--- In FT817@y..., wd9ewk@y... wrote:
[snip]
At least there is one page with an assortment of HF portable
antennas
there.... the Maldol whips, the new dipole from Diamond with
telescoping whips & coils, another company with its own line of
(expensive) whips, and a Japanese reseller of the MP-1 antennas.
Talk about markup... add about US$ 100 to the MP-1's price on
www.superantennas.com site and that is what the Japanese distributor
of it is asking. And there is a 7/21/144MHz whip from Comet
Antenna listed on there also. I'm not surprised at this, since
doesn't Japan have those no-code HF licenses that limit the ops to
10 or 20 watts output?
Yes, and I was told by someone at W&S last year that this was
originally the market the 817 was designed for. If they are to be
believed, its popularity elsewhere in the world may have taken Yaesu
by surprise.
A whole section of the ham equipment
business is growing around this radio, and maybe the other
manufacturers will take note of this. Hello, Icom? Anyone watching
this little 817? Or maybe this will be Yaesu's unique corner of
the market, like the TNC-equipped radios were for Kenwood until
Alinco started making their DR-x35 series of FM mobile radios.
It would be interesting for Chris or anyone else at a dealer to give
us an insight into how well the 817 is selling compared to other
radios. I'd be surprised if the other manufacturers haven't noticed
the success of the 817 but I'd hazard a guess that the R&D cycle for
a new radio is 18 months or so, so I guess we won't see any
competitors until at least next year.
Julian, G4ILO
