|
New to Ham Radio?
My Profile
Community
Articles
Forums
News
Reviews
Friends Remembered
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 FRG-8800.
|
DXTUNER
|
Rating: 3/5
|
Dec 27, 2010 23:11
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Good but not great
|
Time owned: 3 to 6 months
|
|
On the positive, the Yaesu FRG-8800 is well-built & sturdy, one of the last I think with a real communications receiver feel to it. And the audio is fantastic, a good deep sound. On the negative I didn’t find the FRG-8800 to be especially sensitive, not enough for dx’ing utilities. The FRG-100 is far more sensitive. I also found the tuning step (25 Hz) a bit too chunky. I think this is a good unit to have around for looks, mainly, or for program listening. It certainly wouldn’t be your receiver of choice for going after tough catches.
|
|
HAMDUDE
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Nov 16, 2009 07:34
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Great once repared right
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
|
Bought mine at a ham club disposal sale, worked for a few day's then got the common blinking display. Did the diode mod, same thing. It was 15 year's old so sent it off to be repaired. 4 month's later and $50.00 repair bill, came back working 100%. Problem was the 17m ic went bad, and since they run in serie's, rendered radio totally useless.So i have now $200.00 dollar's invested, do not believe i could do better for my investment. Yes filter's could be better, but if you want to get in pile-up's and a crowded band, turn on your hf rig. Sadly this was one of the last heavy built real rcvr. Not to hard to set up, believe it or not, that's why they have instruction manual's. Mine will never leave here.
|
|
KA2SHU
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Apr 19, 2009 08:21
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
A SOLID SWL Receiver
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
|
I recently purchased a real clean FRG-8800. My example did not suffer from any of the maladies that others have reported . With stock filters, I would not recommended this radio for CW reception or SSB reception when there are several adjacent operators within a few kilohertz. Otherwise SSB reception is very clear. This is because of the stock filters this radio has. On the other hand, I don't believe that Yaesu designed this receiver with that in mind in the first place. I have compared this Yaesu to several other radios in my collection and I would say that its sensitivity is at least comparable. Where this radios shines is in its audio even with its built in speaker. When you connect a decent outboard speaker to it, the audio is superb. This is why I would say it's an excellent SWL receiver. Its SINPO S meter is unique. The radio's green lit back light display is clear, easy to read and can be dimmed for night time use. With its sleep timer, clock, and auto on/off timer, this receiver makes for an excellent bedside, easily operated radio that should provide many years of satisfying SWL/MW listening.
|
|
EB5AGV
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Jan 17, 2009 07:27
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Great unit with some mods!
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
I have just got a curious FRG-8800. I bought it unworking, for a very low price, and it had a label in front panel which was not standard. Upon arrival I found it was a Surrey Electronics "Broadcast Monitor Receiver 2". That version ads lots of goodies, as better IF filters. You can check all the added mods listed here: http://www.surreyelectronics.com/leaflets/Receiver2F.jpg .
I have managed to fix the radio (it had a cracked PCB) and, after a careful alignment, it is a really hot receiver.
|
|
KNJ2GH
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Oct 15, 2007 16:10
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Underrated and Underappreciated
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
|
This is a great radio! I'm the second owner since new, and I've never had a lick of trouble. Maybe the radios with problems were early production versions, I don't know. I like to listen to Utility stations. I just punch in the frequency and listen for drift free trouble free hours. It's never let me down, very stable and nice solid feel, like a more expensive radio than it is. My only complaint is that the stock filters could be a little tighter. My advice would be to buy one, but first take it out on a test drive just to be sure you don't get a 'troubled' unit. Incidentally, there's a Yahoo group devoted to this fine receiver at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/yaesufrg8800/
|
|
WEB01
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Aug 16, 2006 00:47
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
A GREAT RADIO
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
I've owned my frog since new. That was back in the late 80's. I also bought and installed the optional vhf board. I have it hooked up to a long wire for the low bands and a mag mount scanner antenna for vhf that's located out side. I have had no problems with this rig at all. I use it all night long for BC listening and am dx'ing. I listen to all my friends on the 75m ham bands when in the house and not in the shack. The radio has great sound, good sensitivity, the controls and display are easy to see and use. All the modes work very well and ssb and fm listening are a pleasure. It pulls in the week stations and you can attenuate the stronger ones. The vfo knob feels good and positive. You have two tuning speeds and a vfo lock which are great features.
Compared to other units if like features, it's a nice smaller size. It has ten memories so you can store you favorite stations. Like I said, I use the radio all night long, evey night for over 16 years with no problems. I have really enjoyed this radio and it will stay with me forever. It has all that I need for listening to shortwave, hf ham,
cw, air and two meters. I also like the fact that you can dim the display from a very bright green to a dim but very readable soft green. I went to this radio after years of using a Hallicraters S-120. I also have the Yaesu VR-5000, RS DX-394,
Grundig Sat.800, and several others but my 8800 gets the most use. I don't have any negatives really as for what it is and what it does it fits the bill for me without a lot of bells and whistles. If your looking for a nice all around table top receiver, for the price I feel you can't beat it.
|
|
N5RNY
|
Rating: 1/5
|
Jan 24, 2005 14:14
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
big disappointment
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
Worked good till it cratered. Twice. CPU dies, and it's NOT cheap to repair. I won't spend any more money on this radio.
N5RNY
|
|
EA3BLN
|
Rating: 4/5
|
Oct 26, 2003 15:51
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Good receiver
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
Gran receptor de onda corta.
150 Khz- 30 Mhz.
Con modulo, en mi caso, de VHF cubriendo la banda aerea los dos metros, y hasta 173 megas.
Modos de recepcion: AM FM USB LSB.
Mejor que el Kenwood R 2000.
Mas fino en recepcion, construccion bastante robusta, muy recomendable.
|
|
OE5CSP
|
Rating: 2/5
|
Feb 5, 2003 08:56
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Disappointed
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
|
What I really liked was its design.I was a bit disappointed about its performance.I mainly used it for Am broadcast listening and dxing.I used a 15m long sloper antenna and a tuner but on the low bands the rx was simply overloaded.Sometimes the rx didn´t work at all.The only thing which helped was switching it on/off several times and wait for a few minutes.The audio quality wasn´t good compared to a Lowe HF150.I sold it after 2 years and bought a HF150.What a difference!
|
|
SIERRAHOTEL
|
Rating: 3/5
|
Aug 3, 2002 03:07
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
OK, but could have been better
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
I bought an FRG-8800 back in late 1986, it was my first decent digital reciever. It had very nice audio, especially through an external speaker, but the filters were just too wide most of the time. Stabilty was fine, it was dead on from the day I got it. In addition to the too wide filters, the 8800 was very easy to overload, and with any fairly good antenna, local AM stations were heard in the background as high as the CB band! I got a decent pre-selector, and this helped, but I usually needed to attenuate it by 20 DB, and use he pre-selector to keep from hearing the nearby country station in the background of everything I listened to.
As the 8800 aged, I got many CPU lockups, and the rubber ring that went around the tuning dial started to disintegrate. I got a replacement knog from Yaesu, and getting the old knob off was a major struggle. Yaesu service advised me to just pry it off, but the front panel would have been damaged if I had, instead I drilled holes in he knob, and cracked it in half to get it off. The replacement knob also rotted about a year later.
The 8800 is a better performer than a Kenwood R2000, but barely, and the Kenwood seems to have been built much better.
|
|
If you have any questions, problems, or suggestions about Reviews,
please email your Reviews Manager.
|
|
|
|
|
