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#1
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Any opinions on Yaesu FT-450
Hi all,
I am in the market for a new radio, and have been looking at some different radios from the point of view of: output power ATU (internal, optional) general receive coverage (at least 0-30MHz full coverage) receive quality internal filters (optional filters also) ability to run on emergency power (I wish to use it for RACES-emcomm usage) ability to run as a home station I want to run this radio 80% of the time as home station, and 20% as emcomm station. I have been looking at the FT-450 and it seems to be very capable and fits most of the above requirements. I have also been looking at the Yaesu FT-897, which seems to be a more mobile radio. I am still making the decision, but I was wondering if anyone has either radio (or ideally both) and could give some opinions (constructive please!). thanks in advance, bernard ei8fdb |
#2
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Any opinions on Yaesu FT-450
"blue box thief" "blue box wrote in message in... Hi all, I am in the market for a new radio, and have been looking at some different radios from the point of view of: output power ATU (internal, optional) general receive coverage (at least 0-30MHz full coverage) receive quality internal filters (optional filters also) ability to run on emergency power (I wish to use it for RACES-emcomm usage) ability to run as a home station I want to run this radio 80% of the time as home station, and 20% as emcomm station. I have been looking at the FT-450 and it seems to be very capable and fits most of the above requirements. I have also been looking at the Yaesu FT-897, which seems to be a more mobile radio. I am still making the decision, but I was wondering if anyone has either radio (or ideally both) and could give some opinions (constructive please!). thanks in advance, bernard ei8fdb Over 227 reviews of the Yaesu FT-897 at URL: http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/2432 Over 37 reviews for the FT-450 at URL: http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/6583 Lamont |
#3
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Any opinions on Yaesu FT-450
On 2008-02-05, The Shadow wrote:
"blue box thief" "blue box wrote in message in... Hi all, I am in the market for a new radio, and have been looking at some different radios from the point of view of: output power ATU (internal, optional) general receive coverage (at least 0-30MHz full coverage) receive quality internal filters (optional filters also) ability to run on emergency power (I wish to use it for RACES-emcomm usage) ability to run as a home station I want to run this radio 80% of the time as home station, and 20% as emcomm station. I have been looking at the FT-450 and it seems to be very capable and fits most of the above requirements. I have also been looking at the Yaesu FT-897, which seems to be a more mobile radio. I am still making the decision, but I was wondering if anyone has either radio (or ideally both) and could give some opinions (constructive please!). thanks in advance, bernard ei8fdb Over 227 reviews of the Yaesu FT-897 at URL: http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/2432 Over 37 reviews for the FT-450 at URL: http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/6583 Hi lamont, Yes, I have read both sets of reviews from eham (also looked at QST, and, I think, the PW review). The most logical reason for the more 897 reviews is that radio has been out alot longer (4-5 more years?) than the 450 (it was released sometime last year). Does anyone have any first hand experience/opinions of either of these radios? thanks |
#4
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Any opinions on Yaesu FT-450
I have been looking at the FT-450 and it seems to be very capable and fits most of the above requirements. I have also been looking at the Yaesu FT-897, which seems to be a more mobile radio. I am still making the decision, but I was wondering if anyone has either radio (or ideally both) and could give some opinions (constructive please!). I made the same decision between those two radios over a year ago and have no regrets in chosing the FT-450.. The receiver is definitaly superior to the Rx in the Ft-897. The IF DSP features are well worth it. I use mine primarily as the HF station in my motorhome, as well as a backup to my IC-746 in the home station. In addition to the hundreds of reviews already suggested to you, you can also check out the Yahoo Groups for each of those models of radios you are looking at. Ed K7AAT |
#5
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Any opinions on Yaesu FT-450
On 2008-02-05, MTV wrote:
How many more opinions do you want? 264 not enough? MTV No. |
#6
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Any opinions on Yaesu FT-450
Hi Ed, Thank you for the reply, and comments. On 2008-02-05, Ed_G wrote: I made the same decision between those two radios over a year ago and have no regrets in chosing the FT-450.. The receiver is definitaly superior to the Rx in the Ft-897. The IF DSP features are well worth it. I use mine primarily as the HF station in my motorhome, as well as a backup to my IC-746 in the home station. One question: what are the menuing systems like? I have no real problem with getting to grips with menus, but some reviews seemed highly critical of them. From POV of something like filtering, how easy are they to use? In addition to the hundreds of reviews already suggested to you, you can also check out the Yahoo Groups for each of those models of radios you are looking at. Yep, I am a member of both the FT-450 and FT-897 Yahoo groups. I was looking for another opinion on either/both radios. Are there anythings you hate/love about the radio? What antenna are you using with it? Did you spring for the DTMF microphone? If so did it make frequency entry easier? Also, did you get any other options (ATU, etc?) thanks for your comments and help. b |
#7
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Any opinions on Yaesu FT-450
