Proud Owner of an FT-857D!

Started by RichardSinFWTX, December 13, 2013, 03:30:40 PM

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RichardSinFWTX

WooHoo!!!  A couple hours ago I bought a shiny, new FT-857D from GigaParts!

Now the fun part...waiting on it!   :'(


John Galt

Awesome!  Great minds think alike!   :) 8)   

I just ordered a FT-450D from Gigaparts as a Christmas present to myself.  I sure considered an 857 but decided to go with the 450.  UPS sez it'll be here Tuesday.  When are you supposed to get the 857?

What antenna are you going to put on it?  I'm going to try a Chameleon to see how they work.  Good reviews from what I've seen.




cockpitbob

Great choice.  I have an 857D myself.  I commute it from my shack to the car and have run it in the field on a 7Ah battery (power turned down to 10W).  It's a great all purpose radio and draws only 0.75A listening, which is half of its iCom counterpart.

If you'r just doing HF you don't even need the programming cable, but if you plan on working repeaters you'll want that for sure.

RadioRay

You are going to love it!  I had one that I used mobile and worked a LOT of CW/SSB and data with it.  When it comes out of the box, everyone will be amazed at how small it really is.    ::) :-* ///Hmmm, my wife said the same thing on our wedding night. I wonder which radio she meant??? ///

I have been SERIOUSLY thinking about (when I have money again...) buying one as a QRO home station and mounting it into a Pelican case to use for a full function portable station.


Congratulations!

>Ray

"When we cannot do the good we would, we must be ready to do the good we can."  ~ Matthew Henry

RichardSinFWTX

John, I haven't planned that far ahead yet.  I'm kinda thinking a G5RV Jr. or maybe a WindTalk Mk 2.3; but I don't really know yet.

Bob, right now I've got two 10Ah SLA batteries that I use with my FT-8900.  I've also got the programming cable that I use with my 8900 and the RT Systems programming software.  I'm not sure that software will work so I may end up using Chirp.  I bought the Nifty programming mini-manual just to be safe.  I'm going to get involved with Texas Army MARS as soon as I get proficient on the radio and using it with in digital mode with FLDigi.  It's going to be in my station-in-a-box and the 8900 will be the UHF/VHF backup.

Ray, my station in a box setup is going to be mounted in an army surplus medical instrument case.  I'll have room for a rack with the radio, power, speaker and all the other stuff and a slide out shelf for my old, but still functioning Dell D800 laptop that I just use for my radio stuff.

TexasRadio

Quote from: KF5RHI on December 14, 2013, 11:11:30 AM
John, I haven't planned that far ahead yet.  I'm kinda thinking a G5RV Jr. or maybe a WindTalk Mk 2.3; but I don't really know yet.

Bob, right now I've got two 10Ah SLA batteries that I use with my FT-8900.  I've also got the programming cable that I use with my 8900 and the RT Systems programming software.  I'm not sure that software will work so I may end up using Chirp.  I bought the Nifty programming mini-manual just to be safe.  I'm going to get involved with Texas Army MARS as soon as I get proficient on the radio and using it with in digital mode with FLDigi.  It's going to be in my station-in-a-box and the 8900 will be the UHF/VHF backup.

Ray, my station in a box setup is going to be mounted in an army surplus medical instrument case.  I'll have room for a rack with the radio, power, speaker and all the other stuff and a slide out shelf for my old, but still functioning Dell D800 laptop that I just use for my radio stuff.

Which style of case is the medical instrument case?
Or do you have a pic of it?
I am considering a go box/portable station myself.

Thanks

RichardSinFWTX

#6


This is the type of case.  It's both air and water tight.  Mine doesn't have any rust or corrosion on it.  I was able to pick it up from my local army surplus store for about $90.  Watch out though...some places charge an outrageous amount for ones like mine that have wheels on them.

The downside is that I'm going to have to build the Rackspace inside it.  You could go with a Gatorbox that has the rails built into it so you can use pre-fab shelves.  I've got the free time coming up though.

I've got the sliding shelf for the laptop built already; but that's as far as I've gone.

TexasRadio

Hey I like that box.
Cheaper than a Gator 6U.


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madball13

Great radio and such a small footprint for the amount of power. I use mine as my main rig at home and mobile in my truck. The removable head feature is real nice.

RichardSinFWTX

Yeah that's mine will be used!  I'll slap some Power Pole connections on it so I can use it in the truck, backpack mobile or in my digital station-in-a-box!



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RichardSinFWTX

Ho!  Ho!  Ho!


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cockpitbob

Quote from: KF5RHI on December 19, 2013, 11:04:58 PM
Ho!  Ho!  Ho!


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Just in time for the weekend!

One thing.  My 857D is about 5 years old and I found that the white 6-pin "molex" connectors weren't from Molex and though the nylon bodies were compatable with the standard Molex parts everyone uses, the crimp pins weren't.  The pins were slightly smaller and didn't make solid contact with the molex sockets.  I searched and searched for compatable sockets without luck.  I hated to do it but I changed the radio's pins to Molex so I could put the 6-socket Molex connectors on the various places I wanted to use the radio. 

RichardSinFWTX

Thanks for the tip!  I've got a friend of mine doing the MARS/CAP mod on it next week so maybe I'll see if he can do that to mine while he's got it.

Archangel320420




HAAAAAAA! Proud owner RHI.   Terry  :)


Quote from: KF5RHI on December 19, 2013, 11:04:58 PM
Ho!  Ho!  Ho!


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RichardSinFWTX

Gonna try to play with it this weekend; but I don't really have a reliable HF antenna...plus it's supposed to rain all day tomorrow.  :'(

Might have to wait til I'm off starting Christmas thru January 1st.  Screw the honey-Do's