|
New to Ham Radio?
My Profile
Community
Articles
Forums
News
Reviews
Friends Remembered
Speak Out
Strays
Survey Question
Operating
Contesting
DX Cluster Spots
Propagation
Resources
Calendar
Classifieds
Ham Exams
Ham Links
List Archives
News Articles
Product Reviews
QSL Managers
Site Info
eHam Help (FAQ)
Support the site
The eHam Team
Advertising Info
Vision Statement
About eHam.net
|
|
You can
write your own review of the Yaesu FT-290R.
|
W1DGA
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Oct 22, 2009 11:33
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Great Over The Sholder 2 mtr rig
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
I used it for yrs ( bought new in 1980s) & had the nicads from Mexico blow up inside many yrs ago. Major melt down! I am trying to make it work again after 12 yrs no use. There are at least 2 button batteries (origional)inside that might be part of the problem? I see no modulation on the SSB meter, but signal on FM. Mike wires look OK both ends.Have read out & receives OK. Where do I start? I have orig book.Likely will be used in Philippines more that US!
Dick W1DGA in MD
|
|
G7MRV
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Jan 6, 2009 11:02
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
A real workhorse
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
My FT-290 is my second, although ive briefly owned several while trading them. It sits on my 'VHF/UHF' shelf and is the workhorse of my 2m station. With its MUTEK front end, and a microwave modules 30W linear its a potent setup. Ive even found how to cure the AGC fault many seem to suffer in old age. I use if for local FM simplex, SSB local and DX, and even plan to try a little CW. It doesnt have CTCSS as needed for the repeaters now, but i only use the repeaters mobile anyway, and the mobile and handie take care of that. The telescopic whip is a little flimsy but fine if care is taken. I have the leatherette case and strap, and a set of 4000mAhr NiMH cells inside, so its also a potent emergency or portable setup.
I love this rig so much i even set up a yahoo group dedicated to it under the name 'electrichandbag'!
|
|
M0RTS
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Jul 25, 2007 07:11
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Well? what else can i say?
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
Well another one of Yaesu's famous old rigs.
This was the first 2m rig that I purchased when i got my licence.I used this radio daily and had lots of use as a base station rig,portable and mobile, contest on hill tops were great fun(except for heavy rain as usual)hi. Very easy to use,multimode and all in one box. Very handy for portable use with the facility to insert 8x size C cells also inside the radio and telescopic aerial on front.
You can easily store 10 memorys by the push of a button which some may find limited compared to modern radios,two VFO's (i run mine wih one VFO on ssb portion of the band and fm on the other)
Transmit audio reports have always been good, reciever has been criticised for being deaf by some but with transmitter output of 2.5 watts the reciever is compatibe with treansmitter.
I was fortunate to get my hands on the Fl 2010 matching linear which takes you up to 10 watts and makes a great 2m set up, i will admit that 2.5 watts could restrict you depending on what you were doing at times.
Very reliable and well bulit and fun to use at the same time. I went out and got another one of these gems.
If you see one of these in good condition you will not regret buying it , you can now also get them for reasonable cost aswell and serve you many years of fun!
73
|
|
PE1RLN
|
Rating: 5/5
|
May 7, 2007 15:52
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Oldschool but best there is
|
Time owned: 3 to 6 months
|
The FT-290 is the best portable VHF transceiver ever built. Maybe it's successor the FT-290RII is better, I never tried, but it is much harder to find.
These things cost only a few bucks because nobody seems to like them as they are old-fashioned and have no fancy functions. Well, try to make a QSO with fancy functions... it only has to transmit and receive properly and that's what it does.
If you are planning to buy this rig, you should be aware of some facts that may be a good or a bad thing, depending on your demands:
- Memory: you can only select memories with the memory-switch on the front and scanning doesn't work well
- VFO-tuning has to be done with the main dial which has keyclicks on every step. It doesn't bother me, it makes me even sure what I'm doing when not looking. The UP-DWN buttons on the mic do the same, which some believe is more comfy...
- Antenna: the front antenna is a telescopic whip. Mine is as new, but I can imagine that it will die some day. BNC socket might be better... a mod seems possible
- Reverse: it has no Reverse button to listen to the other station on the input frequency when using duplex. There is a very useful mod that lets the CALL button do this Reverse and it emits a 1750Hz tone when transmitting: essential!
- Speaker: the speaker is a bit small for outdoor-use. Headphones are always better.
- Batteries: this thing uses C-type batteries. I first used Alkaline batteries, but I bought the cheapest NiCd batteries and they work even better. I always keep a spare package of Alkaline for emergency.
The overall rating is a 5/5 because all these points are being overruled by the performance: output is very clean and reports are always very good, audio also. The reception is very good too, even better than most of the HT's I ever had.
And the size of the rig might be the only disadvantage... or wait a minute... you can even press and adjust every button very easily au contraire to many other portables...! Seriously, the size doesn't matter (whatever women say) and is even an advantage when using it outdoors.
Wanna buy it for a good price? Go for it, it comes always handy!
|
|
N4DYR
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Aug 27, 2006 20:20
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
A fun rig!
