[VHFcontesting] FT-817

[Jarred Jackson]

Zack,


The FT-817 works very well as an IF radio in my rover setup. I use it as IF on 28 MHz for 222, 144 MHz for 902 & 1296 and 432 MHz for 2304. I have made no significant changes to the setup that would affect its receive performance.  I only used it in a contest as the main transceiver once during CQWWVHF. A pair of headphones was necessary. Compared to my IC-7000, its performance on 6m and 2m seemed to come up a bit short. For the local 2m SSB net with stronger signals, there is no obvious difference. As a pure IF radio, any issues with the receiver are transparent to me. The rear connector provides access to PTT as well as several advanced features if you choose to get creative (CAT control, band switching data, transmit inhibit, etc.). As with all modern compact radios, figuring out the menu structure is initially frustrating. I have no specific recommendations on settings. All changes I made were purely preferences, like CW speed. I think the only necessary change was to send VHF/UHF to the back connector instead of the front.


Good Luck


Jarred - KF2MR




________________________________
From: VHFcontesting <vhfcontesting-bounces at contesting.com> on behalf of Zack Widup <w9sz.zack at gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 4, 2017 1:15 PM
To: VHF Contesting Reflector
Subject: [VHFcontesting] FT-817

I got an FT-817 not too long ago. I haven't done much with it yet and still
have to do some experimenting. My main interest with it is as an IF rig for
microwave transverters with a 144 or 432 MHz IF. But I will probably use it
as a rig on HF and VHF, too.

I haven't used it yet on 50 or 144 MHz CW/SSB, but I did use it last year
in the Fall VHF 432 Sprint. It seemed to be lacking sensitivity compared
with my homebrewed 432 MHz transverter. I'm curious if others have used
this rig on the VHF bands and if they found it needed a preamp on receive.

I know there is a menu to set the receive sensitivity on each band. The
sensitivity was already set to the highest level on all VHF bands by the
previous owner.

I guess I'll have to see how it does as a microwave IF and how the
sensitivity is in that use. Now that Spring is here I'll be able to get out
to more hilltop locations. Any particular hints or tips about using this
rig as a VHF/UHF rig, or as a microwave IF?

73, Zack W9SZ
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