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write your own review of the Yaesu FT-90r.
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KB3WVR
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 11, 2012 13:44
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Packs a PUNCH
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Bought this radio used on ebay. Needed something small for my Jeep Liberty. Something I can quickly disconnect and bring into my apartment since my Icom 208H has died in my base station. I love this radio. Easy to use, good reports, good power. Half power is all you really need. I have other Yaesu rigs and love the quality. If I find another one of these used I am going to pick it up.
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KE6LCE
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 23, 2011 19:27
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If this radio had an odometer
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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This radio was bought new in 3/03. I have used it till the key button wore through. It has been in 3 vehicles -02Jeep, 04Ford PU, 06Dodge PU. It would be in the "million mile club" if it had an odometer. It has never failed to work. It has bailed me out in the "boonies" when cell service was no-go. Guess I was lucky as it has a poor rating. I am NOT selling this radio, EVER! I posted in '03 see page 7. 1st 4 digits of serial# are 2L67.
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KF4HPY
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Rating: 4/5
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Aug 19, 2010 08:12
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Works well
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I bought my FT-90R in Dec. 2002 it has a lot # 5 as the third digit. Therefore it has a 60W module. In 2006 had a failure to power up; had it repaired by Skyland in Atlanta. I bought it for disaster relief use, as it is a two band radio. Been using it for a home station since 2006. It is easy to use, and the manual is easy to read and heed. I color code the passages I need to heed. so I have a colorful book. Yaesu does have a problem in seemingly introducing a radio a month. However, they do have a warranty( my 817 went in 3 times for a PA fix) and after a while get their ducks in order. Yesterday I replaced the microphone cable,down to the last strands on one wire at the strain relief. I'm satisified with my FT-90, it's a good radio. TNX, 73
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AF6RR
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Rating: 3/5
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Nov 15, 2009 05:12
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good while it lasted, but it's got warts..
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I bought a FT-90 when they first came out, for all the usual reasons.. a compact, powerful, affordable dual-band rig.
I liked the idea of a remote head, but the price for the remote kit was a bit more than I wanted to pay, and I really only needed the radio-head cable, and the mounting bracket, everything else was going to be custom built anyway. I would have liked to have been able to just buy the connectors, and the bracket, and build the cable myself.
I normally toss it on the transmission hump when traveling, since I normally use a HT around town.
The radio worked nicely for several years, and then the uhf finals went out.. the radio still receives, and transmits on 2m, but no power output on uhf.
Additional warts:
As others have noted, turning up the volume to a decent level, while using the internal speaker, generates a loud howl.. I simply use a small external speaker.
PL - encode only, or encode/decode, but cannot do split tones.
DPL - encode/decode only. cannot do PL encode/DPL decode or vice versa.
Mic cable - the cable falls apart over time. The rubber/plastic/whatever is crap. I have telephones and Motorola microphones that are 40 years old with cables in good condition, and a lot more mileage on them. I have never had a mic cable fall apart this badly, or so soon.
Repeater offsets. when using auto repeater offset, it sets a offset when set to 446.000. I guess Yaesu doesn't know about the national simplex frequency.
Overall, I like the radio. It's small, and packs a punch. I just wish it held up better.
I will probably replace the uhf finals when I have a chance, and keep it in the go-kit.
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KD6KZU
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Rating: 2/5
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May 18, 2009 09:43
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Heres the scoop on these radios.
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I just bought this radio used for $120 from an estate sale. I got it mounted up as a base station with a Diamond X200 antenna and found the 2m Final was blown. After searching I found some information on this radio. The original design uses a Mitsubishi M67781L power output module for the 2m side. This module is only rated for 40w and blows easily. Later models have a M67746 module that is rated for 60W. I'm guessing that the people who have good FT-90Rs have this module. This module has been replaced with the RA60H1317 and the RA module can be used in any of the FT-90r's if you have a bad 2m final.
*********READ*************
If you plan to purchase one of these check the serial number.
Mine is S/N 1D440178
The third digit/number is the lot code. Lot code 5 and above have the 60w m67746 Module.
