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I've been a member of this group since I bought an FT-817 from an SK estate maybe 8 years ago. I was curious about the radio's popularity and on paper it seemed a great value. Shortly after I started using the radio I found several issues with the radio: QRP wasn't really for me (I was struggling with compromise antennas and felt 100w would help), I wasn't a fan of the menu system, the internal battery charging procedure was fairly complicated, and the tiny display wasn't compatible with my middle-age eyes. I'll concede most of those issues could be addressed by spending money on various items (an amp, an ext CAT display, external batteries, etc), but I soon sold off the radio to someone better suited to the things the radio offered. Time went on, the FT-817nd was cancelled, and soon Yaesu had released the FT-818. It retained all the issues I had with the original FT-817, but soon I found myself buying a new FT-818 - I thought maybe I was missing something, since the radio had come back. My second look at the FT-818 showed me nothing had changed, and soon my FT-818 found a new home. Fast-forward to today. Now, having twice owned and twice sold my FT-817/818 radios, I would not be likely to buy a third FT-817/818, but the reports that Yaesu may not be repairing 20+ year-old FT-817 is going to have a serious impact on future potential buyers of this classic radio. (Has anyone reached out to John Kruk for a definitive answer to the FT-817 repair question and the availability of RF/Transistor boards for sale to do-it-yourself repairs?) It used to be that new hams bought FT-817/818 radios based on price and capabilities (it got them on local repeaters AND hf, it included VHF/UHF antennas AND a power source), but today those new hams are snapping up Chinese radios at very low prices and are not really looking at the FT-817/818 family of radios. Owner complaints can shape the resale market, and I would caution current owners to think hard about deciding to post their frustrations with the given situation regarding original FT-817 radios. When Ten-Rec was sold to a new owner, and the new owner announced that in-house repairs were going to be made at market rates, not the previous discounted rates, people that previously bought and owned Ten-Tec radios started complaining far and wide about the new policy, convincing nearly every ham that Ten-Tec radios were 'unrepairable' and therefore should be avoided on the resale market... What made this even more amazing to me, was that prior to the company changing hands, the reputation Ten-Tec radios had was one of quality and the ease of home repairs since the designs used conventional parts! Owner complaints had changed the reputation of a quality, easy-to-fix line of radios into a pariah and something to be scoffed at when found on Hamfest tables. Another example was the display issue on the Icom IC-7610. Shortly after releasing the radio, some owners found their displays were developing issues. It wasn't consistent across all radios, but it was becoming a fairly common issue. Owners started complaining about the failures publicly and repeatedly, and soon Icom (as I recall) isolated the issue to production issues at a supplier for some displays, but there was no easy correlation to serial number or manufacture date. Icom addressed the problem and has publicly stated that any IC-7610 displays that exhibit this issue will be replaced at no cost to the owner without time limits. Yet, today, a quick google of the IC-7610 turns up countless references to the display issue from several years ago. People today considering an IC-7610 still ask if the display problem continues, others won't even consider the radio because "there's a problem with the display"... Then there's the Kenwood TS-590s (or was it the TS-590sg?) where the exhaust fans were installed backwards, or the brief run of TS-2000 that were 'dead' due to faulty filters from the factory. Both issues impacted a very small percentage of radios, both were easily overcome/repaired, but still those issues linger around those radios (TS-

Gang A update on the status of the FT-817 Final unit First off a bit of Yaesu clarification The board that holds the output transistors is called the Final Unit and is number FR006000. Which mounts on top of the PA board, FR005190 According to Yaesu part lady, NO Final units are in stock. NONE are planned to be ordered. According to the Yaesu service guy, Yaesu WILL NOT service the original FT-817. They will service the FT-871-ND and the FT-818. Ah! You say! Don't they use the same final board? I asked that, too. Mike wb8vge

Gang, from what Ive been reading, it doesn't sound good for the home team. I plan on calling yaesu tomorrow afternoon and find out the status of the PA replacement board. So, two questions; Has anyone actually replaced the active MOSFETs on the PA board? I watched Peter from TRX Bench do it, and it look daunting. And two, incase there are no replacement boards from the factory, any one have a spare PA board they are will to sell? Mike wb8vge

Hi all. Has anyone tried the Chinese filters available on eBay for around $100? If so do they work or should I just set fire to a $100 bill? 73 Kevin K5KTM

