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Reviews For: Yaesu FTM-3200DR

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

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Review Summary For : Yaesu FTM-3200DR
Reviews: 33MSRP: 180
Description:
The FTM-3200DR is a ruggedly built yet compact C4FM/FM VHF mobile transceiver, providing high output power of up to 65 Watts to ensure stable long-distance communications. One of the distinguishing features of this exciting new mobile transceiver is the Front Panel Speaker delivering 3 Watts of loud and crystal clear audio; designed for stress-free and enjoyable communications - even in noisy environments.

While the new FTM-3200DR is a solid and durable transceiver in keeping with Yaesu’s legendary mechanical toughness, it also incorporates new technology such as Automatic Mode Select (AMS), one of the most advanced features of System Fusion. The AMS mode instantly recognizes whether a transmission is digital or analog, and appropriately switches the operating mode to allow flawless co-existence of both digital and analog users. The versatile FTM-3200DR transceiver also utilizes the ever-popular Digital Group Monitor (GM) function; a terrific asset allowing users to see at a glance if registered members of a group are within communication range.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.yaesu.com/indexVS.cfm?cmd=DisplayProducts&ProdCatID=249&encProdID=1C299659CDFD4B56DDBBA4BA23026510&DivisionID=65&isArchived=0
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00333.6
VE7REN Rating: 2022-04-12
excellent performer Time Owned: more than 12 months.
bought 2 of the ftm 3200 in 2020 from dx engineering.. i have used many mobiles in my day,and the 3200 is rock solid.the outer cases are plastic,the heat sink along with the new fan tunnel baffel design moves air nicely.i love the front speaker,the audio is clear and loud,along with being smooth. the radio is very intuitive,and easy to program,the backlighted buttons make for dark room operating a plus.overall,. not much bad to say about this radio. mine have proved to be reliable and fun in both digital and fm. ide buy again.
W2JUV Rating: 2019-05-13
No Tx Time Owned: more than 12 months.
A few days short of two years old and it quit transmitting. No measurable power output. Probably the finals, cost of repair might exceed price of new one. Decent radio when it worked. My last Yaesu
KC5DBH Rating: 2019-04-30
PC Board failed Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
You read it right; the PC board failed. A fellow ham in my area was using this radio and the transmitter suddenly quit. The radio was not overheated (if you will) and there were no antenna, feed line or, power supply issues. The transmitter simply quit. The cause (as above) was the PC board failed. I did not find this out until after I replaced four RF transistors in the transmitter; all to no avail. A quick chat with Yaesu tech support seems to confirm my conclusion; at least to a good degree.

When they work, these are great little radios. The problem is they are little, generate a lot of internal heat (even in RX mode) and, have trouble getting rid of it. It's a major recipe for failure; especially with a radio rated at and, capable of, 65 watts output. This radio is way to small for that kind of power. I have some 50 watt commercial radios that weigh more than a few pounds and are far more capable of dumping heat than the FTM3200DR.

The radio is largely un-repairable once it fails. The parts are small and the PC board is packed. It's easy to blow parts off the board with the hot air station. The PC board is a multiple layer job and easily damaged. Add to that the going shop rates for repair, parts and, shipping, and you quickly approach the price of a new radio.

Quality and heat seem to be real issues with the Fusion line of equipment. I've done a previous review on Fusion radios.

Fusion has a lot of potential but unless the quality of the equipment improves; Fusion is in danger of failing.

73's de Matt, KC5DBH
N4MU Rating: 2018-02-13
Latest Version has Nasty Secret Surprise! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Overall I am satisfied with the radio. All performance so far is as expected and no gripes there. With the latest (current at this time) firmware however Yaesu has added digital group monitoring, something I have absolutely no use for. I can completely understand its' use in emergency/group use but for everyday casual use it is completely unnecessary. The real kicker is that this "improvement" "steals" two of the four programmable mic buttons, leaving me with only two to use. There are no options...they took away two of the four to make the group access "easier" as they say. Why the "3" and not "4" then? Well, I admit 3 might be a tad low but a 4 I feel is too high considering the unexpected loss of very useful features that are on earlier models. Impossible to live with? Of course not but they should have added features without taking away any to do so...made the buttons for group access optional, leaving me to program them as I need. Very disappointed in their lack of foresight...and this coming from one who has and likes other Yaesu gear!
KM4HIB Rating: 2018-02-06
Solid mobile or base Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Using as a fixed base station with Diamond X50 antenna.

