Two words of caution:

As with all mods, the warranty is affected, do so at your own risk.

By during this mod you have now disabled the protection feature and can re-charge alkaline batts.
This could be dangerous and messy...be careful not to do that. Of course with this mod, you will have little reason to use alkaline cells.

Enjoy. I look forward to hearing about other ft-817 mods for this nifty little rig.
 

1. Remove the front panel
   
    
2. Look down on the back of front panel, with the VFO knob just left of center. Look at the jumper locations just above the VFO knob on the circuit board. Solder the first four jumpers and remove the solder at location five.
   
    
3. Reassemble the radio, and reset the cpu by pressing the HOME and the power button.

This will extend the xmit freqs. on HF,VHF and UHF

Another mod.

The following Yaesu FT-817 frequency expansion modification is identical to the version provided by the manufacturer for MARS/CAP application.

1. Remove any power or battery from the Radio.
   
    
2. Remove the 14 screws holding the top and bottom covers to the radio.
   
    
3. Remove the battery cover latch.
   
    
4. Remove the covers.
   
    
5. Remove the BNC retaining nut.
   
    
6. Carefully lift the 4 plastic tabs holding the front panel to the chassis and slightly move the front panel forward.
   
    
7. Disconnect the ribbon cable that connects the chassis and the front panel.
   
    
8. Remove the jumper at location on Front Panel (J4005)
   
    
9. Press and hold the "VFO/MR" key and the "F" key while turning on the radio.
   
    
10. Reassemble the radio.

Note: The manufacturer states that "this modification opens up transmit coverage for MARS/CAP ONLY!" Other published modifications also have the user bridge the "first four jumpers". The difference between the two modification schemes has not been tested by the author.

Proceed at your own risk.

AA7W

pigeon3@gte.net

                             Ham's Info

Number 5 for the 2 meter band will increase sensitivity while increasing he numbers; Default setting / 79.

To leave the menu just push and hold the F function just as the "ignition" switch will do .

It works...
Noel - ON7XV - Belgium

ich bin seit kurzem zufriedener Besitzer eines solchen Gerätes und möchte hier ein paar Tips loswerden, die entweder aus dem Internet stammen oder auf meiner eigenen Meinung beruhen.

Bevor es ins Eingemachte geht eine wichtige Anmerkung-ein besonderer Schwachpunkt ist das Batteriefach:

Beim Herausnehmen der Batterien ist darauf zu achten, daß diese nicht den Bodendeckel berühren. Dieser ist an der Seite, wo die Batterien darunter verschwinden, extrem schlecht entgratet. Es gibt leicht Kurzschlüsse nach Masse, wenn die Plastikhülle der Batterien beschädigt wird.
Dies ist besonders unangenehm bei der Bestückung mit Accus, weil diese einen "guten" Kurzschlußstrom liefern. Ich empfehle eine starke Folie dazwischen zu legen.

Tip1- Betrieb mit Accus:

Das Batteriefach kann natürlich auch mit Accus bestückt werden. Wer die Accus nicht extern, sondern mit dem internen Timer laden möchte muß den grünen Draht, der zum Batteriefach führt irgendwo unterbrechen und die Enden isolieren, damit ein Accu erkannt wird. Wer wegen der Garantie eine reversible Änderung vorzieht kann im Stecker den entsprechenden Pin mit etwas Geschick und einer Nadel herausholen.
Weil der Yaesu-Accu nur 1000mAh hat und es für weniger Geld bereits 1600mAh NiHy Accus gibt kann ich das nur empfehlen! Beim Laden der Accus ist zu beachten, daß eine geeignete Ladezeit im Menü gewählt wird. Der Ladestrom ist etwa 170 mA.
Nach Ladeende fließt ein Erhaltestrom von 15 mA, es dürfen also keine Trockenbatterien mehr eingelegt werden wenn eine extere Spannungsversorgung erfolgt!!!

Tip2- Erweiterung des TX Frequenzbereiches zum Betrieb mit Transvertern

Hierzu ist zu sagen, daß im Internet Meinungen existieren, daß sich nicht alle FT-817 erweitern lassen- dies scheint zumindest bei den für den japanischen Markt gebauten zu stimmen. Mein Gerät, Serien-Nr. 1C20nnnn, mit CE-Zeichen, war in der Hinsicht freundlicher.

Den Lieferzustand habe ich nicht exakt in Erinnerung, auf KW / 6m waren es die DL Amateurbereiche und auf VHF / UHF erheblich mehr. Nach der u.a. Änderung ergab sich folgendes Bild:

TX: 1,8 - 33 MHz überall max. 5 Watt

TX: 33-56 MHz, 140-154 MHz, 420-470 MHz hier fällt außerhalb der USA-Amateurbänder die Leistung ab.

Die ARS-Funktion ist außer Betrieb, was (mich) aber nicht stört- man kann den Repeaterbetrieb und die Shift weiterhin von Hand einstellen. Der 1750 Hz Tonruf bleibt erhalten.

