I tried calling CQ several times on the calling frequency and noticed something interesting: the screen lights up with "PO" but shows zero bars alongside it like it does in 2 meters or 70cm. If you watch the first 5-10 seconds of this video, you will see that he is speaking in a normal voice and this causes the bars to move on 6 meters. Apparently this question has been posted before by other users of the FT-817/818 [1]. On 6 meters USB, speaking into the microphone does not display any SWR or ALC bars.
My settings for the 818ND are as follows:
- Operating from a fully charged 6Ah battery.
- Band is set to 6 meters, USB mode.
- Power is set to 6 watts.
- Speaking in a very normal voice directly into the microphone, PO is displayed on the screen but zero bars alongside it. (On 2 meters, several bars appear).
- SSB Mic gain is at 80.
- Menu 7 the antenna is set to FRONT and I'm transmitting through the YHA-63 (50/144/420 MHz antenna).
Of course, the band is dead here so nobody can respond to me to let me know whether my signal is even getting out. At the moment, I'm waiting for my mast to arrive to get my EFHW antenna up to see if this same problem appears on 20m or 40m. Has anyone encountered this issue on either the FT-817 or 818? Is there something wrong with my new radio? I've posted this in a couple of different places but no solution has been found.
[1] Sources: Other people reporting the same problem
[2] Updates
I posted this at several locations with no solution. An e-mail was sent to Yaesu. I also called and left a message with them. Not long after, I received a call back from tech support. They said it was normal for no PO bars to be displayed while operating USB on 6 meters. They could not explain why the video I sent them, showing someone with the same settings I have set, shows PO bars on TX.
