FT-817 stand: Old CD cases work, but how ’bout legs?

Yep, the FT-817 has legs -- and not just in the longevity sense! And that hunk of metal at the upper left? That's the chimney for the homebrew wood stove I installed in lieu of the temp-compensated crystal oscillator.

Not long ago, I came across a way to convert an old CD case into an FT-817 stand. I (as have others) copped it for my Elecraft KX-1, and it works like a charm.

Except…

As I’ve  taken to the field more and more with QRP gear in tow, particularly my Yaesu FT-817ND, the CD case/stand has started to show its fragility. It’s chipping and cracking. I could build another, and another. But at some point, the value of the time I’ve spent building two or three stands more than pays for something a bit more rugged and permanent.

Which led me to Google, and thence to Morse Express’s website. The company sells Palm Radio’s peg legs for the FT-817.

Yeah, I know. Where’s the ham homebrew spirit in a store-bought solution? Well, er, um, the legs come as a kit of sorts. Does that help? And they sure looked to be the more robust than the CD case. The cost: $20.00 plus postage. Holiday mini-gift anyone?

The installation instructions must have been written by a student of Marcel Marceau — all pictures, no words. But the instructions are clear, nonetheless.

Palm Radio's Peg Legs for the FT-817 -- just enough elevation.

I’ve found that the legs give just enough lift to provide increased visibility for the front panel and display. If you need more elevation? How about a narrow piece of wood running from one leg to the other, with a small indentation drilled in where each foot comes to rest, for stability.

If you elect to go this route to elevate your 817, a thought: Order some extra case screws from Yaesu. I learned this the hard way when I installed the 300 Hz CW filter for the radio. Fresh out of the box, several of the 817′s cover screws and those securing the brackets for the shoulder strap were over-torqued.

I used the correct phillips head screwdriver. But I still ended up stripping the crosscuts in several screw heads as I tried to extract the fasteners. Most annoying.

In one instance, I had to carefully drill into the screw head to so I could slip a star-tipped screwdriver into the hole and finally extract the balky screw.

The stainless-steel screws that come with the peg legs might seem to obviate the need for spare screws for the strap brackets, but you never know. I ordered a half dozen of each — the case screws and bracket screws — just to be sure.

If you order some, the parts number for the case screws is U31205007 and for the strap bracket it’s U20205007.

And when you want to store the 817 for travel? Just fold the legs forward!

Legs doing the high kick for easy packing.

I still keep the CD case-cum-tilt stand available for my Elecraft KX-1. But for the 817, I’ve found the peg legs a more-rugged solution to the visibility issue.  Your mileage may vary.  But I doubt it!