Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: Yaesu FT-817ND

Category: QRP Radios (5 watts or less)

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : Yaesu FT-817ND
Reviews: 169MSRP: 589.00
Description:
The world’s first self-contained, battery-powered, Multi-mode Portable Transceiver covering the HF, VHF, and UHF bands! Despite its incredibly small size (5.3" x 1.5" x 6.5"), the FT-817 delivers big performance! Its next-generagion PA puts out five watts on all HF bands, plus the 50 MHz, 144 MHz, and 430 MHz bands, on all popular operating modes: USB/LSB/CW/AM/FM/Packet/PSK-31/RTTY. Now the 817 legacy is even better with the introduction of the FT-817ND, which includes coverage of the U.S. 60-meter (5 MHz) band, and it also includes a 1400 mAh NiMH Battery pack (FNB-85) and NC-72B Charger!
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.yaesu.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
151694.8
AD5KO Rating: 2015-09-28
Great for what it is. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned two Ft-817s, the last one being the ND. Both with after market filters.

I think for an HF/VHF/UHF portable it's very good. I made many contacts on both VHF and HF and was often told how good the audio was. Some finding it hard to believe it was a QRP rig, I think that helped a number of people understand what QRP could really do, me included.

Battery life really sucks, there is no public service band reception, no NOAA etc, it's not water proof or even shower proof. But a simple portable can do that and as a purely all band all mode ham portable it is excellent.

The only thing it really needs is a viable battery life and I am told that there are after market battery packs which can do this. With current battery technology Yaesu could have done this. In the past I have used a solar panel to charge the battery pack for brief periods of TX or all day monitoring, I have also used a mobile power supply.

Most of all, I can never really figure out why I sold it. With this type of radio the smart move is to keep it, even if you don't use it often. It's a niche radio, it's a compromise and still the only and best all band, all mode portable on the market.

I wrote this review because I am thinking of buying a third, I was thinking of how much I miss the 817 and how much fun it was.
VU2JE Rating: 2015-09-18
Blank Display Unusable Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This FT-817ND a little over 2 years old, very sparingly and carefully used, does not work now, as its got a blank display.. As there is no service centre for this in india I am forced to scrap it.. shows poor build quality..
Yaesu and Icom and Alinco are not what they used to be.. deteriorating quality, unimaginative products and utterly devoid of any new technology and products .. sad..
ECHOFOX Rating: 2015-07-05
I'm Taking it With Me! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The Yaesu FT-817 is no "D", "PRO", nor "K", yet, this deaf as a post, broad as a barn, 5 watt flea is one of Amateur Radio's great rigs.

The configurations and combinations are endless...base, mobile, portable, pedestrian/hand-held, external power, internal batteries, antennas, antennas, ANTENNAS, SO-239, BNC, HF, VHF/UHF and more. In the shack, in the mobile, in the field, in the hand, there ain't nothin', AIN'T NOTHIN' that can do it ALL from anywhere and everywhere quite like the FT-817.

I've made DX contacts with my FT-817ND from impromptu shacks with a wire, while seaside in 4X with a "screw-stick", while walking the dog with HF BNC whips, countless Sporadic-E, Tropo and satellite contacts with a variety of antennas and many, MANY more. A different shack each day. The world is my shack.

The FT-817 is great in the mobile too. At 5 watts, it only draws 2 amps. Just connect it to the lighter/12v and a mag mount antenna. Wedge the rig between the seats...EASY! VHF/UHF FM and SSB, HF DX, SO-239, BNC, each connector selectable by band...Too easy! I get good reports from around town and around the world.

Its back is its bottom, its front is its top. Wow! The agile FT-817 is an acrobat that stands on end. The FT-817's modest size and nimble form enable it to work from ANY position.

Clutched in the left hand, the FT-817 is ergonomically smart to the right handed with its BNC out of the way to the left, its display, VFO, AF/RF Gain, "Select" and other HT sized controls well positioned and it's mic connected to the right side. Clarifier and IF Shift are a touch away.