Nun zur Änderung:
Batterien entfernen (s.o.)
Alle Schrauben von Bodenblech und Deckel (nicht die direkt am Lautsprecher) lösen. Dann die beiden Bleche entfernen. Hierbei bitte beim Bodenblech den Riegel für das Batteriefach im Auge behalten- die zwei Federn sind schnell weggesprungen!

Wenn man schon mal die Deckel ab hat kann man auch mit einer Feile den Grat beim Batteriefach entfernen...

Das Flachbandkabel zur Frontplatte lösen, hierzu muß dessen Verschluß an der Platine vorsichtig hochgeklappt werden. Die Frontplatte nach vorne lösen, dazu die vier Plastikklemmen anheben.

Die Reihe mit den neun Lötbrücken ist leicht zu finden. Bei mir waren sie folgendermaßen gebrückt: =0=0=====

0 heißt dabei geschlossen und = offen

Mit: 0000===== ergibt sich die oben beschriebene Variante.

Vorsicht beim Löten, etwas Erfahrung sollte man schon haben um keine unerwünschten Kurzschlüsse zu produzieren!

Ganz wichtig- Nach dem Zusamenbau muß unbedingt der folgende Reset durchgeführt werden:

Die F und V/M Tasten gleichzeitig festhalten und den FT-817 einschalten. Dabei werden leider alle Speicher und Einstellungen gelöscht !

So, nun noch eine Frage zum Schluß:
Der Ft-817 ist ja angeblich "PR-tauglich", hat schon mal wer die Umschalt-zeiten (TXDelay) gemessen- sind sie wirklich für 9600Bd in einer vernünftigen Größenordung ???

73 de Volker in Hannover,
packet: DL6OBU @ DB0CEL.#NDS.DEU.EU
e-mail: DL6OBU @ QSL.NET
19.03.2001, 17:32:05 (Local Time)

(push A/B/C synchron and start device)

Number;Content;Point;Declaration;
1;HF1RXG RX GAIN;1.8MHz;181;
2;HF2RXG RX GAIN;7MHz;91;
3;HF3RXG RX GAIN;21MHz;123;
4;50MRXG RX GAIN;50MHz;66;
5;VHFRXG RX GAIN;144MHz;90;
6;UHFRXG RX GAIN;430MHz;117;
7;SSB-S9 SSB S-Meter;S9;70;
8;SSB-FS SSB S-Meter;FS;59;
9;FM-S9 FM S-Meter;S9;76;
10;FM-FS FM S-Meter;FS;109;
11;DISC-L FM Center;Meter;35;
12;DISC-H FM Center;Meter;69;
13;FM-TH1 FM;Squelch;82;
14;FM-TH2 FM;Squelch;82;
15;FM-TI1 FM;Squelch;14;
16;FM-TI2 FM Squelch;14;
17;VCC Power Supply;Voltage;138;
18;HF1-IC Over-current Protection;1.8MHz;111;
19;HF2-IC Over-current Protection;7MHz;116;
20;HF3-IC Over-current Protection;21MHz;111;
21;50M-IC Over-current Protection;50MHz;113;
22;VHF-IC Over-current Protection;144MHz;126;
23;UHF-IC Over-current Protection;430MHz;113;
24;HF1-HI RF Power HI;1.8MHz;116;
25;HF1-L3 RF Power L3;1.8MHz;67;
26;HF1-L2 RF Power L2;1.8MHz;21;
27;HF1-L1 RF Power L1;1.8MHz;4;
28;HF2-HI RF Power HI;7MHz;119;
29;HF2-L3 RF Power L3;7MHz;65;
30;HF2-L2 RF Power L2;7MHz;21;
31;HF2-L1 RF Power L1;7MHz;3;
32;HF3-HI RF Power HI;21MHz;117;
33;HF3-L3 RF Power L3;21MHz;63;
34;HF3-L2 RF Power L2,21MHz,20;
35;HF3-L1 RF Power L1;21MHz;2;
36;50M-HI RF Power HI;50MHz;115;
37;50M-L3 RF Power L3;50MHz;64;
38;50M-L2 RF Power L2;50MHz;23;
39;50M-L1 RF Power L1;50MHz;1;
40;VHF-HI RF Power HI;144MHz;140;
41;VHF-L3 RF Power L3;144MHz;93;
42;VHF-L2 RF Power L2;144MHz;28;
43;VHF-L1 RF Power L1;144MHz;12;
44;UHF-HI RF Power HI;430MHz;103;
45;UHF-L3 RF Power L3;430MHz;68;
46;UHF-L2 RF Power L2;430MHz;21;
47;UHF-L1 RF Power L1;430MHz;9;
48;HF1TXG TX Gain;1.8MHz;67;
49;HF2TXG TX Gain;7MHz;62;
50;HF3TXG TX Gain;21MHz;67;
51;50MTXG TX Gain;50MHz;89;
52;VHFTXG TX Gain;144MHz;79;
53;UHFTXG TX Gain;430MHz;69;
54;HF1POM Power Meter Sensitivity;1.8MHz;71;
55;HF2POM Power Meter Sensitivity;7MHz;72;
56;HF3POM Power Meter Sensitivity;21MHz;71;
57;50MPOM Power Meter Sensitivity;50MHz;70;
58;VHFPOM Power Meter Sensitivity;144MHz;83;
59;UHFPOM Power Meter Sensitivity;430MHz;64;
60;ALC1-M ALC;Meter;204;
61;ALC-M ALC;Meter;125;
62;HF1-RV Reverse;ALC;1.8MHz;13;
63;HF2-RV Reverse;ALC;7MHz;11;
64;HF3-RV Reverse;ALC;21MHz;21;
65;50M-RV Reverse;ALC;50MHz;15;
66;VHF-RV Reverse;ALC;144MHz;7;
67;UHF-RV Reverse;ALC;430MHz;28;
68;CW-CAR Carrier;Level;CW;252;
69;AM-CAR Carrier;Level;AM;210;
70;DEV-W;FM;Modulation;211
71;DEV-N;FM;Modulation;103;
72;M-MTR;FM;Modulation;188;
73;CTCSS;FM;Modulation;151;
74;DCS;FM;Modulation;129;
75;LSB-CP;SSB;Carrier Point;-19;
76;USB-CP;SSB;Carrier Point;-20;

