| N1TCH |
Rating:      |
2013-11-14 | |
| Well worth the money |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| Let me say that my new FTdx3K is to my IC-746 as the 746 was to my TS-520. It continues to make me glad that I bought it every time that I use it. There are many features that I'll probably never use, but there are many that I already have. Like, the 60M preconfigured memories. I bought the DX Engineering add-on for my 4-BTV and after installing it I promptly made my first contact on that band. I do like the scope, even though I do see many less than enthusiastic comments about it. Perhaps it's because it's so much better than the 746 "scope" that I'm totally taken by it. Was it worth the cost of admission? No doubt about it. One of the reasons that I bought it was that it came equipped with many features that I would have had to add on to all of the other rigs, IC-7410 & FTdx1200, that I looked at. |
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| XW1B |
Rating:      |
2013-10-29 | |
| First Impressions.... |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I was "volunteered" to burn-in a new FTdx-3000D for my boss. I hooked it into my Quad and worked the world with 100w.
The most noticeable thing to me was the down conversion Rx. Different "sounding" but very quiet. All the bells and whistles are in this box and I'd say the learning curve is much less than on my FT-2000. Good size, nice layout, not cluttered.
A fine radio with, IMO, a great receiver. Looking forward to spending more time with it.
Bruce XW4XR - 3W3B
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| W8JMM |
Rating:      |
2013-09-06 | |
| A lot of bang for the buck. |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
Lots of transceiver for the price.
I have owned a few Yeasu radios Ftdx 9000d, Ftdx 5000d FT-2000d. The Ftdx 3000d for it'modest price has many of the attributes of the radios mentioned above. If you love knobs this may not be the radio for you however if you read and understand the manual the radio is a dream to operate. The receiver, in my opinion is as good as the Ftdx 9000d . Only thing I added was an external speaker. If you feel you need lot's of knobs and features you don't understand and will never use, buy a 9000 or a 7800. |
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| KW4CQ |
Rating:     |
2013-08-24 | |
| Performs as well as my FTDX-5000 |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| While I've had my FTDX-3000 for just a few weeks now I was eager to compare its performance with my FTDX-5000, which I used for nearly three years. I am primarily a CW DXer and chasing the "rare ones" and DXpeditions has become my current passion, so to speak. Unless you are considering the lab test data on Sherwood's fine web site and comparing the numbers, I don't believe you will actually notice much difference at all between the on-air performance of these two fine radios, especially their receivers. The 2 KHz Narrow Spaced 3rd Order Dynamic Range of the receivers in both radios appears in on-air CW pileups appears to me to be very closely matched. Kicking in the 600 Hz roofing filter provides a very small but still noticeable improvement. My FTDX-3000 was not ordered with the optional 300 Hz roofing filter but it may be worth considering if you are sure you need a slight amount additional performance, which frankly can only be measured with laboratory test equipment. Personally, I am not a big fan of roofing filters for CW work. I get greater benefit using a combination of DSP audio filtering and IF Shift for CW work. Like its bigger brother, the FTDX-3000 can be narrowed down to 50 Hz bandwidth if and when you need it. As for the small difference in the Noise Floor and Receiver Sensitivity figures reported in Sherwood's lab testing report I am sure you will never notice the difference on the air. The FTDX-3000 being a much smaller and compact transceiver necessitated that Yaesu place many of the front panel controls found on the FTDX-5000 in the 3000's menu. To some folks this may seem to be a real downer. However, Yaesu cleverly placed the most "essential" controls in multi-function knobs and switches on the 3000's front panel and after a short learning curve using the radio every thing else becomes second nature. AS for the 3000's Band Scope and Decoder features, all I can say is they are novel but I prefer to use the radio's IF output to feed my LP-PAN spectrum display and after 60 years of hamming I dont need a decoder to copy Mores Code. Anyone considering the FTDX-3000, or any new transceiver for that matter, I highly recommend you first stop in at your local candy store and spin the knobs first before plunking down you hard earned green stamps. That way, unlike the previous reviewer, you won't be disappointed with the knobs. Considering the pretty reasonable price tag on the 3000 it makes an excellent cost vs. performance benefits buy. |
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| WA4OYX |
Rating:      |
2013-08-24 | |
| Fine Rig, Impressed and Pleased |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I have had the radio for about three weeks and still putting it through its paces. Receiver is excellent as other reviewers have noted. Running only 90-100 watts, it gets out well on SSB and CW. This is my 50th year as ham and have played with many radios, up to and including FT9000MP, Collins, Drake, Hallicrafters, many more. This is a fine modern addition to that tradition. Recommended! |
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| W8NWN |
Rating:    |
2013-08-24 | |
| NOT IMPRESSED |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| Not impressed. Works the same as all other good radios except that the buttons are smaller and closer together. At present, it is just sitting on my desk doing nothing. I seem to use my other radios first and the DX3000 last. Sorry. |
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| G3WZD |
Rating:      |
2013-08-09 | |
| Full marks! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I just traded in my TS590 for the FTdx3000 and, having owned the new rig for just under a week, my first impressions are all favourable. I run a Yaesu Quadra amplifier (another FB piece of kit) and even though band changing is a bit clunky with a non-Yaesu exciter, I was a little reluctant to give up the 590 because I was used to getting such complimentary reports on the audio quality (perhaps a result of Kenwood's HiFi heritage?). My fears were unfounded and several initial contacts on 20M and 17M have offered unsolicited and very complimentary reports on the audio quality (I use a Heil Gold Elite or Heil headset).
