[SixClub] Yaesu FT-897

Sat Dec 22 15:23:36 EST 2007

> Anyone use one of these on six?  How are they on the magic band?

I used one with a Hy-gain AV-640 vertical mounted at 32 feet for some time 
and was quite pleased with the results.
Basically it heard well and if I could hear them I could generally work 
them.

The following are my personal observations and it's likely not every one, or 
possibly no one will agree with them. <:-))

The 897D is a relatively inexpensive, but nice radio that's compact and 
capable. Although it appears to be solid it's a bit on the lightly 
constructed side.

Going a bit deeper and adding some comparisons as I have both the Yaesu 897D 
and the Icom 7000 while my home station is an Icom 756 Pro: "For the money" 
the 897D is an outstanding radio. IOW it's inexpensive, but works quite 
well. The 7000, which costs a good 50% more appears to be more solidly 
constructed and has a better noise reduction system. Everything and I do 
mean virtually everything in both rigs is menu driven which means you need 
to become intimately familiar with the menus or it'll drive you to 
distraction if you do much mode changing, use an external tuner, or tube 
type amp that requires tuning. This is pretty much common with all the 
small, all band, all mode, does everything but make coffee in the morning 
radios. Once you become even slightly familiar with the operation the menus 
are laid out logically and pretty well organized in the 897D. The menus in 
the 7000 seem to have no logical organization. Both are radios where you 
want to have the manual handy if you move around the bands much and change 
modes of operation.

"I think" the menus of the 897D are the best organized of all the compact 
rigs I've used. However the 987D and the 7000 are the only ones with which 
I've become really familiar with many hours of use.  The menus in the 7000 
leave a lot to be desired, but work quite well if you take the time to read 
the manual and used the rig enough to become thoroughly knowledgeable with 
their use. "For me" the learning curve was not nearly as steep with the 
897D.

Neither rig seemed to be overly sensitive to overload from nearby strong 
stations, but if you operate one of the "good" radios, or maybe I should 
rephrase that and say "If you are used to operating one of the higher end 
base station transceivers" you *will* notice the difference when the band 
gets crowded with a good opening or when operating on HF.

Using the 897D on six with either the AV-640 or the 7L C3i required no 
tuning so it was set and forget. If you operate CW it requires going through 
a couple menus to set the mode, speed, and keyer type. It takes a different 
menu to set the power level.  That gets us to the only real weak point of 
the 897D I've seen.  The key jack and most of the jacks on the rear of the 
radio are lightly constructed and mount directly on the PC boards rather 
than the rear casting.  Mine was in and out of the station in the shop a 
lot. I was also reorganizing the shop station and eventually the jack broke 
off the PC board. For a mobile rig that might get transfered between the 
house and car a lot this was a point that surprised me. You will also find 
it discussed on the Yaesu reflectors a bit as well.

Both rigs also work well on 144 and 440. If anything I found them easier to 
program than many of the dual band FM mobile rigs and they both have 
substantial memory channels. Far easier than my old Alinco duo-bander.

For those with the capabilities, both of these rigs are fully controllable 
from a computer with a serial port. The 897D with the mini 8-pin connector 
takes a bit more work than the single stereo cable for the Icom. After 
searching through the parts catalogs for mini 8-pin DIN connectors I 
purchased some cables off Amazon that had the mini DIN on both ends, cut the 
cables and fitted a serial connector on one end. I used one half of the 
cable for CAT control and the other to key my amp, ALC, and auto band 
switching. As a note, the way the 897D is configured you can not use CAT 
control AND auto band switching on your amp without doing a mod to the 
radio. You select *either* CAT *OR* LIN from a menu in the 897D.  With the 
Icom you just plug all the cables (except the amp keying) into the interface 
box.

BTW I used apple printer cables and just sanded the corners off the 
connectors and they work just fine.  I purchased two 10' and a single 6' 
cable for about the price of a single 8-pin mini-DIN connector.

It's unfortunate that many newer computers no longer have serial ports. My 
two, new, dual core, top end systems do not have a serial port.  Yes I know 
there are converters to go between USB and serial, but check the ham 
equipment manuals as many come with warnings not to use the USB ports. IF 
you know the pin out it should be possible to use the USB lines, BUT 
(WARNING) The USB ports have one line to power external devices. MAKE SURE 
this line goes nowhere as it can do some expensive damage and in some cases 
you can wipe out the entire USB buss with one of these converters. (Please 
don't ask how I know the later<sigh>). If you have the knowledge and 
adventuresome spirit (and your budget can stand a few mistakes), then "go 
for it!" <:-))

So ... I found the 897D the easiest to use and the easiest to swap between 
locations but also the most fragile. Based on that I'd not want to used it 
as both my mobile and base station rig. The 7000 is more rugged and has a 
better noise reduction system for operating HF and comes with comprehensive 
manual. It also costs half again as much.  Neither are rigs that you plug 
in, turn on and have at it, at least without a bit of luck. Both are "Read 
the manual first" rigs.  Not much seemed intuitive in their operation to me. 
I've heard some mention you need a degree just to be able to used the manual 
to program the 7000. "I don't think it's quite that bad"<:-)) But as I said 
repeatedly, you will want to keep the manual handy for the initial set up 
and if you operate multi modes and bands, but that is true with both rigs. 
It would be nice had Yaesu standardized on connectors between their rigs.

I hope some find these opinions of use.

73

Roger (K8RI)

> TIA
> 73
> Goody
> K3NG
>
> -- 
> Blog: http://thek3ngreport.blogspot.com/
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