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Reviews For: Yaesu FTM-400DR

Category: Transceivers: VHF/UHF+ Amateur Base/Mobile (non hand-held)

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Review Summary For : Yaesu FTM-400DR
Reviews: 92MSRP: $699
Description:
The FTM-400DR uses C4FM FDMA (C4FM – 4-level FSK Modulation, FDMA –
Frequency Division Multiple Access), which has been developed for the
professional LMR communications. It uses this enhanced technology for a
lower BER (bit error rate), resulting in stable communications without
interruptions during mobile operations, even in a rapidly moving vehicle.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.yaesu.com/indexVS.cfm?cmd=DisplayProducts&ProdCatID=106&encProdID=227201D29C822AEFF8482F3367495319&DivisionID=65&isArchived=0
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00923.8
KA3ZAI Rating: 2019-04-19
Nice Rig Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This radio is so easy to operate. APRS is a big plus too. I use it mobile and used the RT systems software to program it only because it's convenient to update with my laptop. Well worth the bucks!!
N8OXQ Rating: 2019-04-19
Touch screen freeze! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned my unit for about three years. Bought the radio in the fall. I was involved in a car crash, broke my femur and was unable to mount radio until the following summer. Second day of operation the touch screen froze up on me!! The mic controls would not work either! I called Yaesu and they said it was out of warranty! I explained that it has only been operational for two days BUT that did not matter to them! Seems to freeze after about ten minutes. Does not matter if it is idle or in use. If the power is on over ten then 99% of the time screen and mic will freeze. Oh I can still transmit and receive just not change freq unless I reach up and turn knob. Seen reviews where others have sent in for repairs and same thing happens after repair so why bother?
DF1AS Rating: 2019-04-15
Display viewing angle Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Viewing angle from the left to the right is fine, almost 180°, also almost 90° in down-side direction. However, I'm looking a bit from the top and several information just disappears at about 20°. Yaesu should have mounted the display upside-down. I'm not sitting on the floor! I cannot see what frequency is on for the 2nd RX. This is an absolute no-go! No one checked this?
Another negative is not having the mic connected to the panel. So you probably need a cable extension for the mic.
Other things and features are just fine, except I did not find out how to swap main and sub VFOs. Manual and quick-reference card are not helpful to me, too.
N2HAM Rating: 2019-03-20
Awesome Radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This radio is awesome! Easy to program and a joy to look at! So many features its amazing. Great receive and transmit! Great price for $400.00 Love the band scope and the GPS. Very easy to see while driving and even in bright light! I would buy two if I had the money, but I already have the FTM100 Also. You wont be sorry if you get this radio!
VE6DO Rating: 2018-12-18
Not too bad overall Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Love the radio overall, but the documentation is all over the map. There are several manuals and who has the time to read 800 pages just to be able to use their radio. The user interface of the radio is also very confusing. For example, I am not in the US and using the radio in anything but imperial was a nightmare. I wanted the distance on a digital DN transmission to show up in kilometers but good luck on that one. After a couple of weeks with no answer I found out that the needed setting was in APRS. But I was not using APRS at all, and just wanted the GPS data to show in metric. Overall the user interface is weird with settings being in places that you would not expect. That makes using the radio a challenge at first until you get things all setup. The manual is no help at all as sure the data may be in there somewhere, but good luck trying to find it. I also would have loved if Yaesu had given the radio 2 external speaker jacks like Icom and Kenwood on their models. The biggest issue, there is no way to tell which side of the radio was just active for you to respond. I fixed the issue with a custom cable and 2 external speakers, one side of the radio to each speaker. It works much better now. I would have preferred if the microphone was off the control head and not the body .. but mine is in my shack and I made due with the present design. I am using a SMB-201 as well to keep things cool and it works well. Overall I like the radio, a replacement for my old Yaesu FT-7800R mobile.
W0FAA Rating: 2018-12-16
Very good but unused potential. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I am in a Yaesu System Fusion county, this is my 4th YSF digital radio.

The FTM-400DR has been out for several years now (5?) before the GPS upgrade resulting in the FTM-400XDR model. The firmware has changed little in that time, except for the upgrade to System Fusion II. I gave it 4 stars because it is great hardware but only good software.

I believe this is still considered Yaesu's flagship mobile radio. It has a nice color display, a GPS, and it supports an SD card. So why doesn't it have a moving map display, or even a stationary map? It displays the distance and bearing to YSF and APRS stations in other forms, why not on a map? Does anybody really care about a full-screen display of GPS satellite locations any more? Either you have a lock or you don't, that's wasted firmware space. Speaking of lock, like others I found the XDR model very fast to acquire one. I bet if Yaesu would open-source the firmware the radio would soon have tons of new features and Yaesu would sell a LOT more radios. I know, can't happen, but I can dream. You can get that moving map by connecting it to a tablet or smartphone with a USB cable instead.

I bought an FTM-100DR several years ago when I was less interested in APRS (see my review), but my interest is back so I took advantage of the latest sale on the 400XDR. I moved the 100DR to my wife's car and put the FTM-400XDR in my car. I must say I love it. It looks good, it works great, and I would buy it again in a heartbeat. The menu system is close to that of the 100DR but takes advantage of the touch screen to make all entries much faster. The user programmable onscreen "soft-buttons" are a great feature.

The APRS side has all the functionality I need, but it it is NOT a digipeater and there is no KISS mode interface, etc. Head over to Icom if you need that. If YSF is your digital mode, you want to beacon while you drive, find other nearby hams, and quickly QSY with the push of one button to have a chat, this is a great radio.

At recent promotional prices I think it is a bargain.
VE7TNF Rating: 2018-07-22
The best mobile to date! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Everyone has an opinion and I'm grateful I may share mine here. I've had countless Mobile units over 25 years and in my opinion, this is head and shoulders above the rest.
Simple to program, GPS included and other than the cross band repeat function, piece of cake to use right out of the box.
I have mounted it three vehicles, I change frequently, and with the suction cup mount (my second one) it mounts easily pretty much anywhere.
I volunteer my time as an emergency medic for national car rallies and must depend on reliable communications as cell service is limited in some areas. Thsi radio is awesome and has never missed a beat. I have Kenwood Mobile for sale and have tried a number of radios, thsi one is the best.
W5GIF Rating: 2018-06-30
Very good Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I own 3 400's, two DR's and one XDR. I my opinion this is a very good radio. Good to excellent receiver and TX audio. I've not had any issues.
I do however think putting the radio into "cross-band" should be much simpler, say program a key on the mic? Holding down all those buttons is very awkward.
AND... why can't the mic cord be a little longer?
I guess that's all for now 73.. W5GIF
VK3MJA Rating: 2018-06-19
Highly recommended Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have two of this radio now. one in my car ( full-time ) and the other is in my house connected to wires-x. This radio is worth every penny I spent.

======Highly Recommended======


73...
VK3MJA
AF4KK Rating: 2018-05-10
So good, I bought 2 more!! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
How impressive! Great interface attatched to great operation! It sounds great on the air, the controls are somewhat intuitive and it's just a pleasure to operate! That screen looks great and it's quite easy to customize in content and colors! The only problem is the upgrading procedure - CUMBERSOME with that internal switch! At least on the new Yaesu FT-991, you can access that teeny, tiny switch via the rear panel! I was so happy with my 400DR that I bought another one and now I even own the newer 400 DXR! The DRs aquire a GPS signal in about 20-30 seconds and the XDR does it in 10!!