Is there power button supposed to "click" like all the others?

Mine feels mushy. Brand new radio.


Otherwise it's really a neat radio. Tiny, lightweight, and the menus are getting easier to navigate the more I mess with it. I got some channels programmed via CHIRP for the VHF repeaters and simplex frequencies in my area.


Looking forward to trying it outdoors.

Power button doesn't click. I've owned about 5 of them over the years and they're all that way.

Enjoy!

 
Thanks, that's a relief.

Nice!   Enjoy the rig, they are a little gem.   And yeah no clicky on the PB

 
Thanks on both counts. I got it outside yesterday for a few minutes of listening. I thought it would be a little bigger, closer to the FT-857D, but I was really pleased to see just how small and light it is.


I am going to need to build some kind of tray to hold it at a better angle for viewing the display. Seems like Yaesu should have made the face plate so the display was set at perhaps a 70 degree angle for easier viewing with the radio laying flat.


I have been looking at the little folding feet for it too.

There are a lot of options for brackets out there.  

This guy made one up out of kydex for his 857D pretty cool idea.  

[youtube]https://youtu.be/qsJx1bDbLNs[/youtube]

I hate embedding videos in any forum, Seems to never work as it should.

 
That's a neat case/tray he's built. I don't think I have the tools around here to make such precise bends and cuts. And it looks very thick for kydex. It might be ABS or something. I have seen some stands on eBay that look like they are made of acrylic. It is tough to bend, but you can do it with a heat gun if you are patient. Too much heat too fast and it bubbles.




I seem to remember seeing some chassis/frames a member posted here last year that they built out of aluminum angle that looked really neat. That might be do-able for the tools I have. If I go that route I will want to built it with room for the LDG Z-817.


 

One of the best mods I have made to my FT-817ND is the 500hz filter for digital modes.  Particularly for email it makes an AMAZING difference in link quality and speed.   Inrad still has some Yaesu filters available.

I keep an Inrad 2000hz and 500hz in my 857D as well.

First time I have heard of that filter being used for data modes.

My efforts with the 817 and winmor have been shitty.  I may look into this.

Yeah I saw you were having issues with Winmor.   I replied to you in the other thread where you mentioned that also.  The 500 cw filter helps a bunch but I had good success prior to installing it as well.   Are you operating in the field, at home, noisy environment, etc?    How long have you been doing Winmor, have you had a lot of practice using it with 100 watt radios?

I find that it takes some practice to really get what I would consider to be reliable email service, even when using my 857D (I also have the 500 hz CW filter in that radio).  

The one "gotcha" when using that filter is that you have to limit yourself to selecting the 500 hz gateways (I tend to do this when operating the 817ND in general actually).  For the 1600 hz gateways when operating the 857D, I use the 2000hz filter.

In the interest of not derailing this thread, if you want send me a PM and we can discuss further.  Winmor capability is THE REASON I decided to get my ham license back and go straight to general.  I use it a lot.

Speaking of filters, I have read that the chinese ebay filters by murata are not too bad, and priced better than the collins filters yaesu sells.

I have one of the chinese TCXO modules that I bought for my 857D but I didn't install it, opting instead for a genuine yaesu TCXO. Though the chinese oscillators also got good reviews. Still a little wary of installing it until I at least get to use my radio for a while before screwing it up, in case it causes a problem.

I cannot speak for the Chinese filters however, I have the Chinese TCXO in my 857D and it works fine.  Install and enjoy!

EDIT:   I just looked and all of the Murata filters I see are 2.7khz.   In my opinion that would be nearly identical to the original filter.  It is too wide to hear a difference under most circumstances I suspect.

Actually if you guys want to keep it online I'd be interested. I've got a 300hz filter in my 817 so that leaves it out, and I don't have many problems using winmor, but I'd like it to be faster, so any advice on that would be appreciated.

Yeah I have chinese TCXO an it seems fine as well. I can't imagine the chinese ceramic filters are any better than the Murata filters that yaesu already is using.

Thanks for the feedback on the filters and TCXO. I might go ahead and give it a shot then.

