Ham Radio - Yaesu FT-897 Portable Station w/LDG Accessories

My portable station temporarily set up in my backyard; compact but effective!
PS At the end of the video I mention "one press of the Par", I meant to say LDG AT-897, sorry LOL

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Ham
• Radio
• Amateur
• HF
• Portable
• battery
• powered
• Yaesu
• FT-897
• LDG
• AT-897
• FT-Meter
• Par
• End-Fedz
• EF-40m

[ozarkmac]

Quick question. Could the antenna tuner be flipped for manpack use? ( low wattage of course) :-)

[twmckim]

@ozarkmac Hello Ozarkmac. Do you mean could the tuner be used with a manpack radio? If so, it might be possible by using a custom cable as the AT-897 tuner draws power from the CAT port on the rear of the FT-897. There is no separate power connection on the tuner.

[twmckim]

@ozarkmac Hello Ozarkmac; yes the AT-897 can be flipped and mounted as you suggest so that the rear panel is facing to the front of the rig. As long as you don't mind reaching around the rear of the unit to hit the tune button and you can homebrew some longer cables there is no reason I can think of that it wouldn't work fine.

[twmckim]

Hello Clive, thank you for your comment! Over the years I have owned 2 different 706 Mk IIG's. I really liked them. For my purposes the 897 wins out due to much lower current drain on receive (650 ma vs. 2A for the 706). But both are solid rigs.

[barrygkx]

That was the best demo of the FT897 for portable I ever saw. You really hit on the fine points, like low current drain for a 100 watt class HF rig. I found the FT897 to be one of the best portable, "one radio do all" rigs. I use a Hy Power Antenna Company 80 meter off center fed antenna with mine. The antenna covers 2, 6, 10, 12, 17, 20, 40 and 80 meters. Between the rig and the antenna I can cover almost all of the bands.

Again, great job !

Barry

[twmckim]

@barrygkx Thank you very much for the kind words, Barry. Sounds like a great antenna you've got; I love the idea of one antenna to cover all those bands.

[ozarkmac]

BTW, thank you for your informative videos. BTW, if you ever speak to anyone in Washington state, I would love to chat on my rig when I'm legal.

[ozarkmac]

Oops, the auto correct on my iPad has embarrassed me again... Calling should be callsign.

[ozarkmac]

What I meant was, could the tuner be inverted so the antenna connector is viewed with the radio face much like a military prc77? I have taken into account that some cables would have to be homebrewed. I was a 31V radio man in the US Army and have a liking for this configuration and the 897 looks perfect for it. Also getting my ham ticket this spring so I don't have a calling yet.

[cdssheps]

Hi Tracy,good video,i was wondering how does this radio compare to the icom 706 mk11,?would kike to read your comments,regards clive.......

[M6PEC]

Yes very good to see, i also have the ft897 with the bolt under psu hihi i love the rig my first rig was the yeasu ft840 thats now my back up rig, 73 to you sir very nice video

Barry M6PEC ps QRP /p rules for me :)

[festeradamz]

Tks fer the info de md6let