FT817

I was shown one of these during my foundation course by one of the instructors & I was hooked.
They are cheap, superb value & so versatile.
Ours is used mainly portable using a 12 volt portable battery pack & either a Miracle whip, an ATX walkabout, which is not great for adjusting the SWR on, or a wire up a roach pole.
The 817 has so many features that I'm not sure I want to list them all.
But the best are.
Built in SWR meter. Not brilliant but OK for field operating.
Built in battery pack. Good for one shortish QSO.
Very small. My battery pack is bigger.
Useful accessories readily available...As are rubbish ones.
Lets talk 817.

This was also one of the newer radios the instructors used on our foundation and I am also hooked... If I didn't have the handy I would have gone for this... A little like a midland portapak but nothing like it... It has everything you would need and more... Just restricted to 5w but that's what my handheld does so who cares!!!

Something to think about after Christmas...
Just don't tell the xyl!!!
De
Dave

One point I should have mentioned is that....
The BNC antenna connector on the front is only secured to the circuit board. So don't over load it with a heavy or long antenna as it could prove a little costly.

i was thinking of getting one of these for my van

These radios are brilliant. A friend ran one using a rubber duck on the BNC connector as his mobile rig for many months.
What bands will you operate on ?

They do work well indeed, and of course RM make the small amps to work with them to get more power. With an electret mike they make the power 5w, otherwise you will see a return of some 3-4 watts only. Agreed with the BNC, best to connect via the rear socket

Simon

Hi guys

Just bought the FT817ND, not used it yet can anyone recommend a cheapish ATU to use and secondly a portable antenna.I intend to use this from local mountains while camping any advice welcome.

My biggest concern is blowing the finals to SWR very important. I will easily be able to get a good length of wire up at 30ft if that helps.

Hi Deanowales
I have an FT817 and i use an LDG Z100 Auto ATU.
Its and excellent bit of kit.
To tune key your mike press the tune button on the ATU.
tHE atu buzzes and when tuned the green SWR light comes on
Thats it. Heres the link for LDG.
http://www.ldgelectronics.com/products.php?cID=1&pID=8&v=1

Cheers Andy G6OHM

Hi Andy

Thanks for that seems the best option I must say, can you recommend a portable antenna bare in mind that initally I will only be using this rig on receive and besides will have to save up for the ATU :-)

Dean

Hi Dean,

Has the 817ND come yet? I know you were a little worried when you bought the rig.
Dave

Hi Dean
A multiband dipole would be the best as you don't need an atu.
Depending how much room you have i would put up a
40m,20m nest this has an extra bonus as it also works on 15m.
The calculation is 468 divided by the frequency
Cut the dipoles for mid band.
Take a look at this link and this will show you how the nest of dipoles are made up.

http://www.hamuniverse.com/multidipole.html

Cheers Andy G6OHM

Hi all
My main station is the 817 and love it, even tho some will see the 5w as limiting i find it exciting and have succeeded in dx contacts using. I have had qso's stateside and asiatic russia which is some 300 miles further the the stateside stations i logged, furthest distance logged being 3642 miles not bad for a qrp rig and i am well impressed with it. I am using mine with a full size G5RV which is around 20ft off the ground (not the ideal height but as high as i can get it) and an mfj 901B atu which is a manual tuner costing only £79. knew and works extremeley well with the 817. I would gladly reccomend this rig to any M3 or M6 or any station wanting to work qrp.

Adrian

Hi Adrian,

I have to agree with you. The 817 is amazing for the size and not a bad price for what you get and the amount of bands.

The radio gets used by loads of SOTA stations and it has so many uses. Handheld, Portable, Mobile and even shack use. Mine at the moment just sits on GB3CR - What a waist!

Did you know if you press and hold the FST button on the Mic you can turn the radio on and off?

Daxi sorry for the question but how are you getting on with the 817 and miracle whip? Just interested to know

Thanks alot

Simon

The MFJ-971 is a good small ATU for the FT-817 and it's good for 100watts too!
I had an FT-817ND about 4 years ago and got rid of it, hated the thing! LoL!

I have had one of the ND versions, very good bit of kit, i used to take it and a long wire out in the backbox of the bike, i found those cases for carrying netbooks was just the right size for carrying them, and a couple of bits including the LDG atu.
well worth getting and as stated you can always add a linear for more power.