Looking at the FT-857

I found this data from YO3HJV site:

TIP for mobile users:
Two male RJ11 and 3m of 6 wire telephone cable for front panel, one male and one female RJ45 and 3m of 8 wire FTP cable for microphone.
The main issue is how to find a proper receptacle for the front panel... Well, this receptacle is right on the radio, and is fixed on 4 screws. It's part number on the service manual is RA0450600 as shown on the picture below:

You can unscrew that receptacle and used it with some PDA support to attach it on the windshield with a suction cup. I use the same solution with my FT 8900...
It is the best solution for who is interested in a permanent mobile solution. Why spend a lot of $$$ on a "mobile separation kit"???
73! de yo3hjv
Adrian

Compact, full featured, modern look

Crammed into the little enclosure is an 100kHz-500MHz transceiver (receiving. Transmitting is subject to ham band limitations) with most of the modern bells and whistles that anyone could want, and which can supply 100 watts on 160-6 meters, 50 watts on 2 meters, and 20 watts on the 440 MHz band.
Is operating in the CW, AM, SSB, FM, and digital modes.
The main purpose of this radio is to be installed as a mobile rig, with removable front plate which can be mounted away from the main unit.
The single limitation of this kind of installation is the microphone and the speaker, which are connected directly to the main unit thus a second cable will be necessary.
I purchase this radio in the spring of 2006 from WIMO, a reseller located in Germany. I was, somehow, budget-orientated. My HSU (Ham Speding Units) was around 650 EUR and this radio fits very well (620EUR+shipping 36EUR) so I ordered right away!
I was very happy to have a "all band-all mode HF+VHF+UHF transceiver in one box. Furthermore, I needed a radio which could be the basis for a very portable station for field use. The FT-857 fills both requirements nicely.
The first approach to this radio was to download a pdf user manual (operations manual) to see the features and to imagine what I can do with it. This is a habit to me in order to be already familiar with a new radio because I am a real ham and real hams do not read the manual when a radio is sitting in front!
The first thing I did when the radio arrived was to look inside...
I liked the solid aluminum frame in the central section and how the circuit boards are fitted! A solid frame is the key for a good thermal behavior and also a good backbone for a mobile or portable radio.
The FT-857 is build to last and to survive a lot of mechanical abuse.

The top circuit board contains all of the low level electronics. Although there is no space left over, nothing seems crammed into the space at all.
I saw a lot of radios from inside. Also I was a constructor of radios and other electronic things... It's like a classic painting what the Yaesu engineers manage to do in this box! Nevertheless, their work has made a design which is logical, clean, easy to repair and should be very reliable.
The bottom circuit board contains the separate HF and VHF/UHF power amplifiers, and all of the band switching components. Once again, the board looks full but very logical, with a very clean layout. The heat from the power transistors is coupled directly to the main casting, and the twin fans provide the air movement necessary to extract the heat from the unit. The fans run only when necessary, with variable speed, so the unit is quiet most of the time.
I purchase an optional original Yaesu SSB filter but on receiving it isn't what I expected! But in Tx-ing reports are better than the built-in ceramic filter, so i will keep it. The picture shows the two optional filters.

I like
This radio is tiny and modular. The removable faceplate is a good thing for mobile installation and even for a crowded ham shack. If space is principal consideration, then the FT-857D is the best all=mode all-band full-power space-saver currently available.
The price also is good! Do not expect to have performances like a Kenwood TS2000! It is a very good radio in it's price range!
Reasonable front panel – With small size comes along the necessity to cram the front panel functionality into a minimum of controls. Reading the manual is absolutely required in order to get the maximum functionality out of the FT-857. However, the controls are well-thought-out, and benefit from a couple of generations of small equipment with few controls. The function selection and the menus allow everything to be controlled, and they have obviously thought through the usability of these. After a few weeks of trying every feature, I can go directly to what I need without referring to the manuals any more. For anything this complex, that is high praise.
Receive audio is quite good – The primary limitation on receive audio is the tiny speaker in the case. For any real use, it cries out for an external speaker. I have plugged in high-quality external speakers, and the audio is as good. There is also plenty of audio power available. Driving an inefficient old acoustic suspension speaker is no problem at all. Furthermore, there is a headphone jack on the front left side of the FT-857, which makes headphone use an easy thing. They provide a switch to change the power level on the headphone jack so that if you should want to power a larger speaker from that jack, the FT-857 will drive it. This is very well thought-out.
External programming software – After I bought the radio, I also bought the ADMS-4B programming software. The programming cable I made it myself with just two bipolar transistors and some passive components. Also I like how interacts with the Ham Radio Deluxe CAT, but the credits goes to the authors of the software!
DSP - Is OK for a audio only DSP and performs well on a crowd band. Also useful with the QRM and best on static noises.
All band coverage, including the CB which is very useful on the road! Unfortunately, I was not able to make a good installation on my new car...
Adjustable drag on Dial Knob. No more to say about! Not to many hams are aware about this feature!

