[Yaesu] A phone call to Yaesu

[John Geiger]

I just got off of the phone with Yaesu Tech support,
and am some discouraged.  I also think they just lost
a sale.  I have been considering getting a yaesu
FT857D to use for VHF/UHF and some mobile work.  I was
a little wary of this model as I know that the FT857
and FT897 had problems with the audio clipping if the
SWR got above 1.5:1 or so, as the power is rolled
back.  I thought that maybe this problem was fixed in
the FT857D model.  

The gentleman I spoke with in tech support made it
sound like it isn't a problem at all (although my ears
say different) and made it sound like I must be crazy
to even consider running a radio into a 2:1 SWR.  He
said that is what antenna tuners are for, but that
isn't always practical in a mobile setup.

So, are we becoming a bit too SWR phobic?  I used to
run my FT100D into a 2:1 SWR with no audio problems. 
It would roll back the power a bit, but the audio
wouldn't cut in and out.

And is there a new radio that I can get that will
actually work with a less than flat SWR? I know now
that the FT857D isn't for me because some of my mobile
antenna have a **GASP** less than flat SWR.  Heck, the
Yaesu FT107M used to say in their ads that it would do
75% power out into a 3:1 SWR.  

73s John NE0P


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com