FT-897 mods

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 1 Remove the 8 screws affixing the top panel of the transceiver and gently lift it off.

 2 Carefully remove the small 2-pin speaker plug from the left rear corner of the transceiver interior, then remove the heavier 6-pin plug from the connector inside the right side of the transceiver.
This can be removed by pushing on the tab to release the connector.

 3 Locate the nine jumpers. These are located about 2" from the front edge of the main unit and about 3/4" from the left edge. You now have a choice of 2 different mods:

For 144/430MHZ TX expansion only, remove the jumper at JP1002, leaving the other jumpers alone. For the 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. With the front of the rig facing forward, from the front of the rig to the back, the numbers of
the jumpers are as follows: 1003,1002,1001,1006,1005,1004,1009,1008, 1007.

Result of radio should look like below after FULL mod was done:

----BACK OF RADIO------
1007 - Jumper
1008 - Jumper
1009 - Jumper
1004 - Blank
1005 - Blank
1006 - Jumper
1001 - Blank
1002 - Blank
1003 - Blank
----FRONT OF RADIO-----

 4 Replace the top panel

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

 6 The radio is now complely reset to all the original factory settings except that it now is able to transmit 1.8-56 MHz, 137-164
MHz, and 420-470 MHz. You will need to reprogram all the menu operations and memory channels

YAESU FT-897 / FC-30 Fan modification
I use the FT-897 with the optional Antenna-Tuner FC-30.
It always makes me nervous if a fan is running, but in modern rigs it seems to be a normal (annoying) thing. Nevertheless this waste valuable energie when you use the FT-897 as a portable with its internal NiMh-Accus.
If the FC-30 is connected its fan runs all the time - thats needlessly ! So I decided to integrate a temperature-switch ...

I found a small circuit at www.conrad.de with the order no. 114421, sized like a stamp. You only have to cut the fan wireing and integrate this circuit - very easy.

Adjust the circuit that it switched off the fan at a normal (room-)temperature. A LED is on the module ... its very helpful and there is no need to connect the fan for adjustment.

Then place the temperature-sensor near the coil in the FC-30; - I fixed the circuit with double-side tape.



 Full size

Thats all !
Mars/Cap mod for Yaesu FT-897
  1. 1- Remove top cover of radio being careful to remove speaker and battery switch connectors.

     
  2. 2- 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.

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

     
  4. 4- 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

 

DRM modification for Yaesu FT-897
FFor recieving DRM we had the following equipment:

Remove the upper cover from the transceiver.

Look for the slots for optional CW or SSB filter (backside, left)

It’s labelled: J24 and J23 Bridge the left two pins of J24 – so the software will use this slot as if the SSB filter is installed.

Put a 120 pF capacitor between the right pin of J24 and the right pin of J23. The third pin of J23 is connected to ground.

Connect the DRM mixer module to the two right pins of J23 (ground and 455 kHz IF in) – see page 3 (1) and (2).

You can get the voltage for the mixer from the right backside of the transceiver (only + needed).

For using the DRM receiver you have to use the 2.3 kHz optional Filter setting in Menue N (that’s the reason for the J24 jumper).

Opened transceiver:

                         

Filter slots:

                          
                          

FIL-1 schematic:

                                                          

                             
                             

 

FT-897 mod for SGC-230 DC power
the FT-897 a lot with the SGC-230 smartuner, a fine combination. Because I installed the optional power supply and also when operationg on a DC battery, I wanted a easy solution to power my SGC-230.
  1. Remove bottom cover or optional power supply FP-30

     
  2. Locate the red and black wire for main power supply to board

     
  3. Insert two short wires through the smal hole next to the power socket

     
  4. Solder those two wires (red & black) onto the board, there are two free solderpoints below the power cords

     
  5. Secure the soldered wires against pulling with small straps (also just behind the chassis)

     
  6. Replace the bottom cover or power supply.

     
  7. You can additionally use smal straps to align the two female DC connectors.

I used 0.75mm˛ wire so I have more than enough current without risk. You could insert an extra fuse for further protection.

The SGC-230 takes up 0.9 Amps while operation. Other models even use less current.

