Replacing the FT-817's power amplifier yourself

In the somewhat unlikely event that you do have to replace the finals in your FT-817 (being that the vast majority of '817 users have had no problems at all with theirs) it is worth knowing that a hobbyist with reasonable soldering skills, modest equipment, and attention to detail can, in fact, do the job his/herself.  An example of this was Mike, PA7XG, who undertook the challenge - despite initial reluctance to do so.

Of the task, Mike said "Thanks for your homepage. It convinced me that I could do the job. (It's tricky work for a senior citizen (me) with bad eyes and dodgy fine motor functions but otherwise straightforward.  Nor would I recommend it for a rank beginner..."

Mike kindly emailed me a file that describes in detail how it can be done, along with permission to post it for all to see, and I do thank him for doing so: