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| Reviews Summary for Yaesu FT-100 |
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write your own review of the Yaesu FT-100.
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W3RXO
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Rating: 0/5
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Jun 30, 2008 21:11
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JUNK, pure junk
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I can't say it any more plainly than that. First, mine started getting the thermal runaway trouble, when I would have a fairly lengthy QSO on 2M FM. Would just go into LEFT FIELD, and transmit on some unknown band, with no warning. Then, when I got the mod done, by another tech, to take care of the overheating problem, the VCO board went out, just ass I was selling it to a friend. Had to give my friend his money back, buy another body on eBay, and then sell it for a HUGE loss, on eBay. All because of inherent design flaws, that Yaesu should have recalled it over. Instead, they throw their loyal customers to the curb. Screw them!!!! It is junk, pure junk. Plain and simple.
To make things worse, YAESU told me they "No longer support that platform". Refused to work on a radio, that 7-8 years ago, was their state of the art micro-mobile. Yet, I can take my Kenwood T-599 and R-599 to Kenwood, and they will gladly work on those 30+ year old radios. Due to that, I will never buy another Yaesu radio. Icom, Kenwood and the used Boatanchor market, have my loyal business, now.
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KN0CK
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Rating: 4/5
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Dec 26, 2007 21:37
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Nice rig even if used
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I've owned my FT-100 for about a month now and I've really been happy with it. Compared against the TS-140S I own, it definitely has more features (other than the V/UHF bands) and seems to have more receiver sensitivity than my '140S has. I've been using it on the digital modes (PSK31, Olivia, etc) as well as listening to HFDL and it does a remarkable job of pulling sigs out of the noise. I have mine set up with a HyGain 4BTV vertical antenna and it's been working out fine used in a base configuration - haven't put it to use as a mobile rig yet, but have the screwdriver antenna ready for that soon enough. Tuning rivals most top end rigs (10 Hz tuning seems real smooth in VFO mode). Adjustable power is a plus for QRP operation if I want to do that. Has so many features I have trouble remembering them all! This rig is a 4.5 out of 5.0 - - definitely worth the purchase even at $400.00 these days.
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KB2SEO
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Rating: 1/5
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Mar 16, 2007 16:38
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It's a TURD dressed like a radio
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I was the Proud owner ot a 101ZD, it ROCKED! the rig was one of my favorites. I had a budy get a 1000, WARNED me that the service was CRAP.
I went for my Lungs: the 100(early model), the ATAS100 "WATER COLLECTION UNIT" Filters and remote control head Stuff. Add to it the MOUNTING KIT (!) and HRO in Atlanta gets 1800 bucks! (Who is STILL a great shop-No hard feelings with them)- They bent over backwards to help.
I called Yaesu shortly after I got a high SWR on the ATAS antenna, Elmer looked at it, Snorted, said it was a dummy load with a Condom on it. Put a Ham stick which showed a Great 1.21 on the MFJ analyzer- HIGH SWR!?! WHAT THE )*&^#!??
Called Yaesu- Is it grounded? they ask- YES! the head unit is bolted in the dash board of my GMC Sonoma and the rig is BOLTED to the Floor, Braided copper from the undersifde bolt to the chassis, the Antenna is secured with a through my frigging diamond plated tool box after they said the "Diamond" mount I was using on the tool bok lid edge was said to not provide a good ground. DRILLED A BRAND NEW TOOL BOX TO TRY AND GET THIS WORKING-AAAAAGAH!
Finally, after running the ATAS: Up, Down, reset.Up,Down Up down, ThERE! I saw it! good SWR! Key up, Nope! Up,down.., the darn thing crapped out about 1 year to purchase date-PER Yaesu: NOT COVERED, So sorry.
Then when the new antenna set up would only allow me to work the rig on 3 bands, through a MFJ tuner- it was then I saw theFT-100 Yahoo group messages about the troubles. I called YAESU and asked that they fix this. I have 30 or so entries in a chat area all describing this, 1800 bucks later, I could have been on a TS 50 Or Alinco with Linguine!
They asked for the credit card slip or sales slip!
I sent them the deposit I put on the rig. and they said that wasn't enough.
Last year, after yelling for 4 years, they now say they'll have to determine wht is going on before they'll consider this a warranty.
They can forget it. I figure if I can turn 5 people away from that brand, I got my money's worth. If I can turn 50 hams away-
They may learn that it would have been cheaper to have fixed my Rig the first time asked.
I teach Customer Service Skills, I am also a frequent award winner for Customer service excellence. If they treated my customers in my "shop" like that-they'd be pushing Cellphones at Radio Shack.
Anyone want to see what I been through, contact me at kb2seo@yahoo.com
THAT INCLUDES YAESU
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W5FAE
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 2, 2006 06:39
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Great Radio But......
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I've had my FT-100(not"D") for about a month now and find that it receives better than any radio I have owned other than my FT-817ND. The audio with the proper amount of noise blanking and DSP applied is outstanding. This was at the expense of extensive mods performed by the previous owner! Grounding and shielding mods were made as well as the mic mod and the fan mod to keep things cool. AM reception suffers due to the lack of the optional XF-117A filter. This is not uncommon. I have a Kenwood TS-430 that had the same problem. All in all. I have to rate this radio a '5' because, for a used radio, it far exceeds my expectations.
