LDG AT-897 warranty repair review

[Moleculo]

Just a brief note on my experience with LDG's customer service. Some may remember that I posted a few months ago about some problems I had with the LDG AT-897 auto tuner that mates up with the Yaesu FT-897d (it started smoking with only 70 watts drive and wouldn't unkey sometimes).

I sent it in under warranty per the instructions on their website. Their website says repairs take 6-8 weeks and to not even inquire about the status if you haven't waited for that duration already.

Well, I got it back from them right before the holidays. Turn around time was right at about 8 weeks. The tech notes said that they replaced several bad relays and updated the software. So far in my brief testing, everything is working well now.

So for fixing everything that was wrong with it, LDG gets a thumb's up .

However, 8 weeks (two months!) is a long turn around and needs to be improved upon. For that they get thumbs down :thumbdown:.

Now that I have it back I'll be able to use it give a review on whether I like it or not.

 

[AA1PR]

sadly these used to answer calls, now you call & get an automated response which drops you like a hot potatoe after it informs you of the website

 

[BBB]

Has any one had any luck getting an LDG auto tuner to work with the free version of Ham Radio Deluxe?

I have a Yaesu 897D with the LDG 897 Plus auto tuner. I saw an entry on HRD to control the LDG tuner but it doesn't work. Maybe it only works on the paid version of HRD?

 

[Moleculo]

If it doesn't work on the trial version of HRD, it likely won't work on the paid version, either. If you pay for the software, you can submit the issue as a bug and it will get worked on, though.

 

[BBB]

Seems it's a feature that was never activated in either version, but still resides in the layout from what I've read. Thanks for the reply.

That would have been nice to have remote control of the LDG auto tuner on the 897D.

One feature that is enhanced in HRD and the Yaesu 897D is the Bandscope scans with added audio, whereas no audio is passed when using the Bandscope with just the radio.

 

[Mudfoot]

I've sent two tuners in for repairs and called them a few times with tech questions. They fixed the problem with both units and always answered my questions. However, when u call them, they act like you interrupted their family dinner. Sorta pricky at times, but whatever. The last dealings were around 6 years ago.