Proceed at your own risk.

73 from ron, dl5gbl
 

Hi ladies and gents,

The FT-817 is a lovely rig, isn´t it? This is a radio one must have - without special reasons. But anyway, when I got the radio one week ago, I started to test it against exciting others. (like TS-870). Everything was quite okay, but the output in SSB is not reaching the 5W-mark, even when the CW-tone and in FM the rig runs on specified power. I walked through the circuit-diagram and found the reason. The capacitor C1113 on the main board is too small. This has to be changed to bigger values. In my case it´s now 470 uF instead of former 1uF.

To find the place inside the rig .... boy! This took some time. But after locating the place, it´s now easy to describe:

Open the upper side (where the loudspeaker fits) and locate the red jack on the rear side. Inside a flat band-cable comes up and is connected. Right beside this cable you find C1113, but it´s not labeled. But anyhow, look for the pictures taken and I´m sure you find the place. The new C is visible in the lower right corner of the picture (big and black) I removed the original C from the board before - but it´s still not necessary.

After finalizing, close the rig and test the output in SSB in comparison to FM and CW. The throughput is now there. And believe me, you get better voice reports. And running qrp - it´s sometimes the needed peace of junk !

Best wishes and good luck !

Andreas
DL6EAT
 

Hi ladies and gents,

The original microphone works good, but I tested also the DTMF-microphone, which is available now. It sounds really bad, and that wondered me, because a small electret-microphone is inside. But after opening the mic, the reason was easealy located. The necessary DC-voltage, comes to the microphone via a small resistor. The value of this resistor is by far too low - replace it to a value near 10 Kohms.

Now the microphone is better than the original one and has all these options like DTMF and it´s backlighted !

The picture should help to locate the small resistor. The new one is a traditional one ( I had no SMD-resistor )

It looks bad, but it works fine....by the way the new microphone is very sensitive now...go down to values of 20 (original is 50 !) in the setup of the FT-817 specially in SSB.

Good luck !

Andreas
DL6EAT

Hi YL´s XYL´s and OM´s,

Regarding the AGC (RX) of the FT817 I got some questions from some users. The dynamic of the AGC-regulation isn´t really nice researched. If you use the rig specially on 40m and/or 80m where often high signal strenths are present, the RX sounds like the AGC is switched completely "off". If using with small signal amplitudes it sounds much better. This seems to be a general problem of the FT817.

To fix this is only recommened for let me call it "advanced users". The rig has to be opended on the upper side (where the loudspeaker fits). Now you remove all connected cables from the visible main board and all srews. After this you can remove the board.

Please turn the board to the soldered side and locate C1324, which is nearest to the connected data-cable going to the user-interface (front panel).

Near this C you find R1305. Original values are 1 K and 2,2uF.

Now the mod:

Please put 10 Ohms in parallel with R1305 and 10uF parallel to C1324.

Please be carefull in doing this, the SMD-parts are very small !

In my case, I had no SMD-C available (and I didn´t want to use Tantal-C´s), therefor I connected the 10uF via cable to the upper side of the main board. It´s not looking nice, but nevertheless it´s working.
Values over 10uF (470uF) are better, but the S-meter stand still at approx. S6-7 afterwards. It´s not recommended to go over 10uF.

Good luck and again: be carefull!!!

Thanks for reading this and I apologize for the picture, which is not exactly focused. (I saw it too late...)

