I always use a handheld microphone with my walkie-talkies, it’s a way to position the equipment in the best possible location and away from my face. The FT-817 design also allows me to fit it more easily in my backpack. I use a Windcamp internal battery in mine, and although I alternate it with an FX4CR, it’s just my backup.
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Do you see any 817s? No. And you have the bare faced audacity to suggest I’m being pedantic 
don’t care about pictures and definitions. They don’t apply to me 
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No it isn’t by any practical definition.
The weight of an FT817 with internal batteries, MH31A8J microphone & RH770 whip antenna is ~1.3kg. When I first started the 2026 challenge, I tried using my FT817 on a shoulder strap and the RH770 performance becomes poor when close to one’s body. To complete a 2m SSB QSO I held the 817/RH770 first at arm’s length away from me, and when that got too tiring, above my head. Whilst holding the mic in my other hand, it was not possible to write in my log. The contrast with operating a real handheld (e.g. my 2m FM FT1D) is very obvious.
As I frequently operate at SOTA summits when there is nowhere to rest the logbook on unless sitting in my portable chair (which is fine for HF where I use a standalone HF antenna) I now resort to using a 2m j-pole on on a short pole when using my 817 for 2m SSB or CW.
Mounting the whip antenna high on your rucksack is a possible solution [ /PM mode ] but I prefer to be discreet and look like a normal hillwalker when not at the summit. Also, there’s the risk of whacking the whip on a tree or breaking it should you trip over. My 25yo 817, RH770, etc are stowed well cushioned inside the rucksack whilst on the move.
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A lot of SOTA operators are using homemade hf equipment. Is there any 2m or 2m/70cm homebrew station?
Its not hand held. But its a homebrew 28MHz SSB transceiver with Ukrainian transverter in the box. So it does both bands 10m and 2m. Had some good 2m SSB contacts and activations during the infamous Covid lockdown period late 2020.
Works fine. I like the compressed audio sound as the AGC reigns in all the receiver gain. 2m SSB is a brilliant portable band. Ive never tried 2m CW but I reckon I would struggle to get 4 chasers.
Quite a lot of effort though. So I must fire it up soon!
A homebrew handheld SSB and/or CW transceiver is an interesting challenge 
, ideas could be drawn from VU2ESEs Bitx23 project.
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To add a little context, the first commercially available mobile phones weighed 0.9 kg, the prototype weighed 1.1kg, lighter than but in the same ball park as an 817. I guess its a matter of expectations, a modern handheld and a modern phone has trained you to require small and light, but bigger and heavier does not make something impracticable. I have used my 817 as a handheld, on VOX with the mike clipped to my collar and log sheets taped to the case. The antenna was a 2m halfwave whip with an adapter to the front socket. The antenna was the problem, I felt there was a risk of an impact on the antenna damaging the socket and changed to a dipole on a mast, but the setup did work. I also gave up using the VOX, one had to spend too much time worrying about wind noise tripping it!
I think that everything is matter of choice
I can use uv5k with bad dsb. Or, I can use ft817 with propper ssb, good front end and pay for that in terms of volume and weight. My choice is ft817. I am right for me, you are right for you.
Or, I can pay 250 euros for Mizuho if there is any to buy. For 150 euros or less more you can have 50MHz, 70cm and whole hf
You choose, I choose. At the end of the story it is important to go out and make qso’s
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150€ for a ft817 !? Please tell me where, I buy 10 of them.
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He was saying 150 or less, more than the 250 for the Mizuho, which is about right for the 817 but the 817ND will of course be more.
Maybe it is in the UK, in France a 817 will be around 400€ and 700€ for a 817nd.
150 + 250 = 400.
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Ah ok I understand now. Sorry got lost in translation with the “or less more”. All good then.
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I just had a quick look at asking prices in the UK:
- £400 - £600 for 817 (depending on condition)
- £450 - £750 for the 817ND.
- £250 - £300 if one sold the Yaesu YF-122CN (300 Hz) narrow CW filter separately.
BTW: my 25yo 817 was still firing on all cylinders on this morning’s 2m SSB & CW activation. Don’t need to use the 300Hz filter on 2m but sometimes on HF.
[Strange reversal: so far this year it’s my KX2 that’s gathering dust, not the 817]
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The carrier is not eliminated in this mode (just put other rig in RX on FM and see) I’m not sure if it meets the requirements. What can be said is that you can go much further in this experimental mode than in FM. I’ve verified this myself.
As noted in my post on my recent San Diego trip, I’ve now had at least some QSOs on SSB and CW with my CEC firmwared UV K5.
If your must have requirements include:
-Budget of £20
-USB C rechargeable
-Relatively small and light, reasonably robust
Then I believe your choices are no radio, or a modded UV K5. And whilst the RF performance of the K5 is undoubtedly poor, it is infinitely better than no radio. Therefore making the K5, IMO, an excellent option as it’s performance is infinitely better than the alternative 
I also think the implementation of SSB and CW on these radios is a neat hack by amateur radio folks.
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New versions V3, V4 , etc, have different bootloader, so original IJV upgrade software will fail. You can use K5TOOL-v1.8 instead. I had no problems to install IJV V2.9R5 into my V5 Quangsheng radio.
73, Mirko S52CU
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It’s true…the FT818 (HT??) comes with rubber ducks for 6, 2 and 432…and holds 8 AA batteries, so definitely a hand held radio…about the size of two HT’s…
AND…HF thrown in just for fun!
Pete
WA7JTM
One
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No. Just no.
So definitely half right? IMO a handheld is one that can be held and operated comfortably in one hand for an extended period.
Anyway, for a bit of fun I asked our friend and future overlord - Google AI - what it ‘thinks’: A handheld transceiver (HT) is a portable, battery-powered, two-way radio that combines both a transmitter and a receiver into a single, compact unit that can be held in the hand,
I also asked it if the 817 is a handheld: The Yaesu FT-817 (and subsequent 817ND/818ND) is generally considered an ultra-portable or backpackable QRP transceiver rather than a traditional handheld transceiver (HT). While it is battery-powered, features internal cells, and covers VHF/UHF, it is significantly larger and heavier (over than standard handhelds, making it more suited for portable, SOTA (Summits on the Air), or shoulder-strap operation.
Of course, in 2026 you are free to disagree with Google AI, even claim it is wrong. Once we’re ruled by the Tech Giants, that will be an act of sedition.
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FT-290R. Built-in whip and a shoulder strap.
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Its largely about current expectations.
If you go back to the early handies, 45-50 years ago, they were pretty hefty beasts by modern standards, take the FT-202R which was 69X171X49 and weighed 400g without its batteries. This was about 75% of the volume of the 817, and with the 817 being 38mm thick, by an edge grip it would be more comfortable to hold. Yonks ago I had a handheld CB with similar dimentions to the 202R and it was definately more comfortable carried and operated clipped to my belt. It ate batteries, too!
In practice an 817 can be operated as a handheld, or in its shoulder bag, or sitting on a suitable surface, making it more flexible than a modern handy even before you look at its features. All in all it is a superior beast, It transcends the limitations imposed by Googles definitions.
However, if you don’t want to bother with its weight and dimentions and prefer a modern handy despite its limitations, that is a perfectly valid choice.
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