On Sat, 06 Oct 2007 15:05:01 -0400, James Barrett
wrote:

I read some reviews on eHam too, and it almost sounds like the FT-817ND
doesn't need a tuner.. I'm confused.
Any opinions would be helpful.

Hi Jim,

I think the confusion of needing no tuner is that you won't burn out
the finals driving a short or an open (you don't have enough power to
light a candle). Of course, this is no recommendation for a
successful QSO, but matching from the manufacturer's point of view is
about keeping your rig out of their repair shop (where they risk
having a mad customer for any of a number of reasons).

Second, automatic tuners in the bigger, 100W units, don't work all
that well with random wire. Ultimately you are building the SAME
resonant antenna for both rigs for the SAME reason = getting all the
power to radiate. Moral: build/buy an external tuner.

Third, as to power, learn all about electronics and build yourself a
100W linear. Cheaper than a 1KW linear and you may even find/rob a
100W amplifier deck from a dead HF rig at a swap meet. Their input is
typically in the 1 to 2 Watt range and this design (the deck) has been
around for three decades (which means if you steal ANY schematic from
the equipment from ANY manufacturer for the past 30 years, you stand a
good chance of having the complete design already done with a complete
and mud-ordinary parts list).

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC