These days there are lots of good QRP rigs available such as the KX2 and KX3 and the uBITX kits, as well as many others. The FT818 really looks pathetic by comparison.
See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/ft817 . This page is mainly about the FT817, but it also looks at the FT818.
See also http://www.hfsignals.com/ .
5 comments:
I've just assembled a uBITx.. very impressed for the money! G6AIG
uBITx circuit board is very well built.
How many QRP rigs are there that do 80m to 70cm? I only know of one.
How many rugged QRP rigs are there really? Certainly not the Elecraft jobs.
How does the FT-817, and now FT-818 stack up for price? At least compared the Elecraft rigs, which seem to be the primary competitor. The Yaesu beats it hands down. (Admittedly if you compare the Bitx it's far behind.)
The Yaesu product might not be fancy, but it's a reliable platform that I reckon has got a few years left in it yet.
Mind you, if someone can produce a similar rig for a couple of hundred less, it'll take off.
All am saying is Yaesu "missed the boat" and this looks like a company in deep trouble. If they had a forward looking marketing department they would have launched a much better product some 4-5 years sooner. As it is, some loyal followers may buy it, but many will give the FT818 a miss, especially if they already have the FT817. Had it a LiIon battery, speech processor, auto ATU etc they might have had a bit of a chance. As a very minor FT817 upgrade, I think Yaesu are struggling. The FT818 will be more expensive than the FT817ND, yet offer very little new. Personally, I think this will sink Yaesu, unless they really introduce some new, wanted (and expected) features. Bye, bye Yaesu? Please turn out the lights when you leave.
It seems to me that Yaesu has staked everything on System Fusion which is a fad.
The CommRadio CTX-10 costs $1k, but it's much more rugged and has more features.
https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hamhf/6010.html
Weighs the same as the FT-818, has more power, an ATU, better filters, and better batteries.
Yaesu should have made the FT-818 a 6M - 70cm all-mode rig, maybe with 1.25M for North America. People would have bought that for satellite work.
-KD0TLS
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