| W6GF |
Rating:  |
2016-01-27 | |
| Needs a good receiver |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I will make this brief. An excellent transmiltter with great audio. The receiver just ordinary. Roofing filters a joke.
Save your bucks and go with FTDX-3000
George, W6GF |
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| K9UR |
Rating: |
2015-11-26 | |
| Disappointing CW rig. |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I'm a CW op. This thing is terrible on CW. The full break in is useless. Has an ALC "thump" on key up that could destroy your amp. No audio with the pan adapter.
First new rig in several years.
Was hoping for a bargain with the pice just a kilobuck, but it is not working for my usage model.
Am sure it's a good rig for the heavy SSB user.
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| W9ZOO |
Rating: |
2015-10-29 | |
| Big bang for the buck ! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I have beening looking for a replacement radio for my ft-990 wanted to replace it with another yaesu ,after looking at used prices for a ft-1000/ft-2000 even a ft-950 (can't believe the prices ) just went and bought a ftdx-1200, right now you can buy a new one for $1079,00 after rebate ! Now lets talk about the radio right out of the box (not understanding the radio yet)with 100 watts and my mfj-1795 apartment antenna dx England,Italy and Spain in a matter of minutes !The receiver is phenomenal and gave great reports on my signal and audio..So in a nut shell if you are looking for a good NO GREAT radio for under $1100.00 give it a good look I did and I'm very happy plus NEW not used !!
73's W9ZOO |
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| K1NLY |
Rating: |
2015-09-25 | |
| Yaesu, almost a year |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
My first store bought transceiver was an FT-101. It was an awesome rig. Fast forward to 2015 (i miss my hair!) I purchased an FT-1200. It took almost a year and a dozen phone calls/emails to get Yaesu to send my rebate. Can only imagine how their service must be. I dealt with the same Yaesu rep the whole time. It got to be a matter of principle. He must be on commission for every rebate he doesn't send out. I will miss you Yaesu...
73, Bink, K1NLY |
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| WK3B |
Rating: |
2015-09-20 | |
| Great rig for the money/download the rig ctrl software |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Recently picked up one of these with the FFT board, and wanted to share some of my impressions after a few weeks.
The traditional Yaesu build quality is present throughout. Silky controls, solid feeling. Boots up quickly when the switch is pressed. The display is very bright, and brightness setting 2 (out of 15) is plenty bright. Good to know that there is plenty of brightness horsepower left as the display ages.
The comment some reviewers have made about the labels being hard to read in dim light are true. Was a little frustrating until I learned something I'll mention later in this review. Controls follow Yaesu tradition, so Yaesu fans should adjust quickly.
The rig uses all sorts of mini DIN connectors for amp and digital interfaces, so that was a trip to Amazon for connectors.
Noise blanker is OK. Noise reduction is effective, but lends a watery quality to the sound that is common on these DSP rigs. The built-in speaker is "OK", but I wish it were a little larger for fuller range. Nothing an external speaker won't cure.
Switching between VFOs is non-intuitive, and I really wish they had used the buttons that the FTDX-300 has.
DSP filtering, coupled with the built-in crystal roofing filters, is about what you would expect.
In general, this is a transceiver with a pretty good performance coupled with a great user interface. I think it is great choice for all but the hard-core DXers and contesters.
I use flrig for rig control, but recently stumbled upon the free Yaesu PCC-1200 utility to operate the rig. Download it from the Yaesu web site. It gives an exact image of the rig on your computer screen (including realtime S-meter). You can click an control all of the elements with your mouse, which certainly erases any complaints about being able to read the silkscreened labels on the face.
Transmit audio is good, and customizable.
Built-in CW and digital decode is OK for casual use, but not nearly as good as dedicated PC software.
Comparing the performance to the Ten-Tec Orion II upon which it is sitting, it falls short, but does all I need it to do for 90% of my operating. |
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| N7LYS |
Rating: |
2015-09-11 | |
| Firmware Update |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
I have had my FT-DX1200 for a few months now purchased new from HRO. I decided to update to the new firmware (0111).
After the update the Scope would not switch to full screen. On the second push of the Scope button the whole radio locked up. An additional push of the button took me back to the normal screen.
I contacted Yaesu support and Tim Factor responded quickly. He told me to try the update again which I did with the same result. They had no other suggestions for me so I asked them to send me the Firmware for the original version so I could get it back to where it started. Tim sent me the old file (V0110) and everything worked with the old original version so I will stay on this version until another update comes out and then maybe try again.
Has anyone else had this problem? Please let me know. Thanks.
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Earlier 2-star review posted by N7LYS on 2015-04-24
Problem is: There is no way to switch receive to VFO B.
I just purchased this radio from HRO, and spent several hours trying to resolve this problem.
I called HRO in Portland, OR, and they spent a while trying to figure it out but eventually gave up and told me to call Yaesu support.
I called Yaesu support and the guy sheepishly told me that there is no real VFO B. It can only be used for split TX.
This is really bad. Even my 20 year old FT-840 has this, as does most other radios that I know of.
