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Yaesu FT-897D Transceiver

Yaesu FT-897D

The Yaesu FT-897D is a great portable or compact base station rig. I have mine as a base station, and I love it. It's an all-mode rig that covers HF, 50 MHz, 144 MHz, and 430 MHz. I have had mine for about 10 years now and have had nothing but excellent results. Although it is primarily made as a portable rig, allowing you to install battery packs in the bottom of the rig, I use mine as a base station using the Yaesu FP-30 internal power supply. I use the LDG AT-897 tuner with a 25' dipole in my attic, and have also added the Yaesu MD-100A8X desk mic.

A lot of people don't like the Yaesu rigs because of the extensive menu system. At first I was a bit overwhelmed with it until I realized that almost all of the menu's are set-it-and-forget-it. There are a few that I go to from time to time such as IPO and Power Out. However, that is really about it. So once you align the ALC, set all of your levels, and then tweak them, you're done.

Setting the memory channels can take quite a while. That is why I have opted to use Bob Freeth's great programming software called FTBasicMMO. It is very inexpensive and does a great job at programming the rigs and managing a number of programs. And if you are like me and have both the FT-897D and the FT-857D, then this one program will handle both rigs. He also has programming software for many other Yaesu rigs.

Below are some downloads and settings I use for this rig. These settings are a good starting point for someone new to the FT-897D, but remember that the microphone settings are for my voice with the MD-100A8J desk mic.

 

Downloads:

 

Tutorials:

 

 

