| Author |
Message |
    
Chad
Senior Member
Username: Chad
Post Number: 1070
Registered: 11-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 06, 2006 - 12:22 pm: | 
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The chamber has been loaded and the finger has been on the trigger for some time now but.....
Arriving at my front door tomorrow or Friday will be my brand spanking new Yaesu FT-857D, seperation kit, and MH59 DTMF/Remote mic.
I never thought that buying a Galaxy DX2547 2 years ago would lead me to be $734 poorer today. I'm looking forward to it's arrival.
Chad |
Tech808
Moderator
Username: Tech808
Post Number: 11086
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 06, 2006 - 2:27 pm: |
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Chad,
Good Deal!
But ONLY $734 poorer?
If that so far?
Now you need a base to go along with the mobile. 
Don't forget to give us the lowdown on it after it arrives and you get it hooked up.
You may even want to do a "REVIEW" on it for other Copper Forum Member Hams.
Lon
Tech808
CEF808
N9CEF
CVC#2 |
Chad
Senior Member
Username: Chad
Post Number: 1071
Registered: 11-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 06, 2006 - 3:18 pm: |
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Lon,
This is for base use. The base units were WAY too much for my blood right now. Other than a smaller, less informative display it is still all-mode, all-band and has gotten rave reviews.
It came with the remote head mount so I can locate the head/ mic anywhere and leave the guts under the bench very close to the shop coax entrance. This shaves about 20-30 feet from the coax thus reducing line loss.
I could have gone with a dual bander then I looked into the tri bander, it did not have SSB 6M. The all bander would have saved me money in the long run by not buying a bunch of radios, so I bit the bullet and went all the way feature wise but maybe not in the beauty department.
The $734 does not include all the coax I ordered yesterday, The dual band antenna I ordered last week, and the fabrication supplies for the tower stand off last night 
I really don't want to know what I've spent in this hobby thus far but I have been frugal and done a lot of labor to save money, like a $20 tower in DIRE need of refinish, etc. So all in all I have not done too bad, probably a little over 1500 bucks, including hardware, etc, as of now, with some to recoup from the sales of un-needed items soon.
As I get it up and running I'll give a report, I only have my tech license now so it will be limited to 6M, 2M, and 70CM. I also need to get a review written up on the Scantenna I purchased and has finally gone thru it's first big wind with no problems (I was waiting for the first good storm)
Chad |
Moderator476
Moderator
Username: Moderator476
Post Number: 112
Registered: 7-2006
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 06, 2006 - 5:32 pm: |
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Good Deal Chad, I'll be there too some day soon..
I'll post what I get and do my own review once I get there.. Keep moving forward my friend! |
Chad
Senior Member
Username: Chad
Post Number: 1074
Registered: 11-2004
| | Posted on Friday, September 08, 2006 - 11:14 am: |
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Well EVERYTHING arrived yesterday except the backordered coax (Talk about 20 questions from the wife! Could have timed that one a little better.) I am using RG213 Now on the dual bander which has quite a bit of loss at 440MHz but it gets it done for now. As soon as the BuryFlex comes I'll switch the RG213 over to HF and use the low-loss on the VHF/UHF.
Tower came down and was back up with a new stand-off, antenna, and coax on it by 8PM.
At this time I began un-packing the Yaesu, it was packaged quite well. I was suprised by the weight and solid feel of it, even the faceplate has girth to it. After figuring out the functions and programming for the remote mic I made a contact within 15 minutes and 15 minutes after that joined in on a local net! It's that darn easy!
For being menu driven with soft keys it's extremely easy to operate. The audio reports were excellent, big full body and nice quieting even on repeaters 50 miles away. (using coax not intended for that high of freq)
The manual is AWESOME! And I don't say that often. Each feature is on a page, if it takes more than one page then the next feature starts at the top of the next page. Super easy to get around and comprehensive, Kudo's to Yaesu on that one!
First impressions make a difference to me, this one made a good one! I have 2 things to figure out and I'm set, (memory functions and power out setting)
I find it amazing that I can put this unit in one hand and hold it up where as 10 years ago the gear that it would take to perform all of the 857D's functions would take up a whole desk!
The display is small but informative, despite it's size, it's easy to read and understand, the meter could use improvement but there is an external meter jack that attaches to the LDG big face meter I just ordered for around 50 bucks. It will perform SWR, Voltage, Po, Mod, And other functions. Reading SWR on that bar type meter is IMPOSSIBLE! The only other thing to get used to is the PTT key on the mic, it's big and easy to get to. A little too easy because it does not take much force at all to operate it, if you grab it off the bench be careful WHERE you grab it. The remote mic does every function on the front panel and more because there's no menu scrolling, it even controls volume, Grab the mic, put your feet up, and kick back!
So there you have it, I just wanted to let you all know that it's easy to work despite being menu driven and having a small display. More to come as I get the feel for it and put more hours on it!
Chad |
Moderator476
Moderator
Username: Moderator476
Post Number: 119
Registered: 7-2006
| | Posted on Friday, September 08, 2006 - 12:50 pm: |
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only one word Chad "ENJOY" |
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