Andreas
DL6EAT

Joachim Münch DF4ZS - 7 Dezember 2001

Vorweg, für Schäden die durch den Umbau verursacht werden übernehme ich keine Haftung. Bei mir und einigen OM´s funktioniert der HF-Clipper bestens und bringt so an die 10 dB. Der Einbau in das Mikrofongehäuse erfolgt durch Austausch der dynamischen Mikrofonkapsel. Richtet man sich nach der unten stehenden Einbauanweisung kann nichts schief gehen, sorgfältiges löten voraus gesetzt. Das Clippermodul eignet sich auch für den Einbau in andere Handmikrofone. Ab einer Versorgungsspannung größer 9 Volt ist die Spannungsversorgung über einen 78L06 Spannungsregler dem Modul zu zuführen.

Der Einbau.

Mit einem Kreuzschlitzdreher wird der hintere Deckel des Mikrofons gelöst, beiseite gelegt und die Drähte der Mikrofonkapsel abgelötet. Die Platine wird durch lösen von drei Schrauben aus dem Gehäuse genommen, die dynamische Kapsel entfernt und gut verwahrt. In die freigewordene runde Aufnahme der Kapsel wird die Elektret-Kapsel des HF-Clippers gelegt und das Loch mit Dämmwolle für Lautsprecher (Boxenbau) gut bis zum oberen Rand der Mikrofonaufnahme gefüllt. Das Mikrofongehäuse legt man für die folgende Anleitung so, dass die Kabelöffnung zum eigenem Körper zeigt. Die PTT Taste ist nun auf der rechten Seite.
Das Clippermodul legt man mit der Lötseite nach unten über das gefüllte Aufnahmeloch, wobei der seitlich stehende Trimmer (Pegel) des Clippermoduls nach links zeigt. Die Anschlussdrähte des Clippers führt man durch die runde Öffnung der Platine und befestigt diese.
Nach untenstehender Zeichnung werden die Drähte des Moduls angelötet. Mit größter Sorgfalt ist der weiße Draht (Spannungsversorgung) an PIN - 6 zu löten und möglichst mit einer Lupe auf Schluß mit den umliegenden PIN´s zu kontrollieren. Das Clipper-Modul kommt abgeglichen. Der Einbau wäre fertig und die Abdeckung kann  aufgeschraubt werden. Möchte man Clippgrad und Sprache nach eigenen Empfinden einstellen, lokalisiert man die einzelnen Trimmer und justiert diese. Die ALC des FT-817 ist dabei zu beachten.  Die Tendenz der Trimmer jeweils wenn diese nach rechts gedreht werden. BFO-Trimmer erhöht dessen Frequenz ( < > 500 Hz.). Clippgradregler reduziert Clippgrad und Pegeltrimmer minimiert.

Zweitonsignal ungeclippt - stark geclippt - Eintonsignal

Allgemeines

Die Funktion eines HF-Clippers habe ich bereits auf meinen Webseiten beschrieben und gehe hier auf einige Besonderheiten des HF-Clippers für den FT-817 ein. Bei der Konstruktion war zu überlegen ob ex- oder intern. Extern wäre kein Problem gewesen, hätte aber den Sinn und Zweck des FT-817 verfremdet. Es kam also nur eine interne Ausführung in Betracht, die dem Charakter des Transceivers entgegenkommt. Weiter war zu überlegen wie ein Umbau ohne bleibende Veränderungen machbar ist, der auch von jedem nicht so geschicktem OM realisiert werden kann.
Die einzige Möglichkeit diesen Überlegungen gerecht zu werden war der Einbau in das Handmikrofon. Um Raum für den Einbau zu schaffen fiel die Wahl auf den Austausch der dynamischen Mikrofonkapsel. Vor einiger Zeit hatte ich bereits einen Mini-Clipper konstruiert der von OM´s die diesen durchweg ungeschirmt in Handmikrofone eingebaut haben, gut beurteilt wurde. Bis 100 Watt sind Probleme mit HF-Einstrahlung nicht bekannt geworden. Diese Ausführung wurde die Basis für den FT-817 HF-Clipper.
Der FT-817 reicht intern über die Mikofonleitung eine stabilisierte Spannung von 5 Volt durch die für das Modul zur Verfügung steht. Einige Bauteile konnten so eingespart werden und anderen Platz machen.  Die Begrenzung des ZF-Signals wurde vom Typ PEP übernommen. Nach den ersten Versuchen in Verbindung mit dem FT-817 stellten sich zwei Nachteile heraus die behoben wurden. Kam das Mikrofon in die Nähe des Transceivergehäuses gab es eine akustische Rückkopplung. Im Empfangsbetrieb wird deshalb das Mikrofon über einen Transistor, von der PTT gesteuert, stumm geschaltet.
Lag die Elektretkapsel lose im Gehäuse war die Modulation bei abgenommener Rückseite des Handmikrofons einwandfrei. Bei montierter Rückseite jedoch stark verfremdet. Die Einbettung der Elektretkapsel in Lautsprecherdämmwolle schaffte Abhilfe.

