I made it to Dayton on Friday afternoon and had to return home that
evening, a short visit to say the least. I got very very wet walking
from the nearest parking lot to the "event". The outdoor stuff was
shut down and my spirits were "dampened".
I had not planned on buying anything, but thirty minutes after I
arrived I got stuck in the crowd around the HRO booth. Next thing
I know I'm at the front of a line, and noticed that they were
selling '817's for $639, and there were just two '817's left in a
stack behind the counter. The guy in front bought one of them and I
immediately lost control, gave them my credit card and took the last
one. Obviously this wasn't the last '817, but at this price it could
have been.
My only regret is that I've only had enough free time to manage an
hour of operation on 15M since last weekend. But, I've worked two
stations in Cuba and two in Jamaica on SSB from PA, with 2.5W. All
four contacts were 56 or better. What a great little rig! Everyone
should have one!
73, Jim Over, K3RK
--- In FT817@y..., "John Woika" <jwoika@r...> wrote:
Good morning group. Well after reading the threads and studying all
the comments for 6 months, I finally put the little rig on the air
yesterday. From Rochester, Ny on 40 SSB 5x2 into New Haven Conn.
He
didn't believe I was using 2 1/2 watts. Then on 17 meters I worked
into north FL, a W7SAC/4. I was 5x6 he was 5x9+ here. When I
changed to my ft847 my reported signal strength went up to 5x9+10.
My antenna is a multiband dipole apex at 40 feet. I will be mounting
this puppy on the handle bars of my bike, and a 17 meter hamstick on
the rear axel...
73s de John W8JW
