Anyone own/owned an FT-857d?

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grem467
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Anyone own/owned an FT-857d?

Post by grem467 »

thinking about picking one up...

opinions?
Wardriver
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Post by Wardriver »

I bought one when they first came out,not the D model........But with all the rebates at the time final cost was $512.00 from AES.

I like the dam thing to be honest about it.

Had mine for 2 (hard) mobile years with out one problem.

To be honest the only complaint I have with mine is,that there is no grounding lug to mount a wire.

Things I like the multi color display

DSP kicks ass and can be adjusted to hear a "bug fart" in a major pile up.

Good audio reports with stock Mic

Easy navigation sub menus

Virtually no power loss when Mars/Cap mod was preformed

And it runs one hell of allot cooler then my 706.

Please someone correct me if I'm wrong,but the only difference between the original and the d is 60 meter.......


I'd recommend it any day of the week!!!
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Post by Shane »

I Have one and I love it.
The menu driven functions are easier to navigate that the Icom 705 MKIIG.
DSP filters are good. I have no complaints.
Yes the multcolor display is very helpful.

The "D" coms with 60M and DSP filter.

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Post by ve7cvq »

I've had mine for over a year now. I use it in the house as my main HF rig, and just love it. It does everything as advertised.

Wardriver, I put my ground wire on the screws that are there to hold it into the mobile mount (which I don't use). I'm sure the handbook told me to do that.

73
Bill
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Post by n3tuq »

Great radio...beats the hell out of the 706's. A lot easier to use and has a better front end.
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Post by grem467 »

agreed, i bit the bullet and got one about a month ago, fucking sweet rig
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Wardriver
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Post by Wardriver »

One more note, I wish they had a Mic connector on the control head,like the 706. I made a home brew cable and still run it mobile with no problems. :baby:
The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty" --Winston Churchill
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Post by AE5EH »

n3tuq wrote:Great radio...beats the hell out of the 706's. A lot easier to use and has a better front end.
I've always wondered about that. I used to have a 706MKIIG, but never used it mobile.

Have a 897D that I really like. I wonder how similar electronically the 857 and 897 are?
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Post by Mong »

AE5EH wrote:
Have a 897D that I really like. I wonder how similar electronically the 857 and 897 are?

They are basically the same inside, but the 897 has that "sexy block" look to it, and the ability to have onboard battery power or a power supply (if not cheap) is cool too. I prefer the look of the 897, and as the 857 gets closer in price I bet some will go with the bigger rig just on looks.
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Post by mancow »

Yep, I read somewhere that they are the same radio just different cases.

I have a non D model 857. It's the best compact do all hf rig I've owned so far. I wonder how many 3rd world countries use those for mil rigs since they will TX from 1.8 through 108 with the mod?
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Post by AE5EH »

Thanks for the info guys. Mong, who is that in your avatar?
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mancow
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Post by mancow »

Mamma Mong

:baby:
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Post by n9emz »

I've run 857s and 706s in all their variations and I don't care for them. The Yaesu FT-100D is the one I keep going back to every time I consider going mobile. Less intermod, best DSP, best TX audio, and highest marks for user-friendliness as the menu is purely intuitive after 15 minutes in the manual.
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Post by KD6NIG »

I have one though I only use the HF side for monitoring (I'm a tech, you see).

SSB on it works great for 6, 2, and 440.

The menus aren't really too bad-though I do use Ham Radio Deluxe also which simplifies the radio quite nicely.

But I'm used to Yaesu's fun menu systems because most of my radios are Yaesu also.

I've had mine about 2 years now.
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Post by AB9QU »

I have the 897D and like it a lot. At first the menus seemed overwhelming but it didn't take long and I started to remember what menu # I wanted.
I like the old tube stuff,think it is very cool. When I first upgraded I was using a TR-3 Drake. Right away I got tired of tuning the thing but it put out
almost 200 wats. The 897-D with LDG auto tuner works so sweet. Just a push
of a button and I'm good to go. Now that's for me.
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