You can also find this modification on http://www.jwm.de/afu/0ft817.htm
 

I have two excellent pieces of equipment, the Yaesu FT 817 and the Palm Mini-Paddle, which I have combined into an integral unit. The Mini-Paddle comes with an optional magnetic base, however, there is no where on the FT 817 where it can be placed and be in a comfortable operating position, so using this paddle meant attaching it to some kind of base and operating on the desk top in the conventional manner.

The FT 817 has the option of keying the built-in keyer with the mic up and down buttons, enabled in menu # 36. I took advantage of this feature and modified my Mini- Paddle by installing an RJ 45 plug in the base and added an offset tongue to engage the strap bracket on the rig.
The paddle may still be retracted into the housing just as it was intended. To attach the paddle you first engage the tongue into the slot of the strap bracket, and then swing the assembly inward to insert the plug until the locking click is heard. This secures the paddle in an ideal operating position. The paddle can be left attached unless the microphone is needed for phone operation, then a thin piece of whatever is handy, can be inserted between the rig and paddle to release the locking clip on the RJ 45 plug. The paddle may then be removed in the reverse order of attachment.

I have found that having the rig and paddle configured this way is preferable especially when operating portable.

Attached

Detached

 

By Dave Fifield, AD6A

Original 1/19/01

Updated 4/18/01

I received my long awaited YF-122C 455KHz Collins Mechanical CW filter today. It was a snap to install, but there are a couple of things to look out for. Here's the photos and story. Click on any of the photos to see the full size version.

1. Removing the top cover is simple - first take off the shoulder strap brackets (4 screws) and then remove the 5 screws in the top cover and it pops right off - don't undo the two screws nearest the speaker grille, those hold the speaker in place on the underside of the top cover. Be sure not to damage the speaker wires or connector. The wire from the speaker is pretty short but there's just enough room to get to the connector to undo it if you tilt the top cover up at the rear.
   
   
   
    
2. The filter goes in the space at the front of the board.
   
   
   
    
3. Here's the filter correctly oriented ready to be put in. Note that the 3 pin connector is on the LHS and the 4 pin connector on the RHS. The filter is installed writing side up as shown.
   
   
   
    
4. Here's the filter after installation. It should look like this.
   
   
   
    
5. You can go ahead and put the top panel and shoulder strap brackets back on and turn the rig back on. Press the "F" key and hold it for half a second to take you into menu mode. Turn the SEL dial until you get to menu #38. It should say "OP FILTER" and "OFF" just above that. Rotate the main tuning dial until you see "CW" (not "OFF" or "SSB"). Important note - as you go through the "SSB" choice, you will notice that the rig switches to the newly installed CW filter - DON'T PANIC, all is okay. This threw me for a while until I understood what was going on. Make sure that menu #38 is set to "CW" (ignore what the receiver actually does!) and then press the "F" key for half a second again to exit menu mode.
   
    
6. You're almost done. You will probably panic at this time (as I did!) because as you switch through the modes from USB/LSB/CW/CWR etc., the rig seems to be stuck in SSB filter mode. There's one more thing you have to do to get the CW filter working. Check out page 14 of your FT-817 Operating Manual - number 7 at the bottom right of the page you will see the "C-Key" setting for "NAR". You have to set this in order for the receiver to switch to the narrow CW filter when you switch the rig to CW or CWR modes. To do this, first put the rig into CW or CWR mode then tap the "F" key once quickly. The FUNC Keys menu items for the A/B/C pushbuttons should appear. Rotate the SEL control until you see "IPO ATT NAR" over the A/B/C buttons. Then press the "C' pushbutton once to set the filter to Narrow. A small right-pointing arrow should appear and the rig should switch to the CW filter - you should hear a marked difference in the receiver noise "tone".
   
    
7. That's it. You can swap between the SSB and CW filters anytime by revisiting the FUNC Key menu and toggling the NAR function.

How does the filter sound?

I did some preliminary tests with my HP8642B signal generator - the receiver is very sensitive indeed. The CW filter is an ABSOLUTE JOY to behold....it has a superb frequency response - very very sharp skirts - great stopband. WOW!!!! I'm blown away by it....I'll have some real measurements to back up my first impressions for y'all sometime soon. It's late, so I tried it on the bottom end of 40m - sounds REAL NICE!!

Folks, if you are going to do CW seriously with the FT-817, you will simply HAVE to get the YF-122C filter option. It's a must have IMO.

This modification can also be found on http://www.cooltechstuff.com/FT817_CWfilterinstall.html
 

While I had the top off, I thought I may as well disrobe the rig completely and see what make her tick. Here are some photos of the underneath and front panel etc. The first picture shows the NICAD pack in place.

Notice that there's a small amount of space that could be used for mods or add-ons (hmmm, what else does this rig need though?). Here's a blow up of the mod space.

I went searching for other mod space - there's some between the front panel assembly and the diecast chassis...

...and some more between the CW filter and the chassis in the top compartment:

Here's the PA/Filter board (sorry about the focus). Real small PA (bottom of photo). Very neat.