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KF4FRK
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 12, 2008 19:02
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Great Little Rig!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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My FT-90 was mounted under the front seat of my Jeep Wrangler and stood up to all the abuse it received. I never experienced any of the issues others did about heat and so forth but my radio was rarely operated on high power because it was rarely needed. I would still be using it expect the microphone cable got chopped by accident (it was under the front seat and shorted out when the seat was moved forward) and shorted the radio. Not sure what can even replace it, the control head was mounted on top of the steering column with double sided tape and was very unobtrusive. This entire rig was just perfect for a vehicle needing a small radio or 'stealth' type installs (soft top jeeps). I'm going to miss my FT-90.
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N3DF
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Rating: 5/5
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Sep 8, 2008 10:35
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Great Small Size
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have operated a Yaesu FT-90R mobile since 2000. My only problem came last month, when the mic cord disintegrated near where it enters the microphone. Replaced it for $35 from an ebay ad from Hong Kong. I like the small size and easy mounting of this rig. The South Florida heat has not affected rig (other than the mic cord).
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KA3SEI
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Rating: 4/5
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May 30, 2008 19:11
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Cool Rig!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I only give this a 4 because I really don't care for the display. Other than that, I think it's a great radio. And regarding the overheating issues - How often do most people really NEED to use 50 watts? If you live in a metro area like me, 25 watts is usually more than enough to get a clear transmission into a local repeater - even mobile. When I go into a low spot, I bump up the power temporarily. Considering the size and versatility of this radio, I don't see how you can go wrong with it.
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VK3VMS
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 19, 2008 20:33
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Awesome little beast!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I love my little FT-90 :-)
They do still service them here Down Under - I noticed that someone else on here said that they wouldn't ervice them anymore. I just got mine back last month from Vertex Standard, after I buggered up a mod that I found on mods.dk, (the one that is supposed to improve the audio). Now she is working like new!
I have never had the overheating problems that other people have mentioned on here, either. I tend to agree with others on here too, if you can find a good one 2nd hand - BUY IT!!
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KD8EZU
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 21, 2008 13:04
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Read the reviews
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I guess I'm one of the few persons who actually read the reviews on this rig ( thanks EHAM ) and then used that information to make my newly acquired FT-90R work well. High heat seems to be the most common complaint. I addeded a CPU fan from off of a computer CPU and mounted it so the the output would blow into the existing fan hole and also on the external cooling fins. I supply power to this via the 12 volt power cable and have a small switch in line in case I want to turn off the fan. No heat problems WHATSOEVER at ANY power level with this arrangement working in concert with the internal fan. Note also that I have mine mounted on a pedestal mount and not trapped in a non-ventalated dashboard hole. The unit is so small that I used an old Garmin iQue 3600 GPS mount as a pedestal for between the front seats . You can probably make a mount for this tiny transceiver out of anything.
Mounting with Velcro will also work BTW for an "on-the-dash" or "under-the-dash" installation.
DO NOT BLOCK THE COOLING FAN HOWEVER!......DUH!!
What's important here is That to not put the unit in a hole where it cannot get fresh air. OK , Ok so you should not have to do this . All I'm trying to say is that, instead of giving up on an otherwise great and VERY small rig, try to add a secondary cooling fan and allow for ventilation. We're hams after all..., part engineer , part mechanic....ALL PROBLEM SOLVER.
Once you get the rig to not overheat most , if not all, other problems are non-issues. The problem with the squelch is to change the spacing from 5HZ to 10Khz or more. This solution was freely available ( as was the use of a 2nd fan ) if one reads all the posts. As with all mobile's I've used I use a 1/8 adapter to plug into the speaker/headphone rear jack and take the audio into the car's audio system. You can use one of the more popular IPOD type adapters , or be "OLD SCHOOL" like me and use the cassette tape adapter that has the 1/8 male plug on one end and a dummy cassette that goes into a car's cassette deck. You will then have great audio that will be as loud ad you can want/stand it.
In closing, I suggest a 2nd cooling fan, PROPER ventilated mounting, and no 5KHZ spacing. In return your FT-90R will work very well.
Sure..., other rigs don't require you to do all of this, but they're not as small as the FT-90R either.It's worth the effort
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