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Reviews For: Yaesu FT-857 - all flavors

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

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Review Summary For : Yaesu FT-857 - all flavors
Reviews: 433MSRP: 769
Description:
Yaesu HF/VHF/UHF Mobile Transceiver
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
154334.5
N2WJW Rating: 2012-01-03
A little rig that does it all Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
So I recently purchased one of these little gems "D" model and so far its more than I expected from such a small package and I base my review after owning dozens of different rigs in the sub $800 range. I have used it mostly on cw. Does not have a quiet QSK, meaning you will hear the racket of the relays, but personally, I never did like the QSK feature on any rig, even Ten Tec's smooth QSK, I find it fatiguing after a while.
The DSP noise reduction works very well on this model, especially on cw where the DSP bandpass filter (DBF) peaks the cw signal while cutting adjacent interference, being a cw operator I really love this feature, not quite like a cw filter but as close as you can get to one. Menu is very easy to access and has many good features and all the bells and whistles you'll need, once used to it, its a breeze. Receive is quiet enough and sensitive plus has just about every mode even FM and it has a very wide range receiver. Built in keyer works like a champ.
On transmit I get good signal reports both phone and cw and hard to believe this little thing can crank up to 100 watts and for the QRP'ers it drops down to 5 watts which I have used with good results on cw.
I have become a minimalist after years of owning many rigs and with this rig I don't have to give up performance for size plus I get VHF and UHF.
These little rigs are a bargain on the used market, if you can find one that has not taken a beating as a mobile. I like the build quality, has a solid feel to it.
So far I am very happy with this rig and I would purchase another one if I had to.

K2CLH Rating: 2011-12-27
Great all around!! Ok on HF!!! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I use my FT-857D as my base station. It doesn't have great filtering or transmit power. I'm sure it's great as a mobile rig bt just not enough for a base station, although in good conditions I work the globe with it straight to a 5BTV on the roof!!! Overall great radio for the price. If you have the right conditions a 5BTV and 100w out of a FT-857D and you'll hear yourself coming around the earth when you let off the key. When the bands are dead you go NO WHERE!!!
KO4CH Rating: 2011-12-08
Super all purpose rig Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I purchased my Yaesu 857D 1 year ago and I use it strictly for base operations with a homebrew offset windom up at 100 ft with the md100 mike. I get a lot of compliments on both signal strenth and audio quality.
I did install a Inrad 2.9 filter and it really opened up the audio for both transmit and receive. I run it with Ham Radio Deluxe sofware and with a 21 inch monitor, you forget you are running a small rig.
I have been hamming since 1961 and have owned a lot of radios including some high end stuff. This radio with a little manipulation, will sound as good as the big boys.
It's really nice to listen to the FM broadcast band as the wfm on this radio hooked up to my audio system on my computer sounds awesome.
All the features work super except for the notch control for hetrodynes. It dulls them but does not take them out completely. Would be nice if you could adjust it.
I can't comment on the CW as when I passed my test for General with 13 wpm, I put away my key,but I bet it does a respectible job.
Bottom line,if you decide to purchase one for base use,do yourself a favor and purchase the Inrad 2.9 filter and the MD100A mike. They will all think you are on a high end radio with the audio.
73,
Jerry Koch (KO4CH)

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Earlier 5-star review posted by KO4CH on 2006-02-23

Wow...You either love it or hate it according to the reviews that I have read here. I have been lincensed since 1963 and for my opinion, I think it is a great radio, with far more features than my 706 MK2G has. Seperate mike settings for AM,FM and SSB. An AF dsp that is superior to my Icom. The NR can be set all the way up to it's highest point, (16) and the receive audio never distorts, not so with my Icom. Also the dsp has an adjustable bandwidth for filter tailoring, not so with my Icom. Has built in Beacon with CW that is programable so that you can use it when you are in SSB chat. Comes in handy for CW ID. Look at the display colors that you can choose from. 32 colors...how neat
Sure the radio is a little too long, as one reviewer writes, and I think they should have made it a little thicker like the 706 for display purposes, but when you put this baby to the test on receive signals, it beats the 706 on all bands.
You have to be computer savvy with this one, as there are many more options to choose from.
I do think they could improve on the transmit audio with a better hand mike, and the speech processor is a joke, but other than that it rates a 5 with me.
Don't forget, it's a lot cheaper than the Icom is now selling for, so my hats off to Yaesu for a great little radio.
73,
Jerry Koch (KO4CH)
LU8ENU Rating: 2011-12-04
Good rig Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Hello friends.
I have had several movile rig, including Icom IC706xxxx. now I have a Yaesu FT857, it really is best value for the benefitis, does not heat even during TX time, everything works very well. A pity that is so ugly.
SV1DPP Rating: 2011-11-29
FANTASTIC SMALL MULTITOOL Time Owned: more than 12 months.
After two years of hard use continues to do everything..Fantastic small multitool!!
VE3FAX Rating: 2011-11-27
Ok rig for the money-not great Time Owned: more than 12 months.
So many 5/5 ratings?