The narrow CW filters and the SSB filter are both good. I had W4RT do their double mod with my supplied filters. Its spendy but IMO worth it if you do CW.

Another thing, seriously consider the BHI DSP. I recently had that installed and it blows my mind how good it is, way better than any other AF DSP I've heard (i.e. my 897's DSP sucks in comparison).

Have you seen this thread btw? I should do an updated one since I've changed a bunch of stuff since.

My old 817 thread

I will definitely check it out. Thanks for the link.


As for the DSP, I may have read some about it. There is also a group selling a panadapter kit that installs in the filter slot and has a 1/8" phone plug output (that you have to feed outside the case somehow). https://817companion.com/panadapter/

I tried to get w4rt to build me one with supplied filters, they wouldn't do it.  I think they are out of the Yaesu filter business.  Given that, my choice was to install the 500hz filter.

Seriously? They did mine a few months ago, it wasn't the greatest experience since they stopped communicating once I sent the radio, but the old guy did get back in touch with me eventually and it was well done once I got it back.

Yeah I've seen some various other kits for a PA. I guess they are neat, but for portable ops its not really worth it for me versus having actual CW/SSB filters on the rig.

The main changes to the setup have been (and this is purely in the context of portable ops, since thats mainly what I do)

Filters CW/SSB from W4RT (I had the CW filter already, I just added the SSB for the why not it might help on voice factor, supposedly 2db better, personally I don't know)

BHI DSP (cuz it was going to W4RT anyway). Its GREAT, even though it increases RX draw by 30-40ma.

Going to the Elecraft T1 20W ATU: much much more compact/lighter than the 817 version but way less user friendly. Also don't bother with the control cable, its not really worth it (for 60 bucks, get real elecraft) IMO since all it does is band switching to presets.

Added a windcamp LiPo battery (not sure if thats in that old post or not). Saves a bit of weight and actually gives you some decent runtime vs other options.

New antenna system of my own design that I should post on here but just haven't had the time to write up.

I have seen a few of the LiPo setups on eBay. Comes with battery charger, and a new battery door with a charging jack installed. I have the little Z-817 tuner. I've got an FT-857D, so an amp for the 817 would be redundant in my case. Though I haven't really put together a portable setup for it yet.

I do have one of the "Battery Tender" LiFePo batteries designed to replace the battery in an ATV. have a small solar panel, I think it's a 28 watt 18V folding thing. I put together a little buck converter to drop the voltage, along with a digital volt meter display in a project box. I should really post pics of that as well. I think the converter is rated for 10 amps but I can't remember since it's been a while. The idea was to have a portable, rechargeable power source, but I really should get a much better setup. This will work well for smaller things like charging AA batteries and phones/tablets/ laptops.

Generally I do not have that many problems connecting to winmor with my 857D now and the attic OCFD.  I have ID'd a few stations on 40m that always seem gtg for me.  I need to expand this list though.  

I am not having much luck though with the 817 in the field.  Antennas I have tried are Par 10/20/40 end fed trail friendly, CHA-F Mag Loop, and just received the Chameleon MPAS with mit extenstion.  I will be testing this out this next week.  I think most of my problem is antenna inefficiencies or wrong placement.  

So I have a lot of work to do to get this 817 in the field working with winmor and that is going to just take a lot of time. If the 500Hz will help I am in.  Winmor is required.


btw I have a lipo on way from https://www.bioennopower.com/collections/lifepo4-batteries-for-communication-equipment-ham-radio

My first foray  into lipos, per their customer service it is compatible with my existing 60w folding solar panels and controller.

Dupe post

I've tried a few antennas for my 817 in the field, the two that have worked well for me (with many Winmor connections) are a DIY Earchi end fed and a DIY resonant linked inverted V that is resonant on 20, 30 or 40.  This one is by far the top performer.  I tend to have very good luck on 30M and 40M with Winmor.  20M is fine on weekdays but on weekends it's tough.  Better though with the 500hz filter.

You mention Winmor at home.  I live in such a dense, high noise environment that for me it normally takes several attempts to make a single connection, sometimes it just doesn't work at all.  My home station is an alligator, all teeth, no ears.  :-)

So far I have used either the internal batteries or a SLAB, I need to pick up a lipo, will check out the link you sent.

