Somewhere on a OE-summit I hit the clarifier button of my FT897, so it broke. Luckily I did not need it to much, so I waited until I was back home. On the pictures you see the use of a trimming tool in a strange way. It’s all in Dutch, but the pictures tell you all I guess.
Well this is the only damage so far ( 60 summits ) so I do not complaint !!!
I lost the ‘Select’ knob off my FT-857D on a summit. The nice chaps at Yaesu sent me a new one, once my email had been renamed from “My Knob Fell Off”, which seemed to fall foul of their spam filter for some reason. I can’t think why. ;0)
Yes I can understand that !!
In this case the axle broke,( I think “shaft” is not good in a spam filter also). I had the luck there was a half circle hole in both parts. Then finding a piece of plastic 4mm diameter …
Well this is the only damage so far ( 60 summits ) so I do not complaint !!!
Ouch! Pleased to see that you managed to repair the rig Hans. I suppose the 897 is not really intended to be operated portable, as in SOTA-portable that is.
While they are excellent pieces of kit, in my opinion the Yaesu rigs are not up to SOTA use without appropriate precautions being taken. I have the 817 which I found out on one occasion was not shower proof. I also have the 857 which is designed to be mounted in a vehicle. Therefore both rigs are mounted in plastic boxes with lids and operated from within the backpack. A necessity as wet weather seems to follow me around the hills.
I guess you are right Gerald, but I bought it for holiday purposes, just before I got the SOTA fever. Just put it in a plastic bag in the backpack, knobs up … and I avoid rain during holidays.
This accident could have happened anywhere, I was in a very comfortable place with table and bench. I do not want to buy an extra set for a “few” walks during the holiday hi hi
suppose the 897 is not really intended to be operated portable, as in
SOTA-portable that is.
Hi Gerald, I have to disagree with you and agree with Hans.
I have used my 897 on over 45 summits,albeit not as far to walk or as high as you,but that bad wx follows me around also.
Yaesu pushed this radio more for portable users. I understand what you mean " not SOTA Portable" as weight is higher and it is more bulky than both the others.
For ruggedness and field use ,I would not part with my FT897 whom I call “Mabel” just because I can. Hi Hi
In fairness to Yaesu Tony, they cannot be expected to cater for a few hard cases that go up mountains in howling gales and a torrential downpour. Having said that, I must say that I was rather surprised how easily the 817 keeled over when it got a sprinkling since it is a rig marketed for handhead portable use, whereas the 857 and 897 obviously aren’t.
I suppose I was just unfortunate - the 817 has done the bulk of my SOTA work (227 summits), having replaced an old FT-290R after a mere 47 summits. The 857 has only done 33 summits so far. I used my old Trio TR-7010 for two summits with torrential rain on the second one (don’t mention White Hill G/SP-006) and that survived.
As for names, none of my kit has been named, but I suppose the rigs are still regarded as female. Not sure why
Bad luck, Hans!
A local friend’s FT-897 suffered the same injury in 2004… He managed to get the replacement potentiometer in almost 4 years from the local sales company but in the meantime he got accustomed to using it so much that he did not have it repaired yet! He learned to screw it with the tip of his index.
You may know him, since Krisztián established over 8000 QSOs on 1,8 to 6m as ZA/HA5X from the main-land and about 1.500 as ZA0/HA5X from Sazan island (EU-169) in mid-July.
Now I try to convince him about a CI-xxx activation in Croatia or a bit of SOTA. :-)))
but in the meantime he got accustomed to using it so much that he did not have it repaired yet! He learned to screw it with the tip of his index.