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Yaesu Ft 817 - Any good? (2 replies and 3 comments)
Tried to post a detailed post on this a couple of times but failed for some reason. Short answer is don't unless you hell bent on QRP. I have owned an 817 for 3 years and I love it in its own way but for HF fun now you need more grunt. So an 897 or 450D. Buy a cheap Baofeng for 2M. I'm happy to expand on this in another post.
For a cheap way back in to HF why not try a micro bitX multiband kit? It's mostly assembled for you and only costs 109 dollars.
I suppose H.F. contacts are like Beer Ticking to some,More the better.With Q.R.P.it tastes better. I.E. Had a qso with Max- St Petersburg on 5w when all around were on KWs on 20M.A lot of stations will answer if you put qrp on your call sign.But that's just me-Its a challenge. And don't forget its your antenna that does it!
Thanks for the response Paul. You confirm what I had started to feel. Years ago had a IC 706 which I really enjoyed and HF and data is what I am particularly interested in. The 817 just seems so popular I thought I must be missing something. From what I can tell the Ham scene is all but dead here in Yorkshire so VHF and UHF would be a waist of time anyway. Thanks for taking the time. All the best.
don't forget that people are now spread out across Analogue/D-Star/DMR/Fusion on VHF & UHF so there will be activity, it's just harder to spot
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Hi All
I'm just getting back into the hobby after a break of over 20 years and looking for a used peice of kit to dip my toe back in the waters. Looking around a lot has changed and I am unsure of the current, or recent kit, and could do with some advice. I like the look of the Yaesu FT-817 but my only concern is the very low operating power as I live in North Yorkshire and the Amateur scene is pretty quiet round here with no close repeaters so even on 2m I think I would struggle to reach anyone. What are your views and what would you recommend as an inexpensive rig to get back into it with?
Any help or advice gratefully received.
G1YBQ