The 2024 Flight of the Bumblebees is now History. There were 207 Bumblebee Numbers assigned this year. Wow! Phil - K4PQC, and I were really pleased from seeing the interest shown in getting out and operating portable in this long standing QRP CW event. And we could not have done it without Bruce - WA7BNM generously providing the FOBB auto-logger. The band conditions made operating QRP CW from portable locations a real challenge everywhere. But I guess if we choose to work QRP CW, we like challenges. Right? The weather was a mixed bag, with severe storms in some areas of the country and very high temperatures in other areas. I got well cooked where I was at. Some Bumblebees had to revert to becoming home stations due to the weather. Others had to cut their operations short. At least one Bumblebee confessed to getting quite wet. But, assuming that everyone returned home safely, then all is well. Be sure and enter your Results and Comments. Even if you were only able to make a few FOBB Contacts. It has been pointed out that pictures of Bumblebee operations have been part of the Flight of the Bumblebees tradition. I know that I always snap a few pictures of all of my portable operations - maybe most of you routinely do that also. But we lost the ability to send in pictures of our operations whenever we switched to using 3830Scores.com. So, we will setup another web page to display the pictures that Bumblebees and Home Stations wish to submit. It will probably be called '2024 FOBB History', and it will be available on https://ars-qrp.com Send your FOBB photos to: fobb-pictures@... Be sure to include your call sign, name, and location so I can tag your photos properly. . I will post them to the web site as time permits. Sorry, no prizes or awards for best picture or best location. And, while you are waiting for the 2025 Flight of the Bumblebees on July 27, 2025, you can try your hand at the Monthly ARS Spartan Sprint on the First Monday of Each Month. That Monthly QRP CW event was also originally intended to promote outdoor operations. But the evening hours make that difficult to do East of the Mississippi. So, it has pretty much evolved into everyone operating from indoors. See https://ars-qrp.com for Spartan Sprint information and rules. 72, Jody – K3JZD and Phil - K4PQC Adventure Radio Society Trustees

Good evening from rural Virginia. I am an older ham recovering from 2 strokes. This is my 3rd Yaesu. First 2 were 817NDs. I will not be able to take this unit to parks and hike anymore. So I thought I would try using it at home as a base station. Well, that did not go anywhere. It is tested, never used on or transmitted on. I will sell the radio, filter and all accessories below at below, less than what I paid for them. Including the filter which now goes for many more dollars than I paid. I, as a ham amd not interested in making money, I would love to see this unit USED and not just sitting. The prices of filters are beyond reason. First, what it cost me (minus the taxes) I have original receipts for all. Most bought from HRO 10/8/2020 1. FT818 $609.95 2. YF-122CN 300 Hz Bandwidth Collins 455 kHz IF CW Narrow Filter for FT-817/818 FT-857 etc.. $169.95 (it is installed) 3. Z-817 LDG autotuner $104.95 4. 817 / 818 -ESG Portable Zero escort stand OD green, aluminum $74 5. CatDisplay from Christopher Day using Cat cable. $148 (did not come with cable). Includes Windcamp 817S Battery that goes in unit. Includes Charger (I just charged it yesterday and tested it) works fine Original batteries and original cover in box with all other items including antennas, battery (probably ok but easy to replace) manual, nifty guide. Total cost to me (+) = $1106.85 2 years ago. Cost to you (maybe less if you are a new ham. proof necessary). Will sell only as a bundle. Will not break it apart. $675 + 15$ shipping. Total $690 As is: will not accept returns. Zelle, or Postal Money order. Double Boxed and insured Email me at guy at eastroad dot org I will share my phone # and answer questions if needed. Some Pictures here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/DpK6sajsFynHnCX26 I will send other pictures if requested. All is pristine. PS.. I build most of my own equipment and repair radios for others too. For many years now Recovering some funds for heath reasons. 73, Guy N1GMM

FT-817's set the world on fire for Portable QRP Operation. Now would be a good time to get your FT-817/FT-818 out there and turn it into a Bumblebee !! 2024 Flight of the Bumblebees The annual Flight of the Bumblebees will be held on Sunday, July 28, 2024. The event will be in a four hour daytime window, from 1700 to 2100 UTC. This casual QRP CW event consists of 'Bumblebees' who are operating portable stations at outdoor locations, and 'Home Stations' who try to work as many of these 'Bumblebees' as possible. This event is open to all operators. Anywhere. Being at the top of the sunspot cycle, this year's event has the potential to be very interesting. Operators who want to go out and setup a portable station at some outdoor location, and be a highly sought after 'Bumblebee', need to obtain a "Bumblebee Number". The window for obtaining your 2024 'Bumblebee Number' is now Open. The https://ars-qrp.com web site will explain the whole process. I'll be out there as a 'Bumblebee' - hoping to work you during the event. 72, Jody - K3JZD

