Part of our The Yaesu FT-857D: The Complete Guide.
I picked up a used FT-857D for a genuinely great price and figured it was worth having in the shack for a while to see where it fit. After actually running it, I decided it wasn’t staying, and I sold it. Here’s the honest breakdown of what’s good about it and why it wasn’t for me.
What’s Genuinely Good About It
There’s a lot to like here, and I want to be fair about it before I get into why I passed on it.
- One mobile unit, three bands. HF, VHF, and UHF in a single chassis is still a rare thing on the used market, and the 857D does it well. You’re not carrying a second radio for repeaters.
- Real power across the board. 100W on HF, 50W on 2m, and 20W on 70cm. The UHF number is lower than I’d like, but it’s still usable, and the HF and VHF numbers are exactly where you want them.
- Two antenna ports. One dedicated to HF, one to VHF/UHF, so you’re not juggling a single port across three bands with a switch or a compromise antenna.
- MARS mod unlocks GMRS frequencies. Worth noting this is a transmit range unlock, not a legal green light. A modified amateur radio still isn’t FCC type-accepted for GMRS use, so this doesn’t make you legal on GMRS, it just means the hardware can reach those frequencies if you ever need it for that purpose.
- Small and light. For a radio that covers this much spectrum, the size and weight are genuinely impressive. It’d make a great grab-and-go unit for someone who wants HF through UHF in one box without the bulk.
Where It Lost Me
If your operating is mostly digital modes with predetermined frequencies, things like FT8 or JS8Call where an app like WSJT-X or JS8Call is doing the frequency selection and decoding for you, the 857D is a genuinely great radio for that. You’re not staring at the radio’s display much anyway.
But that’s not how I operate most of the time. I spend a lot of time hunting and browsing SSB, and not having a waterfall display is a real pain for that kind of operating. I’ve gotten used to seeing activity across the band at a glance, and going back to tuning blind without that visual feedback slowed me down more than I expected.
The other issue is that digital modes require an extra piece of hardware, in my case a Digirig, to get the radio talking to a computer. That’s not a dealbreaker on its own, but when I compare it to a radio that just has that interface built in, it’s one more cable, one more thing to pack, and one more thing that can go wrong in the field.
The Decision
Between the missing waterfall and the extra hardware requirement for digital modes, the FT-857D just wasn’t the radio for how I actually operate day to day. I sold it and picked up another FTX-1 to mirror what I already run as my primary radio in the shack. Consistency across radios matters more to me than I expected, and running the same interface and workflow everywhere is worth more than the extra bands the 857D brings to the table.
Quick Comparison: FTX-1 Field vs FTX-1 Optima vs FT-857D
- FTX-1 Field: Touchscreen SDR with a waterfall, built-in digital mode interface (no Digirig needed), runs on its own battery, but tops out at 6-10W depending on power source. Best for portable operating where you want to see the band, not just guess at it.
- FTX-1 Optima: Same Field Head with the SPA-1 amp attached for 100W HF/6m and 50W on 2m/70cm. Same waterfall and built-in digital interface as the Field, just with real base station power. This is the closest thing to a direct upgrade path from the 857D that keeps everything I actually want.
- FT-857D: More raw VHF/UHF coverage in one mobile chassis and two dedicated antenna ports, but no waterfall and no built-in digital mode interface. Great for one style of operating, not for mine.
If you’re a digital-modes-only operator who wants HF, VHF, and UHF in a single affordable mobile unit, the 857D is still a solid pick. If you’re like me and want to see the band while you’re hunting SSB without extra hardware in the mix, the FTX-1 in either configuration is the better fit. I go deeper on the FTX-1 in my complete FTX-1 guide, and the full spec-by-spec rundown against the rest of my radios is in my FT-857D vs FT-891, G90, FTX-1, IC-7300 Mark II, and FT-817 comparison.