Hi. I acquired my second FT-817ND this past weekend, and I have a couple of questions for those of you who are using 817/818s for portable satellite work.
1) Are you using the internal battery packs (whether NiCd or alkaline) OR an external battery(ies)? If the latter, do you advise using two separate batteries, or just one for both (using the included DC cable:E-DC-6)? (I've heard good things about Bioenna)
2) I'm probably going to use these rigs just for satellites, so are the SSB/CW filters worth getting? I see one difference between the 817 and 818 is that the latter includes a TCXO; is getting the TCXO unit for the 817(s) worth it? (Probably not going to use digital modes on the birds - except possibly telemetry)
Any suggestions - or pitfalls to work around - for using the 2 rigs like this?
Thanks
Philip N4HF