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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
WX2PJR Rating: 2013-02-20
works as planned! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
As of Sat Feb 16,2013 I am now a General, and am able to use this radio to it's full potential. The Radio itself is only 2 weeks old. Audio is very good even w/ weak signals. Programming was easier then expected but I have 2 other Yaesu Radio's

Paul, WX2PJR/AG
M0NAF Rating: 2013-02-06
Excellent, does what it says on the tin Time Owned: more than 12 months.
A view from a UK ham instead.

Bought one as my first HF radio when I passed my Intermediate licence. Now fully licenced and have not bothered to upgrade as the cost to get something much better is vast.

Works in my shack, or out in the car or in my tent. I have batteries taken from alarm systems when due for replacement and the radio works really well on them. I have made contacts all over the world with this radio

I use a Heil mic and get very good reports of audio quality.

I fully recommend this radio to anybody. It is great to learn with and you will come to love it as much as I love mine.
KD8GTP Rating: 2013-01-27
Good all around rig Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have the non D version. It works great on all bands ! I use the software mod to get 11m and get very good reports on AM as well.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by KD8GTP on 2009-10-24

I bought one. It is a great radio for what you pay. First, you not only have HF but 6m,2m and 440 all in one radio. Receive is a little noisy but playing with the settings got it settled down. As for transmitting I received good signal reports with "out of the box" settings. As for the menu, it's not too bad. Read the manual and play with the settings and you'll figure it out. Many of the menu options you can leave at the factory default anyway. I am used to an analog meter, this unit has the bar graphs but for 50. you can buy a nice size meter that attaches to the radio from LDG. For under 800 dollars you can't go wrong.
K8ATF Rating: 2013-01-25
Offensive Receive Audio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Sounds like 2 soup cans and a string,taking the fun factor out if.A very basic receiver function that was overlooked ,I could not stand listening to it,if one does not care or knows no better
It may be for you.
REMOVED_VE7WRSEILERCWS Rating: 2012-12-29
Great rig for maritime mobile Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I find that this rig is getting a raw deal from some hams.
My experience has been that its very important that if you are running the rig on 12 volt power that you don't allow the voltage to drop below 12 volts, otherwise the cpu resets itself, it tells you about erratic operation in the manual
I use a Samlec model sec35m with a diode isolator and a 100 amp hour costco deep cycle marine battery,and found that that works well.
No more surprises. All in all a great rig and certainly would purchase again
VK4BZ Rating: 2012-12-26
Handy little portable rig Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought my FT-897 second hand as a rig to use when I was away from home - I needed a small, all-band, all-mode, full power rig and the 897 did it for me. The DSP is pretty good and the variable band width suits me for cw. Yes, the menu is finiky but once you get familiar with what's what (keep the operator's manual handy, or a copy of the key pages) it's easy to operate. My only gripe is it has developed and annoying squeak in the large tuning knob and actually feels a little sloppy for my liking.

I would love to get the batteries and charger so I can see how it does in a really portable situation.
KZ4ZZZ Rating: 2012-12-01
I got 2 ! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
added a 1.7 filter to tighten it up on ssb.. internal power supply which i use in the car. 12v car. 120 in the motel.. 35 amp PS at home. got just about everywhere on 100 watts
K4TB Rating: 2012-11-14
A Radio "ATV" Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Got it about 3 weeks ago and I've had a blast with it already. Ok, so it isn't as quiet or selective as my Ftdx5000 but it really fills the nitch as a general purpose and transportable rig. I added the internal AC supply, the LDG AT-897 tuner, and Inrad filters for 2.3 KHz and 500 Hz and that made it a total all-in-one package for taking on vacations, etc. As far as performance it is very sensitive and fairly selective, although slightly limited by having only audio DSP instead of IF DSP as newer rigs have. However, because of that it draws less power than most radios of its size and output. Using the IPO and ATT controls is necessary much of the time due to its sensitivity, but properly set, those controls, the RX passband offset menus, and the DSP make it sound very good. I did have to tweak the TCXO slghtly but now it is dead on frequency.

It is really nice having all bands and all necessary components in a single package. Although it doesn't directly cover above the 440 MHz band it has the best setup for transverter frequency conversion that I have seen on any rig. It is not exactly a contest radio due to having few knobs and lots of menu, but I've worked a lot of DX with it in a short time and it simply does about anything you want. Thus, because of its flexibilty I call it a radio "ATV". The FT897D is a great travel radio and a good backup rig in my shack. The price can't be beat for what it does.
M0WNF Rating: 2012-11-13
Its a keeper Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I cant add much to what has already been said about this great little radio. I am not sure how long i have owned my 897 but it cost less than £600 when i bought it so must be at least 3 years ago, had no trouble with it, i use it mostly on datamodes with a signaLink USB interface, a solid combo with no hassle hookup. I have also had a Icom IC-7400 (touchy and unreliable, "fixed" 4 times), a Kenwood 570dg (another good rig) a yaesu ft-950, thumbs up on that one as well. If i had to part with either my 897 or 950, although i like the features on the 950 its the 897 i would keep, it does everything i need and more.
GW8JLY Rating: 2012-10-11
A great rig for the price and especially good on vhf/uhf. Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
A few months ago, I bought a used FT897d together with a FC-30 autotuner from ebay. It was part of a SK estate and was just over 1 year old. I needed a radio with very good performance on the vhf/uhf bands (my primary interest) but that could also be used occassionally on HF. I chose the FT897d after completing extensive research on the internet and after some personal recomendations. I was not dissapointed, this radio is excellent on 2m in paticular and its performance on that band is equally as good as the Kenwood TS790e 2m/70cms multimode base station I also own (the benchmark to which multimode 2m/70cms radios should be compared). I use the FT897d (driving a Beko HLV 1000 SSPA and with a SSB electronics SP2000 mast head LNA) mainly for weak signal work on 2m SSB and meteor scatter (FSK441) to work DX and have achieved oustanding results. During the few times that I have used the radio on the HF bands, it's performance appears to be equally as good as that of my main HF rig, a Yaesu FT920af (apart from the DSP functions where the 920af is definately better). For those looking for a great vhf/uhf multimode radio and with HF capability too, you could do no better than purchasing a FT897D. In fact I am so pleased with mine that yesterday I purchased another one. This time a new one obtained from one of the UK's principal Ham Radio dealers. I intend to keep both, one to be used as the main station rig and the other as a standby and for portable use on my nearby mountain top location.