[Yaesu] Introduction - (long).

[Mike Olbrisch]

Good evening.

I just subscribed to the Yaesu Group.  I am Mike - KD9KC, retired Army
trooper, now working for the local power company in El Paso, TX.  Licensed
continuously since 1978, Extra-class, very active as a portable op.  See my
bio on QRZ.  www.qrz.com/db/kd9kc/ 

My first Yaesu was an FT-101.  By 1980 it was sold for a Kenwood TS-820.
That became a TS-830.  That became an ICOM IC-740.  Then a 781, which is
just now being sold.  I did have a succession of Yaesu H/Ts into the early
90s.  When I went dual-band, it was an ICOM.

In early 2010 I picked up a Yaesu FT-817 for portable ops.  I was going to
add a CW AND SSB filter to it, and I screwed it up.  This is what caused me
to look at Yaesu again.  Story follows:

-----------------------

This is a copy of the THANK-YOU note I just E-mailed to Yaesu. Perhaps some
of
you will learn from my mistakes. I got lucky - it could have been worse!
W4RT
- if you are reading this - we need to talk after the dog shows......

Good evening Yaesu.

I am Mike Olbrisch - KD9KC. I recently sent a NEW Yaesu FT-817 to you for
repair work. 

While the repair work was minor and likely easy to do, I could not do it
myself
because of the small components. Furthermore, I caused the problem. A
hard-learned lesson I will not repeat. Self-inflicted gunshot wounds to the
feet hurt!

I know that the FT-817 needs a CW filter. By itself, that is an easy
install.
But it also truly needs the SSB filter. Again by itself an easy install. But
using both filters requires the filters be swapped in and out each time, or
the
installation of the W4RT filter board. I picked door #3, the W4RT board, do
it
yourself mode.

I was working on the dining room table, my work bench runneth over. When I
opened the radio, I realized this was not my usual SMT devices. Boy - they
were
small. I had looked at the installation photos earlier. It LOOKED LIKE I
could
do it. Gosh - those photos must have been enlarged. Really enlarged. Well -
I
am committed now, so let's heat up the soldering iron and git-er done. 

Truth is, the only thing that should have been committed at this point was
ME!

In the process of removing the old filter I overheated the solder pad. Next
thing I saw - two mini-capacitors were missing. Uh-oh - now I am in for it!
They were not on the tip of the soldering iron. Not stuck in the board
somewhere either. I started frantically searching. If I could only find them
perhaps I could un-do the damage I already caused.

Hmmmm - I think I found one. Carefully picking it up, I carried it to my
workbench where the GOOD magnifying glass is. Damn - it's a crumb from
dinner.
As the radio was sent to you, by now you realize that I was unsuccessful in
finding anything but crumbs. Yeah - I thought I did a pretty crumby job
myself.
Perhaps the dog licked up the capacitors with some of the crumbs. In any
case,
I was shocked that I could screw it up so quickly. Well - if not me, then
who I
guess.

The radio went from my house to your shop and back to my house in 10 days.
Even
more surprising, there was no charge. When I learned of this, I called to
complain. After screwing up so badly, I deserved to be punished. But no, the
nice girl on the phone took pity on me - thinking I had suffered enough.
Mentally, I had.

I still have the W4RT DSP module - in the unopened static-free envelope.
After
the next few dog-shows, I will be sending the radio and DSP unit to W4RT -
whom
I will GLADLY pay to search for any crumbs they may find instead of causing
myself more panic.

There is one good point to this story. This is the first Yaesu radio I have
owned since my FT-209 about 1984. I have only had a short time to play with
this FT-817. But I am enjoying it already. Dog-Show portable is a lot of
fun.
In the future when shopping for a new radio, Yaesu will be in the running.
For
me, SERVICE is at least as important as the radio itself.

If you can find the folks who handled this repair so speedily, they deserve
some
recognition.

END OF STORY-------------------------

I am again in the market for a new radio.  And as the story (above) goes, I
am looking real hard at Yaesu.  The FTDX-5000MP is right up there for me.  I
wanted to join the Yaesu reflector to see what I can learn prior to sending
my cash to some company to purchase the 5000.

The newest ICOM radios seem to have a problem dealing with ESD, and ICOM
will not own up to the problem.  SERVICE is important to me.

I look forward to searching the archives, and hearing about the FTDX-5000
from some of the users.  Please feel free to contact direct.  My E-mail on
QRZ is good.

Thanks.  Have a GREAT evening.

Vy73 - Mike - KD9KC.
El Paso, Texas - DM61rt.
W5-SOTA Association Manager.
NA-SOTA info: http://na-sota.org/