{"id":30955,"date":"2018-02-24T10:09:05","date_gmt":"2018-02-24T14:09:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=30955"},"modified":"2018-02-24T10:14:18","modified_gmt":"2018-02-24T14:14:18","slug":"details-emerge-about-the-yaesu-ft-818-and-beware-of-the-fake-leaked-photo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/02\/details-emerge-about-the-yaesu-ft-818-and-beware-of-the-fake-leaked-photo\/","title":{"rendered":"Yaesu FT-818 details emerge (and beware of the fake “leaked” photo!)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I’ve been following news about the Yaesu FT-818<\/strong>: the next iteration of the venerable Yaesu FT-817ND QRP general coverage transceiver.<\/p>\n

The FT-817 series has been on the market for nearly two decades. I remember purchasing one of the first production models when I lived in the UK in 2001.<\/p>\n

It was a revolutionary radio at the time.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It was exceptionally suited for portable use, sporting\u00a0an internal battery pack, on-board keyer, had all mode\/all band capability and antenna ports on the front faceplate and rear. It was the most compact full-featured transceiver on the market. All this for about $670 US.<\/p>\n

In 2004, Yaesu made upgrades and launched the model\u00a0FT-817(N)D<\/strong>. In no small way, I’m sure this little radio has been a cash cow for Yaesu. It’s had an exceptionally long market run and has been the only QRP transceiver in the Yaesu product line for decades.<\/p>\n

Recently, Yaesu released specifications and retail pricing of the FT-818.\u00a0 But before we go any further…<\/p>\n

Don’t believe the fake prototype photos<\/h2>\n

It seems like every time a new amateur radio transceiver is announced, someone quickly assembles a “leaked” prototype image and publishes it on the web. Here’s the one someone pieced together for the Yaesu FT-818:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Click to enlarge (and see obvious Photoshop chop job)<\/p><\/div>\n

To be crystal clear: this is not a leaked photo of the Yaesu FT-81<\/em>8.<\/strong> It’s (frankly) a terrible Photoshop job–someone playing with cutting, pasting and resizing bits from other transceivers.<\/p>\n

I fully suspect the new FT-818 will not be a dramatic departure from the FT-817 in terms of styling and design. Perhaps it’ll be nearly identical. In fact, radio retailers have been posting the following image on their FT-818 ordering page:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Image taken from GigaParts.<\/p><\/div>\n

This may simply be a placeholder, or it may be that all of the upgrades are internal and the ‘818 form factor will be identical to the ‘817.<\/p>\n

Enough said…<\/p>\n

What we do<\/em> know about the Yaesu FT-818<\/h2>\n

Rumors of an FT-818 have been floating around the ham radio community for years. No surprise given the extraordinarily long run of the ‘817 series!<\/p>\n

We do have concrete details now since ham radio retailers have been given features, specifications and availability dates. It appears the upgrades are iterative–this is not a dramatically re-designed rig.<\/p>\n

Here’s what Yaesu has released (I took this from GigaParts<\/a>, but retailers are posting variations of the same announcement):<\/p>\n

Yaesu FT-818 6W HF\/VHF\/UHF All-Mode Portable Transceiver<\/strong><\/p>\n

The new Yaesu FT-818 incorporates all of the basic and attractive features of the ever-popular FT-817ND while providing upgrades desired by many existing owners.<\/p>\n

The FT-818 provides 6W of solid output power with an external DC power source. The supplied Ni-MH battery pack (SBR-32MH) has been upgraded to now provide larger battery capacity – 9.6v\/ 1900mAh. The recent launch of several new satellites is a certain indicator that the large global community of satellite enthusiast are going to be very delighted to learn that the FT-818 includes a Built-in TCXO-9 oscillator that gives the FT-818 fantastic frequency stability (\u00b10.5ppm).<\/p>\n

The FT-818 includes all the useful functions that are included in the FT-817ND: Dual VFOs; Split-Frequency operation; IF Shift; Clarifier \u201cR.I.T\u201d; IF Noise Blanker; RF Gain and Squelch control; IPO (Intercept Point Optimization); AM Aircraft reception; AM and FM Broadcast reception; VOX; Built-in Electronic Keyer; Adjustable CW Pitch; Automatic Repeater Shift (ARS); Built-in CTCSS Encoder\/ Decoders; 208 memory channels with 10 memory groups; two antenna connectors; Automatic Power-Off (APO) and Time-Out-Timer(TOT) functions; and so on.<\/p>\n

Features<\/strong><\/p>\n