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WF6O
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Rating: 4/5
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Oct 22, 2006 20:44
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It WAS a great rig!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Yes, I should have given my beloved FT-100 a 5, but it's now died a quick death. The audio crapped out a couple of months ago. A quick search of the Yahoo FT-100 group and I found the explanation - broken solder joints on the external speaker plug. Not being comfortable with removing a PC board as complicated as this one was, I asked a friend to take a look at it. Yep, the solder joints were broken and John easily repaired it. But, alas, still no audio. John is a great technician and he pronounced it dead - not worth sending it off to Yaesuland. I bought this one used about 6 years ago and it's been always mobile. A call to Yaesu's service guys revealed that they'll take a look at it and can probably repair it - for $300+ not including shipping. However, several of the parts in this formerly excellent rig are no longer available (like the HF final transistors). So, I'll sell it for parts and get a new FT-857D. May it rest in peace.
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G1HQK
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Rating: 4/5
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Sep 20, 2006 14:26
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Still Pleased
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Bought mine 3 years ago, cost a little over £500 new, I remember paying about that for my Kenwood 2m multimode many years ago!
Been running it from home, on 2/70 for the first year or so, then connected a vertical for Hf and a 6m loop.
Still very pleased with HF, and 6m especially, 2m is fine, I do find that 70cms can be a bit deaf though when compared to my dual band set.
That said I can hear and access repeaters in the dutch/belgian areas down on 430.
Overall would I buy another, yep, will I sell it, nope it is about to get installed into my car.
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W5TD
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Rating: 5/5
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Sep 20, 2006 13:05
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Just fantastic
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have owned a few FT100s now and they are fantastic radios! Very quiet receiver, with a great NB. Knocks out the powerline noise I get here, and the receiver holds up very well under crowded band conditions-much better than the FT857 or Icom 706mKIIG.
The separate power setting for AM is great-you can set it for a low power (15 w or so) tuning signal with an AM carrier. Also, the DSP works very well, not quite as good as IF DSP, but the bandpass filtering still works pretty good, especially on CW.
I do wish the IF shift was a little easier to use, but I get by just fine without it.
The display looks nice and is very easy to read, plus it gives you all the information you need. The meter is easy to read and shows power out and SWR at the same time-the meters on the 857 and 706 won't do this. Plus the SWR meter also works on 2 meters and 70cm.
I have just loved these radios and have done it all with them-contesting, DXing, satellite operation, and even made 1 EME QSO with it on 2 meters.
Get one, you won't be sorry. The best HF/VHF/UHF mobile sized radio ever made. Better than anything currently on the market.
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PA5COR
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 27, 2005 12:39
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Very Good
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Hi,
Got my hands on an almost new FT100 and performed the mods, changing the fans for higher cfm 40x40x20 instead the 40x40x10 mm.
Also did the resistor mod, in my case an 68 Ohm 2 watt resistor lets the fans work in recieve noiseless but with enough cooling.
The SWR mod was done, but added pointed washers under the screws that kept the pcb's to the frame.
Cleaned up the VHF-UHF transistor flux and made sure all screws were tight as well from the boards as well from the P.A. transistors.
Nice addition to the FT847 with Collins filters, and FC 20 wich can be used for both transcievers.
73,
Cor
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M1DNO
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 12, 2005 02:33
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A great radio for the money
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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This is in essence a very similar radio in features and performance to the ICOM 706 mk11g. It features wide band receive dsp etc just like the icom. The big advantage is that if buying the radio used, it is considerable cheaper than the 706. I guess reading several reviews on this forum is enough to put people off.
I've found the performace to great. Yes the controls can be fidly, it is annoying when looking for a menu item only to go too far and have to scroll through them again. The band up/down and function key would be better on the other side of the dial rather than the memory/step buttons which I hardly use. However this is nitpicking. It is unfair to complain about this type of problem with a mobile rig, since it is clearly going to be harder to use than a big base rig with pleny of buttons/knobs.
I have had none of the problems that others have reported such as the high swr indicator coming on. Infact it runs very smoothly indeed.
Overall I am very happy. This is my first rig, and already I can see myself becoming a yeasu fan. Funny thing brand loyalty.
Final comment: I emailed Yaesu (UK) for detail on how to extend 40m coverage from 7.1 to 7.2MHz since this part of the band has only recently becom available to amateurs in the U.K. They send detail immiediately, so no complaints there.
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K3UD
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Rating: 4/5
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Jul 20, 2005 06:56
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Very good radio
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have had 2 FT-100s. The first one was destroyed in a direct lightning hit which wiped out all the equipment in the shack. I promptly went out and purchased another one.
These are great radios. I originally purchased mine for mobile work but it ended up as my main radio in the shack as it out performed my ICOM 737 and has the added bonus of 6, 2 and 70cm. The DSP implementation is wonderful and you almost do not need a seperate CW filter if you are not a CW contester. The noise blanker is among the best I have used, especially when dealing with ignition noise and the ever present powerline noise at my QTH.
Since I do participate in CW contests I purchased the 500Hz CW filter. Coupled with the narrow DSP audio filter choices available on the FT-100, it makes a great combination. I purchased a 746PRO about a year ago with the intention of using it as my main radio and actually getting the FT-100 into the van for mobile work. Somehow it usually will find its way into the shack again. IMHO the FT-100 with the CW filter and the DSP is a bit better CW rig then the 746PRO is.
For sometime, the FT-100 was plagued by some design flaws, however all of them have been addressed in the various FT-100 forums and I have made all the fixes.
You DO need to get to know the menues and thier functions. It is possible to really degrade the radio if you do not know what you are doing when accessing the menues and changing settings.
I would rate this radio a 5 if the it came from the factory ready to go with no corrective mods needed. As such it gets a 4.
73
George
K3UD
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