I don't like
No direct frequency entry - Unless you buy the fancy external microphone, it is not possible to do direct frequency entry. I can solve this with one easy purchase, but I already know how difficult can be as I have a ICOM IC2100 with a remote mic. Not so bad, but sometime I miss this feature.
No built-in tuner – I solved this with an external LDG AT-11MP and later a Z100 also from LDG (in portable operations) which matches the size of the radio, and will load up nearly anything. I read a lot of reviews for Yaesu tuners and I don't want to buy one! I also miss a OTT (One Touch Tuning) switch on the front panel! Could be useful a single switch to put a CW, 5W for external ATU.
Unlabeled back panel – There is a sticker on the bottom of the radio showing which of the many back panel connectors do what, but I miss having the labels where I can see them. I used a permanent ink pen to make my own "labels".
A connector or a hole or whatever to ground the radio direct to the chassis. I really miss this because I like to have a well grounded shack! I drive a hole through the rear aluminum solid block to connect a wire for grounding... Grrrr...
The SELECTOR knob is very poor! Is some optical switch with a high failure rate! Mine is fail to switch in the needed direction. Forward-back-forward when switching only forward or backward...
So that is it. I consider the FT-857 to be a really good deal in a ham radio transceiver, and one which is well-suited to anyone needing one which will fit into a very small space or need a second radio for field day, portable or DX-expeditions. I really like my Kenwood TS-2000X "Big Rig" with all of the controls up-front, but the FT-857 does very well within the small space it requires.
In the spring of 2007 I sold the radio to purchase a Kenwood TS2000X. After the radio "travelled" from ham to ham, I bought it back in order to go in Elba Island, portable. So, Is here to stay... or to go portable again!
73! de YO3HJV

I found similar information from W4TI.

Review: Yaesu FT-857

The Tiny Powerhouse
The Yaesu FT-857 is a little marvel. Crammed into the enclosure is an MF, HF, VHF and UHF transceiver with most of the modern bells and whistles that anyone could want, and which can supply 100 watts on 160-6 meters, 50 watts on 2 meters, and 20 watts on the 440 MHz band. It is capable of operating in the CW, AM, SSB, FM, and digital modes. The engineers have built what seems to be intended as a mobile transceiver, suitable for installation in a vehicle, with a removable face plate which can be mounted separately from the electronics package.
I purchased the FT-857 with a dual purpose in mind. First I need a compact transceiver which can fit into a little folding desk in our den, so that there is a radio I can use when I am not able to get out to the the big station in the second building in our facility. (I have stage IV pancreatic cancer, and frequently am very sick.  My cancer blog is here.) So in the near term, the FT-857 would provide a radio I could use conveniently, which would fit into a small space. Furthermore, I needed a radio which could be the basis for a very portable station for field use. The FT-857 fills both requirements nicely, and is quite affordable, so it arrived during July from Gigaparts (great ham radio store in Huntsville, Alabama) and I have been learning all of the features of this compact wonder since it arrived.
How did they fit everything in such a small box?
One of the first things I did after it arrived was to remove the covers to see what Yaesu had done to cram all of this functionality into such a small enclosure, and the pictures below show how it is built. The basic frame is an aluminum casting, which makes a very solid mechanical backbone for the radio. The covers are made from steel, and everything fits well. From what I can see, the FT-857 is built to survive and work through long-term heavy-duty use.
The top circuit board contains all of the low level electronics. Although there is no space left over, nothing seems crammed into the space at all. As an electronic engineer who designs boxes and circuit boards for a living, I can appreciate the wonderful engineering which went into this design. It all looks so straightforward as to be obvious, although I can tell that there is nothing obvious about it. This was the result of very diligent hard work. Nevertheless, their work has made a design which is logical, clean, and should be very reliable.

