Hi Jerry, as a matter of fact, there is! a little indirect though it may be. 
Simplest way is using a current model Millenium QSYer, you order it with, or 
if you already have one, which it seems to me you may, to use with an Icom 
rig you have? don't you?  Anyway, John ships the qsyers with choice of a 
yaesu, Icom, and or, I think a cord to work with some Kenwood radios.  The 
qsyer gives you, with the 817, direct read out of frequency, and mode.  (the 
qsyer uses a 9volt battery, but with its' being plugged into the same port 
into which you'd plug a computer,
it powers itself from the rig, since any time any cord is plugged into the 
port, a little power is used.

*another way you can use, is to program the freqs you most use, into 
memories/there are 200 plus the already programmed sixty meter channels,/the 
channel 3 can be updated using a program called chirp, (not sure whether 
Yaesu will change the freq in the new models, but they haven't yet.  Anyhow, 
set up your mems with FM, AM, SW broadcast station, or birdy markers, then 
block the A B and C buttons, and if you have the radio like you want it, the 
function button as well, and away you go.  Actually, the british keypad 
equivalent to the qsyer, allows you to store and call up, I think it is 
forty memories from the keypad itself, although you don't have cw read out 
with that keypad.  There is, I understand, an Italian fellow, who kits, and 
I believe will construct one for those who don't want to build, a keypad 
which gives both CW read out, and memory management.  (The qsyers are $50 or 
so for a blind hams' first one, the brit keypad's about $140, and I'm not 
sure how Paulo gets for his, although he's onh the ft817 Reflector, and I 
can find out if you like.  (never had any of them but the qsyer, but that 
has pretty much sufficed.  If you want to talk further by phone, I'm more 
than willing to, but I gotta run for now.  Work 7A-4P tomorrow, and I've got 
some more to do before then.  *******As always, Yaesu's not very accessible 
so far, but _Nobody else makes a rig that little that covers that much, will 
fit in a suit coat pocket if desired, and will do as much as well for as 
little cost as the 817.  *Not perfect, but pretty cottonpickin neat if you 
can work with the workarounds---and I'm not selling them, it was a love-hate 
relationship for me until I got someone to make a guard to keep the AB&C 
buttons and the func button away from inadvertent pushes/went through four 
or five of them before finally getting and keeping one/bought this one in 
late 2007, and for what it is, I really like it! HTH, Danny. inal 
Message ----- 
From: "Gerry Leary" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2012 10:10 PM
Subject: Re: portable battery pack for ft817nd


> is there any way that you can read the frequency?
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Dan B Dyer Jr,/Danny" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2012 6:02 PM
> Subject: Re: portable battery pack for ft817nd
>
>
>> Hi Richard, don't have a direct answer to your question, but congrats on
>> the
>> ft817ND, I've had several, and am more than willing to share possible 
>> work
>> arounds and solutions. I live in GA,/Eastern Daylight/or standard time
>> zone,
>> and if you wish, we can talk by phone.  Email me off list, and we can go
>> from there.  Sincerely, Danny Dyer, Wb4idu.
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "richard watson" <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2012 3:24 PM
>> Subject: portable battery pack for ft817nd
>>
>>
>>> Good afternoon,
>>> I just purchased an ft817nd. does anyone have any good suggestions for
>>> a portable battery pack. I will be using this as my base station. for
>>> now I am going to use a miracle ducker tl as soon as it arrives due to
>>> antenna restrictions.
>>> I would like a battery that has descent connectors maybe a cigarette
>>> liter
>>> plug.
>>> thanks and 73 - n3gms