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Reviews For: Yaesu Ftm-3100R

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

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Review Summary For : Yaesu Ftm-3100R
Reviews: 15MSRP: $ 140.00
Description:
144 MHz 65 watt Fm rugged and compact mobile transceiver.
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00153.9
EI6ITB Rating: 2022-09-03
Decent bang for the buck Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Not using this as a mobile, just a 2m shack set hitting the local repeaters. It's fairly sensitive and copes well with a less than optimum antenna setup. If I were buying another, I'd go for a 2m /70cm rig, but much more money.
This was a good deal from Wimo, so not complaining about the price.
N5ACX Rating: 2022-07-16
Great Radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have always used cheap off brand mobiles for my VHF/UHF base radio. I went straight VHF this time. There isn't very much UHF traffic here. The 3100R was a huge upgrade over these radios, TYT, Btech etc. I like that this model is made in Japan. I was hesitant to purchase one because everything I read about it, said the fan is extremely loud. The $139 sale price was too big to ignore. The fan is NOT loud. Sitting at my shack desk, I can barely hear it at all. Maybe, I just got lucky. At this price, I will purchase another one for my truck.
N5LAZ Rating: 2022-03-03
Fan cycling issue (by design) too noisy for base ops Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Seems to be a solid performer in terms of carrying out its basic mission. Good audio reports on Tx. Receiver is sensitive and sounds good. Easy to program manually. Nice compact size. Great power. Only one issue. In a quiet room the constant fan cycling on and off every several seconds (even when the radio is cool) makes it sound like my station is breathing. I've relegated the radio to mobile use only for this reason since I have another radio available for base ops. If I had no other option but to use this one as a base, I would take a risk by disconnecting the fan and directly heat-sinking the radio chassis to the metal cabinetry holding my station - it's that annoying. Good mobile - poor base.
KN4YBP Rating: 2022-02-26
Great little mono bander...fan works! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Good radio when one is looking for 2M only. I really like the TSQL feature when distant repeaters are coming in and repeaters with analog/digital capabilities. Keeps 'em quiet.
K5INI Rating: 2021-05-07
Easy to use- Works as advertised Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Mobile in-dash install -typical Yaesu quality
K0IVK Rating: 2021-03-27
Most reasonably priced Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Bought an 'open box' FTM-3100R/E unit on ebay, new looking & saved a little money from the ham store price. Easy to program, had all the local repeaters manually programmed in a few minutes. I like the front speaker idea, but I've had 2M rigs with better sounding speakers. This unit only puts out about 50W on high, but it may be my power supply or antenna or my watt meters. I had a new TM281 that I bought during their $115 introduction promotion. and it was same way here. Don't use 2 M often, but like to have it in case I want to get on
KC9BUH Rating: 2020-12-12
aprs digipeater Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Been using this radio as a aprs digipeat radio set at high power for two years 24/7. It's still running at 60+/- watts according to my meter.
Durn it, the display lights have burned out.
@ $135 who could ask for more?
bought 2 more at a recent (dec,2020)"flash sale" for $99 each,for back up.
N4ECW Rating: 2020-12-11
Don't Take The Chance Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I opted for an FTM-3100R due to many years of experience with the quality of Yaesu VHF / UHF transceivers. Unfortunately, they missed the mark on the one I purchased.

The power output steps are allegedly 5 watts, 30 watts, and 65 watts. On the one I received, the steps were 3.5 watts, 41 watts, and 55 watts.

Of course, 41 watts will overdrive a Mirage B-2518-G amplifier and the low settings and high settings were different than specifications.

Gigaparts said contact Yaesu. Yaesu said speak with Gigaparts. Two ordinarily good companies with less than helpful workers today.

Bottom line: Beware of the FTM-3100R.
N7AQQ Rating: 2019-06-05
Has some good features but noticed an issue Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Purchased a Yaesu FTM-3100R to install in a 2009 Ford Expedition. I like that they have included the home channel as an available function for the 4 microphone function buttons. That was a very good thought. As others have mentioned, the fan does indeed cycle off and on even when the unit is not transmitting...depending on environmental temperature. No problem in the mobile environment as far as I'm concerned, but I would hesitate to use it as a base station for the noise factor. However, I have noticed an issue with scanning on my unit. It seems a little flakey when trying to initiate preferential scanning of the memory channels. Seems to be difficult to get it to go into preferential scan instead of just regular memory scan. I can get it to do it, but sometimes it takes some fiddling with the particular starting channel and more than one try. And yes, I am aware that you have to start it on one of the "flagged" channels. Not sure if it is a global firmware issue, or just a little glitch with my particular radio.
WA3JRS Rating: 2018-10-10
Very good 2m value Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Owned the FTM-3100r for 3 years. It is very well built - the unit is heavy, knobs feel solid, the case heat sinking seems adequate given the rear mounted fan. It does get quite hot on long transmits at Hi power (65W) but I've never had it shut down. As others have noted, the fan can be a bit annoying in the shack as it frequently cycles on/off, but it is unnoticeable in the car. The WX channels are a useful addition. Audio output is loud and clear enough to hear with the windows rolled down. Adjustable transmit audio output and high quality hand mic have yielded very good audio reports. Would be nice if Yaesu had added a Squelch knob (maybe concentric with the volume knob?) instead of the button - not a deal beaker for me. I like this radio a lot, especially for the price and would recommend for someone wanting a powerful, 2m-only workhorse.