I also took the front panel off for a look - it simply clips onto the chassis over four little "pips" next to the screws that hold the front edges of the top and bottom panels in place. If you take it apart please be VERY careful not to damage the front panel connector ribbon or connectors - they look fairly delicate!

Lastly, you may notice something a bit odd about the speaker mounting. If you look carefully, you will see that there are several grille holes that the speaker doesn't actually cover. The general concensus is that this improves the audio quality of the RX. A quick test I did to move it shows that it DOES sound better mounted like this.

72, Dave Fifield, AD6A

Email me if you have comments or questions

This modification can also be found on http://www.cooltechstuff.com/FT817_CWfilterinstall.html
 

By removing a resistor on the back of the front panel you can save approx. 12-15 mA on receive. On long backpacking expeditions this may result in significant power savings.

Disassemble the transceiver, remove the front panel whilst taking care to carefully disconnect the cable between the front panel and the body of the radio.

Remove the rubber band on the VFO knob, and remove this knob as well as the locker underneath.

Then remove the sel knob by pulling it off. Subsequently remove the screw holding the front panel print and carefully pull out the print card.

The LED is located on the front of the print card, above the hole for the VFO knob. It looks like a small plastic rectangle with 4 connections. You will find two resistors just to the left of the LED.

Remove the resistor which is closest to the VFO hole; not the resistor closest to the top edge.

Carefully reassemble the front panel whilst making sure that all the rubber knobs are in place.

When you power up the radio no green light should be on on receive, whilst the red TX lights up on tx as before.

For example, this makes it possible to expand the Tx coverage of a European FT817 so it will work if travelling to the USA but to retain the correct Euro repeater shifts. It should also take away some of the mystery regarding these link settings. Precise information is given of the frequency coverage on each band after modification.

This is untested by me so far. Modify at your own risk. Transmit on designated amateur frequencies only. The warranty may be invalidated by these changes.

Av LA9MGA, Helge Karlsen.
Bilder, LA2PIA, Petter Sørensen.

FT-817 er ikke enkel å betjene når den ligger på et bord. Det er umulig å få fingeren under for å dreie på vfo knappen. Etter å ha sett på publiserte artikler hvordan de har prøvd å løse dette problemet, bl.a AR 2, 2002, valgte jeg selv å prøve å finne på noe enklere. Kravet mitt var at den ikke skulle bygge ut noe når den ikke var i bruk, og skulle være på apparatet hele tiden jeg ønsket det.

Jeg valgte å benytte meg av festet for skulder reima. For det første var det jo der allerede, og for det andre befinner det seg nært fronten. Etter å ha undersøkt i garasjen etter noe hensiktsmessig "skrot", fant jeg noen plastdeler som ofte blir til overs når du monterer nytt vinduspusserblad på bilen. Disse ble tilpasset målene på figur. Tykkelsen på plastdelen er ikke oppgitt på fig., men den skal være 2.90 mm. Du kan jo selv måle avstanden mellom skulderreim festet og huset. Plastdelen bør gi litt friksjon mellom hus og skulder reim feste slik at den ikke glir ned av seg selv når den er helt oppe og ikke i bruk. Trekk fra tykkelsen for en evt. beskyttelses tape.
Videre fant jeg en plastpropp som holder det hele på plass. Hullet på 4.20 mm må selvfølgelig tilpasses denne plastproppen og bredden på sporet til reima som jeg har målt til 4,8mm..
Plastproppen gjør at jeg enkelt kan ta bort løftanordningen når jeg vil benytte skulder reima.

Løfteanordningen skyves helt opp i sporet til reima når den ikke er i bruk, og den er dermed nesten helt skjult. Hvis du benytter målene på tegningen, vil dette gi et løft i front som gir en distanse på ca. 2 cm under vfo knapp. Jeg har videre brukt en tape under skulderreim festet (mot huset) for å ikke få mekanisk slitasje og oppskraping av lakk når du beveger løfteanordningen opp/ned. Smurte og på et flytende friksjons stoff på den delen av løfteanordningen som hviler på bordplaten. Plastdelen monteres først under skulder reim festet. Deretter trykker du plastproppen på plass fra yttersiden slik at den går igjennom hullet, men stopper på skulder reim festet. Når du skal bruke festet, drar du plastproppen helt ned til den stopper. Plastdelen vil da følge med. Deretter bøyer du plastdelen forover til den stopper (ca. 25 grader forover), og plasserer riggen på underlaget. Den vil nå stå av seg selv i denne posisjonen. Se ellers figur og bilder. Det er meget enkelt å lage denne anordningen, og du vil fort sette pris på den når du bruker Ft-817 på et bord. Du må selvfølgelig lage en løfteanordning til hver side.

En annen svakhet med den mekaniske konstruksjonen av FT-817 er at anordningene til batteridekslet på undersiden stikker så langt ut at den skraper opp det du plasserer den på. Jeg valgte å benytte meg av 4 runde, småe (ca. 8 mm i diameter og ca. 2.2 mm høye) og gjennomsiktige "gummiføtter" med dobbelsidig tape i hvert hjørne av apparatet. Disse gir også god friksjon så apparatet ikke glir så lett på bordet og passer meget bra tilsammen med overnevnte løfteanordning.

