Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: Yaesu FT-2980r

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

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : Yaesu FT-2980r
Reviews: 31MSRP: 189.95
Description:
The improved FT-2980 now with 80 Watts of High power output! No Cooling Fan
Needed, a huge, easy-to-read display, and one-touch WIRES™ Internet Linking
Access capability are yours with the rugged new FT-2980R!
Product is in production
More Info: http://https://www.yaesu.com/indexVS.cfm?cmd=DisplayProducts&ProdCatID=106&encProdID=38C80CFCE166F351389D979FE1311373&DivisionID=65&isArchived=0
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
35314.5
KK4JW Rating: 2021-10-22
No frills - but rock solid! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
What's not to like? A no frills, rock solid VHF transceiver. This thing is heavy duty! The heatsink is huge, and that's a good thing because that means there's no noisy fan to contend with!

Sure, the display is big and bold - but I don't think anyone has ever complained about being able to see and read something "too well". My vision is fine and I still love it because a quick glance is all I need to see what frequency I'm on when driving.

Let's talk about the output power.. 80 watts. EIGHTY. You'll likely never need all that juice, but it's nice to have if you suddenly find yourself on the fringe of a repeater and need to communicate. I normally run mine on 10 watts and the heatsink barely gets warm.

Yaesu hit a home run with this one. For a rock solid, no frills, easy to operate, and last forever VHF mobile - this is it. Five stars! I own TWO of them and love them. I'd buy another tomorrow.
KE0QIZ Rating: 2021-10-21
2m Powerhouse Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I feel most people here have covered the usability and interface well enough, so I have nothing to add on that front. I will agree, you can use it to hammer a nail. The display is so big you can easily read it from outside your vehicle.

It is pretty easy to program and save memories in the field, even without a manual, if you have used it a few times. I only use mine heavily at a handful of volunteer events per year. Although I have the manual saved to my phone, I rarely need to reference it.

For event communications, this radio really can't be beat. I've used it as failover to hit distance repeaters when local repeaters went down and other mobile rigs couldn't get out. For that, it wins my highest praises.
EI7II Rating: 2021-09-19
When 2 meter is all you need ? This is it. Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Living out in the wilds, I looked for a 2meter unit that could take some punishment and did not have too many bells and whistles. Well.... the 2980 fits this bill perfectly. Its virtues have been praised by others So I will just add what I particularly like about this unit:
It has TWO squelch types. The normal knob on the front, but it also has RF squelch, set via menu item #42., Very very useful in certain cases.
It has a build-in temperature monitor, so if you feel that the radio is getting too hot to your liking, call up menu item #51 and heh... presto, there is your internal radio temperature., You can choose C or F if you wish.
The Display is very bright, but you can easily set the brightness exactly to your liking, very handy if you move this radio between your home or your truck or car. As has been mentioned, the display is LARGE. Nice if your eyes, like mine, after 77 years of working ain't as good as they used to be.
DO NOTE: the WIRES implementation on this radio in NOT compatible with the WIRES-X functionality. WIRES (without the X) was Yeasu's first implementation of the C4FM protocol.
IF you are planning to use this unit outdoors a great deal, or in your truck or car, let me recommend the Niffty Accessories Manual. Laminated, ring-bound and if you leave it out in the rain? No harm done. Beats Yeasu's own manual many times over.
One final thing to note folks: IF you also happen to have the FT991A, or the 991, BEWARE: if your antennas are close to each other you might blow the 991A front-end if you pour the full 80 watts into antennas that are very close together. There is a Youtube video describing this and the required repair.

However..... as KG7OR said in his review of 2018-02-01 take careful note of the following:
"That said, there is a big issue with the antenna and aux audio connectors on the back panel. They are buried deep in the frame, such that you pretty much have to connect your antenna (and optional speaker) BEFORE mounting the radio in a vehicle or possibly in a base installation. Once the radio is nestled in its bracket, trying to attach a PL259 is nearly impossible--you only can touch it at the top and bottom (maybe), and forget using a tool. Same problem with the aux audio jack--trying to insert a plug by reaching around from the front will cause you to exhaust your inventory of swear words."