There is even an indicator light for VFO B receive, but no way to get it to light up or switch to that function.
A very bad design error Yaesu. |
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| KB6HRT |
Rating: |
2015-08-19 | |
| IMPROVED NICE RADIO |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Have not had this radio long, The radio has the July 15 updates that made the radio better overall, love that spotting scope for finding stations fast on the bands! Have a Kenwood TS590SG so can compare with the flip of a switch, audio on close and middle range stations on 40 & 75m is strong and clear even when there is a lot of band noise, if the Kenwood can hear the weak station the SG is a little clearer to my ear, both these radio are a lot better
than the radios they replaced, for $1400. the FTDX 1200
will be in my HAMs shack for a long run, if it keeps playing like it has! ..................kb6hrt
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Earlier 3-star review posted by KB6HRT on 2015-03-19
A new HAM made me an offers on my FT857D and the FT950DX that I was not using, after think about it I did the deal, brought the Yaesu FTDX1200 mail order, the radio was in stock. The Yaesu FTDX1200 has some good stuff going for it like the tuning aid scope, DSP sounds good on strong signals, the radio looks good and it looks well made. What I did not like was weak signal recovery was noisy to my ear, even after using the built in rec EQ. In a side by side test using the same antenna the 4 year old TS590s would pull in same operators voices loud clear an distinked. Tried different outboard speakers did not seem to help things, sending the radio back, will pay restocking charge. Have had Yaesu radios in the past and present. FT 920, FT 857D, FT 950DX, FT5000D, FT5000MP an the FT9000D all good radios that could hears low signals well, an so does the Kenwood TS590s............kb6hrt |
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| VA3RTX |
Rating: |
2015-07-24 | |
| Excellent, nuff said |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
| I've had the FTdx-1200 since Christmas and it has functioned flawlessly. Both on voice and digital, I've had nothing but glowing reviews. Sorry, with my dyslexia, I don't CW. Everyone says the 4 kHz TTBF ESSB audio sounds awesome. This option is hidden, but easily found online. Having so much fun with it, that I don't have time to write a proper review. For the price I payed and the $200 US rebate, I don't think that I could have gotten more for my money. I purchase it with the optional FFT-1 board and I would strongly recommend it. Since I received, it there have been 2 major software up grades. Both of these were to add more features, not to fix any bugs, because there have been none. The latest bundle of software upgrades came out July 15th and they add some very nice full screen scope options !!! When I've had the radio a year and if I have the time, maybe I'll write a proper review :) |
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| KM9Q |
Rating: |
2015-07-12 | |
| Best HF radio available for the money |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
I am most impressed by the DNR and noise blanker. They work like magic and make 40 meters quiet! I have never had a radio before that had a digital noise reduction system that actually worked.
I am also impressed with the quality of the TX audio. Using an MD-100 mic and the radio's built in EQ, I have my TX audio adjusted so that I actually sound better on SSB than I do in person.
I could go on, but there are many reviews of this fine HF rig.
You will not find a new radio in this price range at this time that can outperform a Yaesu FTDX 1200. |
|
| LW5DW |
Rating: |
2015-07-05 | |
| SURPRISED !! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
google translate sorry !!
surprised !!! We can follow the thread of the reviews here on amateur teams and see that there is often a mark fanaticism ..
I have them every inch of the ts-590s and FTDX-1200 and has yaesu better listener, more average power of voice.
kenwood has the best antenna tuner you have used so far, is ergonomically better but the FTDX-1200 hears more and better.
clarify that my assessment is in phone, digital modes behave similarly, and work cw not appear that filtering adjacent stations is better ts-590s.
I think it's an excellent buy for the price, the front panel is "cheaper" than their predecessors, the keys feel good, at noisy but effective, the SCU-17 works wonders both AFSK and FSK (clarified the AFSK connectivity ts-590s is also excellent).
in short to fonia I run out of questions to FTDX-1200 ..
thank you very much and a hug to everyone from Argentina ..
jorge lu5dw
sorprendido !!! podemos seguir el hilo de los reviews aqui sobre los equipos de radioaficionados y ver que existe muchas veces fanatismo sobre una marca ..
yo los tengo palmo a palmo al ts-590s y al ftdx-1200 y el yaesu tiene mejor escucha , mas potencia de voz promedio .
el kenwood tiene el mejor sintonizador de antena que haya usado hasta ahora , ergonometricamente es mejor , pero el ftdx-1200 escucha mas y mejor .
aclaro que mi evaluacion es en fonia , en modos digitales se comportan de forma similar , y en cw que no trabajo pareceria que el filtrado de estaciones adyacentes es mejor la del ts-590s .
creo que es una exelente compra por el precio , el panel frontal es mas "barato" que sus antecesores , las teclas se sienten bien , el at es ruidoso pero efectivo , el scu-17 funciona de maravillas tanto en afsk como en fsk (aclaro que la conectividad afsk del ts-590s es exelente tambien ) .
en resumen para fonia me quedo sin dudas con el ftdx-1200 ..
muchas gracias y un abrazo a todos desde Argentina ..
jorge lu5dw |
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