD-100 desk mic with it and I did already a lot of great stuff with it.

Some considerations I like to share. First, important is to install the 500 or 300 hz filter if you are serious about cw or digimodes. Next, you have to know that this rig can't match a fully featured filtered high-end rig. But keeping that in mind, the 897D performs outstanding. Good clean CW, nice sounding SSB audio, even better with larger speaker. Good audio reports on TX. Audio can be tailored with DSP equaliser. Souds great with MD-100 deskmic or Heil headset.

I particullary like the small ps you can install or two batteries for portable work. With both options the radio keeps small enough to pack. The 'total' solution for all kind of work impresses me most. This rig does it all, and does it good.

Last night, I managed to work a 4000K miles distance station in RTTY on 10 Mhz. I used a sloping dipole on a 50ft tower, 40 watts and a linux box with soundcard. Worked the Guinea station in split after a while... It maybe seems that the receiver is a little edgy but the dynamic range is FB.

also remeber (especially in Europe) to set the correct receiver gain, this does wonders.

I activate IPO on 17/20/30/40 meters and I activate ATT on 80 and 160 meters. I deactive all on 15/12/10 meters (deactivating IPO means activating the preamp). this is kinda strange. while the receiver seems to 'hot' the thing is to activate IPO and therefor switch off the preamp. Rule of thumb here (also says the manual) use IPO as long as the receiver here's backgroud noise and the s-meter rises...

Using this rig with is optional filters and the receiver set like this, the rigs really shines.

I'm glad I got it back on the bench. It is hard to beat this rig considering the price tag !
W1ZE Rating: 2013-09-12
Ham shack in a box Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had my 897D for almost 5 years now and it has been well worth the bucks I paid for it. It is my bi-coastal all-band xcvr. In the winter it is my complete do everything radio in W6-land and the rest of the year it is my 2nd rig (digital modes)at my QTH in Maine. Great radio for the ham on the go or folks with limited shack space.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by W1ZE on 2008-12-01

I have had had a 786D since March of 07 and it has done everything Yaesu said it would do. They have packed it with a lot of features. It is the 3rd HF rig in my shack and I use it most of the time in digital modes, CW and do some weak signal work with it on 144 & 432 SSB/CW and it does the job. If you are a CW op, I recommend the 500 or 300 Hz Collins filter.
Worth the bucks!
W8ARR Rating: 2013-08-22
Excellent Radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned this radio for about 13 months. I did have one problem with the radio. It would not tune properly. I sent to to Yaesu repair and they replace the tuning assy. It works fine after that. Once you become familiar with the menus it is a feature rich radio. I have used the radio sending SSB, FM & PSK31. This is an excellent radio, my first Yaesu. I would buy another and I recommend this radio to anyone who asks.
KA4KOE Rating: 2013-08-22
Neat Piece of Radio Kit Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Received my radio yesterday used from a friend. Initial impressions:

1. You must read the manual to appreciate what this radio can do.

2. Despite the front, uncluttered panel, the radio is very feature rich.

3. It's smaller and lighter than I had imagined. I don't understand all the fuss about weight.

4. On air reports of transmit audio were positive.

I purchased this radio to replace a Plessey Clansman UK/RT320 manpack. I've been using manpacks for portable ops since 2005. However, frequency changes were always a hassle, no matter what type of manpack you were using.

I have a Kelty Falcon 2500 pack on the way. I think we need to also purchase a 10 or 12AH LiFeO4 battery. Only 50% of the weight of comparable Pb AGM batteries.

Thanks Donald!!

Philip Neidlinger, PE, KA4KOE