| N8MRC |
Rating:      |
2011-12-08 | |
| Great little radio |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| My 897 replaced my Kenwood TS50. I like kenwood but I love my Yaesu. 160-440 in one little package, how can you go wrong. Great for the main, portable and mobile. I use mine as my main HF radio and take it portable. I also have the internal switching PS makes it a light all in one unit. I have it modded for MARS and it works great on those freq's too. Would I get another? HECK YA!! |
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| WB0FDJ |
Rating:      |
2011-09-15 | |
| A 4 wheel drive radio |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
One has to remember that this is intended to be, as the other ops have said, the "swiss army knife" of radios. This thing works from DC to daylight in all modes and is quite compact. I believe one op said it's "shack in a box" and thats how I see it. One should not compare this to their K3 or Orion.
Given all that I have now fallen for this radio.
Bought it new this year for less than a Kilobuck, which in this day doesn't seem to buy much. Went ahead and got the matching power supply. Already had an LDG Z-11 Pro ATU which now sits on top of the rig. I won't repeat all that has been said but there are a few comments that might amplify some issues.
One: the DSP works. No it's not an IF DSP in one of those radios that comes with a coffeemaker and cruise control but for what it is, it is quite effective. The noise reduction makes the radio much less fatiguing for long sessions and, remarkably the DSP narrow filters (which allow some selection, e.g on CW you can choose either 240, 120 or 60 Hz) are VERY effective. I have W4RT filters on board but find I'd much rather just use the "narrow" DSP filter. Never expected that.
Two: the noise blanker is remarkable. My other newer (and more expen$ive) HF rig picks up an S-8 interference that makes 30 meters completely unusable. Out of curiosity I turned on the 897 and hit 'NB' and it disappeared completely. I mean vanished! Yeah I know, noise blankers are like that but, still, it works on more noise here at my QTH than any other radios.
Menu: yeah, I'm not a "menu guy" either. My FT817 has a very similar menu so I knew what was coming but it's better implemented in the 897. Most of the stuff in the deeper menu is set and forget. The "top" menu" is easily dialed for setting things like NB, filter selection, AGC, etc. I found that after a couple of sessions it goes pretty easy.
Misc: you get a lot of usable stuff in this radio. It wasn't long ago that if you wanted a basic HF rig with a few extras, and 6 M, 2M and 440 mHz all mode capability you'd wind up buying up to 4 separate radios for a lot more money. If you're looking to spend a modest amount of money and want to try out some VHF/UHF this is a bargain. And the thing is built like a tank.
There you have it: a radio with 4 wheel drive that does a little of everything that won't make you take out a second mortgage. If I every got stuck on the proverbial deserted island this would be, hands down, my pick.
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| ZL4IV |
Rating:      |
2011-09-10 | |
| Mobile |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| This rig is in my Jeep. Uses the Yaesu ATAS 100 screw driver. Well, people can't understand why my signals are so strong from 40 to 15 meters. All the Jeep is bonded. One button tuning after band change. Easy to take out of the mobile bracket and set up anywhere as it also has the mains power supply fitted. Extra SSB filter is great. I also use the separate 2m/70cm antenna and the change of bands is seamless. I have the FTdx-9000D & FT-2000D but if there is ever an emergency radio needed this is it, then it's worth more than my other radio's. |
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| G0DOQ |
Rating:     |
2011-07-13 | |
| good value shack in a box rig, mobile or homebase |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I cannot understand anyone downgrading the rig for poor receive audio. all it needs is a good external speaker and the audio is better and louder.
I also find it good for swl.
the rf gain control is good for taking out loud static crashes on ssb.
does not get too hot with long overs for a small rig. |
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| AG6AN |
Rating:      |
2011-06-22 | |
| Great Portable or First Rig! |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
This is my first HF rig and I use it as a base sation, but is also very portable with its little handle on the side. I have worked all around the world on just the 100 watts it provides in 7 months. It is a very easy rig to use and I enjoy it a lot. I also take on a few portale operations, but I use a separate battery, not the battery packs provided. It is probably not a top of the line radio, but I find that it is the antenna that makes the biggest difference. The next upgrade to my station is not a differnet rig (and probably won't be for a long time), but is a yagi and then an amplifier and so on. I plan on this being my base station for many years to come. If you don't want to break the bank and want a reliable, base station and portable rig, I highly recommend the FT 897D rig.
AG6AN |
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| PY1XM |
Rating:      |
2011-06-17 | |
| ALWAYS GUD. |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
MY PRIMARILY USE IS ALWAYS "CW", SO THIS RADIO IS A VERY GOOD ONE, YET.
IF YOU LIKE CW MAKE SURE YOU WILL LIKE FT-897D.
73, TOM PY1OW/PY4UM |
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| 9Z4KH |
Rating:     |
2011-06-10 | |
| Good radio,but poor audio. |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
The Ft-897 is a good radio,as is the 857,but the audio quality is very poor,especially when you compare it to the older Yaesu models,like the FT-840 and the FT-900.I have tried different settings,but cannot get a nice punchy audio.However,I will recommend this radio.I have owned the old FT-301/FT-840/FT-857 and now the FT-897.I love Yaesu radios.
9Z4KH. |
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| WM3M |
Rating:      |
2011-06-01 | |
| Great all around rig |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
The FT-897D is a great, compact rig. I use it mostly for 6 mtrs SSB and some 2 mtr FM. I did some informal rig comparisons with this rig and my other rigs. I used same antennas, same connections etc. I did not do any measuring of signals, etc, what I did was tune to weak SSB signals, mostly beacons. In every case I could hear the signals as good or better with the FT-897D. On 430 mzh/70cm I compared it to an Icom IC-471H and FT-847. On 2 mtrs, both SSB and FM, I used Kenwood TR-751A and FT-847. 6 Mtrs used FT-847, FT-950, Icom IC-551D. On HF used FT-950 and FT-847. In all my informal testing the FT-897D heard all signals as good or better, transmit contacts made were the same. Also, its worth noting that rigs like the TR-751A and the IC-471H have a rep of being very good receivers. For my 2 mtr FM testing the 897D using its 50 watts easily brought up repeaters I could never get to with the 751A and 25 watts.
I would describe the FT-897D as a compact, updated, better version of the FT-847, without the satellite, full duplex functions, and with better HF performance than the 847.
I had to spend a little time with manual, but once I did I found it would do most anything the big rigs do, using its menu functions. Its is designed as a small, compact rig, so many functions have to be in a menu. It feels very solid, built like a couple bricks and about the same size.
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| KE5VIC |
Rating:      |
2011-04-06 | |
| Best rig if you can only have one |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
I have found no limits with the ft897d. Its the swiss army knife of rigs. I have keyed with no antenna etc and it keeps on ticking. I use psk31 signalink, ssb HF, weak signal 2M ssb and FM vhf/uhf on area repeaters.
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| HOTMETAL1000 |
Rating:     |
2011-02-07 | |
| FT-897 |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I really like this radio but going back to an Icom.
I do a lot of digital modes via pc control, unfortanly I can't plug my big tuner and pc in at the same time as they use the same socket.
Icom have seperate sockets for the tuner and cat control.
That's the only thing that the FT-897 has let me down with, otherwise not a problem. |
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