Top of FT-857, showing low-level electronics
Notice that in the top left hand corner there are two Collins mechanical filters. These are optional, additional cost items. I have had radios before which used the Collins filters, and they have always proven to be excellent performers, so I ordered both filters at the same time I ordered the radio. These particular filters came from W4RT Electronics http://w4rt.com rather than from Yaesu. They cost roughly 2/3 of what the Yaesu filters cost, and use the same Collins filters as the Yaesu filters have. I used to work for W4RT Electronics, and know how excellent their products are, so I did not hesitate to buy the W4RT filters. They work excellently, and provide the improved receive and transmit audio on SSB, and the narrow bandwidth without ringing on CW, just as I have come to expect from the Collins filters.
The bottom circuit board contains the separate HF and VHF/UHF power amplifiers, and all of the band switching components. Once again, the board looks full but very logical, with a very clean layout. The heat from the power transistors is coupled directly to the main casting, and the twin fans provide the air movement necessary to extract the heat from the unit. The fans run only when necessary, so the unit is quiet most of the time.

Bottom of FT-857, showing the RF power amplifiers and band switching
Features I Like
This radio is tiny – If space is a consideration, then the FT-857 is the best full-power space-saver currently available. It is also a good value, as far as the performance-to-cost ratio is concerned.
Good performance – While the FT-857 is not the radio that my Yaesu FT-1000MP Mark V Field is, Yaesu has succeeded in designing and building an excellent combination of features into it. The performance is better than all but two of the HF radios I have ever owned, and those two were expensive, high-end systems.
Reasonable front panel – With small size comes along the necessity to cram the front panel functionality into a minimum of controls. Reading the manual is absolutely required in order to get the maximum functionality out of the FT-857. However, the controls are well-thought-out, and benefit from a couple of generations of small equipment with few controls. The function selection and the menus allow everything to be controlled, and they have obviously thought through the usability of these. After a few weeks of trying every feature, I can go directly to what I need without referring to the manuals any more. For anything this complex, that is high praise.
Receive audio is quite good – The primary limitation on receive audio is the tiny speaker in the case. For any real use, it cries out for an external speaker. I have plugged in high-quality external speakers, and the audio is as good as or better than any other ham radio I have used. There is also plenty of audio power available. Driving an inefficient old acoustic suspension speaker is no problem at all. Furthermore, there is a headphone jack on the front left side of the FT-857, which makes headphone use an easy thing. They provide a switch to change the power level on the headphone jack so that if you should want to power a larger speaker from that jack, the FT-857 will drive it. This is very well thought-out.
External programming software – When I bought the radio, I also bought the computer control cable and the ADMS-4B programming software. This is the first time I have ever used programming software on a multi-mode radio, and it is a real blessing. It makes it possible to logically think through how I want to logically organize the memories, so that the 200 memory locations can be used to their best advantage. So for instance I have set up all of the VHF and UHF local repeaters and simplex frequencies with their respective tone/DCS squelch settings, all of the weather service frequencies, all of my usual starting frequencies and modes for HF use, and all of the net frequencies I frequent. I am used to doing this for a channelized VHF or UHF radio, but this is the first time to try this on HF, and I really like it. It makes use so logical.
CW Receive Filtering - The combination of the Collins 500 Hz mechanical filter and the DSP filtering is very good for separating signals in a busy CW band. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the DSP does at both narrowing the bandwidth and reducing the general noise level on receive.
What I miss
No direct frequency entry - Unless you buy the fancy external microphone, it is not possible to do direct frequency entry. I can solve this with one easy purchase, but I had not thought of how much I would miss this feature.
No built-in tuner – I solved this with an external LDG Z-11 Pro which matches the size of the radio, and will load up nearly anything. Having used the Yaesu tuners in the past, I avoided them this time because they do not try hard enough to load into unusual loads, and take a long time to tune.
Unlabeled back panel – There is a sticker on the bottom of the radio showing which of the many back panel connectors do what, but I miss having the labels where I can see them. Having the sticker on the top of the radio might not be as pretty, but it would make actual use of the radio somewhat easier.
So that is it. I consider the FT-857 to be a really good deal in a ham radio transceiver, and one which is well-suited to anyone needing one which will fit into a very small space. I really like my Yaesu FT-1000MP Mark V Field "Big Rig" with all of the controls up-front, but the FT-857 does very well within the small space it requires.
To read the operating manual for the FT-857, click here.
To read the technical supplement for the FT-857, click here.
73
Diehl Martin
W4TI
August 2006

Robin 2W0LAZ wrote this about the FT857D:

After about 6 weeks of using this radio I think I know it well enough to write a small review, so here goes.