The mods is very easy to carry out and doesn't require high skills, but I recommend using a decent soldering iron.
This mod is great, now I can hook up my SGC-230 (or even another low current device) in a very compact and decent way.
The mod can be easely reversed if needed.

 

FT897/857/817 Jumpers by Software
The small program is to update the Jumper settings for the Yaesu FT897, FT817 and FT857 via the CAT interface.

It is available in the FT897 group on yahoo: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FT897/files/softjump.zip

This program allows you to perform the jumper modification without modifying the hardware on your radio.

 

Installing The FT-897 Options
Here are a few photos showing the procedure to install the optional filters, TXCO-9 and internal batteries to the Yaesu FT-897 rig. There's nothing hard about installing any of these modifications. The instructions in the Yaesu manual are fairly comprehensive and the menu options to select them are easy to get right.

Make sure to get the filters and TXCO-9 round the right way. It's worth noting that the actual filters are labeled with different part numbers than on the boxes! The YF-122S is marked XF-119SN and the YF-122C is marked XF-119C. Please email me if you have any questions or comments. Click on any of the pictures to see it in full detail. Hover your mouse over the pictures to see my comments on it.

The rig opened up. The optional filters go in the big space on the RHS. The 2.3KHz YF-122S filter installed. The 500Hz CW filter YF-122C installed.

The standard oscillator - in the corner near the power plug. The TXCO-9 oscillator installed. The rig after the options are installed - very neatly laid out!

You have to remove these plugs in the rear panel. To remove them, rotate them carefully until the lugs line up with the slots then push them out. Keep them safe - you may want them later! The battery compartment. One battery added (sorry, no picture with both yet...).

Legal notice - All the material on this website is Copyright 2003 Dave Fifield, AD6A, all rights reserved - please ask for permission if you would like to utilize any or all of it in any form other than for your own immediate personal use.

 

FT-897 Second Menu (Adjustmenu) fuctions
Their is a second set of menu functions F01 to F74.

WARNING: changing these will reset all the memories.

I want to warn you do not change these values unless you are sure of what you are doing. To get them turn transceiver off. Press and hold the A,B,C keys; while holding them in, press and hold in the [PWR] switch for 1/2 second to turn the tranceiver On. Now let go of all keys. Then press and hold func key for 1/2 second to get to the menu and then rotate the select knob to get to a second menu (F01 to F74). When you turn the rig off and back on it returns to normal menu. Here is a list of the 74 second menu functions. 

