Re: [amsat-bb] CW HT for satellites

[Estes Wayne-W10191 <W10191@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I wrote:

	>I wonder how many years it will be before YaeComWood
	>introduce a handheld multi-mode all-band transceiver
>(handheld equivalent of the FT-817).


To which Laura Halliday replied:

They will develop such a radio if they see a market
opportunity. Is there one?

We, on the other hand, can develop our own radios for
any reason we want to. Even for fun. If all you want
is a few watts of 2m CW, this might be a better way
to go.

Wayne replies:

There IS a market opportunity.  Yaesu is selling fantastically large
quantities of the FT-817.  QRP enthusiasts are avid homebrewers, but
evidently there was a large pent-up demand for a "do-everything" portable
QRP radio.  The FT-817 created a whole new category of "pedestrian mobile"
HF operators.  It also spawned a new cottage industry of portable HF
antennas.

It's virtually impossible for even the most skilled homebrewer to make a
radio with all the FT-817 features.  Yes, it would be easy to homebrew a
CW-only 2m radio.  But I was thinking more along the lines of a very compact
SSB/CW multi-band handheld radio.

I don't think you can compare the FT-817 to the Mizuho handheld HF radio of
several years ago.  The Mizuho only operated on 3 bands (7, 21, 50 MHz) and
had very low power (1 watt I think), and had very limited tuning range (50
kHz I think).  They were only distributed in Japan in very low quantities.
I can only assume that the Mizuho radio was a money-losing beta-test
product.

Wayne Estes W9AE
Mundelein, IL, USA
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