Front løftet i bruk.

Når du drar plastproppen opp, er det meste gjemt bort.

Dette er plastdelene

Risk: You will loose the warranty.
Fun: You will have a fantastic rig with a 2.4 Khz Collins filter in SSB transmit and receive path and a 500Hz CW filter in the Narrow position for CW and DIG (PACTOR, PSK31 etc.

The FT-817 comes with only one slot for additional filters but there is sufficient space to mount both SSB and CW if you remove the PCBs of the filters and wire them directly to the MAIN UNIT.

For the details see the Operation Manual on page 74.

The original filter CF4 will be removed and replace by the YF-122S SSB filter. The YF-122C CW filter will be directly wired to the mounting pins go the optional filter socket.

There is no need to work on SMD components, but you should be very familiar with the tiny circuits and have the right equipment, if not ask a experienced OM to help you.

1. See page 74 of the Operating Manual and follow steps 1 and 2.
   
    
2. Remove the PCB MAIN UNIT, watch on the battery connector and the 3 pin connector in the middle of the board. Remember or mark the position of the 2 coax-connectors.
   
    
3. Desolder and remove the original ceramic SSB filter, see picture
   
    
4. Desolder and remove the filters from there original PCBs
   
    
5. Connect the SSB Filter with 3 short wires instead of the ceramic filter, see picture
   
    
6. Connect the CW filter with 3 short wires to the pins of the optional filter connector, see picture
   
    
7. Fix the filters in there position with a small amount of glue
   
    
8. Reassemble the Main Unit, look carefully to the battery connector and the 3 pin connection in the center of the board
   
    
9. Follw the steps 4 to 7 on page 74 of the Operating Manual

...and enjoy the clear signals from the Collins filters.

Vy 73 de Lutz, W4/DH7LK

Original SSB Ceramic Filter removed:

Position of SSB filter:

SSB filter wired:

CW filter wired:

Ready:

 

There are suggestions to set the FT817 to get the maximum possible output of 15 Watts from an FT817, but I consider this similar to believing in Santa Claus – do you really believe that Yaesu would over design the Filters, Relays and Power feeds to cope with THREE times as much power as they advertise the unit for ?

The 15 watt mod also totally disables the DC current limiting. Expect to see charred coils, DC filters and PC board next time you look inside your rig – a fan on the heat sink won’t stop this. For a rig that has no over-temperature indication or protection of any sort, tripling the power level is designing for disaster.

This procedure here will increase power to 10 watts on HF bands only, but ensures that the DC Over-current protection will reduce power into abnormal loads that the SWR detector cannot detect. SWR bridges are a only a compromise at detecting reflected power – that’s why Yaesu went to the effort of building in DC Over-current protection as well as high-SWR protection.

Here is the recommended procedure, you will need a Dummy Load and a Wattmeter or RF Voltmeter. Make a note of your original calibration settings so you can go back to the standard setting later – the easiest way to do this is to use FT817 Commander freeware. It is also easy to accidentally change a value by bumping the Dial knob, and you need to be able to get back to the original setting.

If you have a Key connected, set the VFO to CW on 1.8, 7 and 21 MHz bands – if you don’t have a Key, then set them to PKT and you will be able to get full carrier using Mic PTT but with no modulation going out.

Turn the radio off. Press and hold the three A, B, C buttons and press the PWR button. To change to a different Menu item turn the small SEL knob. To change the value of the item, turn the large Dial knob. Be careful not to bump the Dial knob so you don’t accidentally change settings..

1. Increase HF1-IC to 150.
   
    
2. Increase HF1-HI for an output of 14 watts - you will need at least 12 volts input.
   
    
3. Decrease HF1-IC until you get 12 watts output
   
    
4. Now set HF1-HI for 10 watts output.
   
    
5. Repeat for HF2 and HF3

You could also change HF1-L3 to 5 watts to save battery drain when 10 watts isn’t needed.

If you are using an RF Voltmeter the readings are 0.5W=5v 1W=7v 2.5W=11v 5W=16v 10W=22v 12W=24v 14=26v.

To avoid de-calibrating the Voltmeter, set your supply to 13.8 volts – otherwise if you just flick over the DC volts position (Item 17 - VCC) you will recalibrate it.

To save these changed settings, hold the F button for two seconds when finished.
 