Function Setting in my radio
=============================================================
Adjust-No      Function            Setting  Mode    Frequency
=============================================================
NO-001         HF1-RXG             118        CW     1.800.00
NO-002         HF2-RXG              91         CW     7.068.19
NO-003         HF3-RXG             133        CW    21.225.13
NO-004         50M-RXG             106        CW    50.000.00
NO-005         VHF-RXG             77         CW   145.437.50
NO-006         UHF-RXG            103        CW   438.900.00
NO-007         SSB-S9                  61         CW    21.225.13
NO-008         SSB-FS                  54         CW    21.225.13
NO-009         FM-S1                   68         FM   145.437.50
NO-010         FM-FS                   99         FM   145.437.50
NO-011         DISC-L                  50         FM   145.437.50
NO-012         DISC-H                 79         FM   145.437.50
NO-013         FM-TH1              100        FM   145.437.50
NO-014         FM-TH2              100        FM   145.437.50
NO-015         FM-TI1                 10         FM   145.437.50
NO-016         FM-TI2                 10         FM   145.437.50
NO-017         VCC                     138        FM   145.437.50
NO-018         HF1-IC                 83         CW     1.800.00
NO-019         HF2-IC                 80         CW     7.068.19
NO-020         HF3-IC                  87         CW    21.225.13
NO-021         50M-IC                 84         CW    50.000.00
NO-022         VHF-IC                 72         CW   145.437.50
NO-023         UHF-IC                74         CW   438.900.00
NO-024         HF1-PO-MAX          165        CW     1.800.00
NO-025         HF1-PO-MID2         105        CW     1.800.00
NO-026         HF1-PO-MID1         31         CW     1.800.00
NO-027         HF1-PO-MIN          13         CW     1.800.00
NO-028         HF2-PO-MAX          159        CW     7.068.19
NO-029         HF2-PO-MID2         102        CW     7.068.19
NO-030         HF2-PO-MID1         29         CW     7.068.19
NO-031         HF2-PO-MIN          11         CW     7.068.19
NO-032         HF3-PO-MAX          158        CW    21.225.13
NO-033         HF3-PO-MID2         101        CW    21.225.13
NO-034         HF3-PO-MID1         29         CW    21.225.13
NO-035         HF3-PO-MIN          11         CW    21.225.13
NO-036         50M-PO-MAX          145        CW    50.000.00
NO-037         50M-PO-MID2         92         CW    50.000.00
NO-038         50M-PO-MID1         47         CW    50.000.00
NO-039         50M-PO-MIN          8          CW    50.000.00
NO-040         VHF-PO-MAX          87         CW   145.437.50
NO-041         VHF-PO-MID          43         CW   145.437.50
NO-042         VHF-PO-MIN          7          CW   145.437.50
NO-043         UHF-PO-MAX          112        CW   438.900.00
NO-044         UHF-PO-MIN          16         CW   438.900.00
NO-045         HF1-TXG             48         USB    1.800.00
NO-046         HF2-TXG             38         USB    7.068.19
NO-047         HF3-TXG             43         USB   21.225.13
NO-048         50M-TXG             40         USB   50.000.00
NO-049         VHF-TXG             47         USB  145.437.50
NO-050         UHF-TXG             49         USB  438.900.00
NO-051         ALC1-M              203        USB   21.225.13
NO-052         ALC-M               85         USB   21.225.13
NO-053         HF1-REV-ALC         61         CW     1.800.00
NO-054         HF2-REV-ALC         56         CW     7.068.19
NO-055         HF3-REV-ALC         50         CW    21.225.13
NO-056         50M-REV-ALC         47              CW    50.000.00
NO-057         VHF-REV-ALC         62              CW   145.437.50
NO-058         UHF-REV-ALC         57              CW   438.900.00
NO-059         CW-CAR-LEVEL        144          CW    21.225.13
NO-060         AM-CAR-LEVEL        125          AM    21.225.13
NO-061         DEV-W               216                     FM   145.437.50
NO-062         DEV-N               110                       FM   145.437.50
NO-063         MOD-MTR             200                 FM   145.437.50
NO-064         DTMF-DEV            10                    FM   145.437.50
NO-065         CTCSS-DEV           233                  FM   145.437.50
NO-066         DCS-DEV             168                     FM   145.437.50
NO-067         LSB-CAR-POINT       -7                LSB   21.225.13
NO-068         USB-CAR-POINT       +5              USB   21.225.13
NO-069         VSWR2 at 10W        17                  CW    14.257.90
NO-070         VSWR3 at 10W        42                  CW    14.257.90
NO-071         ATAS-TEST                                   LSB   14.257.90
NO-072         AMTR-TEST                                  LSB   14.257.90
NO-073         HTEMP-THRESHOLD     38         LSB   14.257.90
NO-074         FTEMP-THRESHOLD     102        LSB   14.257.90


 

FT-897 jumper sheet
 

                                                      Click on image to enlarge

         Click to enlarge
FT-897 mike-fix for better audio
The MH-31 delivered with some Yaesu-radio's, e.g. the FT-897, is an acoustic disaster - too bassy for "westerners"; -a very simple modification makes the mike OK.
  1. Take off the back-cover of the mike (3 screws).

     
  2. Loosen the three black screws and loosen the printed circuit.

     
  3. Carefully take out the mike- cartridge.

     
  4. With a VERY small soldering-iron-tip, burn a little hole in the middle of the membrane, max 1 - 2 mm wide; start with the smallest! Reassemble the mike! - and test it on the air.

This little mod. takes away the worst bass - on-the-air-reports indicate a dramatic improvement!

Don't blame me, if u spoil the mike - by a new cartridge!!