| AA5IT |
Rating:  |
2010-12-15 | |
| Outstanding! |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
| One of THE coolest radios I have owned in 35 years of ham radio. If I leave it comes with me. I have found myself off road with a loop up between two somethings talking somewhere in the world when I was just headed to the hardware store! Certainly easy to be spontaneous with this rig! |
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| KJ4BLG |
Rating: |
2010-11-27 | |
| Love this compact radio! |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
I have done lots of reading in the past few months on QRP rigs. I figured it would be a blast to experiment with a QRP rig, as I build most all of my own antennas and I figure a QRP rig would would really test my ability to build a good antenna. After months of reading reviews here and elsewhere on the net and surfing all of the sale outlets for good prices, I decided to bite the bullet and get a NEW 817ND.
When mine arrived, I was just like a kid on Christmas morning, waiting to open his presents. I was impressed with the small size of the radio and how well it appeared to be manufactured. I followed the instructions and charged my battery as recommended. I have a net book, a copy of FTBasicMMO Freeth software is used with my 897D, so the memories I wanted to install was very simple and a cat cable from my 897D, which works fine on the 817ND. After quickly programming the radio, I connected the radio to the antenna coax and decided to give it a try on 2M. Worked many repeaters around my area and no one knew it was a QRP rig. Great reports.
I made a 80M doublet and stung it up in some trees on my small lot. I made several contacts on 20M, 40M and 80M. Excellent little radio. Great audio report on those 3 bands. I had a little pile up when I announced on 80 meters that I was a QRP rig. That was kind of fun!
Overall, I am very pleased with the 817ND. I can even run the menus from the front panel and program what I need to program, without the use of a computer, unlike the 897D, which you almost have to have a computer to program it. I like the fact you can easily program which antenna connector you want to use for the antenna connection.
If I had one wish, I wish the unit had a built in DSP. |
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| SV2HTC |
Rating: |
2010-11-07 | |
| All in one.. |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I have my 817 almost 2,5 years and in total I can count more than a 1500 contacts. It is a very well constructed QRP radio and someone must always remember it's a QRP radio. I mostly use it for CW, although SSB and 2m FM is not out of the question. IMO CW filter is a must and the BHI DSP. The factory supplied battery isn't that great and someone may consider other power sources, even a 15W solar panel is very good for its needs. Even if I have other rigs, this will be my tiny, low-consumption (2A@5W) back-up with its case, small CW key and ear phones well put in a small Pelican case ready for emergency or for the outdoors. I wouldn't recommend it ( and all other QRP rigs) to a new Ham because QRP is something for somebody with experience. Surely a 5 star radio in my opinion. |
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| K6USN |
Rating: |
2010-10-04 | |
| My Third Time Around |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Okay, I admit it. I am on my 3rd FT 817. Nothing wrong with the first two at all. I've owned an '817 since they first came out nearly 10 years ago. I loved the portability and the excitement of making contacts with QRP. It was like my first QSO's 50 years ago as a Novice. It puts the thrill of the hunt back in ham radio for me.
Then the sunspots tanked. And stayed tanked. I took the FY 817 to the South Pacific (ZK1), used a random wire and expected the same results I made in better conditions a few years before. I got frustrated and traded in the faithful little radio for someting bigger, faster, and louder. And heavier, and more complicated, with a bulky power supply.
Now I am at last enlightened. I purchased a new FT 817ND and came to realize that like golf, one needs different clubs for different shots. When I go to Rarotonga or Palau or Saipan with a SF down in the 70's I take a 100W radio. For weekend ops closer to home, I use the FT 817 and and an end fed dipole and have a lot of fun. Sometimes I work DX when I least expect it. When the SF comes back I will pack the FT 817 in my kit again for DXing from far away. Meanwhile, it's always good for VHF, SWLing, and the occasional backyard afternoon QSO on 15M CW.
I would not make it my only radio, but I do make it my radio of choice more often than not.
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| K7CID |
Rating: |
2010-10-03 | |
| Great little package. Gives you a lot of bang for your buck. |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I looked around for a small compact HF, UHF, VHF unit. This was the only one I could find that fit the bill. I worked a 2m SSB this weekend on a Elk outdoor antenna. Highly recommended! |
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| ON6AB |
Rating: |
2010-08-25 | |
| Nitro Power! |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
Everybody knows the FT817nd.
What few people know however is that "nd" really stands for "Nitro-Dust" and more specifically for the type 817 of this substance ("817" is a purity indication.)
(817nd guarantees a purity of minimum 99,7% and is a very common in military transceiver applications).
Indeed, at the input of the final amplifier, the RF signal is mixed with the nd generator signal resulting in much more powerful radiowaves as is the case with normal transmitters.