Yeah, your main problem is that those are generally not great antennas, especially the MPAS with its lossy matching section. Your best bet is the Par if you install it right (high up). Or better yet just build a roll up dipole or link dipole to use.

Will get a 40m dipole made up quickly.  Commsprepper has no problems with the above antennas, he is using a $1400 pactor modem though, that may be helping him.

Those antenas are fine if you have power to burn. They turn your 100w radio into a 50 or 20w radio, which is good enough, especially for data. If 5w is all you got you don't want to be radiating 1-2w even with data.

I used to wonder if the modem was helping, I have convinced myself that it is not helping all that much.  Maybe I am wrong.  Getting a solid connection will result in an exchange of email, even with Winmor.  The thing he may gain is speed but I don't think that it makes the difference between success or not.  Antenna, practice and 500 hz filter were the things that really put it over the top for me, in that order.

I strongly suspect that a resonant dipole or inverted V will make a massive difference for you.  Oh, also be sure that your radio is set to 5 watts, even if you are running on the internal battery.

This has probably already been answered but I bought the 817 Escort from Portable Zero.

It is a nifty little gadget that mounts on the sides of the radio giving it "bumpers" to protect the face, knobs and rear panel connections, and provides a folding bail to raise the front of the radio a couple inches.

Thanks will order the filter today.  I always run 5w, though after adjusting the signalink for minimal ALC I am probably only getting 2.5w out.  

You run any antennas that do not require support/trees?

Is your linked inverted V light enough for a crappy pole to support the middle?  Looking at options and that would be useful here in N. Indiana farmland.  

Absolutely, it weighs just a few ounces.  I am using the 26 gauge stealth wire for the elements, the plastic center insulator and the insulators between each element are cut from a gray single gang outlet box cover that I picked up at Home Depot for less than $1.  I don't carry anything to hang it from though, I use a wrist rocket and tree branch.

Here in KS there are normally decent trees near the edges of fields, I've yet to have a problem finding a good branch.  I do want to get some sort of fishing pole to hang it on it's own but just have not done it yet.

The only thing I'll say about crappie poles is that you need really lightweight centers for them because they are VERY bendy with any sort of weight on them, even with my setup which is only a few ounces the top section is bent almost 90 degrees. But they do work as a support when properly guyed and are very lightweight.

Nice, thanks.  From looking at some videos it appears that a lot of guys are attaching them a few feet from the top of those whippy poles.

Sotabeams has their travel mast which is very interesting to me.

30' would give me a very decent slope on a 20M end fed but even if I had to lower the center feed point a few feet it is plenty tall for the inverted V.

http://www.sotabeams.co.uk/compact-light-weight-10-m-30-ft-mast/

Yeah I've been looking at SOTAbeams a lot over the years, too bad shipping sucks.

Yeah definitely.  Unfortunately nobody has picked up the torch to carry their products here in the US.

A little late to the party here, but I've had some success using winmor with my FT-817 and AlexLoop. I've had to play with the different stations and figure out which ones work the best, but generally haven't had too much problem getting in and out. I've tried using my 300hz filter with various digital modes and haven't had much success although I could be doing something wrong. Whenever I turn it on it just totally washes out the waterfall in that little 300hz window and I can't see any signals (PSK31, JT64, etc.) do I need to adjust the gain or something?
 

ETA: Check out the LiFePO4 batteries from Hobbyking. Generally they're cheaper than anywhere else.

Sounds like it.

If you know there was a signal in the center of the filter and turning the filter on kills it then yeah, crank the gain down.

I have a 28' Jackite pole inbound and a 20-30-40 linked dipole inbound from sotabeams. 500kz filter from Inrad on the way also.  

With owning my own business and 2 kids in 2 sports each I know I would never find the time to homebrew even an easy antenna as this.  Hell I barely have time to test them.  

I will keep the mag loop and MPAS for further testing.  I am impressed with the loops receive performance, and with other digi modes, even some good contacts SSB.  

