The YAESU FT-897D 2010 edition
(I do not own that RIG any more but I kept the information for FT-897 owners)
A good & cheap multi band RIG – extreme sensitive on 144 MHz BUT no contest RIG
The FT-897D is a great RIG on 2m. I made several tests in Tropo and Meteorscatter and EME. According to my IC-7400 I had it is much more sensitive ! Special on EME I see the signals up to 5dB stronger than with the IC-7400(sold).The ARRL data for the 897′s noise floor (aka minimum discernible signal, or MDS) is -140 dBm, which converts to 0.02 uV in 50 ohms, and they further listed the 12dB SINAD sensitivity as 0.2 uV. That shows why the FT-897 hears weak signals well.
My version is modified by the dealer HD electronics with:
- TCXO-9 for better freq. stability
- mechanical Collins Filter 2.3KHz for SSB
- modification for better modulation
- modification for better RX/TX in SSB mode
- Freq. Band complete open RX/TX
- TX finals bias adjustment
Manuals for the FT-897D to download:
- Download the German operating manual
- Download the English operating manual
- Download the FT-897 brochure
- Download the FT-897 service menu settings
- Download German Hauptmenü [MF"a"- MF"q"]
- Download the advice for a extra PA-PTT at the FT-897D
- informations about power peaks using a ssb mosfet PA
The LDG – FTL – Meter
The FTL – Meter is a really nice add on for the FT-897 because it’s S-Meter is very small and not good to read. See here how it works in a live operation recording a meteroscatter burst with LA0BY and a tropo QSO with E74G.