These radiowaves are also known as SCRW’s (super charged radio waves).
That’s the reason why the FT817nd produces such a fine modulation and penetrates so well into the receivers at the other end of the world.
Before you start wondering, the PCB in the FT817nd is multi-layer; the nd generator is located between layers 2 and 3, so it is invisible to the naked eye.
Likewise at the receive end. Here, the effect is even more dramatic. The "817nd" injection is done before the first RF amplifier so it’s effect is amplified in all following RF, MF and LF stages.
The result is a better sensitivity, a better 3th order IMD response, steeper filter skirts of the XTal filter and especially on digital modes a better Eb/No value.
Obviously this results in a smoother decode, which makes implementation of any DSP, be it IF or LF totally superfluous.
In short, the FT817nd is a secret weapon, a statement, a must have, it shines over any other QRP transceiver known to man.
An IC703 is nothing more than a would-be QRP (QRP with 10 watts??) transceiver compared to this, the K2 a toy put together by Lego in Denmark, the SD1500 a stripped down version of the Xbox 360.
Buy one, you won’t be disappointed!
Beware though , this apparatus is unsuitable for children under 4 as it can be harmful if swallowed.
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| KD7MTI |
Rating: |
2010-05-25 | |
| A great all around radio |
Time Owned: N.A. |
I've had my FT-817ND for almost two years now. It has travelled with me on vacations, on trips outside the country and back.
Most recently, I took it on vacation with me to the Northern part of Israel -- the Galilee as it is called normally called.
I wanted to operate while we were vacationing, but I didn't know the setup of the place we were staying.
I brought:
FT817
Z817 tuner
Palm Paddle
12V 5AH battery and charger
102" whip antenna
When we arrived at the kibbutz, I was quite pleasantly surprised -- we had a very nice cabin with a small porch and a raised wooden fence.
The kibbutz is on top of a hill and we were near the top -- from "our" porch I looked out over the Galilee valley -- plently of altitude.
The feedline to the whip is about 16' so it's perfect for 20 meters.
I can tune 30, 20, 17, 12, 10, and 6 meters with this whip and the z817.
The radio worked very well -- I made several contacts and since the environment was relatively RFI and EMI free, I could hear cw stations pretty much from 14.001 to 14.070.
After playing around with this rig for two years, here's what I recommend:
1. The z-11 pro tuner is better and more portable than the z817.
2. The palm paddle is very nice and works well even at 30 wpm.
3. The easiest and most portable antenna for a vacation is mag mounted whip antenna.
4. Take a battery and also a small (I have a 3 amp power supply for the 817) power supply.
5. Don't forget headphones!
I have several qrp rigs, but in the end, the 817 is the most versatile, even if it runs batteries down fairly quickly.
Robert, kd7mti/4z5sw
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| M0RJC |
Rating: |
2010-05-02 | |
| Lovelty audio on FM |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I'm borrowing one at the moment and very tempted to get my own. Most notable is the pleasant audio both listening and also a report back for me.
I didn't choose this as my first rig because I was worried about the 5W, though in reflection I know that antenna makes a lot of difference, I only run 10 or 20W max with my normal rig and I could make a better antenna fairly easily to make up the difference.
I wonder about the battery charge. Is it a smart charger? It looks like I program in a charge time. I'll have to ask or look at the manual.
The rugged portability of the 817 is impressive. It is tiny so fiddlier than a big rig. I also wonder by the time I'm carrying antenna bits how backpackable the whole setup will still be, but small radio must help. I read an article about portable radio use which listed the 817 as a favourite. |
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| KF4UVG |
Rating: |
2010-05-01 | |
| Great QRP Radio |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I have debated on which radio to get for backpacking. I was worried about the 5w output and looked to 10w and 15w radios just for a little more punch. I am glad I setteled in on this radio to cut weight and put my focus on making some really good dipoles for specific bands. I did a hike this morning to a small foothill (1000ft) and placed my dipole 30ft in a tree with the ends sloping down. I worked ND and TX on 5w ssb with no problems. I would highly recommend this radio for portable ops.
73
W3RAY |
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| KF2AX |
Rating: |
2010-03-22 | |
| A Classic. |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I use this radio indoors only with a Random Wire antenna in the attic into a Tuner. It is absolutely great. It is a pleasure to use, I make my fair share of contacts and its great on PSK31. The reports on audio have been extremely positive. I have the narrow CW filter installed and it is very selective. I also purchased a Tokyo HiPower HL-45B amp (5W in 45W out) and it broadens the versatility quite a bit. On 2M/440, all is excellent. This is the Swiss Army Knife of Amateur Radio. |
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