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FT-818ND Battery Life?
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Short Version:??the manual says the AA battery pack is supposed to last around 5 hours; that prediction was spot on for me.? It was on VHF/UHF, receive only, with squelch broken open about half the time.? Sorry, I don't have INTEL on the rechargeable pack (yet).
TMI version:? ?I'm new here, too.? Joined the group when I bought my Dayton Hamvention sale FT-818ND... it was a $575 sale price I couldn't resist.? Sat down to learn about this radio with the manual... GOOD GRIEF!!!? This is about the most complicated radio on the planet to set up and operate!? Push one button twice, raise your left foot, then spin a dial while singing "Yankee Doodle" and poke a few more buttons, genuflect toward Mecca three times, and maybe it'll store a memory.? This is a far cry from the simplicity and convenience of my trusty Atlas 210x!? Anyway, I've used the AA battery pack, and it lasted a little over 5 hours.? I've been playing with the rechargeable battery pack for a few days now (receive only) and it's not dead yet.? ? |
开云体育Make life simple and get a Windcamp kit.?-------- Original message -------- From: "pebjag@... [FT817]" <FT817@...> Date: 6/3/19 18:27 (GMT-05:00) To: FT817@... Subject: [FT817] Re: FT-818ND Battery Life? Short Version:??the manual says the AA battery pack is supposed to last around 5 hours; that prediction was spot on for me.? It was on VHF/UHF, receive only, with squelch broken open about half the time.? Sorry, I don't have INTEL on the rechargeable pack (yet). TMI version:? ?I'm new here, too.? Joined the group when I bought my Dayton Hamvention sale FT-818ND... it was a $575 sale price I couldn't resist.? Sat down to learn about this radio with the manual... GOOD GRIEF!!!? This is about the most complicated radio on the planet to set up and operate!? Push one button twice, raise your left foot, then spin a dial while singing "Yankee Doodle" and poke a few more buttons, genuflect toward Mecca three times, and maybe it'll store a memory.? This is a far cry from the simplicity and convenience of my trusty Atlas 210x!? Anyway, I've used the AA battery pack, and it lasted a little over 5 hours.? I've been playing with the rechargeable battery pack for a few days now (receive only) and it's not dead yet.? ?
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Mike Olbrisch
开云体育Howdy – and WELCOME. ? Didn’t see your CALL SIGN or NAME in the post, so none of us have no clue who you are or where you are. ? If you are in North America, or someplace where you can order or purchase same, I highly recommend you get the CABLE and SOFTWARE from RT-Systems.? Yes – it is an additional $50.? But as you have noticed, programming all 200 memories might require you to hire a witch-doctor. ? With the RT-systems software and cable, you can set up and control every aspect of the radio from a computer screen.? ?You can save and load memories into the radio.? You can build different “configurations” for different needs. ? For example, I have a “QRP-HF” configuration, a VHF-CONTEST” configuration, and a “GERMANY” configuration.? Each has specifics needed for that operation.? And I can switch from one to the other in minutes.? Imagine trying to load in all the repeaters and different off-sets and memories for my summer trip to Europe by hand.? Then un-do it all when you come back. ? Currently, the highest capacity battery available is the Windcamp Li-Po.? It is a complete kit, and worth it if you value longer operating times.? If you are OK with an external power source, the sky and your pack weight limit are the limiting factors. ? If you are going to run external power, battery or otherwise, I strongly recommend you install one of the Power Pole adapters.? The stock power jack is one of the weak points of the FT-817ND.? Sadly, they did not improve that with the FT-818.? In fact, very little did change, and a portion of what did change was a step backward.? But the power jack will fail on one of two ways of you do not treat it with care.? The adapter will take care of the issue. ? The FT-817/818 WILL RUN 5 WATTS on INTERNAL BATTERY POWER.? Study this chart until you understand it. ? Here is how to read the FT-817 power display. ? To control the power levels, press the function (F) button for <1 second, [Pg 12, item 8], then rotate the SELECT knob [Pg 