Yaesu FT-817 reduced consumption when receiving

Modification of the Yaesu FT-817 to reduce consumption on reception :

The FT-817 consumes quite a bit even when received, according to the manual, with the RX silencer closed, it is approx. 250mA and with the silencer open, approx. 450 mA, which is quite a lot and for an internal battery 1400mAh in my experience the TRX can only last approx 6 hours at the reception and from that time not even approx 15 minutes of broadcast. Therefore, even a minimal reduction in consumption will help. I found one description on the internet. The LED on the front panel signals the open silencer in green and the transmission in red. Reception is also indicated on the LCD display by an S-meter, so you can save on LEDs, when we disconnect the power resistor from the LED, so that it does not light when received with the silencer open, saves approx 12 to 15 mA on reception. During the broadcast, when PTT is pressed, the LED stays red, as it was originally. Disassemble TRX, remove the front panel, disconnect the jumper cables between the front panel and the TCVR body. Remove the rubber from the button, there is a small screw under it, which you allow the Alleness 1/16 INCH. Download the button, enable the nut, pull out the VFO debugger. SEL button pulled out. Unscrew the screw holding the PCB to the plastic front panel. Carefully pull the PCB out from the bottom, where there are no two white latches.

The LED is located on the front of the printed circuit board above the hole for the VFO button. It's a small plastic square made of 4 outlets. Now find the two resistors right next to the LED on the left. Remove the resistor that is close to the VFO hole, not the one right next to the top edge.

Carefully reassemble the entire TCVR. When you turn on the radio and open the silencer, the LED should not turn green, when transmitting, the LED should be red, as before.
However, in my opinion, the whole modification will not bring such a significant effect on the overall reduction of consumption and prolongation of the time used by TRX from batteries. Compared to the hard work of disassembling the front panel and removing the resistor that supplies the LED, I wouldn't do it for the second time…

Joseph, OM1CI, http://jbalaz.szm.com