3S I get 4+ hours of receive and about 30 xmit time without bottoming the battery out, but I run it at about 7-8 watts . 4S, never have gotten close to bottoming it out @10 watts.
I have the KX2 with the ATU and it is really a great setup for SOTA. It can be powered by 3S LiPO or 4S LiFePO batteries (LiPO for internal, but lower voltage and output). I prefer the LiFePO for safety and extra capacity. No voltage regulator needed with 4S LiFePO, either.
The ATU is really handy. It’s all very lightweight and the rig is very nice. You won’t outgrow it for a very long time, if ever. It’s worth the extra $$ in my opinion.
I’ve used it with tuned and non-tuned antennas and always been able to get the job done. even S2S across the Atlantic!
73,
Bruce - WB8OGK
When it comes to selecting a rig, don’t go for what is lightest, go for what is best. For example, there is no easy DX about these days, contacts have to be earned. Hard work will still get contacts, just depends on how badly you want them.
When operating from a summit, especially in the HF bands and with the conditions we’re experiencing right now, selecting the correct antenna is by far the most important decision you’ll need to make.
Have fun.
Mike
.
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Dam’ right!
When the KX3 and the KX2 came out I was eager to go and look at them, their specifications blow the FT817 out of the water - but - they felt flimsy, I would even say tinny, compared with the FT817 which is built like the proverbial brick outhouse. On one activation a rock the size of my head fell off the cairn and rolled over the 817, all the damage it did was a tiny scratch in the paint. So the 817 may be showing the age of its technology by comparison with the KX2/3, but it covers more bands, outperforms V/UHF handies, is a lot less expensive than the KX’s and is as tough as old boots. Stick to resonant antennas and you won’t need a tuner, or get an end fed antenna with a lightweight manual QRP tuner such as the Sotabeams Mountain which weighs in at 80 grams!
Not sure how it helps, but I am also at the beginning of the CW path and I asked for some advice on CW operations with limited skills: SOTA CW for beginners
What I did, I decided to cut off the bridges and temptation of stepping back to my comfort zone of SSB, all by getting only CW rig with me. Leave alone the learning of CW through real practice, now my whole rig with antenna + T1 box and some accessories in a semi-hard pouch weighs 800g (I have MTR5b trx).
You may want to consider this option - to jump bravely into CW as SOTA community is very understanding and supportive in CW operations from a summit.
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Spot on Brian. Anyone wanting to dip their toe in the water as far as backpacking radio is concerned can’t go far wrong with the 817, especially if purchased secondhand. If a KX2, KX3 or other rig beckons, then the 817 should be easily sold to help with funding the new rig.
On several occasions I have sat alongside Paul G4MD, both of us operating HF with our 817’s without any issues, even on harmonically related bands. Sitting inside a summit shelter, one of us running 2m SSB and the other 70cm SSB to antennas in close proximity also raised no issues. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised. 
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The spurious specs for HF are the same for both radios (better than -50dBc). At VHF and UHF the 817 spec is better than -60dBc. I suspect that the wide-band phase noise will be far lower for the KX2 than the 817.
[quote=“W6PNG, post:16, topic:15387”]
are rumored to generate harmonic
[/quote]
Never heard that ever. It’ll be standard internet lore, one user had one that did something odd and blogged it and now that’s a definitive fact that all 817’s have this issue. c.f. PA failure early 817s.
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That is pretty much an Internet myth. The only Yaesu radio I’ve heard of that has that reputation is the FT-991
73, Colin G8TMV
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So far, so good y’all! If I can extend this just a little further: do any of you 817 users (@G8ADD, @G4OIG) think the 817-ND is worth the extra cost? I’m not really attached to 60M capability, and I’m seeing used plain-old 817s for as low as $200-300, which is pretty incredible. I suppose they might have less resell value down the line, but at that price point I don’t really care – 6 months of good use from it would be well worth the sunk cost.
@SQ6GIT, that’s also really helpful – thanks for sharing. ATM I just want to get on the air ASAP, so I’m not going to wait until I learn CW, but it’s absolutely on my list (along with getting an Extra class license and shortening my damn callsign).
I did a lot of multiop/multiband activations where the usual suspects (FT-817, KX2, KX3, SGC2020, FT857, IC7000, MTR etc) were being used in the same small perimeter on different bands. The only problem I had (twice) with the FT-817 was on 20m SSB RX while a KX3 was transmitting CW on 30m (wideband noise on key). The FT-817 is as clean as any other radio as far as TX is concerned.
Razvan M0HZH / YO9IRF.
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I would like to have an rtx as KX… but I still prefer my little 817 (with DSP inside), a little tuner elekraft T1 and a fantastic Norcal Doublet antenna: total 1,36 Kg 
(I add only support dipole where necessary…)
With the ND you also get the internal battery (which is crap) and the upgraded (much more reliable) final board. The non-ND can be used on 60m too, if you wideband it.
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There are some tiny differences in between the 817 and 817ND. The plain 817 does 60m fine, you need to enable it with software and it stays enabled until you hard reset the radio. The 817ND only remembers the software mod till the next power cycle. To make it permanent, you remove a solder link.
The 817ND has a 3 colour back light and the final PA FETS were changed as the 817 FETS were obsolete.
But, and you may not feel it’s important, the 817 has 2m & 70cms multimode capabiity. The KX2 and KX3 are better receivers and have more power. But you probably wont notice the better RX a lot of the time and the extra power at this level (5W vs 10W) is marginal. I don’t want to be without VHF/UHF multimode capability and that makes the better KX2/3 significantly less desirable to me. YMMV.
I changed from the early 817 to the 817ND and the only difference that I could find was the extra display colour that Andy mentions. I suggest that if you see a vanilla 817 going cheap, check that it transmits OK (that is, it isn’t being got rid of because the PA is dead) and if good then grab it with both hands! Don’t worry about 60 metres, if the FCC grants you the world-wide band you will have to open up the rigs coverage to get it, anyway, but it is an easy job. If it comes with the battery box you can do the green wire mod and put a set of high power NiMH cells in it which will give you enough power for a couple of hours operating.
I purchased my 817ND new in November 2006 already opened up to 60m, so I don’t know any different. I would have thought that the ND is more likely to be available on the secondhand market as it has been in production for a longer period of time than the original version. Mine lives in the backpack more or less on a permanent basis. The only other use it performs other than SOTA is to drive my 23cm transverter when I feel like airing my call on that band. I have been considering buying a second one… and I know several people who already have two! 
People fear that the KX2 and KX3 are fragile, but that appears to be another internet myth. I’ve been on the Elecraft mailing lists since before the KX3 was introduced and I’ve never heard of one damaged in the field.
Both were designed specifically as trail-ready radios, so they are rugged. My KX3 has fallen off the top of my car twice and is fine. Granted, the car is a Miata, but it still fell four feet.
I do recommend adding the SideKX plates on the ends. I also have the cover. Get the ones from GemsProducts. There are cheaper Chinese copies from Windcamp, but they are made of softer aluminum.
wunder
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The KX3 can leak the LO signal at the receive frequency. That is natural for direct conversion receivers. Enable the isolation preamp (10 dB) to take care of that.
People usually discover this during ARRL Field Day.
wunder
I also bought Gems side pannels + cover. Before that I ordered the Chinese Windcamp, but I found them of poor quality - the plastic cover arrived cracked, so I returned the whole thing. For a couple of extra dollars, I bought Gems and this set seems really robust.
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