Hello, I am new to digital HF. I am using an early FT-817 with W-SJTX or JSTX and experience the same issue, that has me stumped. I am able to use FT8 without any issue, but FT4 just does not work. I have tried changing settings and levels, with no success. The interface is Rigblaster Plug And Play (6 pin data jack) with USB soundcard. I am using the following: PKT RATE 1200 DIG MODE USER-U DIG DISP 0 DIG MIC 12 DIG SHIFT 0 I saw a post where someone said to adjust menu #55 USB offset, but my radio goes to #51. Any wisdom on this would be appreciated. Thanks, Marc

You can buy a genuine Collins 500hz CW filter for about $103 (from Japan, UK etc.) and solder it yourself to an FT-817 compatible board made by Artur, SP6AB. He sells them as a service to fellow hams for $16. Contact Artur to confirm pricing and availability: sp6ab@.... 73, Howard, W6ZZ Here's one possibility to buy a genuine Collins filter (w/o board): https://www.reneegrocery.shop/product/Aor-Mf-500-500hz-Mf-Series-Collins-Mechanical-Filter-526-8693-010-Radio_woy5996ad95856d.html AOR MF-500 500Hz MF Series Collins Mechanical Filter 526-8693-010 radio $111.67$67.00 12 IN STOCK

FT-818 Jedis: Recent owner of a FT-818ND. The book and Nifty manual state there should be four symbols for determining TX power: [blank] - full 6W (5W internal battery) L))) - 2.5W L)) - 1.0W L) - 0.5W I'm using the internal Windcamp battery mod. My screen will only display L)), and L) regardless of the number of times I push the B button. It also seems like there are some extra button pushes in the cycle that don't change anything, i.e. it takes two button pushes to get from L)) back to L). The battery is fully charged. FT-818 veterans, need a brief explanation of the symbology for internal versus external battery sources. Also is 6W achievable with the internal battery? Is that why only two symbols are displaying? If using an external Bioenno 12v, 3Ah battery, is full power an option or am I limited to 5W? Thanks in advance, Matt W7MDN

Hello, Beside getting a SWR meter is there a different way to measure the actual power from the ft817? Could I use a multimeter? regard,

Hope someone in the group can help. Have a FT817non ND with flashing display. Did all the resets I could find and even did the battery reset mod just in case that was the problem even tho I never did the battery mod or leave the battery in the unit. Had a tech look at it and told me it could be firmware issue. I called Yaesu and they said it's the pll not locking in. Can anyone point me in the right direction to repair it myself. Has anyone had this problem with their radio? All help is very appreciated.

Hello , Have you encountered this problem my ft 817 worked very well for 2 years in digital mode, now it flashes on all bands if I increase the voltage towards 14 volts it stabilizes on a few bands. thanks for your help 7s de OD5SB Ramy FINGE

Hi all. I am experiencing a weird situation, I apologize ahead of time as I am a newbie to the 817. When I plug in an external battery the radio is not seeing it. I have a car power adaptor which it sees perfectly but for some reason it isn’t seeing the lifepo4 battery. I have checked the battery voltage and it is fine, I have a power pole adaptor on the radio but it is fine (car power cable is Anderson). I have checked the battery cable and it is showing both continuity and voltage on the Anderson connector going to the radio, nothing seems to be loose in the connection and I did check the contacts on both sides for corrosion and everything seems to be fine. I’m suspecting the power pole connectors even though they seem fine but I don’t have any to replace these with at the moment Are there any settings that I am missing? It was seeing the connection yesterday just fine but not today. The onboard yaesu battery is suspect right now, I think it’s probably very weak due to age and I am planning on replacing it with the windcamp battery but would really like to know what I am doing wrong. thanks and 73 Kevin K5KTM

Hello, I am aware that this group has nothing to do with /g/ft5dr but I keep getting rejected because my call sign and email address does match QRZ and that is false. I have sent a message but no feedback. Anyone have a contact for that group? regards

Hello, is there still a chance to get a filter for the Yeasu 817nd? I saw some on EBay, but the asking price is a lot. I saw some compatible filters that could be used with a custom filter board. regards,

Hi all, I am making myself some field-notes for the FT-817, referencing the existing cheat sheets and the manual. On page 20 of the operating manual: "If your transceiver is configured for "RF Gain" use, rotating this control fully clockwise in the SSB/CW/Digital modes will provide best sensitivity. To reduce the receiver's RF Gain somewhat, rotate this control counter-clockwise slightly. You will observe an increasing number of bars on the S-meter as you rotate the SQL/RF control counter-clockwise; this indicates increasing AGC voltage, which is causing the front-end gain to be reduced." I am presently confused, as I would expect the S-meter to be more active with the RF gain increased, but the way this is written (and in my experience), the S-meter decreases when the RF gain is increased. This also reduces the relevance of an RST based on reading the S-meter. Am I misreading things? 73