Yaesu FT-897D Settings 

No. Menu Item Function Default Setting My Setting
1 EXT MENU Enables/Disables Extended Menu Mode OFF ON
2  144MHz ARS  Activates/Deactivates ARS on 144 MHz  ON ON
3  430MHz ARS  Activates/Deactivates ARS on 430 MHz  ON ON
4  AM & FM Dial  Enables/Disables Dial Knob in AM and FM Mode  DISABLED ENABLED
5  AM Mic Gain  Adjusts Mic Gain level for AM Mode.  50 75
6  AM Step  Selects the AM Mode Tuning Steps  5 KHz 5 KHz
7  APO Time  Selects the Auto Power Off Time OFF OFF
8  ARTS Beep  Selects the ARTS Beep Mode  RANGE RANGE
9  ARTS ID  Enables/Disables CW ID During ARTS OP. OFF OFF
10  ARTS IDW  Stores Your Callsign into the CW Identifier YAESU  KB4MTO
11  Beacon TXT 1  Stores the Beacon Message -  -
12 Beacon Time  Stores the Beacon Interval Time   OFF OFF
13 Beep Tone  Selects the Beep Frequency   880 Hz 880 Hz 
14 Beep Volume  Selects the Beep Volume Level   50 50
15 CAR LSB R Sets the RX Carrier Point for LSB 0 Hz +150 Hz
16 CAR LSB T Sets the TX Carrier Point for LSB 0 Hz 0 Hz
17 CAR USB R Sets the RX Carrier Point for USB 0 Hz +150 Hz
18 CAR USB T Sets the TX Carrier Point for USB 0 Hz 0 Hz
19 CAT Rate Sets the CAT Baud Rate 4800 bps 4800 bps
20 CAT/Line/Tune Selects the Device Type using the CAT port. CAT Tuner
21 CLAR Dial Set  Defines the control knob to be used for the clarifier.  CLAR  CLAR
22 CW Auto Mode   Enables/Disables the Key Jack in SSB/FM  OFF OFF 
23 CW BFO   Sets the CW Carrier Oscillator Injection SIde  USB USB 
24 CW Delay  Sets the RX Recovery Time during QSK   250 ms 250 ms
25 CW Key Rev  Sets the Keyer Paddles Wiring Configuration  NORMAL   NORMAL
26 CW Paddle Enables/Disables using the mic up/down buttons  ELEKEY ELEKEY
27 CW Pitch  Sets the Pitch of the CW Side Tone  700 Hz 700 Hz 
28 CW QSK   Sets the Time Delay between PTT and TX 10 ms 10 ms 
29 CW Side Tone  Sets the CW Side Tone Volume  50 50
30 CW Speed  Sets the Sending Speed of the Built-In Keyer  12 WPM 20 WPM
31 CW Training  Sends Random CW Characters via Side Tone   N N 
32 CW Weight  Sets the Dot/Dash Ratio for the Built-In Keyer   1:3.0 1:3.0 
33 DCS Code  Sets the DCS Code   023  T:023
34 DCS INV  Sets "Normal" or "Inverted" DCS ZCoding   Tn-Rn Tn-Rn 
35 Dial Step  Sets the dial knob tuning speed   Fine Fine
36 DIG Disp  Defines the displayed frequency offset  0 Hz   0 Hz
37 DIG Gain   Adjusts audio level from terminal equipment  50 50
38 DIG Mode  Selects the digital mode and sideband  RTTY-L   USER-UL
39 DIG Shift   Defines the carrier offset frequency  0 Hz 0 Hz 
40 DIG VOX  Sets the gain of the VOX's input level   0  0
41 DISP Color  Sets the color for each operating status   - FIX:15
42 DISP Contrast   Setting for the display contrast level  5 5 
43 DISP Intensity  Sets the display brightness level   3 3 
44 DISP Mode   Sets up the LCD lamp mode  AUTO2 AUTO2
45 DSP BPF Width  Sets the BW for the DSP CW audio filter  240 Hz  240 Hz 
46 DSP HPF Cutoff  Adjusts the low-cut char. of the DSP filter   100 Hz 160 Hz 
47 DSP LPF Cutoff  Adjusts the high-cut char. of the DSP filter  6000 Hz  2290 Hz 
48 DSP Mic EQ  Sets the DSP mic EQ pattern  OFF   BOTH
49 DSP NR Level  Sets the degree of DSP Noise Reduction   8  11
50 Emergency  Enables the Alaska Emergency Channel   OFF OFF 
51 FM Mic Gain  Adjusts the mic gain level for FM mode   50 75 
52 FM Step  Selects the tuning steps in FM mode   - 20 KHz
53 Home --> VFO  Enables/Disables moving Home channel to VFO  ON  ON 
54 Lock Mode  Selects the operation of the LOCK key   DIAL DIAL 
55  MEM Group Enables/Disables memory grouping  OFF OFF 
56 MEM Tag  Stores alpha-numeric tag for MEM channels   - - 
57 MEM/VFO Dial  Selects function when MEM/VFO knob is pushed   MHz/MEM GRP MHz/MEM GRP 
58  MIC Scan Enables/Disables scanning access from the mic  ON   ON
59 MIC Select  Selects the microphone being used   NOR NOR 
60 MTR ARX Sel  Selects the meter config for receive   SIG SIG 
61 MTR ATX Sel  Selects the meter config for transmit  PWR  MOD
62  MTR Peak Hold Enables/Disables the meter's "Peak Hold" Feature   ON ON 
63 NB Level   Selects the blanking level for the IF NB 50  45 
64 OP Filter 1  Not Available   -  FIL1
65  PG A  Programs the "A" key  MONI  - 
66 PG B  Programs the "B" key   Q.SPL - 
67 PG C  Programs the "C" key  ATC  - 
68 PG ACC  Programs the MH-59 ACC button   MONI - 
69  PG P1  Programs the MH-59 P1 button   Q.SPL - 
70 PG P2   Programs the MH-59 P2 button  TCALL -
71 PKT 1200  Sets the audio input level for 1200 bps operation  50 40
72 PKT 9600   Sets the audio power level for 9600 bps operation  50  50
73 PKT Rate  Sets the radio's packet rate  1200 bps 1200 bps
74 PROC Level Sets the compression level in SSB/AM modes  50 30
75 RF Power Set Sets the RF power out for the specific band 100 50
76 RPT Shift Sets the magnitude of the repeater shift - .60 MHz
77 SCAN Mode  Sets the desired Scan-Resume mode  TIME TIME 
78 SCAN Resume  Sets the delay time for scanning resumption  5 SEC 5 SEC
79 SPLIT Tone   Enables/Disables split CTCSS/DCS coding OFF OFF 
80 SQL/RF Gain  Selects the configuration of the SQL/RF knob  - RF-GAIN
81 SSB Mic Gain  Adjusts the mic gain level for SSB mode  50 85
82 SSB Step  Selects the tuning steps for SSB mode  2.5 KHz 2.5 KHz 
83 TONE FREQ  Sets the CTCSS tone frequency 88.5 Hz 103.5 Hz 
84 TOT Time Sets the Time-Out-Timer time OFF OFF
85 TUNER/ATAS Sets the device to be controlled by the TUNE key OFF OFF
86 TX IF Filter  Sets the transmit IF filter CFIL CFIL
87 VOX Delay  Sets the "hang time" for VOX 500 ms  500 ms
88 VOX Gain  Sets the VOX audio input gain 50  50
89 XVTR A Freq  Used for transversers - -
90 XVTR B Freq  Used for transverters - -
91 XVTR SEL  Used for transverters OFF OFF