Yaesu YF-122C CW filter / QRP CW contact with the Faroe Islands

Last edited: 20.05.2018

I'd been looking into buying a narrow CW filter for my Yaesu FT-817nd rig for some time, but the high price (about € 130) for both the YF-122C (500 Hz) and YF-122CN (300 Hz) had been holding me back. But this week I got the opportunity to buy a used YF-122C filter for less than half the price of a new one. I couldn't let this offer go.

My Yaesu FT-817nd last summer on the summit of Pilatus mountain in Switzerland

Today the filter was delivered by the mailman. I spent about half an hour on installing the filter, and after some initial tests I must say it's working great! Installation of one of the optional filters into the FT-817nd is easy; just take out some screws, remove the rig's top case, and push the filter board onto the designated pins on the main board of the transceiver!

The 500 Hz filter will definitely make CW QSOs with the FT-817 a lot easier, and I'm all ready to do some more SOTA activations with it coming summer.

Before installation. The filter goes onto the main board in the designated free space opposite of the tuning knob.

After installation

After installation of the filter I made a nice CW contact with the FT-817 with OY1CT on the Faroe Islands. The contact was made as PA7MDJ/QRP on 20m using just 5 Watts and my HyEndFed 10/20/30 wire antenna. You can listen to the contact below (sorry for the background noises, please don't pay attention to them, hi). This contact was made with the 500 Hz filter activated.




And while talking about the FT-817, one site I always like to return to for more information about this popular QRP and backpack rig is "The KA7OEI FT-817 pages". Another interesting site is "K6XX's FT-817 page". If you're a FT-817(nd) owner these sites might be of interest to you as well.