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You can
write your own review of the Yaesu FT-8500.
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KF7MWC
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 2, 2011 08:55
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I like it a lot
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I bought this radio cheep as it wouldn't power on. Sent it to Cal at hamrepair.com. he fixed it up and did a GREAT job. Thanks Cal.
This is one awesome radio. Because all programming is done on the mic, I wouldn't mount it in my mobile, but as a radio in my shack, this radio is awesome. I've got it set to cross-band repeat to the local club repeaters here in town and I carry a low output HT to talk to it.
If you have one you want to get rid of, send me an email. This is a great radio.
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KJ4VOV
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Rating: 5/5
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Aug 30, 2011 10:31
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Great rig!
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I just recently (2 months ago) permanently installed one of these in my emcomm truck, set up as a dedicated cross band repeater. So far, during multiple public service events, an earthquake, and 36 hours of continuous use during Hurricane Irene the unit has performed flawlessly. I would not hesitate to buy another.
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YO3GTS
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Rating: 4/5
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Jan 29, 2011 12:56
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Good, but...
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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It's almost impossible to operate when drive...except if set only memory/freq. and work there
The menu it's very complicate.(compared with ICOM IC-706MKIIG)
I write the memories and settings only with PC, I try without but are very hard.
The duplex repeater…great function!
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AB6PG
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Rating: 4/5
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Sep 3, 2009 11:38
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good radio
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Bought radio back in 1998. I had it for 8 years. I also had the potato mic version. radio worked well. the mic eventually broke down, otherwise very happy with it. I eventually upgraded to 8800.
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N9RLR
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Rating: 5/5
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Jul 11, 2006 09:54
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Nice radio, used mobile
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have waited several years to write a synopsis of the radio. I bought it used in 1999. The radio went into the shop once in 2005. I didnt want to replace the grain of rice lights on the faceplate and the power on/off on the mic was not working anymore, also replaced the internal battery since it the radio being serviced. Sent off to Burghardt and good as new.
The 5 memory banks of 10 freqs is nice can scan each back or all banks of programmed freqs. The feature that had me going from the start was the spectrum scanner. It can be set up for many different ranges to find activity in an area.
I have the radio mounted in the truck via the seperation kit and faceplate on the dash. With the mic controlling everything its easy to monitor activity.
Audio quality has not been an issue. With an external speaker, recieve audio is very good.
Basically I am very pleased with this radio. I would like to get another one.
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K5HDM
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Rating: 5/5
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May 14, 2006 15:13
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A++++
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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This is a great radio, I have 2 of them.. 1 as my base (which is used alot and hasn't been powered off in years) and another as a field radio (which has been in lots of extreme weather, dropped, kicked, etc) and both are still going strong. Never had even 1 problem or complaint on these.. I had 1 with the mh-39 mic and a "potato head" mic on the other, but now i have 2 potato mics and I love those (most people who don't like them are obviously just confused by it, but it's simple to use once you give it a try) I actually use many more of the features than I thought.. such as pager, cross-band repeater, msging etc. I'd love to pick up another one if i come across it. I'm picky and have been through many MANY radios, and the 8500 is probably my #1 or #2 favorite dual band rig.
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KC9EJN
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Rating: 4/5
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Feb 13, 2006 20:59
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Good little radio!
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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I bought mine used from a dealer mail order. Mine didn't have the infamous "Mr. potatohead" mic nevertheless, it took a bit of getting used to. I had to study a bit in order to get the functions down pat. After owning the FT-8500 for about a month and getting myself well accustomed to it's features and operation I began to feel that this radio was the best thing since sliced bread. The fact that it functioned as two individual radios in one I found to be a delight.
Another perk to this radio was the banking of channels. This was my 1st time at owning a rig with this ability… talk about a handy little feature!!!
But the thing that I loved most about this radio was the crossband repeat! In my opinion this has been the single most useful feature on any radio with the exception of maybe WX alert. I very much enjoyed being able to hit distant repeaters using my HT while hiking, fishing in valleys and such.
