Though I have some more accessible radios, I tend to grab my husband's
FT-817 when I want to just listen, and when we travel, it's the radio he
prefers.
I can't find the answer to this in its manual. Does anyone know how to
quickly get to a known frequency on each band?
If you press band up or band down, you end up on the frequency where you
last tuned. You don't stay within the band, so you could actually tune in
the same frequency on each "band" and cycle through all the bands, hearing
only a change in mode, as all the band button really does is change mode and
step size.
You can of course put the starting freq for each band in a memory, but then
you need to rotate the knob through the memories, carefully counting, which
increases steps, as you still need to carefully rotor through the "bands" to
get the correct mode and step size enabled.
Originally I operated it with PC software -- the not very accessible Ft817
Commander and its even less accessible successor, Ham Radio Deluxe. I
haven't used HDR for several years, so perhaps it's screen reader
friendliness has improved. But anyway, after we cleared enough space for my
TS440, I realized that I only wanted to operate the FT-817 in situations
where I was unlikely to have my laptop.
Right now my choices are to use the TS440 which is a radio I love, at home,
which is an electrically noisy environment which I do not like at all. Or, I
can use the Ft-817, which is much harder to operate, away from home, in
environments that are electrically quiet. It's a difficult choice!
I'm definitely feeling alergic to this radio the more I use it and my
sighted husband, who wanted this rig so badly in the first place, says the
tiny display is near impossible to read! So he's hoping I'l become an
operating whiz and know how to do everything the radio can without him
needing to try to read it.
You would have thought with such a difficult display they would have
included more eyes-free features for all ops.
Anyway, I'm rambling as hams often do, but I'm really seeking any eyes-free
operating tips you'all might have for the FT-817.
--Debee [KF6BKR]
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