I trade/sell radios often. A bout of medical bills or 'lust' for a different radio sends one or more to the auction block. However, the one model I come back to is the FT-817 series. It's not that it's "the best" at any single mode, but it's strong point is that it's "pretty good" at almost everything. The performance is lower in CW than a KX-3, but only by a little and it's 1/2 to 1/3rd the price of the EXCELLENT KX3. IT's not a top rated VHF/UHF rig, yet it's perfectly capable of working simplex, repeaters and even through satellites with an Arrow Antenna. Someone a few years ago coined the phrase that sums up the 817 well:
"
It's the Swiss Army Knife of radios."
That's why I own one and many accessories, oh and - did I mention that it's a good shortwave radio for listening to broadcasts as well?
The one problem with the 817 series has been relatively high receive current. The manual very honestly states it as over 400 mA. However, by turning off the backlight, noise blanker and IPO, mine is well under 400 mA. Secondly, batteries and charging options have come a long way since the 817 was first introduced. Taking a tip from
Survival TechNord, I looked into the new generation of NiMH rechargeable AA batteries, which have capacities around 2500 mA/hour, and take roughly 2,000 recharges! - WOW! Julian was right-on in his assessment that these are far superior to the Yeasu 1000 or 1400 mA/H internal pack. They charge faster, are very low self discharge and versatile, in that you can use these AA batteries in consumer devices
and in your 817. I got 16 "Amazon Basics", AA NiMH cells and a smart charger for far less than the Yeasu battery pack - with a capacity of 2400 mA/H, I get an extra 1,000 mA/H above the 'big' Yeasu pack- screaming deal!
Because my mountain/desert walking days are over, I enjoy going to parks and easily accessible places to 'play radio'. The lower noise and ability to erect a wire antenna is a big plus for me, and a relief fromt he HOA Stasi here at the rental. The power upgrade , using the AA batteriea makes operating on the internal pack a reality. For those times when I want more power, I bring my Chinese amplifier, another E-Bay find. I get about 32-35 Watts out, and power both the rig and the amp from an external Bioenno.com 4.5 a/H LiFePo4 (Lithium Iron Phosphate) battery. The Lithium IRON batteries have built in over/under voltage protection and are NOT the type which suffer "rapid deflagration" when bent, over charged or shorted...
These Bioenno are considered 'the stable lithium batteries'. It's also rated for 2,000 recharges. and fits into the side pouch of my
www.portablezero.com , Sherpa bag. I got the protective rails for my FT-817ND and they are totally worth it!
http://portablezero.com/yaesu817.htmlBetween this radio bag, a push-up pole and SOTAbeams type wire antenna, I can have an efficient antenna up and radio station working in under five minutes.
73/72 de RadioRay ..._ ._