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Reviews For: Yaesu FTdx-1200

Category: Transceivers: HF Amateur HF+6M+VHF+UHF models - non QRP <5W

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Review Summary For : Yaesu FTdx-1200
Reviews: 129MSRP: 1879
Description:
The FT DX 1200 provides up to 100 Watts on SSB, CW, and FM
(25 Watts AM carrier) and a rugged state of the art highly
balanced receiver circuit configuration for top performance
on today’s crowded bands. Similar to the high end “YAESU FT
DX” series, it uses 32-bit high speed floating point DSP.
Yaesu’s acclaimed superior DSP algorithm is highly effective
in weak signal processing and enhancement. The 1st IF
frequency is protected by selectable 3 kHz, 6 kHz and 15 kHz
roofing filters that effectively attenuate interfering
signals.
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
42.51294.6
W7MY Rating: 2023-09-18
Battleship! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Have used it for seven years, have logged 90,000+ FT8 contacts with it.

The newer radios are not built as well having smaller heatsinks, this radio can take it.

The rx is as good as any of this age and the tx/tuner runs flawlessly
W6AD Rating: 2023-08-22
Capable Receiver. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Previous reviews must have had lemons. I had mine for at least 4 years. The receiver was good (not as great as the FT-DX101D that replaced it) Very good value for the money.

73, andy w6ad
AA2DK Rating: 2023-08-21
Agree with WC6Q Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I agree with WC6Q. I had an FTdx-1200 for over a year. Really bad receiver. I never had a chance to try it's big brother, the FTdx-3000, but heard from others that it was much better. Not sad about selling it.
WC6Q Rating: 2023-08-21
Worst receive ever... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had a number of transceivers however this one has the worst receive of any radio I have ever owned. Everything else on the radio is awesome. I have tried different radios to make sure this wasn't the antenna but sure enough it's the radio.
M0NNQ Rating: 2022-04-12
It’s a keeper Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I bought this on eBay for £650. It came with the FFT board and I have since added the voice recorder and the keypad.

It was intended to be a stepping stone to a ftdx10 and a replacement for my ic718 which had limited filtering - a big issue as I was getting into CW.

Although I am now in a position to buy a ftdx10 I think it would be something of a backward step. You see the 1200 has two antenna sockets and two key sockets (which can have independent configurations). Yes, I use two antennas (a Rybakov and an EARCHI at the moment) as well as two keys - straight and paddle. What am I missing? An indiscernibly better receiver, a waterfall and better digital integration. I’m not interested in digital and not fussed about the waterfall.

So as a mainly CW operator this is a great radio for me. It’s good on SSB as well, by the way, and I’ve paired it with an AKG P3S mic and homebrew PTT.

I can’t see that I’ll be replacing it unless it breaks.
W0HUY Rating: 2021-11-15
Love It Time Owned: more than 12 months.
After problems with TS-2000, went looking for a solid radio for my needs. Went to a local HRO and was torn between FTDX1200 and FT991. Well problem solved bought both and put the 1200 in the shack and the 991 in our travel trailer. Best of both worlds. Could not have been Happier!
DB4UP Rating: 2021-11-14
Solid middle class Time Owned: more than 12 months.
It was the first SW transceiver I bought new. It took a while until I got used to its many options, but since then it's a pleasure to use it.

The receiver is quiet and sensitive enough for my purposes. I live outside the city where the bands are less "polluted" by SPS noise, PLC modems and whatever more there may be. My antennas are a double zepp for the lower bands and a two element beam for 20, 15 and 10 m. Selectivity is good enough to separate a weak station from a nearby 9+ signal.

The arrangement of the buttons on the front panel needs to getting used to. Those which are close to the frequency wheel are a bit too close in my opinion and frequently I detune the radio while using them. Also, the adjustment of a frequency can be tricky. The frequency wheel is so sensitive that it can be hard to hit the desired point. Maybe there is an option somewhere in the menu settings which can change this behaviour. If it is so, I haven't found it, yet. Generally, the access to the numerous menu settings by scrolling through the whole list of items is a bit awkward.

The LCD display is large enough and offers all information needed. I was disappointed by the FFT-1 module. Yes, it offers RTTY, PSK31 and CW decoding, but it doesn't make the bandscope function permanently.

The radio has two antenna connectors which can be assigned to any band. It offers a lot of connectors, but no USB port. Nevertheless, the SCU-17 unit resolves this problem, but you have to buy it.

I'm not sure what I expected from the digital noise reduction. It can improve the readability of a voice signal for the cost that it will sound like speaking through a chimney. The speaker itself sometimes already sounds like being placed in a barrel and both effects together may not be very helpful. Still, the speaker is not bad and reproduces voice and music transmissions loud and clear enough that I don't miss an external speaker.

Summarized, it's a radio with really good HF properties. If you get used to use its options, I don't think that it will disappoint you. Some points, like the missing USB port and the limited band scope function, are not "up to date". Ask yourself, if you can live with it...I rate it with 4 stars and maybe some "comma-stars" on top !
W2FDH Rating: 2021-07-04
Update: Just a solid radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This radio does an excellent job all around. The filtering is solid and works as it should, it's easy to remove interfering stations, menu is really easy to navigate and as with most modern Yaesu HF rigs, it has an easy to use menu system (as mentioned above) that allows you to easily customize your audio. The sound coming out of the internal speaker has a really nice sound to it.

Update July 3, 2021:

As stated above, this rig does a great job with both TX and RX.
Now that I've had this rig for almost 2 years, I've learned the many of the rig's different receiver settings and man does this rig sound great (I also got the SCU-17 and FFT-1 board to add even more features to this incredible radio). The customization of the roofing filters, the notch filters (both the regular notch filters and the DNF (Digital Notch Filter)), the attenuator, the DNR (Digital Noise Reduction), Contour, RX Bandwidth, etc., etc., etc., this rig is not short on ways to alter the incoming signals. (there is a website for the menu settings on the Yaesu FTDX-3000 and work the same, or similar to the FTDX-1200. I believe the website is called stingyham (dot) com. I can pull even the weakest stations out of the noise.
If you are fortunate enough to find this radio for sale on the used market, (for a bare bones model $750 - $800 to one that is fully loaded for $800 - $1100) GRAB IT!!! You will not regret it.
Check out the website that I mentioned above!!! You'll be amazed at just how good the receiver is in this radio!

I hope that my updated review helps someone that was on the fence about purchasing one.

73 de Frank/W2FDH
W3ALG Rating: 2021-06-21
No Disappointments With This One Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This was my first "big" rig when upgrading my equipment. I purchased this radio when it first hit the market and have never been disappointed with its performance. Living in an HOA and operating with attic antennas, I never had a problem and worked 123 countries and all states. It has the power that you need and at an affordable cost, is a pleasure to use. Hopefully it will keep performing for many years to come.
2E1RDX Rating: 2021-06-20
Fantastic Value Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Fantastic Transceiver great Receiver and great Audio, I use a Astatic Teardrop M575-M6 and get lots of compliments on great audio, anyone interested in using a FTDX-1200 with a SDR connected no mods needed just purchase a RCA Y Adaptor 1 RCA Female to 2 RCA Male splitter, cheap on ebay, or Amazon, connect this to the 2 utune ports on the back of the FTDX-1200 plug in your RTL Dongle or whatever SDR you use then press and hold the mhz/utune button to the left of the vfoB you will get RX IN show up in orange above the signal meter your sdr will now receive of which ever antenna the FTDX-1200 has connected fully protected nothing else required, this also works with any other Yaesu with Utune sockets, great radio enjoy