12, item 13] to display menu item 9 [ PWR MTR xxx ] on Pg 15.? (xxx will equal pwr for POWER level, alc for ALC level, swr for SWR display or mod for FM deviation level).? Press button A to control the power level, button B to select the meter display [Pg 12, item 9].? Press the PWR button (button A) 4 times or more to step through the display. ? With an input voltage or battery voltage GREATER THAN ~ 11.5 volts, the display will look like this. ? (L_l__) One bar displayed = 0.5 watts. (L_ll_) Two bars displayed = 1.0 watts. (L_lll) Three bars displayed = 2.5 watts. (L____) No bars displayed = 5.0 watts. ? ? With an input voltage or battery voltage LESS THAN ~ 11.5 volts, the display will look like this. ? (L_l__) One bar displayed = 0.5 watts. (L_ll_) Two bars displayed = 1.0 watts. (L_lll) Three bars displayed = 2.5 watts. (L____)-(L_lll) (BLINKING) Three BLINKING bars displayed = 5.0 watts. *note1. ? This information is in the FT-817ND manual, on page 28.? It just isn't written very well. ? *note1:? The blinking display is a warning that you are using the 5-watt level while on battery power, and with the stock YAESU battery, your time on the air will be limited.? Using a larger external battery, or one of the larger capacity internal batteries will increase your air-time considerably. ? The reality is that it has nothing to do with battery or power supply.? It is simply sensing the voltage applied to the radio.? Any voltage below about 11.5v will show a blinking display.? Any voltage above about 11.5v will show a steady display.? It has nothing to do with what the power source really is. ? Hope this helps you understand what your radio is doing. ? NOTE: It has NOTHING to do with the power source at all.? It is simply sensing a voltage. It assumes a low input voltage is the battery and tries to lower the power to 2.5-watts. ? Again, welcome to the group. Please let us know who/where.? Sometimes it makes a difference.? For example, I would not tell you to call Yaesu in Japan if you live in Great Britain. ? OH – with an 818….. have you ever hears of SOTA? ? If you ask me for a reply, be patient.? I’ll be KD5KC for another 198 hours, then DL/KD5KC for the next month.? Of course, if you’re in DL-land, come party with us. ? Vy73 - Mike - KD5KC. El Paso, Texas - DM61rt. SOTA W5T-Texas Association Manager. NA-SOTA info is at:? ? ? ? ? From: FT817@...
Sent: Monday, June 3, 2019 16:27 PM To: FT817@... Subject: [FT817] Re: FT-818ND Battery Life? ?
? TMI version:? ?I'm new here, too.? Joined the group when I bought my Dayton Hamvention sale FT-818ND... it was a $575 sale price I couldn't resist.? Sat down to learn about this radio with the manual... GOOD GRIEF!!!? This is about the most complicated radio on the planet to set up and operate!? Push one button twice, raise your left foot, then spin a dial while singing "Yankee Doodle" and poke a few more buttons, genuflect toward Mecca three times, and maybe it'll store a memory.? This is a far cry from the simplicity and convenience of my trusty Atlas 210x!? Anyway, I've used the AA battery pack, and it lasted a little over 5 hours.? I've been playing with the rechargeable battery pack for a few days now (receive only) and it's not dead yet.? ? |
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Mike Olbrisch
No clue – I don’t use CHIRP except for 1 thing, and one thing only.
Vy73 - Mike - KD5KC. El Paso, Texas - DM61rt. SOTA W5T-Texas Association Manager. NA-SOTA info is at: <> From: FT817@... <FT817@...> Sent: Monday, June 3, 2019 21:52 PM To: FT817@... Subject: [FT817] Re: FT-818ND Battery Life? Mike, I have chirp. How can I set up different configurations like you mentioned? Randy ka4nma |
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Hi
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I haven't read the responses to your post yet, but a suggestion, would be to download CHIRP a free software package that will allow you to program your new rig on the PC and download them to the rig in one go. Also available is Flrig and Fldigi, two of several software free to download that will allow rig control and decoding of digital communication. A Google search should find those to begin with. I've had my original FT817 since 2003, well actually this is the second one but who is counting. I love this rig. Marty kd8bj On 6/3/19 5:27 PM, pebjag@... [FT817] wrote:
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