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
The most fun I've ever had as a ham was in the 80s, when I ran an FT-290R (and later also a 790R) in NE Scotland as GM5DTB. I had a 100 watt Microwave Modules amp and a 19 element Cushcraft Boomer, and was the ONLY 2M/70cm SSB station in the old ZR square (now IO97, I think).
Almost all of that square is water, so I was a very popular fellow for a couple of years, and worked all over Europe on tropo, Es and Aurora.
Sadly, my 790 disappeared when I moved back to the States, and my 290 was damaged in storage. (I'm keeping it for spare parts.)
But when I decided it was time to get back into VHF DX, another FT-290R seemed the logical way to get my feet wet and decide whether it's still fun, so I just picked a 290 up on eBay and I'll soon have an antenna ready to go.
My main gripes about the 290 are two. First is the fact that tuning the thing is tedious. The tuning knob is small, and it has click-stops on every increment. The good news here is that this problem goes away if you use the up/down buttons on the mic. Once you get used to it, it's no problem at all.
The second gripe is the small incandescent backlight that has to be replaced periodically, and is a real pain if you do your own repairs.
Those complaints aside, it's still a great little rig, and I highly recommend it as an inexpensive alternative to some of the current DC-Light multi-kilobuck rigs now on the market.
|
|
KC0TUD
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Jun 28, 2006 12:55
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
One of my favorite radios
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
As many before have rightly noted, it's not a perfect radio, but it's great at being what it is: a decent all mode portable 2 meter rig that can take accessories (tone board, external amp, external antenna, etc.) and work portable. When I get the chance to operate portable, I leave my '817 at home- it's a battery pig that's not better enough than my $100 FT-290r to come along.
I have and FT-690r and an FT-790r also. Great great radios, and as a previous reviewer said, very different than their MKII replacements- Which are really neat in their own right.
|
|
KN0UR
|
Rating: 4/5
|
Jun 19, 2006 20:13
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
FT-290R keeps ticking
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
My FT-290R is also hitting 20yrs of service. Although 10 yrs in the middle were in storage while I was in the military. I've used the rig for local repeater work and for SSB/CW work on satellites. Don't have the Mutek board, but I understand they may offer some again ;-) Only issue I had was the CPU hickuped after a couple of years. Had it replaced by Yaesu, and its worked fine ever since.
I use a Comm-Spec SS-64 to access repeaters. Plan to mode the FT-290R so it can use the TE-32 and change PL with knob instead of dip switches.
It's big and bulky by today's standards. But the little workhorse is still going strong. I plan to keep it for satellite work even when I get a FT-857 (When the wife approves.) And with the low output power, it should work great for a SHF exciter for future satellites.
|
|
GM1SXX
|
Rating: 5/5
|
May 1, 2006 02:19
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Follow up
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
This is a follow-up on my earlier review.
My oldest FT-290R (owned since new) has just clocked up 20 years of service both as a base station and used portable.
It was bought in 1986 from a local radio dealer in Glasgow who fitted it with its MUTEK front end.
Apart from a fresh coat of paint for the outer cabinet a few years ago (Ford Polaris Grey is good!) it works pretty much the same as ever.
I'm not sure of the age of my backup FT-290R (bought from EBay a few years ago) but it also works very well.
Don't confuse the FT-290R MK1 with the more recent model. It's a different radio altogether.
Al.
GM1SXX
|
|
G7VOT
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Apr 19, 2006 11:42
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Delivers as it should
|
Time owned: 3 to 6 months
|
What a great rig. I bought mine second hand at a good price. It needed a bit of work on it (Alignment)hence the good price.
It only took me a few days and it was 100%.
Great readio and a pleasure to use. Sure it's basic, but it does exactly what it's meant to do. And for that it gets a 5 off me.
|
|
AI4DH
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Feb 14, 2005 18:45
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
An old and reliable friend
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
I (then N6HVP) also purchased my FT-290R along with Frank (N6EDR) and Don (WB6MZR) from Jun’s in Los Angeles in 1983 and it has been a constant companion ever since. Frank modified the front end of his “Luggytalkie” with the MUTEK board which made the 290 really sing, and I found the preamp in most Mirage amps did the same. We would QSO with Frank on sideband late in the evening since he worked the night shift (he crawled the outdoor catwalks on his break!) with great success. We later started the 2 Meter Sideband Swap Net in So. California using our 290’s which is still going on today. Since its purchase the 290 has traveled with me on relocations to the Bay area, a stint in Germany and now in Kentucky where it still performs like new. And if I can scare-up some 2 Meter sideband activity around these parts (So-Central Kentucky) she’ll be working nights once again. The FT-290R and my Kenwood TS-520S have proved themselves as my most reliable radios of all time. I can’t imagine operating without them so if you run across one grab it and feel the true weight of portable 2 Meter sideband operation. : )
Mike, AI4DH
|
|
If you have any questions, problems, or suggestions about Reviews,
please email your Reviews Manager.
|
|
|
|
|