Firmware: CPU version 2.01 DSP 4.15
Overall I am very happy with the radio. I might even buy more for other needs I have. It was a tough decision vs the newly updated 2980R but I think this radio trumps the 2980R with c4fm and still having 65W of power in a more modern radio while nearly matching it in cooling and powerful sound.

Here are pros and cons I have noticed while owning it.

Pro
- solid construction
- High quality SUNON brand cooling fan mounted externally on rear center
-clear screen adjustable for brightness and contrast
- my radio does not run the fan at all until it gets pretty warm from TX. Appears to be a simple thermostat type operation based on internal temp which the radio can tell you via a setup screen
- Wide receive for single band, covers commercial, public safety, railroad in my area
- simple programming
- loud front speaker
- better quality bracket and wire kit than previous yaesu mobiles I've bought
- 3yr warranty
- Pairs very well with FTM-3207D 70cm radio

Con
- dislike the power indicator on screen, reads low/low/nothing when power setting is low/mid/high
- volume knob is sensitive big change for little movement
- radio makes a single audible pulse noise through speaker when it comes out of squelch on a received signal even when volume is all the way down. Would never notice in intended mobile use
-OK but not noteworthy mic. typical MH48
- no 6 pin din for easy line-in and PTT for potential repeater use or PC based digital modes
(May be able to make a 6pin RJ12 connector to replace mic for these purposes, don't know yet.
I would really like to be able to cross band repeat this radio with the FTM-3207 sitting right next to it.)

For C4FM System Fusion digital
It works well but I would like to set a fixed GPS coordinate for it to inter-op with GPS equipped mobiles for range finding such as my FTM-400DR in truck. I know my VX8DR HT can take a fixed coordinate for APRS and I believe my FT-1DR system fusion HT can do this too. I do not think my 3200 can truly TX/RX voice wide mode. It can not right now, but I have not updated the software yet. Everything else about the C4FM is squared away.

K4FIL Rating: 2017-07-06
Poor analog mobile Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Two radios bought (6-17) in our club have gone back to Yaesu for capacitor mods,I have sent dozens of emails ( with videos) to yaesu,to several different tech/help people with NO progress. The radio operates great digital however analog mobile is poor , audio clips while moving , stop moving and 1 bar receive is %100 copy, use as a base and all is well, unfortunately I operate 95% mobile. At some point Yaesu emails should say : Houstan we have a problem
KI5DR Rating: 2017-05-01
Decent audio, solid firmware Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased this radio as an entry-level radio for C4FM. As such, this radio knocks it out of the park. Simple features, plenty of TX power, excellent audio reports, and easy-to-understand programming (within limits) makes this a good radio to get someone into C4FM digital without breaking the bank. Front-firing speaker.

Room to improve?
- Front-end filtering. The receiver does suffer from Intermod.
- The FAN. I completely understand a heatsink fan kicking on after talking on high-power for a while. However, why this fan cycles on-and-off constantly while the radio sits on the bench, idle, in an air-conditioned room, on RX - is baffling. ??
Overall - Good solid digital entry-level radio. Worth it!
VK5MYK Rating: 2017-04-28
Poor image rejection Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
YAESU FTM-3200DR (USA version)
I have had this transceiver for 6 months now and contacted the retailer about the POOR image rejection, I had to purchase a cavity filter to try block the pagers. This helped a little bit, but did not stop it. I had to return it to the retailer for a change over. (AUS version)
K7CTC Rating: 2017-01-27
Yaesu, please update the firmware to fix the fan issue. Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
What would otherwise be a straightforward 5 star review has been downgraded to a 3 for one simple reason... The fan. Like many others have previously stated, it cycles on/off at room temperature on receive and is not particularly quiet either. One would assume this could be easily fixed by adjusting the parameters by which the fan cycles in a future firmware update.

I really hope Yaesu monitors product reviews and will respond with a software fix for the fan problem sometime in the not to distant future.

Otherwise it's a solid, easy to use, great for the price digital/analog 2m rig. Since I intend on using it as a base, the fan noise is really a killer for me and I will be shelving it in favor of my FT-2900R which lacks a fan altogether.

Should this issue be resolved I will update my review to 5 stars.
NL7W Rating: 2017-01-24
Not a Fan of the Fan Either! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Agree with N1TI, KD8UXB and many others. The fan is OBNOXIOUS!

If one plans on operating this rig as a base station in a quiet room, please be ready for a loud and cyclic fan while it operates at room temperature.

It is my hope firmware is introduced to up the fan’s quiescent operating temperature by at least 10 degrees F.

Other than this, it operates okay.

Summary: I cannot give it more than a 3-star rating.

Good grief!