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Reviews For: Yaesu FT-8900R

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

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Review Summary For : Yaesu FT-8900R
Reviews: 171MSRP: 469.95
Description:
10M, 6M, 2M & 440Mhz Quad Band Radio with Dual Band Receive.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.yaesu.com/amateur/pdf/brochures/ft_8900r.pdf
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
221714.2
W6CMR Rating: 2016-10-10
Great features Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I give this 4 out of 5 basically because it is my first radio. I like the scan feature and options for it. Being a retired firefighter I like to listen to the local fire channels as the day heats up. Once you spend a little time programming it, it is not that hard. It also works great with CHIRP. Base is connected to a Diamond x-200A with ABR LMR-400 spec coax for mobile I have the CR-8900 quad band antenna made for it (just in case something shows up on 10M FM.) lol Tx Audio seems to be good but the chassis speaker is hard to understand. I threw the manual on top of it and that helped a bunch. I also purchased a $12 speaker that is wonderful. I like it so much I purchased the 2nd 8900 to mount mobile. I really like the Hyper Memory keys for quick set up for X-banding, scanning etc. I understand every radio is not for everybody which is why I researched radios and features to find what I thought I would like and use. Plus the Yaesu quality!
WB2DWD Rating: 2016-07-13
Needs to be all mode Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
As summarized, this rig can/should be all mode. I used an IC-7000 mobile but never ventured below 10M due to antenna inefficiencies. If Yaesu ever makes this rig all mode, I'd buy one in a second. Come on, Yaesu, make it so!
K1RET Rating: 2016-05-14
Still Learning Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I haven't had a lot of time yet to operate this rig. For a quad band rig it is decent...my only complaint is that it is purely FM and there is no SSB. Since I am a Technician Class I can't operate the 10M FM so I cannot review it in full. It is a bit sensitive in the control knobs. I will amend this review after I get a bit more time to play. So far I like what I have been able to use of it.
NZ4ZN Rating: 2015-11-19
Going to get another one. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've been using the FT-8900r both mobile and as a base station for a little over two years.

I need another mobile radio and cannot find one I think I'd like better. Already having one sample of a certain model lends that model an advantage, since there is no learning curve. Even then, I'd buy it again on features and performance.

I use the cross band repeat function with the HT, but mainly use it to work local repeaters from home or from the truck while monitoring other bands/frequencies on the other half of the radio. I get good signal reports and am told modulation is good.

Yaesu could have fine tuned this a little though, and I see the following characteristics as shortcomings:

1) Audio gain (volume) control is touchy and far too sensitive. Even in the truck, I never get past about a quarter turn of travel and half way up is overdriven. Listening to it indoors, the volume is barely cracked. I'd like to put a resistor in series with the volume potentiometer.

2) IMO, the 10/6 meter functions should have had their own antenna connection. I use an antenna switch at the house to go from the 2m to the 6m antenna. I've never run the radio on 10m.

3) The memory locations are shared between halves of the radio, so it you wish to scan saved memory channels on one band with the left half and scan another band with the right half, they will just scan the same freqs.
G6IYD Rating: 2015-09-06
Great little radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Only went out to buy a dual-band, but for a small extra cost, went for the FT-8900. Not regretted it. 6mtrs and 10mtrs may be a bit quiet, but nice to have these bands if I want to. It is a small transceiver, and the knobs and buttons may seem a bit fiddly to use. Not having small hands I thought it might be a problem, but in practice I have no problems using these. On both TX and RX I have been please with the results. Yaesu memory programming is not the easiest, but so simple using the correct lead (Ebay) and Chirp. All in all I find it a nice radio and would give it 5 out of 5.
KM6CQ Rating: 2015-09-04
Quit after warranty expired. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The radio was okay. Problem is it quit after the warranty expired, it was never abused, hardly used and without one blemish. Yaesu told me it would cost more to fix it then a new one would cost. They offered to ship it back at my cost plus tech time. I told them to throw it in the trash. It is where it now belongs. I now buy Icom mobiles.
VK4LAC Rating: 2015-08-30
Nice Radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I was going to buy the FT-7900 a friend let me borrow his FT-2900 in the meantime but waiting for the shipment to arrive for over a month left me thinking to upgrade so I did I paid the extra for the 8900 and it was on its way.

I have found it to be a nice radio easy to use but I liked the big display of the 2900 but I hope I have made the right choice.

So far so good

Colin
VK4LAC
AD5HD Rating: 2015-07-07
Best FM xcvr w/o GPS Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Second radio for mobile use. For twenty bucks more than the 8800 it's a deal, ten bucks per extra band. The receiver does seem to be very sensitive. Forgot to install the antenna the other day and spent the drive listening to the local repeater until it started to break up in an RF canyon where it never does. Great set of features, very easy to set up and program. One of the nicer features is that the mic connects to the remote head. Without a need for APRS or proprietary digital FM this radio was the best choice and it's the smallest of the multiband radios although I didn't look closely at Alinco, Powerwerx, or Wouxun. The audio is pretty good, not as good as Kenwood but with a Kenwood KES-5 external speaker it's quite good.
N1RIK Rating: 2015-04-21
Great radio !! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is my second FT-8900R. I own repeaters on 10m, 6m, and 440 and it allows me to work them all from the car... The front end on it works great... Much better than the TYT-9800.. and now you can get them new for $389 with free shipping... Gotta make sure you have this radio in your arsenal... hands down the best FM quadbander on the market !
N1KDO Rating: 2015-01-24
liked enough to buy a 2nd one Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This radio is very good, but not quite great.

It replaced a Standard C5900, which was the first radio I am aware of to have hyper-memories. The C5900 was a great radio.

There are two things that make the FT-8900R not as good as the C5900:

* Buttons are not backlit on the Yaesu
* The mic plugs into the control head, nowhere else.

I miss those backlit buttons.

I program the radio with the excellent "Chirp" free software and a cable from Ebay.

I liked the radio enough that I bought a 2nd one for the shack. Wish I could get another C5900.