All in all ? Happy as "Larry" with the 2980 and can certainly recommend it but take note of KG7OR's very valid comments !
Albert. EI7II.
KA1JFB Rating: 2021-09-17
Outstanding! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just bought the Yaesu FT-2980r and had it installed in my Honda Civic in 10Min! Reason is I had a Yaesu FTM-7250 and That radio gave me no trouble at all! My Problem is i live in the sticks and first of all we dont have a single Fusion Repeater near me! The closest is in Atlanta! Dont get me wrong the 7250 has very wide band coverage and i loved listening to aircraft! And i only used it on 2m because we only have 1. 440 repeater as far as i know? So I Got the FT-2980 because it covers all the Police bands and EMS services! It took me abt a hr. to program 35 stations in it and its very easy to program! Top it off It only cost $149.95! Cant beat that! I also have a Yaesu FT-981A thats limited to any fusion repeaters But makes a Beautyfull Shack in the Box! All in all im like the other guy said all i need is 2m and public service to listen to and im happy! By the way the display is huge! and i have no trouble seeing it going down the road! For a first time ham or old timer (that i am since 1978) This radio fits the bill 100%! Great Job YAESU! like the sticker says Yaesu the RADIO! Get one while their hot! lol even for a spare in the shack! You wont be sorry! 73 Joe.....
ND3Y Rating: 2021-09-09
The best 2m monoband, really impressive quality Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
TL;DR: I would absolutely recommend this as a base station transceiver (mobile, less so) or a first radio for a new ham on a budget who wants to buy something brand name.

So, right off the bat, let me say that I sold my Kenwood TM-281 to buy this radio. The Kenwood worked fine, but I had trouble keying up my local club repeater (which is a Yaesu repeater)—we chalked it up to a PL tone problem, not necessarily the Kenwood's fault. You can read the review that I left for the Kenwood (which truly felt like something from a past decade, and the most important settings required you to push in the VFO knob, which broke).

After getting this Yaesu 2980 in the mail from HRO and using it for a few months, I can honestly say that it is GREAT. I had a Yaesu VX-170 back in 2006, which you could use to hammer a nail, and this radio is no compromise in quality. Yes, it is made in Japan, says so right on the chassis.

The first thing I noticed is that the Yaesu's squelch is much more sensitive than the Kenwood's. There is less static after every received transmission because the squelch kicks in more quickly. It is also controlled by a dedicated knob, next to and identical to the volume control. And mind you, these knobs are stiff in a good way.

The whole radio is a lot bigger than I expected: probably 6 inches wide, 1.5+ inches tall, and as heavy as a phone book. This might be a problem if you're trying to use it mobile, especially since the control panel isn't removable. But for me, it is the perfect size just to sit on top of my Astron power supply.

The screen is gigantic. But it is the newer-looking anti-glare type, and not the glossy, hard-cover screens that Yaesu radios had in the 2000s. Nice to know that they've updated things since then (I'm looking at you, Kenwood 281).

I love that this unit has no fan, because it lives on my work desk scanning all day. Some users complain about the radio getting hot. I haven't noticed that, but I tend to run the radio in the low power modes. Nice to know that there is a lot of unused wattage and that I'm never pushing the radio too hard.

I have found the 2980 very easy and intuitive to use, but then again, I'm a read-the-instructions-first kind of person. If you've owned a Japanese-made Yaesu HT before, I think the menu concept will be familiar. It feels more intuitive than the Kenwood did.

The mic on the Kenwood felt more substantial, but that has its pros and cons. For example, the mic cord on the Kenwood was so rigid, it would pull the radio across the desk when I tried to use it. It would also slide off the table because of its own weight. Also, the Kenwood mic lamp couldn't be turned off, so I'm sure that would've burned out if I'd kept it. In contrast, the Yaesu mic is...less substantial. However, the light is switchable, and the transceiver appears to be entirely controllable from the mic (nice to have that redundancy in case a button stops working). The PTT button was a little sticky when I first unboxed it, but that has since resolved itself with use.

