ke9v.net

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The Speed of Wrong

Posted: 26 May 2016 10:14 AM PDT
https://ke9v.net/2016/05/26/the-speed-of-wrong/


I walked into the Yaesu booth at Hamvention early on Friday morning. Just
before the doors opened, I had a received a message asking me to confirm if
Yaesu was showing its new FT-817 replacement transceiver. So when I walked
in and saw the new FT-891, I immediately took a picture and tweeted that it
looked like the long-awaited replacement had finally arrived.

But in so doing, I engaged Twitter before my brain because while reading
the cut-sheet on the new radio, I saw immediately that this was a 100W
transceiver and it was missing VHF/UHF.



This was obviously NOT the replacement transceiver after all, and I
immediately tweeted a retraction. But it was too late. That initial message
went round the world a few times while the correction message went ignored.

Ive received over a thousand replies informing me of the error and theyre
still coming in. Its a good lesson and I dont mind the feedback. It simply
reflects the power of social media to quickly disseminate information.

As for a replacement transceiver for the FT-817

Never going to happen. Low-power enthusiasts have been crying for a new 817
since Moses was in the Bulrushes. That transceiver debuted back in the 20th
century and every year for at least the last decade, there have been rumors
of a replacement that never come to pass.

Perhaps Yaesu recognizes it has missed the boat in this regard. After all,
the QRP market is now saturated with an array of low-cost, energy
efficient, technically amazing HF transceivers.

Does Yaesu really want to compete with Elecraft for what would be for them,
low-margin equipment, in this specific class?

Id guess not. But hey, Ive been wrong before and Ive got more than 1300
messages to prove it!