I chose this radio mainly because of its specification i.e. all band and all mode. It is capable of working the MF/HF/VHF/UHF bands covering 160m to 10m, plus 6m, 2m and 70cm.

As standard it has AM/FM/USB/LSB/CW plus a range of digital modes I have not even explored yet.

I wanted a radio that would last for a while as I fully intended to go beyond the 10W foundation limitation, and work towards the intermediate and full license.

This radio is capable of 100W from 160m to 6m, 50W on the 2m band and 20W on 70cm. 

The radio is housed in a very compact case measuring approx. 6" wide, 2" high and 9" deep (you can do your own metric conversions) and weighs just over 4.5 lb.

The main controls are all front facing or on the side of the front panel with some button having more than one purpose depending if it is given a short press or a long press.

The 3 multi function buttons beneath the LCD are menu select buttons and refer to the options that appear above the buttons. These options will change depending which menu segment is active. I suppose this feature could be compared to most modern mobile phones where the choices on screen change depending upon the menu that is active at the time, with the buttons referring to the menu choices on screen.

I expect the big questions for everyone are:

• How easy is the radio to use?
• Are the controls laid out methodically?
• Can you discard the user manual after a short time?

Not easy questions to answer, with a lot depending on your ability to remember sequences of button presses to achieve the desired result.

The tuning function is by rotary knobs similar to most radios, but these are configurable for mode, step etc. from the menu system.

The band change function is achieved using two buttons (up and down) on the top of the front panel above the main dial. The mode change is achieved using two similar buttons (up and down) above the top left of the display.

For each button press the selection changes and cycles around from the last choice to the first choice, and vice versa. They are very easy to use as the display updates with every button press.

The entry point into the menus is the "Func" button. If this button is pressed momentarily then the radio enters "Multi Function Mode". The lower part of the LCD will show 3 options that can be selected by the 3 multi-function buttons. If the Select knob is rotated then these sets of options will change, with sets of options from MFa to MFq.

These quick menus hold the most common and frequently used features such as writing to memory, scanning memories, bandscope, repeater shifts and CTCSS tones. Some options are simple toggle on or off and some options have multiple choices that need repeated button presses.

The deeper use of the "Func" button is entered if you press and hold the button for one second. This enters the main (configuration) menu system. Rotating the Select knob will now cycle through 91 different menu choices covering all aspects of the radio such as output power, DSP parameters, tuning steps, mic gain, LCD colour etc.

As an example I will summarize the steps needed to initiate a scan through the stored memories:

1. 
   Press and release the V/M (VFO/Memory) button to enter memory mode.
2. Press and release the Func button.
3. Rotate the Select knob until MFg is displayed.
4. Press Multi-Function button A (SCN) to start scanning memories.

The method and type of scan can be changed using the other two multi-function buttons (B & C) and further configured in the main menu of 91 options.

The big question is about the manual. Is it up to the job? I find the manual a little unusual. It appears to have been written by an expert who knows the radio inside out but with an expectation that the reader also has a certain level of pre-existing knowledge. At times I find myself seeking further knowledge elsewhere because the manual explains exactly how to configure a particular function but fails to explain when I would need to use that function or why? This is my first amateur radio and I have no base for comparison. Perhaps all radio manuals are like this! However I certainly think it could have been done a little better than this.

As to performance, so far so good. I have managed a number of HF contacts across Europe and have worked through numerous local VHF repeaters and links with ease. I have had nothing but good reports from these contacts.

In summary, I think this is a excellent radio, well worth the time and effort getting to know its many features and options.

Check out the manufacturers website at Yaesu UK.

Read hundreds of other reviews of this radio at EHam.net.

Review by Robin 2W0LAZ.

March 2007.

I will be posting more articles as I find them on this and other radios That I find interesting.