Wanted: Your opinion about Yaesu FT-857

[sundance]

its a potato

Sorry, but I don't get this one...

[shved]

I'm using ft-857 for about 1.5 years. Remote head, very compact. A bit menu - heavy. I like it.
Smooth sailing.
I also made home-brew L-match tuner, remote controlled(ATAS) mag-loop antenna and some other gadgets for it.
Photos of the loop and stuff: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmHPwA1M .
If you have some questions - PM me.

[sundance]

Thank you for the report about your FT-857 - really amazing what you're doing there...
Atm I'm collecting all the information I can get (device reviews, test results, user opinions) about my favourite TRXs and monitoring platforms where 2nd hand amateur radio gear is sold. Seems chances are good here to get away with 400-500 €/$...

[SM3VLC]

There is a danish site where they sell lots of used ham stuff.
https://ham.brugtgrej.dk/itemlist.php?cat=18&type=1
Maybe you can find something there, or at least get a hint on prices.

[cncjerry]

I've had Ft817 and FT897 for 20yrs.  I like them.  They work fine.  The 817, 857, 897 all had the "crackling CW audio problem" that I found years ago.  Yaesu ultimately admitted it and sent a couple of parts or would fix it if you sent in the radio.  Other than that there are a million of them out there and you should be able to find one for less than that number.  At 800 euros, I think you said, you should be able to find something more modern though, with better specs.

But if you are stuck on that radio, there used to be a Yahoo group for that (and other Yaesu variants) but I don't know if they transitioned it to groups.io or not. 

Overall, I think they are decent for the money plus there were lots of mods as well as filters you can add inexpensively.  Someone mentioned the finals and they are strong and setting the bias is easy I remember.

By the way, the battery operated (option) FT897 is a great radio.  Built like a brick, will run quite a while on batteries, very portable, and probably the same price (if you can get someone to part with it).

[Solder_Junkie]

I had an FT-857D a while ago, it was the worst transceiver I’ve ever used. The issues were:
CW key clicks, very poor ALC resulting in 100 Watt peaks when set to 20 Watts, noisy receiver making listening fatiguing (hissy), internal CW keyer useless (can’t store AR except as A R to end a CQ call, etc).

I also had the loan of a friends Icom 706G mk II. That had synthesizer spurs every few KHz on receive (symptoms were noisy but strong receive on signals that were clear on an adjacent receiver using the same antenna) it lasted 15 mins in my shack and went back the next day.

I replaced the 857 with a Kenwood TS-480SAT. The only minor niggle (and it is minor) is that when used with a transverter the frequency data sent on RS232 is the HF frequency, not the dial frequency (the radio display shows the VHF final frequency correctly). A second hand 480 can probably be picked up cheaply, they are very well designed and perform well, especially on 6m. They are probably not popular due to the remote head arrangement.

New, the Icom 7300 is hard to beat. There are two issues with them: If you have a fast switching linear, beware that RF continues for 4mS after the linear key line goes low, resulting in hot switching the linear. Secondly, the clock uses a rechargeable lithium battery, if it goes flat it’s permanently damaged and awkward to change... you need to power the radio for 2 days each month.

Most radios have some issues, some more so than others...

[iMo]

Good reviews are here

https://www.eham.net/reviews/view-category?id=14

FT857 (428 reviews)

https://www.eham.net/reviews/view-product?id=3046

[vk4ffab]

Its a potato. Seriously wait till the new Icom shack in a box is released in the new year.

its a potato

Sorry, but I don't get this one...

If you had the option of buying a radio or a potato which would you choose? Not the potato obviously. I owned an Ft897 same radio, different box, it was a pile of crap. Front end overloaded when a signal looked at the radio, filters were rubbish and buying filters to fix the problem cost as much as the radio did, the attenuation was hopeless, the audio dsp hopeless, it was all around a 20 year old radio, so expect 20 year old performance. And the menu system was a nightmare.

If you need a shack in a box either wait for the new icom or the FT991a is meant to be ok. As for the 8x7 line of radios, bypass them unless you have the desire for using something horrid from last century.

[nenea dani]

All band 857 is noisy, but with very good protection against high SWR. For a start it is a cheap rig and you can work the whole globe. With only 5W in digital modes is a pleasure.
73
YO8SAK
Daniel

[vinlove]

I used to have a FT897. 

It worked OK, but I didn't like the menu system.  The received audio was flat and tiring.
Selectivity was not best either.

It a practical rig, but not fun to use rig.

It will be similar to FT857, I guess. Buy it if it is very cheap, cannot refuse price.
And keep it and use for 2nd / stand by or mobile rig.

[sundance]

Thanks to everyone for your contributions to my "selection process".
Atm, I am evaluating an Icom IC-706MKII which I got from ebay in rather good condition, although I cannot do real-life tests on 50 MHz since I don't have an antenna yet.
On 145 MHz, the RX's sensitivity is a bit worse compared to my Kenwoods TM-702 and TM-241, but that was expected after studying the ARRL test reports.
Biggest disappointment so far is the excessive heat the device produces when using full power on 2m FM (some 25 Watts): The airflow is sort of sub optimal, the 6x6-cm-fan is quite loud and it gets REALLY hot - I'll have to check for dust deposits in the case.

[on7yi]

I own an FT847 bought for less than 600 euros last year.
+ Good performance on all HF/VHF/UHF bands except the 4m band where some PA retuning is required, I didn't do it yet. Lot's of mod available on-line.
-  The volume potentiometer is a pain in the neck, very sensible pot, very hard to get the right audio level. Well known problem described on many forums.
I have done several contacts on 6m without any issues, great performance

[El Rubio]

I purchased an 857D after hurricane Katrina went through here in the mid 2000's. I had purchased it with intent of it being a portable emcomm radio. It was a fine radio that was used as a backup/ portable rig most of the time. It was also the only rig I owned that would operate all-mode on 2 meters. The small display and deep menus were the only knock I have. I was able to get the computer interface and computer control via Ham Radio Deluxe. I was really into sound card modes at the time and the computer control made this easier. What I especially liked, performance-wise was the effective DSP filtering - lots of control and it worked well. In contrast, the Icom 706 variants used the UT-106 DSP option which was horrid. I recall the only setting was "noise Reduction" and it was seemed to be more of an audio tone control. It didn't seem to do much of anything. Same for the Kenwood TS-480. The 706 was extremely popular with guys in my local club at the time and at the end of the day, they worked just fine as well. As far as hissy receive audio or other fatigue issues related to that, I didn't notice anything like that except on the TS-480 and it was not a deal breaker for me. Maybe years of listening to loud music has desensitized my listener fatigue threshold, LOL.

I have owned several Yaesu rigs and find comments like "it's a potato" to usually be based upon some preconceived bias, or comparing to something that totally outclasses it. I sold it a few years later for more than I purchased it for. I have owned several Yaesu rigs and have liked every one of them. The only problem I ever had with any of them was a mobile FT-1500 2M rig. The tuning knob was damaged and the rotary encoder had to be replaced. I called yaesu and they had it in stock and sold me a replacement. That was more than 15 years ago and I still use that radio.  I have an FT7800 dualband with detachable face that I use in my vehicle. I've had it for years and also have no complaints.

I'm not some 5-9 contest operator, so I'm sure those guys will find fault when comparing to their high end contest K3's and FT-1000's, but I believe the 857 serves its purpose as well or better than some of its rivals.

[sundance]

Did you also notice this sort of "hotness" with your FT-857?
Due to the compact construction of the IC-706 the airflow is a bit problematic as there hardly is any space to "breathe"...