I have not tested the MPAS much yet.  

I will sell off the gear that does not workout.  

Thanks for the advice here.

I just went out at lunch to do some testing for fun.  

- Radio used: 857D which has both the 2.0 SSB and the 500 cw filters installed
- Filter was enabled on both TX and RX (857D option only, not available on 817)
- Hustler 40M mobile whip, hard mounted in the center of the roof of my SUV
- Laptop and Signalink USB
- Power on 857D set to 15 watts (I have good luck at this power level when using the mobile whip)

Unfortunately I did not have time to play with power levels so all tests were conducted at 15 watts, I'm confident that I would have had acceptable success at 5 watts.  I connected to a few 40M gateways initially just to see which one I would use for the testing.  I wanted one that I could hit but was not rock solid.  Using my phone, I sent and received multiple emails during the course of testing.  Each connection was one send and one receive.  The email delivered to the laptop from the phone was ~300 words in length.  The email delivered from the laptop to the phone was ~50 words in length.

RESULTS:

1. Using the standard filter, I was able to successfully connect and exchange email 2 out of 4 times.  Often the initial connection query would receive no response until the third or fourth transmission.

2. Using the 2.0 filter I was able to exchange email 4 out of 4 times.  Connection was typically established on the 2nd or 3rd transmission.  On one particularly good connection the message was downloaded at 2220 bps, one of the faster connections I have ever had.  Overall good performance but I could still "feel" the variability of band conditions.  Both connection and speed performance was better than the standard filter.

3. Using the 500 hz filter, I was able to exchange email 4 out of 4 times.  Connections were always established within the first or second transmission.  Every email connection was successful and the signal from the gateway was very strong in the waterfall.  Delivery of the large email was obviously slower but very very reliable.  The connection performance was better than both the standard filter and the 2.0 filter, speed performance was slower but consistently reliable.

Overall, the only complete exchanges that failed were using the standard filter.  Out of 12 total connections, 10 were successful.

Nice work, thanks for sharing!

Hey JHLewis, check your IM.

Thanks for that write up!

Got my 500Hz filter installed.  That was easy.  

Dumped all my gear on the deck table and tried the mag loop.  Finally connected too a few nodes.  Now they did not finish, and where struggling, but at least I connected.  

I am on the right path, a more efficient antenna and I should be gtg

.

Awesome.  Great progress.

Yes, I think with a more efficient antenna you should be in great shape.   I sent you an email on Winlink also, so you'll have some traffic waiting for you when you get a connection.

One thing to note, you can still connect to the 1600 Hz nodes but they will negotiate down to 500 Hz.  That may help give you a few more stations to try.

Tell me about your loop antenna. Looks interesting.  

It's the Chameleon CHA-F Loop.  SurvivaltechNord and Commsprepper on youtube have many videos about it.  

No tuner
2 min maximum to set up.  
Receives very well.
Great limited space, apartment, etc.  

I just saw on STN youtube page that they have come out with a more portable waterproof version.  P Loop.

Great I did not know that.  

Last night I tried out my 300hz filter with PSK31 and had better success. My point of failure previously was having the AGC turned on, rendering the gain knob pretty much useless.  With the AGC turned off I was able to center up a station in the bandpass, and then bring the filter inline, and adjust the gain knob to reduce the noise. Worked great.



I also tried out a new power supply for the FT-817 that worked very well, too. It's a 12v 5A supply I picked up from DigiKey for $26 (http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/cui-inc/ETSA120500UDC-P5P-SZ/T1119-P5P-ND/2352117). It's compact and as far as I can tell RF quiet. I had been using an Astron 4A which was like 3 times larger than the FT-817 which made no sense at all - so I got rid of the Astron and bought the supply from DigiKey. Glad I did! I just cut off the barrel connector and replaced it with PowerPoles.






I ran JT65 for a little while and made 3 QSO's, and during those QSO's here's the station that heard me. This is using the FT-817ND @ 5 watts, and an Alexloop on a tripod set up in the middle of my living room:











 

Great work SS, I have not done any JT65 QSO's, just a little WSPR.  

You using JT65 HF?  or WSJT?