With its BNC at the "top" and internal batteries, the FT-817 is VERY effective when used hand-held. With a collection of HF/VHF/UHF BNC whips, whether contacts exceed 1000miles/watt HF SSB, 100miles/watt VHF SSB or 10miles/watt VHF/UHF FM, I'm often asked, "Did you say hand-held?".

With no experience, I can't comment on digital or CW, but there are innumerable successes just as diverse as voice...10,000miles/watt.

Every contact is memorable because every contact is an adventure..and a thrill. And with each contact, a story ("There I was,.."). One is always at their Radio Amateur best to get the most out of the FT-817's 5 watts. One will find themselves looking at the '817 after, yet, another great contact in, yet, another configuration from, yet, another QTH, saying, "WOW!..This rig is unFBelivable!".

The FT-817 is even an ambassador for Amateur Radio. When working portable, be prepared to get "those looks" and to demonstrate what Amateur Radio is to the curious.

Do you want to tighten it up? Get a filter. Do you want to mod this versatile rig? There's a cottage industry supporting the FT-817.

Great but aging, the FT-817's receiver, filtering, speech, efficiency, power, battery and other features need to be updated. But NOT the "anywhere, anyway" gestalt of the rig that makes the FT-817 so amazing, so versatile, so influential, so profound and so much FUN.

How can you NOT like this rig? How can you not find a use for it? How can you not find a place in the shack, in the mobile, in the field, in the hand for the FT-817? Every ham should have this rig!

The FT-817 provides an extraordinary Ham Radio experience..anywhere and everywhere.

"Hand-held, QSL.".

I'm taking it with me!

73
EchoFox
LA0BY Rating: 2015-06-04
Antenna switching issue Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I own the FT-817 ND since June 2013, when I bought it from WIMO in Germany. No doubt it is a nice and handy transceiver, but I use it only occasionally for driving transverters to other bands (4 m, 23 cm and 3 cm).

In June 2014 I encountered a problem while driving a 4 m XVTR: The RF connection through the antenna switching relay RL3016 (Omron G6Y-1) was broken. After some research I found that this relay is operated outside its specifications when the rear antenna socket is used. The relay coil is permanently energized in this case, and the heat could lead to generation of a coating of the contacts, which apparently has happened.

There are three solutions to the problem:
(1) do not use the rear antenna contact
(2) replace the relay with a type that withstands permanent magnetization of the coil
(3) bridge the relay RF contacts such that both front and rear antenna sockets are active

I did not want to damage the PCB so I choose not the replace the relay but rather bridge the contacts (solution 3).

Before I did this I approached the supplier WIMO, since the RIG was still covered by warranty. They did never bother to reply, even not after chasing them up, so I decided to just modify the RIG. Still I think it is a design issue, and YAESU should install a different type of relay.

W0VET Rating: 2015-06-03
Picnic in a basket! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I confess that I got away from QRP with an Icom 703 long ago . . . and now miss it. But there are two things that I enjoy in leisure time - a good picnic basket loaded with goodies, and a QSO challenge. With the 817nd I get both!