I must admit to doing something I don't normally do, and that is read the manual from cover to cover before turning on the rig - it was a real temptation to do my usual thing and read the book if I got stuck, but I didn't! That said, I have found the rig to be quite intuitive and the menus not hard to work with; I have not had to refer back to the manual too often.
I love the big TFT display and the pseudo analog meter, which reminds me of my venerable FT101ZD (which I have owned since new and it is still going strong!). The band scope is another useful feature.
Split working is pretty easy and the VFO A/B selection is very simple.
My only niggle is that it does not seem to be simple to reduce the RF O/P power in SSB mode - I miss the easy-to-use facility on the TS-590. I am sure there is a simple way to do this outside of the standard menu approach - I just haven't found it yet!
Next step is to try it on RTTY and I'll report more after a longer period of use. |
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| KV4AN |
Rating:      |
2013-08-08 | |
| VERY IMPRESSED |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I've had my FTdx3000 for a week now and I'm very impressed. Upgraded from an FT-950, which I liked very much. Operation is similar to the FT-950 and all the station connections, with the exception of the CAT connection, were the same. Performance on receive is superior to the FT-950, particularly the DSP. The DNR on the FT-950 was flakey (especially on CW), but it works perfectly on this radio. On 75 meters this evening, the DNR made it so quiet, it was like listening to the local FM repeater.
The all-button and knob format of the FT-950 was a little more direct to use, but I do like the ergonomics of the button, knob, and arrow keys/memu of this radio. I love the analog-style meter. There is even a clock!
The best thing about this radio is the large color screen. With radio being about hearing, I spend a lot of time staring at the radio and fiddling with the controls. The color display provides me with plenty of sensory input and useful information. The band scope works great and is fun to watch, but I never use it when searching the band. The audio display is interesting and there is a great undocumented feature where it works to show transmit audio as well as receive.
I do a lot of digital modes and have got the built-in USB soundcard and CAT to work fine with FLDigi, RMS Express (WINMOR), and HF APRS Packet. I've not been able to get the FSK/PTT port to work yet, all my software says it can't open that port, so I have to run VOX in the data mode to transmit. May have to call Yaesu or maybe the USB/Serial driver vendor on that one as I really want to run FSK RTTY.
There are 196 menu options with this radio, so there is plenty to play with. A complex radio, with many customizable features is exactly what I want in a radio. |
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| WA6MOW |
Rating:      |
2013-07-31 | |
| A Winner! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| This is written by a radio junky. I love ham gear and this rig is on the top of my keeper list. Yes it has an extensive menu with about 85% of the adjustments the average user will never touch. This rig is big, solid, and very well built unlike its american counter parts. It reminds of the build quality of rigs from the past. The screen is beautiful as well as functional. The full screen spectrum monitor is a great feature. If you own an earlier version of this rig I recommend taking the time to do the firmware/TFT upgrade as it is worth the effort. Yaesu will most likely be releasing additional firmware upgrades to improve this radio even more. The DSP/DNR has no rumble and is vastly improved over any other rig I have ever owned including the K3 and TenTec Eagle just to name a couple. I love listening to the AM broadcast band as it really sounds like a high end receiver with no compromise in sensitivity or selectivity. The quiet cw QSK is also awesome if you are a cw op. For features and quality this radio is a bargain at its present pricing. |
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| AB4VV |
Rating:      |
2013-07-30 | |
| Great Rig |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
My 3000 puts out 100 watts into a 50 ohm load on all ham bands. I have no problems with power output like some have said. I suggest they get a good dummy load and use a cw key to test their output power.
As far as people not liking the menus, I suggest you learn to use the radio properly. On each band you have 3 different possible settings. Example: Set the first push of the band button to CW and the filter you want. Second push of the band button set it to SSB or whatever and set the filter you want, etc.
Once the menus have been set you should not have to reset them. The only thing that I change is the power output setting that I have on the C.S. button. One push of the C.S. button and you set the power out. What is the problem with this?
It's my opinion that people that do not like the 3000 are the ones that have not learned to use it properly.
I like my 3000 better than any ham rig I have ever had in over 37 years of having a FCC license. |
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