The purpose of my recent acquisition of a second (or third) hand FT-897d is of course for RaDAR (Mostly on foot). I don’t want to be shack bound at all, not that I really had a “shack” to speak of it has been the back yard store room for many a decade.
A mobile bracket came with the deal and although additional weight in the backpack, it did solve a few of my concerns, mainly protecting the rig at all costs. Higher power comes with more weight anyway. BUT, this brought on another problem. The LDG AT-897 ATU that also came with the deal has a different casing than it’s Yaesu counterpart and therefore the ATU bracket kit could not be used with the LDG. It’s no longer a case of just bolting it to the side of the rig in place of the “feet”. I did try ….
This gave me an opportunity to make a record of the serial number for future reference too. I guess luck is on my side. The height and width of the ATU is just about identical to that of the Signalink USB digital modes interface. Guess what? This is going to be the new position for the LDG AT-897 ATU. Then I’ll shift the Signalink to the right in such a way that the “Battery” switch at the top of the rig is still accessible. No where have I seen such a similar picture, necessity is the fruit of invention. The ATU slides in comfortably between the top of the rig and the mobile bracket. I’ll use protective stick on “feet” between all the “contact” points which I must look for today.
All this should fit snugly inside the waterproof bag within my backpack. Once I have it all together I’ll post some pictures of the result.
73 de Eddie, ZS6BNE
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