Diddy-radio: repaired!

I'm glad to report that my FT-818ND, which I managed to accidentally fry recently, has been repaired by Yaesu and is now in transit via FedEx!

Luckily, the inadvertent contact of the +ve DC supply with the rear, bare metal chassis, led only to the burning of a small part of the ciruit track behind the input jack; no components were damaged. 

Again, I can't stress enough that, even if you are careful, Anderson Power Poles, which the DC jack adapter for 817 and 818s require, are not very secure and will, in my view inevitably, pull out one day, make contact with the chassis, and burn things in your radio.  Only use connectors well away from the body of the rig, if at all.

This tiny radio is well on the way to becoming my favourite.

 

Not that it was cheap to repair - just over £100, including courier delivery.  But that's OK.  This included the engineers at Yaesu giving the rig a full check-out, including actual output power at all three high, medium and low settings on all bands.

Useful Yaesu engineer report as part of the repair.

So I've now made very sure there can be no repeat of the accidental contact.  All my Anderson Power Poles, which I had never used before this incident, always disliked, and will never again use, are long gone in the recycling bin.  I've now got fixed wires going into the jack adapter, with an in-line connector and fuse in place.  

For those thinking about an FT-818ND, I think it's a really good radio.  Very small, very lightweight, great audio, TCXO as standard.  Controls a bit small, but the menu system is very intuitive.  The only suitable alternative, with TCXO as standard, is also a Yaesu, the FT-891, but that weighs twice as much as the FT-818, though it gives up to 100W, of course.