Hi Jim

I haven't seen a simple answer to your question yet!

- I can see nothing in URL you sent to indicate that the radio has an
internal antenna tuner. ATU's running to coaxial (SO239/M) connectors
can be horribly lossy as well. (Or at least in the coax run from it to
the antenna) If it had a tuner as a "feature" it would say so to enhance
the products capabilities.

- If the antenna you are using presents a suitable load to the radio
then you don't need a standalone tuner. I don't actually run a tuner,
having built antennas that cover my bands of interest.

- If you want to have (say) just one simple antenna up, yes you'll need
a tuner with this radio (or some other method to match things. Lots of
possibilities to research here!)

- Keep in mind that with such a low output power the voltage handling
specs of you tuning components are much lower. Very easy to throw one
together with junk box parts.

Cheers Bob VK2YQA

James Barrett wrote:

Hi, I'm a new ham, and I'm looking for my first HF transceiver. I am
considering the Yaesu FT-817ND.