Yaesu FT-818

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The Yaesu FT-818 is one of a long line of FT-Series compact transceivers - the range of variations of the FT-Series 'ultra compacts' includes dual band multimode (VHF/UHF) through to the most recent variant, the FT-818ND, which is a MF/HF/VHF/UHF multimode general-coverage receiver & amateur radio transceiver. The set is built by the Japanese Yaesu Musen Co., Ltd. and was first available in March 2018. Whilst it may not be the smallest (all the 'compact' portable FT's were small for their era) any more, in terms of what is essentially an old-school pure analogue design PLL synthesised conventional control arrangement transceiver, as opposed to most similar and more recent designs being mostly SDR aka software-defined radio transceiver types which are primarily digital circuitry and technology based, it is still essentially a very compact and very small true portable which is, as many owners of it & the 817 predecessor will confirm, literally as suited to man-pack type usage as easily as used shoulder slung as usable as a QRP transceiver transportable or simply as a base station QRP unit. ^[1] Incorporating (as a common FT-Series compact transceiver feature) battery powered use via an internal nickel metal hydride type rechargeable battery pack (or in pre-817 designs, use of nickel cadmium AA cells) & a substitutable AA type alkaline battery holder (mirroring pre-817 era units), an on board keyer facility, the essentially (and fairly comprehensively when 'wide banded' fully, all analogue mode/all band Rx capability and in 'wide banded' form, close to Tx capable on almost every selectable band it supports, and a supplied tri-band three part flexible helical type antenna, the set is by general design (as many owners will confirm) particularly well suited for portable use and QRP use in general. The radio comes with the AA cell holder fitted from the factory, with the nickel hydride rechargeable pack reconfiguration a case of extracting the (empty) AA holder and unplugging it then plugging in and fitting the nickel hydride pack - no requirement to change any settings on the radio or move jumpers etc.

Note, you can improve the operational time on internal power with a higher capacity aftermarket or home built nickel hydride pack built with higher capacity cells, or use an aftermarket or DIY built Li-Ion pack. Rechargeable 1.5V Li-Ion AA substitutes can be used with the AA holder, but the AA holder has wired inhibited non-recharge capability using the radio's inbuilt charger. For reference, this was tested/verified using TENAVOLT branded Li-Ion AA substitutes by the amending author, but not officially supported.

^[2]

Technical description[]

The FT-818 incorporates all the features of the popular FT-817ND while providing several desirable upgrades - in fact, it's more of an evolution of the FT-817 & ND variant in the sense that it incorporates various revision difference that evolved over the FT-817 variants and adds a few extra pieces of band coverage to reflect additional HF band allocations (international and US/CANADA specific) coverage. The FT-818 provides 6W output power with an external DC power source. The supplied Ni-MH battery pack (SBR-32MH) has increased capacity - 9.6v/ 1900mAh. Satellite enthusiasts can take advantage of the FT-818's built-in TCXO-9 oscillator, that gives increased frequency stability (±0.5ppm). The oscillator upgrade is one of the series of evolutionary features and commonly applied modifications to the earlier FT-817 - but retains the option, as with the earlier FT-817 variants, use of optional CW and SSB specific narrower bandwidth/higher rejection RF filters to improve the receiver further - given it has an incredibly sensitive receiver for it's era of design (keeping in mind it's core design is about 20 years old) and even by today's receiver technology standards, under heavy 'pile up' contesting or when listening to ultra low signal quality and weak signals on HF, some may find an optional plug-in filter (which is then software selectable via the front panel in use) of value. A notable feature, not essentially listed but easily noticed, is that that same extreme sensitivity on HF is fairly proportionally mirrored on the VHF/UHF side of the receiver - an area where typically you find compromise on wide band receivers leads to a HF focus or VHF/UHF focus.

Evidence of its receive sensitivity characteristics can be seen from the outset where, whilst the three part front mounted helical (for man pack and shoulder slung/ self contained portable usage primarily) antenna which uses the front panel BNC connector (which is the default antenna socket selected when you switch the set to 6M/VHF Broadcast/VHF Air Band/2M & 70cm usages, all lower frequencies/longer wavelength bands default to the rear mounted SO-239 socket) with the appropriate pairing of two of the three sections (main section & shortest for 70cms essentially, main & longer part for 6M/VHF Broadcast/VHF Air Band/2M) will clearly demonstrate how sensitive the receiver is even though a fairly wide band usage (in non-UHF assembly) compromise antenna is in use - notably where there is activity on 6m, you'll hear something at least and have a good chance at communication on 6m locally. This is notable as often factory supplied 'compromised' antennas are often only effectively useful on one band, and pretty much given the impression of a 'deaf' insensitive^{[disambiguation needed]} seemingly dead receiver outside of the band the antenna is primarily cut for. But notably, to see the best shoulder-slung/ man pack use in receiver and transmitter use, an aftermarket/DIY BNC fit antenna (or BNC adaptor fitted example where not normally supplied with a BNC connection) such as a set of tactical type antennas such as a tri-band (dual VHF and single UHF typically covering the common tri-band coverage of many USA market VHF/UHF radios) for upwards of 6M use, one for 6m or 10m (according to preference/need or both) and a few 'whip' tactical types to provide some more single band specific HF usage for man pack/portable use (for HF, if using the BNC socket, the user needs to alter the radio's antenna socket setting to read 'FRONT' to route HF coverage to front BNC. For indoor/base usage or fixed/temporary static antenna use, the default 'HF on the rear socket' can be left set and where you will use a multi band wide band single antenna to cover 6m upwards, the user can change the antenna socket selection to route 6m & above to the rear socket (where you would probably expect to connect a linear RF amplifier or linear RF amplifier / RX pre-amplifier, or anything else that goes inline with the radio's antenna socket such as an ATU antenna tuner.

