FT 817 as SW radio
 

I had a play with the FT 817 radio the other day. I was quite impressed by
its reception.I wonder if anyobdy else has played with it, or compared it to
other receivers, such as a Sony 7600G

Richard

Richard schrieb:

I had a play with the FT 817 radio the other day. I was quite impressed by
its reception.I wonder if anyobdy else has played with it, or compared it to
other receivers, such as a Sony 7600G

That wouldn't be a fair comparison. The Yaesu would undoubtably be far
superior to the poor Sony, particularly with regard to SSB performance
and strong signal handling. A portable might be more sensitive off the
whip, but the Yaesu was built with "real antennas" and 50 ohm feed in
mind, and of course with a much bigger power budget (which allows mixers
with better strong signal handling, but also higher power consumption to
be used).

Stephan
--
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From Arnie Coro
CO2KK
Host of Dxers Unlimited radio hobby program
Radio Havana Cuba

My opinion about the FT 817 as a short wave receiver is that in order
for it to work properly, one must change the factory installed
IF ceramic filter !!!
A narrower bandwidth mechanical filter is a much better option !
Also, I have noticed that the FT 817 has very poor sensitivity on the
AM broadcast band , even when used with an external long wire antenna !!!
My own 817 has a very narrow IF filter for working CW.
There is a modification that will allow using two filters, but
unfortunately I have never been able to get a hold of it, or of
the phone bandwidth IF filter ...
Arnie


Stephan Grossklass wrote in message ...
Richard schrieb:

I had a play with the FT 817 radio the other day. I was quite impressed by
its reception.I wonder if anyobdy else has played with it, or compared it to
other receivers, such as a Sony 7600G

That wouldn't be a fair comparison. The Yaesu would undoubtably be far
superior to the poor Sony, particularly with regard to SSB performance
and strong signal handling. A portable might be more sensitive off the
whip, but the Yaesu was built with "real antennas" and 50 ohm feed in
mind, and of course with a much bigger power budget (which allows mixers
with better strong signal handling, but also higher power consumption to
be used).

Stephan

In article ,
says...
I had a play with the FT 817 radio the other day. I was quite impressed by
its reception.I wonder if anyobdy else has played with it, or compared it to
other receivers, such as a Sony 7600G

Arnie's recommendations aside, the FT-817 is my primary radio these
days, and it does a fine job as a shortwave receiver. Covers the whole
range from the AM broadcast band straight through to 30MHz, plus the 6m,
2m and 70cm ham bands AND the AM aircraft band AND a good chunk of the
VHF-Hi public service band. Give it a decent antenna and it'll do a
great job for you.

--

-- //Steve//

Steve Silverwood, KB6OJS
Fountain Valley, CA
Email:

In article ,
says...
My opinion about the FT 817 as a short wave receiver is that in order
for it to work properly, one must change the factory installed
IF ceramic filter !!!
A narrower bandwidth mechanical filter is a much better option !
Also, I have noticed that the FT 817 has very poor sensitivity on the
AM broadcast band , even when used with an external long wire antenna !!!
My own 817 has a very narrow IF filter for working CW.
There is a modification that will allow using two filters, but
unfortunately I have never been able to get a hold of it, or of
the phone bandwidth IF filter ...

I've heard of that mod to put in both the SSB and CW filters, but I've
never tried it. As for the need for a filter for shortwave listening,
so far I've never needed it. The 817 is a solid rig and does well for
both amateur and SWL uses for me.

Good to hear from you, Arnie! Hope you've weathered the recent rash of
hurricanes well and are still safe and sound.

--

-- //Steve//

Steve Silverwood, KB6OJS
Fountain Valley, CA
Email:

I am surprised at your comment that the 817 has poor sensitivity in the AM
broadcast band. I have found the opposite. What is lacking is selectivity.
The receiver can be easily overloaded on a longwire or SWL antenna. I found
the best antenna for me is just to plug it into my VHF yagi. At that
frequency the yagi is nothing more than just a 38" piece of wire. Just a
short antenna away from sources of interference in the house works very
well. I have not tried a tuned loop for the broadcast band but I suspect
that would work very well with the added selectivity.


"Steve Silverwood" wrote in message
...
In article ,
says...
My opinion about the FT 817 as a short wave receiver is that in order
for it to work properly, one must change the factory installed
IF ceramic filter !!!
A narrower bandwidth mechanical filter is a much better option !
Also, I have noticed that the FT 817 has very poor sensitivity on the
AM broadcast band , even when used with an external long wire antenna
!!!
My own 817 has a very narrow IF filter for working CW.
There is a modification that will allow using two filters, but
unfortunately I have never been able to get a hold of it, or of
the phone bandwidth IF filter ...

I've heard of that mod to put in both the SSB and CW filters, but I've
never tried it. As for the need for a filter for shortwave listening,
so far I've never needed it. The 817 is a solid rig and does well for
both amateur and SWL uses for me.

Good to hear from you, Arnie! Hope you've weathered the recent rash of
hurricanes well and are still safe and sound.

--

-- //Steve//

Steve Silverwood, KB6OJS
Fountain Valley, CA
Email: