WideBand Info for the FT-817, FT-897 and the FT-857

[Redaktion]

WideBand Info for the FT-817, FT-897 and the FT-857

This is a very simple web page to help people understand what is involved in widebanding your Radio,

There may be other ways to do the widebanding detailed here but the methods below are these that are commonly used.

The FT-8x7 range all share a very simlary software and so it just as easy to change the settings of one as the others please read all the information on this page before doing anything to your radio.



We will consider first the FT-817 , infact the mod is bascily the same and i will give details if there is any difference.

First, the drawbacks of the mod.....

When any of these radio are widebanded you will lose the automatic repeater shift (ARS), this can not be helped, the radio when suppiled is set to the band plan of the country that it is sold in and so knows where that regions repeater freqs are etc so all is well, but when widebanded the set will no longer be restriced to one regions band plan and so will no longer perform automatic repeater shifts since it doesnt know where to shift and where not to!

also the shift may be over writen to a no standard value for your region, the shift can just be set again in the menus (item 42 for the 817, but needs setting in each band)

The repeater shift can just be called manually now so it may be best to program the memory channels with the repeaters together with the shifts and you will nevery need to worry about it again.

Now the advantages of the mod .....

The radio now as no TX restrictions,

You will have to becareful now because if you can hear it you can talk back to it, with the exception of the AIR band and the FM broadcast bands these radios will transmit from about 1Mhz up to all the freqs that the radio will receive , this means that now the set will allow you full 40M Inc the new 7.100 to 7.200 MHz chunk and 60M (Only use it if you have a NoV for that band) ,I know people that also use these radios on the 11m (CB) bands,on VHF and UHF it will transmit on all the PMR freqs inc the 446 licence free band (IT MAY NOT BE LEGAL TO DO THIS IN YOUR COUNTRY SO CHECK!).

Ok so you have decided you want to do the mod, ok well you have another choice,

1) The hardware mod:-

This involves openning the radios case and soldering/unsoldering small bolbs on the main PCB, if this scares you or your worried about possible warrenty issuies then stop now!, look at the software mod below. If you happy with a soldering iron and dont have a CAT lead for your radio then this may be the way to go for you.

2) The Software mod:-

This needs a CAT cable to allow you to connect a computer to the radio, it is very very easy to do and only takes a couple of seconds, it can be reversed at any time and does not require you to open the case of your radio, in my opinion this is the way to go, but of course its upto you, but i know which way i would go.



So lets look at the mods :

1) The Hardware Mod :

FT-817 (This mod taken from the QRZ.com web site)


1. Remove any power or battery from the Radio.

2. Remove the 14 screws holding the top and bottom covers to the radio.

3. Remove the battery cover latch.

4. Remove the covers.

5. Remove the BNC retaining nut.

6. Carefully lift the 4 plastic tabs holding the front panel to the
chassis and slightly move the front panel forward.

7. Disconnect the ribbon cable that connects the chassis and the
front panel.

8. Remove the jumper at location on Front Panel (J4005)

9. Press and hold the "VFO/MR" key and the "F" key while turning on
the radio.

10. Reassemble the radio.

FT-857 mod:-

Modification for TX:
1.8-56MHz, 137-164MHz, 420-470MHz

Remove the seven screws affixing the top panel of the transceiver, and gently lift it upward.


Carefully remove the small 2-pin speaker plug from the left rear corner of the transceiver interior then remove the top case and set it aside for the moment.


Locate the nine jumpers about 2" from the front edge of the main unit and about 3/4" from the left edge. For 144/430MHz expansion only, remove the jumper at JP1002, leaving the other jumpers alone. For complete expansion per the above listing, place jumpers at JP1007/1008/1009, and remove the jumpers at JP1001/1002/1003/1004/1005 (leave the jumper at JP1006 in place). NOTE THE UNUSUAL SEQUENCE FOR THE NUMBERING.


Replace the top panel; don't forget to re-connect the speaker lead removed in step 2.


With the transceiver off, press and hold in the [F] and [V/M] keys; while holding them in, turn the radio on. Modification is now complete.

Thanks to Hanno Vogels, DG8JZ

FT-897 Mod:- (taken from Mods.dk Site)
Remove top cover of radio being careful to remove speaker and battery switch connectors.


Locate Q1049 number on chip is HD64F2134FA20.. There are 9 solder pads connected to this chip through D1044, D1047, and D1048. On my radio pads 6, 7, and 8 are populated. Number 1 pad would be closer to the rear of the radio.


Populate pads 1, 2, and 3 with a piece of fine wire or just bridge the gap with solder.


Reset the radio by pressing and holding "V/M" and "F" buttons while turning on the radio. You will hear a series of beeps.
After mod radio will transceive 1.8-56 MHz, 137-164 MHz, and 420-470 MHz. With this mod it will not transmit between 118 and 137 MHz.

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Well thats the hardware mods, i have not tested them so please make sure your happy with these mods , dont blame me!

Lets look at a much better way (IMO) The software mod

I have written a simple little program that will do the widebanding with the need to get the soldering iron out and the one program will do all three radios.

download the WidebanderV4 program from this site or the files section of either of the 817/857 or 897 user group on Yahoo

For most users all you need to do is connect the CAT lead (NOT A DATA LEAD!!!) between the radio and the PC and run the software, select the CAT rate your radio is set to and the com (Serial) port of your PC (Normally No 1) and click wideband, to return it back to standard do the same at any time and click "Standard", its that easy!

if you get a error message when you run the program you may need to download the VB6 runtimes and possibly have a important communication file (MSCOMM32.ocx ) missing from your PC, in either case drop me a email at m0bmn@yahoo.co.uk and i will sort you out.

There is another program called softjump that will work just the same as mine but uses a Dos interface, if you perfer please use that it will do just the same thing for you but i havnt tested it myself (But im sure it works fine and it has been used many times by others)

[Alexander]

I like to add some more info about the jumpers J1~J9 in the FT-897:

VHF 144-146 TX/RX and UHF 430-440 TX/RX: J1, J2, J3 are ON (standard TX/RX, mostly Europe)
VHF 144-146 TX, 118-164 RX and UHF 430-440 TX, 420-470: J1, J2 are ON, J3 is OFF (standard TX, extended RX)
VHF 137-164 TX, 118-164 RX and UHF 420-470 Tx/RX: J1 is ON, J2 and J3 are OFF (Extended TX/RX,)

NB: if J8 is ON, VHF = 144-146 (Europe), if J8 is OFF, VHF=144-148 (USA)
if J8 is ON, UHF = 430-440 (Europe), if J8 is OFF, UHF=430-450 (USA)

if J8 is ON and J&, J9 is OFF, RPT SHIFT is ON
if J8 is ON and J&, J9 is ON, RPT SHIFT is OFF

UHF 432-438 TX an d 432-438 RX: J1, J2, J3, J7 are ON (standard TX, extended RX, I think Asia)
UHF 432-438 TX an d 420-470 RX: J1, J2, J7 are ON and J3 is OFF (Extended TX/RX, I think Asia)

Alaska Emergency Frequency ON: J6= ON and J7 <> J9 (so if J7 is ON, J9 must be OFF and vise versa)

HF 0.1-30 / 50-54 / 87.5-108 (RxX) J1, J3 are ON (Standard)
HF 0.1-30 / 33-56 / 76-108 (RX) J1 is ON (Extended)

And of course MARS/CAP, as mentioned above: J1, J6, J7, J8, J9 are ON

So carefull if you live in Europe and want to have extended (T)RX, the ARS (Automatic Repater Shift) will NOT work.

Suc6,
73's de Alexander, pe1juz