[Yaesu] FT 817 drift

[Clark Savage Turner]

I have my new (almost two weeks) FT 817 here, and it is a lot of fun so 
far.  Sure, it doesn't do everything I might want, but its a marvel of 
reasonable engineering tradeoffs in a small box for just over $500.  I 
am amazed.

I seem to have the [common?] problem of drift, very noticeable during 
VHF and UHF SSB operation (just tried that during the contest).  I've 
seen people refer to this problem.     I  moved from 144.130 down to 
144.127 in a few minutes.  Had to hold the dial to keep the signal 
sounding normal.   Anyone know the remedy?  Does AES easily exchange the 
rig or is the stable TCXO the real solution (does AES or Yaesu give any 
incentive to buy this in lieu of shipping it back for repair or 
replacement?)  Then again, is the high stability master oscillator 
really a solution to the usual cause for this problem?  I have read some 
email that says it is the best answer.

Clark
WA3JPG