As with all good things, this too came to an abrupt end. After using the FT-8500 as a mobile unit for quite some time, the dome light was left on in my vehicle thus completely draining the battery. My girlfriend (needing my car that day) got a jumpstart from a neighbor. SOMEHOW both fuses on the power cord allowed a surge resulting in my FT-8500 meeting an early demise.
I must say, it wasn’t all “roses and sunshine” with this rig. Due to the volume and squelch being on the same potentiometer, it was quite tricky to adjust them on the fly.
All in all, I would recommend this radio to anyone who has time to get to know this rig. You will definitely need to get accustomed to it’s workings before you mount it mobile.
Since losing the FT-8500, I tried to replace the rig with the Icom IC-2720 with disastrous results (see my review for this radio). After that melee, I moved on to the Yaesu FT-8800. This is the radio I have been waiting for!! I liked it so well I bought two and will probably buy a 3rd!
73,
KC9EJN
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KD5BFF
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Rating: 3/5
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Dec 14, 2004 14:02
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Ok, could be better
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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I got my radio from a friend in a trade. After using it for a couple months the radio started spazing out. The radio is complicated to get throught the menues while mobile. The VHF side will flash and won't transmit. I got in touch with Yaesu and that didn't offer much help. Basically I would need to buy a $250 part that may or may not still be available. I could use this for a paper weight and buy a new one for a few dollars more. The UHF side has no complaints. I have come to grips that Yaesu likes to discontinue models and get amnesia about ever making it to begin with. I think it is safe to say that with this being the third Yaesu I have owned, and never been impressed, I will not put faith or money in another Yaesu product again. I have always felt that their radios were over priced and now I know that Customer Service is all but a service. If anyone has any ideas on a fix for this VHF problem, please get in touch with me. Other wise I am going to get rid of it and get a simple radio that works like a Kenwood, Icom or Alinco.
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N8VI
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Rating: 5/5
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May 18, 2004 19:01
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Great first rig
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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The FT-8500 was my first rig, and I love it! The scanning features are great (although for some reason freqs programmed into banks other than bank 1 on THE VHF SIDE ONLY are automatically skipped on scanning unless you manually unskip them ... weird), it can scan two frequency ranges per band, one bank or all banks and both at the same time. I use this for scanning channelized simplex on two meters in two of the banks, and also the experimental/misc portion of the band as a range. My first bank is local repeaters, my last bank is local police freqs.
The cross-banding feature is great and very easy to use, IT CAN DO SINGLE-DIRECTION CROSS BANDING, you just need to program in your input frequency with an offset that puts its TX out of band -- the rig will not TX out of band. I tested this with an HT to be absolutely sure. Just gotta get ahold of that FTS-22 board. And I wish it was remote controllable via DTMF.
The only problem I've had with my rig after treating it quite rough -- TXing while in V/V mode, having the rig on while starting the car, blowing part of the circuit board by inserting the power plug backwards, etc is this: ever since I got it (mind you, used, from an unknown vendor at a swap, probably modded), it picks up audio from a local TV station on, of all frequencies, the 2m FM calling frequency, 146.52. This problem goes away if I drive about 30 miles from home, but not if I remove the antenna, move to my basement, and switch to a computer power supply.
Oh, and with an 8-conductor connector for the mic that has all of the radio's controls, it makes it kinda hard to hook up a computer to the rig for anything other than packet (which there is a specific connector for). I'm a bit suspicious that the packet connector is just audio prior to going through the rig's filters and such, and if that is the case, that problem is already solved. I'll be hacking with that when time magically becomes available.
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G4IRX
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Rating: 3/5
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Oct 28, 2003 10:26
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Difficult to use /M!
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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I got mine to replace a Kenwood TM-733E. Big mistake.
Although the RF performance and features on a par with the TM-733 I found the microphone controller a nightmare to use /M if I was driving the car.
On the plus side it did perform well when used in the shack.
No longer have the rig but I found the circuits the other day whilst having a clear-out!
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