Yaesu FT-817 hamradio transceiver repair. Fuse and "fused" trace.

[@deborahberi3249]

Wow, not sure I would even dive into trying that...but great work! -Mark.

[@danielepatane3841]

Congrat for your fault finding skills I always learn something from you! Greetings from a place you know! 😀

[@theoldhobbit3640]

As a user of amateur radio I have to admit that the electronics side of the hobby totally baffles me, that is why I am still at the entry level after 5 years on the air, please dont misunderstand me, I can work the world on a good day with my 10w and love portable radio. Your obvious patients and understanding of fault finding is to be admired and respected, not something I would ever attempt so you have my total respect. Thank you for sharing and should my 817ND ever need looking at, I'll send it over 😂.

[@iz8dwf]

Thank you for the comment! I've been in the "amateur radio" environment since I was a child and what I liked about it was to understand what was going on, inside and outside the radio equipment. I see it shifted towards a more "let's make just contacts" environment in the past 10 years or so, that's why I can't enjoy searching for real DX anymore. Amateur radio started as leading edge technology (think about the first trans-atlantic radio transmission, the satellite repeaters, just to mention a few) and it seems now just enjoying trailing edge technology. I may be wrong and this isn't even the best place to discuss about it, but that's what I think in a nutshell :)

[@SierraWhiskeyHotelRadio]

Its very good to see these excellent radios being kept in working order. Thank you for the detailed video. I'm sure it will help others find faults in their radios. 73 de KD7SWH

[@iz8dwf]

Hello! Thank you for the comment! I'm glad to help if I can. Best 73!

[@petesapwell]

I used to repair CB radios here in the U.K. before it was legalised, American import sets, have fond memories of my Modified President McKinley, split channels, Tunefull roger beep…I loved using it on SSB and once with good atmospherics had a QSL with with New York station…I was a very excited 17 year old…CQ,CQ DX,This station November Charlie one seven seven, calling CQ CQ DX… QRT and standing by.

[@iz8dwf]

Hi Pete! Yeah I have many good memories about CB and amateur radio world too. My father had a CB radio and I started "playing" on amateur radio shacks of various local operators before I turned 10 y.o. for sure. It was all so fascinating :)

[@marcopantanetti4053]

Nice repair, nice radio... and nice QSO Frank, thanks for sharing

[@iz8dwf]

Grazie Marco, a presto!

[@ingeborgsvensson4896]

Nice video, thanks. You told him you used 5W but on the bottom display the I iiI indicates you are using 2.5 Watts. From my experience the max. 5 Watts is only possible at 12 Volts or higher, not with battery power. My FT-817ND still has some problems with the encoder which sometimes jumps down in frequency when it is supposed to go up, I will have to take a look at that some day. 73 from the Netherlands.

[@iz8dwf]

Hi, thanks for the comment! Indeed I didn't check the actual power, 3dB difference can be normal on these transceivers (as you said, lower voltage). Good luck with your repair!

[@ninoporcino5790]

loved the QSO on the 6m :-)

[@rhythmstic]

Very clear explanation. My 817 ND stopped working after an internal battery charge up. The shop engineer didn't manage to fix it so I thought I might try myself, how hard can it be? .. but there are not any example videos of this problem.

[@iz8dwf]

Thanks for the comment! When a schematic is available, it's usually just a matter of following the voltages step by step and finding where something is missing. The biggest problem on these radios (at least for me) is working on those little PCBs with tiny components. Good luck on your repair and HNY!

[@richardsage3139]

Mine stopped tx&rx on 2m and 440 but works fine on hf and 6m. Anyone have any ideas on what went wrong?

[@noimnotarobotcanubeleiveit7024]

mine is now with integra A in sofia with this problem again. last time i bridged the fuse (while i wait for a new one) then the ribbon connector slipped a pad and blew the double inductor. i watched as it lit like a lamp. idiot me left the battery in, but it would have blew anyway

[@iz8dwf]

You should always look for a short before replacing a fuse and power on again. The failed capacitors on the panel PCB could be the reason why the fuse and track blew in the unit I've repaired, but I didn't find any short circuit, so whatever it was, it also "killed itself". In your case, I'd look for an ongoing short circuit.

[@Shmbler]

Too bad we never get to know what actually broke the trace ;-)

[@iz8dwf]

No idea really, the owner didn't offer much context on the fault. A wild guess was something shorted on the Panel PCB (like one of the failed caps) but that means both the trace and the fuse died at the same time... I didn't offer any explanation because I don't really have a good one...