Hi Rick,
I did the installation on my 817nd. If you have good soldering skills and follow the directions closely you should be ok.
I am pleased with the performance and I would do it again but...
Quirks, yes,
It is an audio filter, the narrow setting is a 500 Hz bandwidth with the center at 700 Hz, so if you prefer a CW tone very far away from 700 Hz you start to get into where the filter rolls off. For instance, a 300 Hz tone is really unusable.
You have to choose if you will want to install a mechanical filter in addition to the laserbeam. If not, then you need to install the two caps to link the optional filter circuit to the stock ceramic filter or the Nar setting won't work.
You have to remove the speaker mounting bracket and glue or tape the speaker to the top case in a new trial and error location so the speaker magnet will clear the laserbeam board. I used Amazing GOOP Glue and it works fine.
The laserbeam is always in-line so you can't use just the stock ceramic filter.
I installed it first with the mechanical CW filter and then I installed the two caps and used it in contest conditions both ways, I find both ways very comparable.
I have the rig for sale on QRZ now if you want to see some pictures of the install. The rig also has a tap board for SDR Panadapter Feed and a Key Line Out jack for keying an amp while still having a Cat cable attached to the ACC jack.
73 - KV4TT Mike