This radio can be loud. The speaker is on the bottom of the radio, which gets muffled if you lay it flat on a table. But Yaesu clearly thought of this, because they had the foresight to include two, high-quality, little feet for you to screw on the bottom front of the radio so that it stands at an angle, lifting up the speaker.

Gripes? Tough to think of a single one. Since I sometimes carry this radio from the shack to the car, I have knicked the black heat sink, revealing some bare metal. So despite its durability, it isn't impervious to scratches and scuffs.

Overall, I'm really happy with this unit. I haven't missed the Kenwood at all. It would be cool if it worked with Fusion, but it seems like Yaesu is phasing out digital in the affordable mobile/ht market. Maybe it hasn't caught on over the last 20 years as much as they'd hoped? In Philly, there are plenty of Fusion-capable repeaters, but they also do analogue, which seems to be what everyone still uses.

A couple times, I've thought of selling the 2980 to fund the purchase of a dual-band mobile. But Yaesu no longer makes a dual-bander at a lower price point than the FTM-300, and the Icom radios look super complicated, less aesthetically pleasing, and less indestructible (they also don't include mounting brackets). I have other radios that can do 70cm when I need it, and I love this radio so much that I'm happy to stay in the 2M world.
WA3GIN Rating: 2021-08-26
Memory Select Knob Slips and Changes Channel Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Sent radio back to Yaesu. Radio returned with No Trouble Found (NTF). Wondering if anyone else has experienced this issue. Otherwise a great little radio.

73
dave
wa3gin
W2NJU Rating: 2021-08-25
An excellent performer at a nice price. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is one really well built transceiver. I like the "no-fan" design and the huge heat sink does an adequate job, even at high power. I would discourage anyone from going into the service menu and cranking the power to 100 watts.
There is no benefit to doing this and you run the risk of exceeding the heat sink's ability to dissipate the added heat. Transmit audio is reported as loud and crisp. Receiver performance is satisfactory for my purposes.
For the price point, you can't go wrong. Some users have expressed that they don't like programming it. For me, I find it easier to program than my old Icom IC-208H. I'd say "Buy it, you'll like it."
KC9GLD Rating: 2021-01-06
Nice radio, excellent for mobile Time Owned: more than 12 months.
After over 1 year usage mobile in Indiana, never had a problem till now, recently noticed a volume issue when the radio is 40° or colder. While scanning when cold, there is very little if no volume when recieving a signal. As soon as the truck warms up, volume returns to normal.Tapping on the knob while cold helps, but not all the time. I did have an Icom V8000 but went through 5 microphones in about 6 years. Decided to try Yeasu to see what happens. Time will tell...
K1GUY Rating: 2020-08-29
Best 2 Meter Radio.. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
i just bought an Icom and a Yaesu radio for my shack and car. the Yaesu blows away the Icom, in all ways. Better build, better screen, better audio reports and better receive audio. the Yaesu is built like a tank and has no annoying fan...and so easy to program that i didn't need to read the manual !

AND the price is so cheap for this quality, it is a best buy.
KC5TJS Rating: 2020-08-21
Good, Solid Rig! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The Yaesu 2980r is a great 2 meter transceiver and in my opinion carries on in the reliable line of mobiles Yaesu have always made. Programming for the most part seems the same as their other radios. This is my third Yaesu mobile I've owned over the past 20+ years and it fits the bill. The only thing I can gripe about with Yaesu is the mic cables in the past seem to shed the insulation off after about 8 or 10 years of use and hopefully they have that problem solved. I've had this rig for a couple of years and is hooked up to one of those dual band Tram antennas about 40 feet into the air. I live Oklahoma city and it appears to access repeaters half way across the state so I try to make sure not to program in frequencies that activate more than one at a time. "Will happen anyway if there's ducting or some other phenomena going on". The 80 watts serves well for talking simplex which I enjoy more than repeater work. There's just not the activity there as there was 24 years ago when licensed. I got the rig on sale for like $119 or something incredibly inexpensive like that which is why I bought it. I'd previously tried one of those cheap Chinese dual band rigs and it died after only a couple years use so the Yaesu 2980 was my pick for a solid mono band. Unless you are just partial to a particular brand I don't think you can go wrong with this rig for a mono band mobile.