RadioBanter - HF Portable

On Mon, 12 Mar 2007 22:26:29 CST, Newby wrote in :
Anybody here using the Kenwood TS-480SAT or the Yaesu FT-897D? I am
thinking about buying another radio and trying to decide on which of these
to buy.

I run an FT-897D in the shack, and an FT-857D mobile. They're pretty
much the same radio in two different packages, and both are good rigs
IMHO. They're menu-driven, rather than having one button or knob or
switch per function on the front panel; they don't have enough front-
panel real estate to accommodate all the necessary controls, and so I
have to dive into menus occasionally to do things like move the edges
of the DSP high- and low-pass filters and set the output power level.

I have an FT-857 (no "D") as a second shack rig; it doesn't have 60
meter phone, which is no loss to me, but does have DSP: I bought the
processor and installed it. It's a nice rig, too.

With the MH-59A8J DTMF remote hand mic., which fits both the FT-897D
and FT-857D, you have control of everything except squelch levels on
the mic; I find this extremely useful for mobile operations, and have
one on the shack rig as well, so that I can run the rig from the bed
when I'm feeling lazy.

There probably are more sensitive receivers, and quieter receivers,
and receivers with more bells and whistles. I get good-enough DX
with the ones I have: Canary Islands on USB phone yesterday while
driving home; France, Canary Islands, and other pretty nice DX from
the shack in the last month. See http://mikea.ath.cx/hamlog for a
more complete list.

--
Mike Andrews, W5EGO

Tired old sysadmin