FT-847

[Qwazyone]

I just bought a FT-847 on ebay, should be a 2003 year model from Berghardt radio repair, 30 day warrantee. I figure I'll try using it on the linear transponder satellites with my arrow antenna without the duplexer. The owner has a good reputation over the years so I feel this is a good decision and if something does go wrong, I hook up the boat and have two reasons to go to South Dakota

 

[W1MSG]

You will Love the 847, I got a deal on one about 6 months ago and its awesome !

 

[Qwazyone]

You will Love the 847, I got a deal on one about 6 months ago and its awesome !

Got it for just under 1 grand and free shipping

Nice to see you are still around Craig

 

[TonyV225]

Im still eventually going to try one of those

 

[dxhound]

You will enjoy the SAT feature and VHF UHF. But dont expect much for HF. The RX is rather poor. I.E. no sensitivity. I had mine for about 2 months and sold it for a 746. FAR better reciever for HF and more pleasing to listen to on VHF.

After saying all that, I will say its a fun radio with tons of features! And if this is your first HAM radio, you will enjoy it as it is still superior to most export rxers.

 

[TonyV225]

I suppose I would be better off sticking to getting another Yaesu FT-857D then Rich.

 

[KE3W]

eHam.net Reviews Summary for Yaesu FT-847 Reviews: 158 - Average rating: 4.4/5 - MSRP: $1599

 

[W1MSG]

Got it for just under 1 grand and free shipping

Nice to see you are still around Craig

Yup still around just real busy, down to 180 days to retirement from the Army..

You'll enjoy the FT-847, alot of folks say its no good on HF but my experience has been different. While its not as good as my FT-950 its still adequate and you can get a 2.8 Crystal Filter for it on SSB. I use it for a back up HF as its primary mission is Satellites and it does a stellar job in that realm. I paid about the same for mine, they hold value pretty well.

 

[TonyV225]

CONGRATS on the soon retirement and thank you for all you do

 

[Highlander_821]

Great radios. I have the Inrad 2.1 khz SSB filter in mine. HF performance is pretty much on par or better than the typical entry level rig. I doubt the 857/897 is much of a step up on HF.

Pretty remarkable how these have been discontinued for a number of years but are still selling used for not a great deal less than the last retail new prices of around 1200.

 

[Qwazyone]

The 847 made a big impression on the sat ops. The CAT cable is just a null-modem 9 pin serial cable, I should have one around if I can find it, if not I can probably solder one together quick.

Tony, I agree, Craig and his wife deserve recognition for his 20+ years of service, I think it was 5 years National Guard with 25 years active duty IIRC. He had to deal with the day to day changes of the military and she had to put up with him and the deployments

 

[Qwazyone]

Just got it today, its in very good condition and it RX's well on 20M for psk31, it seems to be just as good as my 857. I have no ploblems with HRD controlling it but I can not get satpc32 to control it, I am going to do some more research at the satpc32 site as I didn't have HRD or any other program running using that com port at the time