Let's see . . . enzfed antenna - check; portable tuner - check; external power supply - check . . .
N4DBM Rating: 2015-05-25
Fantastic radio. Excellent. Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
There is some weird satisfaction that comes along with only using 5 watts to work so many different areas of the world. I am extremely pleased with this transceiver. I own the original 817 and did the out of band modification strictly to use it on 60 meters. It has worked well for me on all bands. The battery life is excellent. I bought mine used off Ebay with a travel case and wall charger. I have used it with a G5RV antenna portable, Hustler resonators mobile, and also on VHF/UHF. I really enjoy it, and love the fact you can throw it in a back pack and take it anywhere. Five stars, highly recommend.
KA0USE Rating: 2015-04-16
update from 09/2014 Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
shortly after i bought it i took the gear out for a trial run. first contact was atlanta- 2k miles away. i THOUGHT i was putting out 5w, the icon indicating such. the other day i was reading, for the 6th time,the manual. i realised it nowhere mentions what wattage to expect with each icon, just max, high, middle and low. so i put it on a qrp swr/watt meter with a dry dummy load and got a surprise (i started to say 'shock', but it might send the wrong idea!). using the internal battery pack or external battery all you get is 2.5w out, and it steps down to 1.25, 1 and.5w at the bottom. if you want 5w you need 13.8vdc. then it steps down to 2.5, 1, and .5w.
where to get 13.8vdc? car cigarette lighter with the engine running, probably a generator, or a power supply. power supplies vary. i can dial the desired voltage on one i own, and the other is a fixed '12v power supply' that meters at 13.8.
don't be discouraged with fewer contacts in the field- appreciate the ones you DO make!
it really is a nice machine with few limitations. work within them and you can be happy!
W3PAL Rating: 2015-03-30
Very nice and rigid QRP radio. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've owned this little gem for over a year. It's used primarily as a backpack radio. It's build quality is exceptional. It has a nice quiet receiver. I added an optional 300Hz mechanical filter from W4RT and could not believe the difference this filter makes. The filter significantly improved CW RX performance. I use the radio about half the time for CW. SSB sounds nice too on the internal speaker.
Having VHF and UHF is a big plus as I don't need to carry a separate radio for those bands.
My other portable rig is an Elecraft KX3. The Yaesu FT-817 has a lot quieter receiver, especially when trying to copy weak signals. FT-817 has a much better internal speaker as well. I just wish my FT817 had a TX audio compressor and DSP. I added an optional DYC-8x7 external speech compressor from Funk Amateur. It adds an extra S-unit on the receive side.
I'm very happy with the radio and would recommend it to anyone.
AE5YJ Rating: 2015-03-04
everything I wanted in a portable Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I picked up this radio about a month ago. I have really enjoyed the challenge of making long distance SSB contacts. After reading about this radio I was convinced that SSB QRP at 5 watts would be an impossibility...NOT SO! Just yesterday I had a 1560 mile QSO from oklahoma to whidbey island washington. The op was kind enough to record it and send it back to me so I could hear my audio and I was amazed. I am forever hooked on qrp ssb.

This little radio gets a lot of negative comments on the receiver...but I can understand where sacrifices have to be made to keep the radio small and portable. I think the receiver is more than adequate, and while I do not have any optional filters installed, I find if I add some lows using the IF shift function it tends to deal with most noise I encounter and enhances the intelligibility of the station I am receiving.

Yeah, the stock battery pack sucks, no way around that. I just use a 7ah SLA battery and it is doing the job. I cannot wait to get this radio portable when the weather clears. True this is a heavily menu-laden radio, but after about 15 minutes of fiddling with it, it becomes second nature and no manual is needed.

To all the detractors that thing negative of this radio, I think you are being unfair or have unrealistic expectations of it's performance at this price point. I can tell you that I will never sell or trade this radio and it has earned a permanent place in my shack. If it died tomorrow I would definitely get another.
N2DM Rating: 2015-02-05
Fine Business Time Owned: more than 12 months.
FT-817ND, Bought new from HRO,owned since 2009, works well, pleasure to operate, goto rig for trips.
This is 3rd rig of this series, bought first two as used with no transmit, but since had repaired at Yaesu factory.
Neat rig for general operating, even used it in Field Day and November SS(cw/ssb). I was pleased to work KH6 and KL7 stns using 5 watts and end fed antenna on 20 mtrs. W4RT cw filter is awesome!
This a semi-backpacing rig, due to power required and size of power source needed(ie:heavy batteries:)).
Great all around portable rig that does it all!
Dale, N2DM

----------------------
Earlier 5-star review posted by N2DM on 2012-07-09

Great rig. Good receiver, even better with W4RT 500Hz filter. Used for Field Day 2012, and NOV SS 2011, as main rig. In the S.S., I worked Alaska both on phone es cw using end fed wire es LDG Z-11pro tuner, no problem at 5 watts. 2 6AH gelcell battery packs lasted 24 hours of Field Day, @5 watt. It is very good rig! Dale, N2DM.