Practical experience with small HF trcv e.g. Yaesu FT-817
 

Hi all,
What is your practical experience of all these new very small (and
attractive) HF transceivers?
Can they deliver good quality with that small foot print?

cheers,
Hans / SM0IMJ

Hans Johansson wrote:

Hi all,
What is your practical experience of all these new very small (and
attractive) HF transceivers?
Can they deliver good quality with that small foot print?

cheers,
Hans / SM0IMJ


Hello Hans,

You sound like someone who has been "out of the hobby" for a while. Is
that true?

Remember: things have been changing fast in high-tech! The latest small
radios are just great for occasional/moderate/mobile users. I have a
radio in my car that covers 160M through 70 cm, 100 watts, CW and voice,
and it's about the size of a large paperback novel. (Yaesu FT-100)

The short answer is: Yes, they are very good, and VERY competitive,
which is good for us, the consumer.

My advice is that you try to put your hands on the front panel of a
radio that you want to buy, in case you have big fat fingers like I
have! Stick with the major brands, and go to arrl.org and other sites
that have reviews.

All the best, and 73,
Dave
KZ1O



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Dave Bushong wrote:

Hans Johansson wrote:

Hi all,
What is your practical experience of all these new very small (and
attractive) HF transceivers?
Can they deliver good quality with that small foot print?

cheers,
Hans / SM0IMJ


Hello Hans,

You sound like someone who has been "out of the hobby" for a while. Is
that true?

Remember: things have been changing fast in high-tech! The latest small
radios are just great for occasional/moderate/mobile users. I have a
radio in my car that covers 160M through 70 cm, 100 watts, CW and voice,
and it's about the size of a large paperback novel. (Yaesu FT-100)

The short answer is: Yes, they are very good, and VERY competitive,
which is good for us, the consumer.

My advice is that you try to put your hands on the front panel of a
radio that you want to buy, in case you have big fat fingers like I
have! Stick with the major brands, and go to arrl.org and other sites
that have reviews.

All the best, and 73,
Dave
KZ1O



Hi Dave,
Yes you're right ;-) I was very active in the 70's and 80's but since then
it has been more of; children, house, golf, motorcycle, etc.
I was just about to pull out my Drake TR4CW from the storage but realized
that I would probably need something more modern and also "smaller".
Something that could slip down in one of the saddle bags on the motorcycle
would be great ;-)
Now I have heard from a number of sources that these new, small HF
transceivers are actually really good. I will most certainly try to get my
hand on one for a weekend or two and check them out.

Thanks for you input Dave,
cheers,
Hans

Hi Hans

I have a Yeasu FT-100D in my little Chevy Metro and it works great. I have
also used the Icom 706 on Field Days. Both are good working radios and could
compete with the big rigs. One thing about the 100d is that it draws 20 plus
amps on transmit and I don't think a motor bike would be able to put out
that kind of power. One other thing about the 100d is that it needs the AM
filter. If you do look at Yeasu for your bike make sure that it will take
the ATAS antenna system and that would give you full courage from 40 meters
to 70 cm and is self tuning.

"Hans Johansson" wrote in message
...
Hi all,
What is your practical experience of all these new very small (and
attractive) HF transceivers?
Can they deliver good quality with that small foot print?

cheers,
Hans / SM0IMJ

I have an Icom IC-703..... its HF only, but it only draws about 3 amps
at full TX.... if you know someone that has one see if you can get them
to let you play with it... see what you think.

Adam--KC7DVF/NNN0IKG