FT7 Yaesu transceiver

My very first HF commercial transceiver was the 10W Yaesu FT-7 bought second hand in the late 1970s. 

It was a great rig and allowed me to work 10m QRP DXCC with 10W SSB back in the 1980s. This was with low wire dipoles and a CB  half wave antenna. 

By comparison with modern rigs it was big but it was very quiet on RX. If I had to rate it I would give it 11/10. In all my years it was the best transceiver I have ever owned. No synthesisers, no memories, fully analogue …just great.

Yaesu FT7

My first ever Yaesu rig was the 10W FT7, which I bought second hand in 1979. By modern standards it was big, but it was a great rig, enabling me to work 10m SSB QRP DXCC in the 1980s. Being this old, WARC bands were not included and on 10m, it only covered 500 kHz. 

Later, they brought out a 50W version (the FT7B) that covered all of 10m in 4 switched bands. Synthesizers and memories were in the future, so it had an analogue VFO. The RX was very quiet. It was one of the best rigs I have ever owned.

Several Yaesu rigs have been owned and I like Yaesu products, but feel they lost their way in recent years. Let's really hope they survive.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/commercial-rigs/yaesu-ft7 .

Yaesu FT7

One of the best rigs I have ever owned was the Yaesu FT7.  I owned this from 1979 and it was a 10W rig really aimed at mobile use. 

The receiver was exceptionally quiet. It had no memories, no synthesiser and did not cover the WARC bands and 6m as none of these existed back then. 

It was not small. In fact, it was considerably larger than the FT817/8 that covers more modes and bands.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/commercial-rigs/yaesu-ft7

Working DX

DX means different things to different people. 

To some, it is trying to work all countries available today on SSB, perhaps with the full legal power (or more!) and a big beam on a tower. To others it is working across town with uW powers.

Back in the 1980s I owned a Yaesu FT7. This was an HF only 10W rig. I worked DXCC with it and simple antennas (mostly dipoles) on SSB.

These days I am on RX more than TX. I still prefer QRP! If DXCC chasing is your "thing" fine.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/commercial-rigs/yaesu-ft7 .

FT7 HF transceiver

 I got mine second hand in 1979. It was a 10W SSB and CW rig covering all bands from 80-10m (no WARC bands then!), but with limited 10m coverage. With it, and wire dipoles, I worked DXCC QRP SSB on 10m. It ranks as one of the very best radios I have ever owned.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/commercial-rigs/yaesu-ft7 .

Yaesu FT7 transceiver

My first commercial HF rig was a 10W Yaesu FT7. It was used mainly on 10m SSB and enabled me to work all over the world with simple, low, wire dipoles. 

It was later sold to a friend, who still has it. 

It only covered part of 10m, used no synthesisers and had a modular design. It was very quiet on RX and was one of the best rigs I have ever owned.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/ft7 .

The video shows the FT7B which is the 50W version.

FT7 series

Back in the late 1970s I owned an FT7 transceiver. This produced 10W and allowed me to work all over the planet, mainly on 10m SSB. Contacts included New Zealand, which was about as far as possible. All these were with low wire dipoles - no beams!

Later Yaesu sold the FT7B, which was a higher power version which covered all of 10m. I never owned one of these. About 20 years later you could buy the FT817 which was a 5W portable including 6m, 2m and 70cm as well as FM.

Yaesu FT7 HF transceiver

This product was around in the late 1970s  and was a 10W rig intended for mobile use. By modern standards it was big. From memory it was about 6 times bigger than the FT817. It covered all the non WARC bands from 80-10m. On the latter band it only covered 500kHz. The later FT7B was 50W and had 4 switched bands to cover 10m. In those days there was no 6m in Europe and the WARC bands had not been allocated.

It was one of the quietest receivers I have ever owned. It was before the days of synthesisers. I liked mine and worked the world with it from home with simple 10m antennas and 10W SSB.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/ft7

The Yaesu FT7 HF transceiver

This was the first HF rig I bought, back in 1979. It was 10W on all the then HF bands. With it I worked all over the world on 10m QRP SSB using simple antennas (CB half wave vertical or wire dipoles). It was a very good radio.

It was never used mobile. These days more bands are possible in about a fifth of the size. It was sold to a friend in Cambridge many years ago.

It had a very quiet (non-synthesised) VFO. As I recall it only covered parts of 10m. The later FT7B had more power and full 10m coverage. This is the best rig I have ever owned.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/ft7 .

472kHz FT8 QSO anyone?

If anyone would like to give this a try, I am happy to try 472kHz FT8 this Sunday. Unless anyone can tell me different, I shall use 474.2kHz USB dial as my setting frequency and transmit in the few kilohertz HF of that, as for other bands.

Please contact me at rogerlapthorn (at) gmail.com if you want to give this a try. FT8 is about 10dB worse than WSPR so I may copy you, but you may not copy me!

Yaesu FT7 HF transceiver

Yaesu FT7 - a true classic

Way back in about 1979 I owned a Yaesu FT7. This was a 10W HF rig using a modular construction.  It was a beautiful radio with a lovely, quiet receiver.  It is probably the best radio I have ever owned and used. It predates WARC bands and only covered one 500kHz part of the 10m band and the non-WARC bands from 80m-10m. Today, it looks large. It was an analogue radio - no memories, no synthesisers - just a very good HF radio transceiver.  I worked all over the world with mine using QRP SSB and simple, low, wire antennas and no beams, mainly on 10m. In those days, most (all?) USA SSB was above 28.5MHz. Canadians were mainly below 28.5MHz.

My little FT817 has more bands and modes and is about 1/10th of the size.

I can thoroughly recommend the FT7, but they are very hard to find.  A later version was 50W pep and had full 10m coverage in 4 x 500kHz sections. The FT7 was a "real" radio - no gimmicks, just a truly amazing rig. Many who owned them and sold them (like me) later regretted selling them. As they say, these rigs are "keepers".  If you find one you are unlikely to be disappointed.  Also, the handbook was complete so you could service it and not an SMA component in sight!

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/ft7 .