For data modes & telegraphy, use of the inbuilt keyed module combined with a cable to connect the AF or data lines of the CAT and ACC sockets to a computer (AF using a computer's sound card mic and headphone sockets or line-in/line-out rocketry or more simply using a USB Audio adaptor and a cable, or a prebuilt connection kit for such). A factory spec adaptor, SCU-17, and a CT-92 additional cable (where some data modes can be better used using ACC+CAT wiring) will provide a nearly 'plug n play' reasonable simple one unit solution to the data connection & control and audio interface via USB audio & USB Serial devices as seen by Windows/Linux/Mac systems and (with more device specific apps) some modern smartphone types that can recognise USB Audio/Serial accessories.

One feature, not uncommon with modern radio technology due to inherent digital based transmitter/rceiver design - but not always with analogue 'era' specific radio transceivers, is that it is easily 'wide banded' further to allow (where legal and under permit for transmit usage) both extended transmit and receive capability at mostly similar output power levels to that of the transmitter section in use on any such 'out of band' usage. Whilst this isn't something you'd use, on the whole beyond its added Rx capability (of which the additional 'wide banding' mod can be applied to just the receiver if keeping the set import and export rules compliant is necessary or desirable which may be a factor if resold and shipped abroad) - it does require PCB level modification of solder jumper changes to achieve and a factory reset.

It benefits vehicle users needing discrete QRP operation, as a result of its ultra compact (as branded by Yaesu) design, the usage where a true portable mobile/portable set is desirable and it's compact size allows comfortably for it to be stowed and wired in the glove compartment of a vehicle, in a side door pocket, ceiling mounted or dashboard/under-slung under dashboard mounting without being particularly intrusive. Mobile users would probably find an external speaker useful when driving - but this leads to mention of a usually overlooked feature - the switchable output level of the combined side mounted headphones/speaker AF output. With the volume set correctly, the headphone setting could allow for the radio's external AF output to be fed via a cable into the aux input on some in-car entertainment units for a portable audio source. If an owner chooses to undertake the process, there are aftermarket bluetooth adaptors for the CAT mini DIN and microphone/speaker microphone RJ45 sockets - where near suitable low level input and output audio feeds are available to exploit if a vehicle owner/user has BT or wired fixed hands-free equipment, and as such the PTT or Vox-triggered PTT standard set capability can be exploited similar to how it would be achieved for base station use.

Whilst adding aftermarket BT support adds to the cost, the cost of hardwiring external PTT and audio routing for a handsfree wired usage in vehicle is more a cost of a few very cheap components (mostly connectors) and re-use of a sacrificial spare [Ethernet] cable can make hard wiring a handsfree setup fairly easily achieved.

Technical specifications^[2][]

• RX Freq coverage: 100 kHz-30 MHz, 50 MHz-54 MHz, 76 MHz-154 MHz, 420 MHz-470 MHz
• TX Freq coverage: 160 - 6 Meters, 2 Meters, 70 Centimeters (Amateur bands only), 5.1675 MHz Alaskan Emergency Frequency (USA only)
• Power consumption: 13.8 V DC @ transmit 2.7A, @ receive 450mA. *Operating voltage range: within 8.0 - 16.0V (AA alkaline batteries: 12.0V; Ni-MH battery: 9.6V)
• Tuning steps: 100 Hz AM, FM; 10 Hz SSB, CW
• Dimensions: 135 x 38 x 165 mm
• Weight appx.: 900g
• Emission: CW, SSB, AM, FM, Digital mode
• Power output: 6W (SSB,CW,FM), 2W (AM, carrier) @ 13.8V
• Carrier suppression: better than 40 dB below rated output
• Opp. sideband suppression: better than 50 dB below peak output
• Spurious Radiation: –50 dB (1.8-29.7 MHz)

–60 dB (50/144/430 MHz)

• Transmitter freq response: 400 – 2600 Hz (-6 dB)
• Stability: ±0.5 ppm
• Ant output impedance: 50 Ohms unbalanced (front BNC connector, rear UHF (SO-239) connector)
• Microphone output impedance: 200-10k Ohms (Nominal: 600 Ohms)
• Image rejection: HF/50 MHz: 70 dB, 144/430 MHz: 60 dB
• IF rejection: 60 dB
• Selectivity: -6 dB 2.2 kHz, -60 dB 4.5 kHz
• Audio output: 1 W @ 10% THD, 8 Ohms

References[]

• Known verified end-user information in the public domain, and amending contributor's personal objective experience of equipment and knowledge of items not originally mentioned but useful expansion and clarification of previous edit/article

External links[]

• FT-818 Reviews