My FT-857 manual says .55 amp receive squelched and 1 amp receive. There
is a 5th pin on the power connector that when grounded cuts the power to
20 watts through 2m and 10 watts on 432, I think that's shared with the
897 that has a bigger case with room for a battery. There's no
indication in the op manual that the battery sense pin (that 5th pin)
affects receiver current consumption or PA idle current. I know that the
RF power output can be reduced way below the factory settings by
lowering the TX gain in the alignment menu. I did that to an 857 that I
use for 10 G transverter service and now while the display says it
varies from 5 to 50 watts, it actually puts out 2 watts on 2m.
I've run 25 watts RF to an 8 foot whip through a manual tuner on 40, 20,
15 and 10 meters for FD with very good results on CW and SSB. I found I
had to tune more often on SSB when working my way up a band than on CW,
probably because 25 watts was plenty power for CW and there was more QRM
on SSB. That whip was mounted on the roof of my all metal Airstream, so
it had a really good ground plane though only about 8' wide by 15 feet
long (a little Airstream).
Back before FCC rules prohibiting a 3 watt input HF amp, Tentec made
one, maybe called the 509?, that would be a fine accessory to an FT-817
though a nearby club has run up a serious score the last two or three FD
with a barefoot FT-817. They do take care to use effective antennas.
Another FT-817 user finds his works fine on battery with a random wire
backpacked into a western mountain camp. He makes contacts, like mostly
CW, not necessarily on a prescribed circuit, but at random.
73, Jerry, K0CQ
On 12/27/2010 10:15 PM, Bwana Bob wrote:
Alan:
No, I don't have any processor problems. I was referring to the mod kit
available here: http://www.cholakian.com/TT1254upgrade.html, although I
don't find the coarse tuning steps of the 1254 that much of a burden.
There are a number of popular portable general coverage transceivers on
the market, most notably the Yaesu FT-857, and 897 and the ICOM 703 and
706, and the IC-7200. The QRP FT-817, while cute, and a lot of guys
like them, in my opinion it does not run enough power for reliable
communication under poor band conditions (a frequent occurrence, given
the lack of sunspots. Most of these radios are not well suited to
battery operation, because their typical current drain on receive is
about 1.5 amps. Older Ten-Tec radios do much better in the battery drain
area. A possible exception is the Yaesu VX-1210, which is a commercial
20 watt manpack radio, currently favored by the "HF pack" crowd.
I have an original Paragon as the main radio, but I use a Scout for
portable vacation use. I use it with a reel-out dipole and it works
great. I've looked at other portable rigs, but after reading a lot of
reviews and user comments, I always decide to stick with the Scout.
The 1254 will certainly meet your needs if you mate it up with a simple
CW transmitter. Yes, the political and economic situation is spooky. I
keep a 72 hour kit and maintain all the radios, especially HF. Here in
NJ, there isn't much else that I can do. "Bugging out" is not really an
option.
73,
Bob WB2VUF
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