the model that u mention is good enough but ft897 is too bulky for portablity.. get ft857.. can put in mobile also... if u r going for qrp then ft817 is for u.. if not get ft857 for portability... ft 897 is a good rig for base.. its an all mode rig..

how about the power source for 857-should i have it with me on jungle trekking or moutain climbing, for example? can it be connected with some sort of battery pack?

You are in luck when asking these models cos I got most of them.

Portability, to me all these would fail in the real world.

817 being the lightest, cons would be transmit power, unless you carry a big antenna or go trekking or camping in your back yard. And should you be unable to get hold of any amateur radio repeaters, this 817 cannot trigger commercial repeaters. Surprisingly 817 cannot be modded to transmit below 140.000 where the commercial repeater inputs are.

857 although smaller and lighter than 897 but when you power up the 857 with a UPS battery 12v 7ah, the combined weight would be worse than a 897 with the optional battery.

thanks at least that clears up the confusion

hmm then from ur pov, is 897 the best of that range?

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Added on May 25, 2010, 11:39 pmbtw pov = point of view

This post has been edited by someone_stupid: May 25 2010, 11:39 PM

based on the specs and price, 897 seems to be a rock-solid contender for any other portable hf unit. price is its main advantage i guess as its like a grand cheaper than those of iCom's.

on other matter, will any of the manufacturers make a radio with a single, big touch screen and a dial? a minimalist design... or itll be a major faux pas?

I've 879 and it is collecting dust .. it is well, cheapest all band all mode rig but surely it can't beat the HF or VHF/UHF only rigs. My 879D is suffering from band sensitivity on VHF/FM right now and I don't have tool to do the recalibration. If your budget is limited and you're interested on playing HF, then you can go for either 879 or 857 (they've identical circuit).. BUT, for those who're starting to play around with amateur radio, my suggestion is to start small .. get yourself a handy talkie first, when you're outgrown by it, go step ahead ..

sure do a bite at a time, eh? xD no rush here, of course

Wira, what you mean by band sensitivity problem? Can calibrate one? 897D for a starter is a very huge leap, might not be able to handle such powerful tool..

Err nope, as per my earlier statement, all these fail if you ask me hahaha.

Trekking or camping I am always not too far from my 4x4. I will set up my handy to cross band repeat with the car mobile.

At the end of the day, any beginner would still need a mobile and a handy.

True my 897D also in hybernation most of the time, my 24/7 unit is still the hardy single band VHF GM338. I think this unit will take a lot of abuse before it fails since its designed to be use as a repeater.

Mean I can't get audio on vhf/fm unless I turn off the squelch. A very strong signal registered only 4 and not 9.

This post has been edited by wiraone: May 26 2010, 03:04 PM

Wiraone,

My unit have not been tuned, you want my default alignment setting? It might sort of help if our batches are near. Tonight will send you my serial number and see if its the same batch. Bought somewhere in early 2008 I think.

I have a spreadsheet showing all the values stored under engineer setting (need to press a-b-c button while powering up) from around 15 897s. I've tried the values there but not much different. I need a audio signal generator .. there is one guy who used his handy to do the calibration .. probably will go that way one of this day..

wow lots of new faces in here ...

Yup .. it has been such a long time we see you in this thread .. and I forgotten if you've got your license already ..

This post has been edited by wiraone: May 26 2010, 03:09 PM

yalor earl, when u gonna go?

i also like the crossband feature but hmm wasted its crossband but nevertheless i think between mobile, handy and hf set

i'd take a dual band handy
and a hf set when im already in abit deeper into ham like now:) tatz y i aiming 857!

Why wasted?

if it was a band repeat like the repeater muahahaha but
tat'd be in violation of regulations if not mistaken

How does it violate the regulation .. this is a simplex operation where you cross two different band .. e.g. vhf to uhf .. both transmitting/receiving on ham frequencies ..

Hi Guys, i'm a newbie in this arena and i just bought a scanner here in australia. I have gone through the manual and pretty much understand most of it but there's a setting in the menu which enables me to set the tuning dial to either 1 MHz, 10 MHz or 100kHz. What does this do ya?

Hope you guys can enlighten me with this.