A 160m to 70cm, all mode, portable, 100W radio without a tuner.

The FT-857D has an issue where ceramic filters go bad and the receiver fills with crashes, even with no antenna connected. Apparently this is due to a design error. If yours hasn't failed yet, prevention is possible, see ft857-897_cf1005-fix.pdf. Apart from the symptom, a Yaesu technician reports that if your filters have a “dusty” or “hazy” appearance, it is likely they have failed / will fail soon.

The filters are the three cubioid components by the audio jacks on the back, visible if you remove the top cover of the radio.

Technofix currently sell a kit of replacement parts if yours is too late.

Replacing them is a matter of removing the main board, desoldering, replacing and reassembly. Removing the main PCB is tricky and I'm trying to do that now.