My 1st mod; FT-817nd Wideband

After buying my new QRP transceiver, the Yaesu FT-817nd, I found out that not all the bands on it are available for transmitting, some are only available for receiving.

I thought that it would be possible to use some software (widebander.exe) to open all the bands for transmitting but I found out that this was only possible with the older models, not with the FT-817nd that I bought. ☹ Opening all the bands for transmission is called widebanding by the way.

After searching a bit on the internet I found out that it is possible to make a hardware modification (a mod) to open all bands. The information I found on internet is not all that clear and it seems that there are different versions of the 817nd around and some of them have different hardware settings. I decided to take the “average” of all the info I found and do the mod with the “most likely” settings. After gathering all the info I was ready for my first mod!

Just thinking about fiddling around with a soldering iron in my new transceiver made me sweat all over!

But ok, I now and then use the 11 meter band and this was one of the bands that’s closed for transmitting in a new FT-817nd. All the Radio Amateur / HAM bands I am allowed to use with my license are already open for me on the 817. There are some HAM bands I’m not allowed to use that are not open but at the moment I can anyway not use them.

But ok, now for the technical part. There is a PDF made by Yaesu to open a few extra bands on the 817. It is not described how you can open ALL HAM / CB bands. This was the starting point for me in my search for info. In the PDF the following steps are described to open the rig and get to the part where you need to solder.



Please note that you are taking full responsibility for any damage caused to the transceiver during this modification. All normal precautions to protect against static electricity should be followed.

First remove the battery and disconnect the radio from any power source.

Next remove the top and bottom covers.

Looking at the front of the radio there are 2 clips on the top and 2 on the bottom.

Ease these clips free of the main body of the radio and slide the front panel off (don’t overstretch the ribbon cable).

Next unclip the ribbon cable from the main body of the radio.

Now the front panel should come free and you can then see the jumper positions.


If you look at the inside of the front panel you see 9 jumpers at the top. Some of the jumpers are soldered closed and some are still open.

To wideband the radio you have to change the configuration of these jumpers.

After closing the rig up again press and hold the "F" and "V/M" buttons and then press "power on" to reset the FT-817 and make the mod active.
So in the end it all looks simple enough. The challenge is in the fact that everything is in miniature. You need a magnifying glass and very small fingers to do this. The fact that my FT-817nd was brand new also didn’t make it easier for me but luckily all went well.

All HAM bands are now open as well as the CB band, so my first mod went great! ☺

Read more about this and see the pics at my blogsite www.pa1ca.nl

HAM radio!!

As some of you might know, I'm a freelance software developer with a big interest in iPhone and iPad development but lately I haven’t been doing a lot of software development in my spare time.

The reason for all of this can be found almost 30 years ago! When I was between 12 an 15 years old I used to be very much interested in CB radio (27 mc).

So, when previous October (2011) a friend of mine started to play around with CB radio, he got me quickly involved in this! After playing a bit around with the CB stuff, we started talking about getting the amateur radio license. My friend is canadian so it’s a bit difficult for him to take a (Dutch) license exam. For me it was a bit easier (because I'm Dutch), so the end of October I got the study material from the Veron (Radio Amateur Organization in the Netherlands) and studied several hours every day in November.

The 8th of december I took the official government N license exam and I had 0 mistakes; I aced it! The end of December I registered my call sign (PD1CA) with the Agentschap Telecom in the Netherlands. After this I made a quick website (this site) and started to make the airwaves “unsafe” with my Yaesu FT-817 and Yaesu FT-897D transceivers!!

There is still a lot to learn although I think the license study prepared me good for my start in the radio amateur / HAM radio world.

I started my quest for the perfect antenna, took my first steps in digital HAM radio (PSK31, RTTY etc..) and am making my first contacts around the world talking to a lot of people even with the limitations I have with my CEPT Novice license (N License).

The next step will be making iPad and iPhone software for HAM radio, and I’m looking forward to starting this.

Combining my new and my old hobby would be perfect!

Less software development, more HAM radio!

Lately I haven’t been doing a lot of iPhone and iPad development in my spare time, so I haven’t also been writing a lot of blogs about software development.

The reason for all of this can be found almost 30 years ago!

I used to be very much interested in CB radio (27 mc). For those of you that don’t know what this is, wikipedia describes it as; “a system of short-distance radio communications between individuals on a selection of 40 channels within the 27 mhz (11 m) band”. I used to play around with this when I was between 12 an 15 years old.

Previous October (2011) a friend of mine started to play around with CB radio and he got me also involved in this. After this we started talking about getting the amateur radio license. The license is like a grown up version of CB radio and is actually a lot of studying electronics, electronic circuits and the dynamics of electro magnetic fields, propagation, (types of) antennas and the inner workings of transceivers. My friend is canadian so it’s a bit difficult for him to take a (Dutch) license exam. For me it was a bit easier, so the end of October I got the study material from the Veron (Radio Amateur Organization in the Netherlands) and studied several hours every day in November.

The 8th of december I took the official government N license exam and I had 0 mistakes; I aced it! The end of December I registered my call sign (PD1CA) with the Agentschap Telecom in the Netherlands. After this I made a quick website ( www.pd1ca.nl) and started to make the airwaves “unsafe” with my second hand bought Yaesu FT-817 and Yaesu FT-897D transceivers!!

There is still a lot to learn although I think the license study prepared me good for my start in the radio amateur / HAM radio world.

I started my quest for the perfect antenna, took my first steps in digital HAM radio (PSK31, RTTY etc..) and am making my first contacts around the world talking to a lot of people even with the limitations I have with my CEPT Novice license (N License).

The next step will be making iPad and iPhone software for HAM radio, and I’m looking forward to starting this.

Combining my new and my old hobby would be perfect!