One question: what are the menuing systems like? I have no real problem with getting to grips with menus, but some reviews seemed highly critical of them. If I were to fault Yaesu for anything, it would be their menu system. Of the big three, I find Yaesu's menu system to be the least intuitive. That said, I will say that I find the menu system for the FT-450 "different", and perhaps more straight forward than that of the FT-897 system. I have an FT-817 which is similar to the FT-897 and FT-857 type radios and It is not nearly as easy to use as the FT-450. From POV of something like filtering, how easy are they to use? Not as easy at the IC=746, but still better than the other Yaesu radios to which I already referred. Are there anythings you hate/love about the radio? No hate, nothing particular that I love, either. What antenna are you using with it? A 23' base loaded vertical on the back of my motorhome. Works superbly, but I always adjust my loading coil assy for a good 50 ohm match for the radio. Did you spring for the DTMF microphone? If so did it make frequency entry easier? I had no need for the DTMF microphone. I am pleased with the stock mic. Also, did you get any other options (ATU, etc?) Since my home brew antennas always are designed for a 50 ohm match, I had no need to get the matching unit. Ed K7AAT |
#8
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Any opinions on Yaesu FT-450
blue box thief wrote:
Hi lamont, Yes, I have read both sets of reviews from eham (also looked at QST, and, I think, the PW review). The most logical reason for the more 897 reviews is that radio has been out alot longer (4-5 more years?) than the 450 (it was released sometime last year). Does anyone have any first hand experience/opinions of either of these radios? thanks Just one, do NOT buy the D model of this radio, or its twin, the 857. The only real change was they made it impossible to do the software mods on it. To put it another way, if you have the 897 instead of the 897D, you can easily add the 60m "channels" to normal memory locations after doing the software mod. That being said, both the D and non-D models have some serious hardware issues, all of which are fixable. The processor isn't one, it's simply a 100 gain op amp that starts to clip as you turn it up, no filtering, no nothing. Fixable with 4 or 5 resistors and caps as I remember. The finals bias currents are normally not set properly at the factory. Simple to fix. The drivers, which are the FT817 finals, have the same problem they did in the 817, they tend to blow up under certain conditions. To be fair, it's very rare, and fixable with a voltage regulator. The ALC time constant is way to fast, which causes dropouts in during portions of words. This one is very easy to fix with a single cap. There are some others that are less of a problem. I own an 897 and an 857D, and they do not work at all alike on transmit, though they are theoretically virtually identical. Both are very good on receive for the design, and essentially the same. The 897 is great on transmit, and the 857D is, to put it bluntly, absolute crap. I am fairly certain that this is due to the bias on the finals, but will not be able to confirm that until I can take it in for realignment. I will do that, and then have the other mods done one at a time to see how the transmit audio changes. For more information on the 897/857, see the DG2IAQ document. I found a copy on mods.dk. It may be available other places. It is very well done. tom K0TAR |
#9
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Any opinions on Yaesu FT-450
Hi Ed, Thanks for the reply. On 2008-02-06, Ed_G wrote: If I were to fault Yaesu for anything, it would be their menu system. Of the big three, I find Yaesu's menu system to be the least intuitive. That said, I will say that I find the menu system for the FT-450 "different", and perhaps more straight forward than that of the FT-897 system. I have an FT-817 which is similar to the FT-897 and FT-857 type radios and It is not nearly as easy to use as the FT-450. That is very good news. Very glad to hear it. So the 450, has a "better" menu system than the 817/57/97? From POV of something like filtering, how easy are they to use? Not as easy at the IC=746, but still better than the other Yaesu radios to which I already referred. No hate, nothing particular that I love, either. A 23' base loaded vertical on the back of my motorhome. Works superbly, but I always adjust my loading coil assy for a good 50 ohm match for the radio. With all these average, or "positive" comments, I don't understand how the radio has received bad reviews. Thank you very much for your comments Ed. You'd helped me alot. much appreciated. b ei8fdb |
#10
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Any opinions on Yaesu FT-450
On 2008-02-07, Tom Ring wrote:
Does anyone have any first hand experience/opinions of either of these radios? Just one, do NOT buy the D model of this radio, or its twin, the 857. The only real change was they made it impossible to do the software mods on it. To put it another way, if you have the 897 instead of the 897D, you can easily add the 60m "channels" to normal memory locations after doing the software mod. I like software mods, once you don't brick the thing That being said, both the D and non-D models have some serious hardware SNIP Ok, thanks for the information regarding the D/non-D models. Note made. I own an 897 and an 857D, and they do not work at all alike on transmit, though they are theoretically virtually identical. Both are very good on receive for the design, and essentially the same. The 897 is great on transmit, and the 857D is, to put it bluntly, absolute crap. I am Interesting Tom. I have heard bad results from the 857D, but not anything about the 857, as it is discontinued I think. Have you any experience of the 817? I had thought about picking one up for SOTA type stuff. The dollar is a good price for me at the moment For more information on the 897/857, see the DG2IAQ document. I found a copy on mods.dk. It may be available other places. It is very well done. Yup, I have used mods.dk before. It is a good website. |
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