3.5/5 is more suitable after really spending years using this rig. It's OK for the price, but certainly NOT a 5/5. Here are the negatives that are missing from the reviews and a few common long-term problems:

Display matrix loses pixels after a few years-making reading displayed characters difficult.

RF transistor BIAS often mis-adjusted from factory and requires regular re-adjustment (drifting?). This causes ALC/RF output instability, especially when reducing down for digital and QRP ops.(Often heard as squealing, fluttering et.) There is some Internet info on dealing with this problem- check-out an Italian Technician's website.

High noise and artefacts while in XMIT idle (and with audio input). There are mods to reduce this somewhat.

High SWR fold-back does not seem to protect rig when running QRP, likely due to the BIAS instability problem mentioned above? Cases of blown finals as a result. CAREFUL.

Six metre oscillation AND all band AM mode distortion problems were common on some production batches. After repair by Yaesu, my rig is now OK, although their Tech did a terrible job aligning and setting-up carrier offset et.

In QSO RCV, menu knobs and features can be mastered, but can be difficult. This is typical when rigs are made compact. Computer control makes it easier, but not when mobile or working pile-ups et.

Optional filters help very little. They do help with some close-in AGC pumping, and use of menu driven IF offset but knob/menu must be mastered to shift away from interfering signals. Filter WILL help, but is it worth the price for "the casual operator" when considering over-all receiver quality? Get the narrowest SSB filter possible!

AHH , now for the DSP. Don't forget, it has Audio DSP, not I.F.DSP. It works great for CW, and can be helpful for SSB, but don't expect miracles. Noisy conditions can be improved to pull-out some signals. Using IF shift and DSP audio pass-band adjustment helps SSB, but a lot of twiddling is required with marginal usefulness. One thing for sure: the auto notch DSP is almost useless. Needs an S-9 heterodyne to work! I find it sometimes works better filtering general QRN.

This Rig(like others), can be effected by RF getting into power cable and control cables.

RF and power spikes have been known to change/corrupt menu settings.

Receiver is "OK", but after trying to use it for a band-blasted ARRL Field-Day, we broke down and went to my 1980's Yaesu FT-102 Hybrid Rig instead. Long-time Hams were blown-away at the difference in front-ends and how amazingly better the FT-102 was for receiving. Not a fair comparison, I know. But if your after a quality receiver for fair price, rather than ALL BAND ops., maybe consider an older high-end rig.

So, keep these things in mind should you have problems down the Log or if you are expecting a 5/5 Rig.

Don't get me wrong! For the money and frequency agility, I WOULD buy this rig again. I get excellent mobile report running Hamstick type antennas. It's light-weight and easy to move from car to home to suitcase.

Lots of Computer Control and Digital In/Output options that work well and interfaces can be easily homebrewed and work well.

Having HF,6m, V/UHF in one Rig is nice and after my repair for AM distortion, even get good AM reports.

So, over-all a neat little rig, but depending on the kind of operating, you may be slightly frustrated or disappointed. But comparing price based alternatives, its generally a good rig, but NOT worthy of a 5/5 !

73 es GL
Greg



KJ4NWZ Rating: 2011-11-22
FT-857D Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
When I purchased the FT-857D from Gigaparts in February, 2011 I had light-weight portability and the FT-817ND in mind but I was warned not to purchase a QRP rig as the first radio for a new General Class licensee with no amateur radio experience.

The 857D was designed primarily as a mobile rig and has no internal battery capacity. At 4.6 lb it is a bit beefy for pedestrian operations. Add a 12v/7amp battery and the total weight is 9.6 lb! By the time I add the supporting gear (antenna, ATU, etc) the weight on my back is pushing 15 lb! Not what I had in mind.

The radio, however, is a marvel. Easy to operate. Would I buy the 857D again? In a heartbeat! I grin and bear the extra weight on my back but I am just luvvin' 100 watts!

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Earlier 5-star review posted by KJ4NWZ on 2011-02-27

After months of comparative research with the FT-817ND I purchased and received my new 857D just a few days ago and WOW!

I like the 857D's overall flexibility and cost effectiveness as I can use it as a base, mobile or portable radio, although at 4.5 lb it's a bit heavy for portable.

FLEXIBILITY:
The 857D is quite flexible in several areas. On RF output I can adjust the power from QRP-100 watts. I can't do that with the 817ND. I can also operate the 857D in the base, mobile or portable configurations.

COST EFFECTIVENESS:
My research confirmed that the 857D is quite cost effective in several areas when compared with the 817ND. For instance, to upgrade the 817ND in RF output I would have to buy an amplifier that would cost almost as much as the 817ND itself. At an average cost of US$600 it would cost nearly $1,000 for the 817 and an amp. The 100-watt 857D costs about $200 less. That's a huge savings!

I had one devil of a time programming the 857 for 2m Repeater operations but I suspect that was because I hadn't read the manual as well as I should have. I'll share a bit more on my experience with the 857D in future posts.

By the way, could I operate the 857 with a 10w, 15.4 volt solar panel with a charge regulator?

73s

Mike, KJ4NWZ

PY3PDR Rating: 2011-10-14
EXCELENT RADIO Time Owned: more than 12 months.
GREAT RADIO!!
I HAVE THE FT857D AND YAESU ATAS 120A,I USING IN MOBILE TRAVELS OR PORTABLE IN FARM AND BEACH,CONTACTS WITH EUROPE,JAPAN,SOUTH AFRICA,USA,CENTRAL AMERICA,CARIBEAN AND SOUTH AMERICA COUNTRIES IN MOBILE TRAVELS WITH 100 WATTS AND ATAS 120A.
VERY HAPPY WITH MY FT857D!! THE BEST SYSTEM FOR HF MOBILE.
K7UFO Rating: 2011-10-14
Using for HF Mobile Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have the FT-857D mounted remotely in a 2008 Toyota Prius. I am using the Yaesu ATAS-120A antenna mounted to the left-rear vertical part of the hatchback on a Diamond K-400 mount. This mount is solid for the antenna that I am using. With no additional attention to system grounding, the 'system' adjusts SWR just fine on 40m through 10m HF bands. I am using a Heil "Traveler" single-sided model headset for the microphone. Unfortunately, I get audio reports that mention "cabin noise" while driving. I have adjusted mic gain and mic DSP to reduce these effects. This system works good on my Prius. No, it doesn't shut the Prius down while transmitting at full output power, and no extra receiver noise heard while driving. I work HF while driving mobile - just what I was looking to do. The small display works OK for me while on the road.
AE5J Rating: 2011-10-03
Great Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have owned the FT-857D for about a week now. I added this rig after buying a new FT-450D (an incredible bargain) a few months ago and owning an FT-817 for a number of years. I wanted a 100 watt class portable/mobile rig that I could take out of the shack easily.

The 857D is all that I hoped for and more. I cannot add much to what has already been said here except to say that, for me, I could not wish for more in the way of features or performance. It is a great performer. It even cranks down to 5 watts allowing me to operate QRP.

Don't be intimidated by the menu system or memory programming. Keep the manual handy until you get it down. The menus are a piece of cake after the 817 experience. I added a 300Hz filter from W4RT. An FTDI chipset 10 foot USB CAT cable (from Amazon) makes connection to a laptop flawless. Ham Radio Deluxe makes the rig come alive. Memory programming is simple and quick using FTBasicMMO which sells for the princely sum of $15.

All in all, it is no wonder this rig remains a top seller. It isn't everything, but it does everything while not breaking the bank. I love it.

73 Pete