This eight-pin "Mini-DIN" control cable appears to be similar to the Apple
Macintosh serial printer cable for their ImageWriter printer but, like most
bi-directional printer cables, one or two wires are crossed (pins 6 and 8
for the Apple) making it useless, as I discovered, for the FC-40. However,
a Mini-DIN-8 extension cable (such as the ten foot male to female
"Cablestogo.com" No. 09569) works very nicely, since the wires and pins are
straight through. This kind of extension cord is becoming hard to find as
printer cables are now USB. So far, I have extended the control cable to a
total of 60 feet with no loss in performance. Yaesu claims that the tuner
box is waterproof but I place a thick white plastic bag over it when I'm
home as an added precaution.
This info I got off Eham.net on FT 897.
73s
Roger