Dit interface is bedoeld om een Yaesu FT-817 te besturen via de PC. Het kan worden gebruikt om modes, frequenties of geheugenkanalen aan te passen met verschillende programma's zoals: MixW, RATS FT-817, TRX Manager, FT-basic enz.
Yeasu verkoopt volgens mij een dergelijke kabel onder de naam CT-62, maar die heb ik zelf nog niet gezien.
Het IC, de MAX232 is veelgebruikt om RS232 signalen om te zetten naar TTL, maar omdat niet iedereen hem kent heb ik er onderstaand schema bij gemaakt. Let op, ik heb het zelf gebouwd, en het werkt goed, maar als je zelf gaat knutselen is het natuurlijk voor eigen risico.
Oh ja, let wel op dat je de juiste "CAT rate" insteld, anders kan de set verkeerde dingen gaan doen, zoals zenden op de verkeerde band of zo.
Uitschakelen gaat dan slecht, helemaal als ook de accu er nog in zit!

Rev.1

Rev.2

Opmerkingen bij rev.2

Het heeft even geduurd maar hier is dan eindelijk ook een lay-out bij de interface. Voor deze lay-out heb ik de 2 andere poorten van de MAX232 gebruikt, dus dit schema ziet er iets anders uit als de vorige.
Ik had zelf het geheel al eens op de swhh methode in een 9-pins sub-d connector gemonteerd, maar binnenkort hoop ik hier ook een SMD lay-out te kunnen plaatsen die geschikt is om in een 9pins connector te monteren.
De lay-out voor de interface is een BMP bestand, helaas gaat printen dan wat onhandig, maar met bijvoorbeeld Irfanview kun je het afdrukformaat mooi verschalen. Ik gebruik versie 3.17 en als ik het plaatje afdruk op 1.05x dan is het formaat precies goed. (ik zal proberen dit binnenkort in een PDF bestand te zetten of zoiets).
De maten van de print zijn 69 x 42,5mm, de steek van alle condensatoren is 5mm. Irfanview kunt u vinden op http://www.irfanview.com/ of bijvoorbeeld via TUCOWS .

ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

Notes with revision 2

It took a while, but here is the layout for the interface. I made a modification to the "original" circuit because the second set of ports in the MAX232 are better for making a nice PCB.
I hope I can present a second PCB within a few weeks that can fit in a 9 pin sub-d connector, unfortunately this means soldering some SMD.
Unfortunately I had to use a bitmap-file for the layout, you have to scale this to a PCB size of 69/42.5 mm.
I use IrfanView (version 3.17) for printing my PCB-layout scaled x 1.05 gives me the correct size. (I will try to use PDF file later, or some other format)

You should be able to find IrfanView on Homepage IrfanView.

73, Edwin / PE1PWF

Click here to get the BMP file of the PCB 13 Kb.

For an exact print of the PCB you should use this PDF file of the PCB.

Software for using the CAT interface can you find on this links:

Direct download the FT-817 Commander (HB9DRV).

This article can also be found at http://www.pi4frg.cjb.net/schema1.
 

I am posting the following as a service to all 817 owners. Even if you do not experience these 70cm transmit problems, I would not be surprised to find out that this fix also improves receive by making the radio quite a bit more quiet---here is my story

Recently I found that my 817 occasionally did not put out any power on 440 transmit when using a duck on the front BNC.

Further examination showed that when set to low power and the antenna was flexed just so the power meter would peak but actual output power disappeared.

Some experimentation showed that grounding the big covered can on the main board solved the problem. A bit more investigating showed the bottom of the main board is not well grounded.

A little search work produced the official Yaesu fix document (the actual document used at Yaesu) along with part numbers needed to implement the fix (available from Yaesu, or you can send the rig to them and wait for them to repair it). Yaesu will fix the rig for free if it is under warrantee. If not you will have to order the fix part (the part# is in the attached tiff file), don't worry it only costs .22 USD (22 US cents).

This is not a lot specific problem (according to Yaesu), and rigs as recent as a year 2001 lot 44 rig has the problem (A rig produced around the end of 2001).

PLEASE NOTE, CONTRARY TO THE OFFICIAL YAESU FIX SHEET, THIS PROBLEM WILL AFFECT THE 817 EVEN IF IT IS USING THE INTERNAL BATTERY PACK!!!

The official Yaesu fix is under the filename, 817ground.tif.

73 and good luck!
Tom

This link is divided into several several sections to make digesting the material more manageable:

recently purchased a Z11 tuner and am very happy with the performance, however occasionally I like to use antennas with a balanced feed line, so I made a 4:1 external balun like the one sold by LDG. Then I saw a mod by G3VGR for an internal balun and proceeded from there. I wound 25 bifilar turns of 30 awg wire on a T80-2 toriod. The toriod was placed on a small piece of perfboard with a 4/40 bolt centered in the middle and filled with hot glue, this provides support for the toroid which was then bolted through the back of the Z11 using the existing hole. I then carefully measured and drilled the holes for mounting the two antenna posts and switch. I also made up a "Y" cable to power both the FT 817 and Z11 from the same source. The antenna connection between the two units consists of two 90 deg connectors joined with a brass rod for the center conductor and a copper pipe cut to the right length and sweat soldered onto the threaded area of the connectors.

              Strap to secure tuner to radio         90 degree Connector detail               Y power cable  

FT 817 / MiniPaddle

FT 817 Antenna Mount