New to the club

[N1AB]

Hello everyone. I just joined the group and expect to participate.  I have done qrp psk31, and SSB, but not CW.  But things are changing.  A short time ago  I purchased a nice new cw key and hope to have it on the air soon. I also expect to operate portable qrp in the near future by purchasing an  FT-817.  Does anyone have experience with that radio?
73
Steve N1AB

[GM0LVI]

The FT-817 is a super little radio Steve. I bought one a few years ago mainly to take on holiday as it allowed me to operate free from the mains electricity if I used internal batteries. Like any radio, how well you put out or receive a signal depends on the antenna you use and with QRP you really have to use the best possible under the prevailing circumstances. I've worked Japan with 2.5 Watts from a beach-side studio in Greece with a home-brew loaded GP and into USA and Canda from the Virgin Islands using a dipole. In the latter case I found the 817 struggled to manage the pile-up!
I sold the 817 this summer and am now using a KX3.