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Reviews For: Yaesu FT-2800M

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

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Review Summary For : Yaesu FT-2800M
Reviews: 196MSRP: 195.00
Description:
Yaesu 2m Transceiver Introuduced 2/2003. 65 Watt Output,- 4 power levels, 2M Transmit, 134-174 Receive, 219 Memories w/ 6 char AlphaNumeric display, NOAA Weather, CTCSS & DTS encode/decode, rugged case.
Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.yaesu.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
001963.7
KD0CIJ Rating: 2008-01-04
SO FAR SO GREAT Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just received this radio a few weeks ago and I have it up and running as a base. With my homebrewed antenna, I am hitting a repeater 83 miles away and am told I am comming in pretty darn clear. One of my buddies is thinking about getting this model based on the performance of my unit. Yes, the knobs are a little flimsy but I do not think they will break off unless you are trying to break them off. The unit is very easy to program and the manual is very user-friendly. I'm satisfied beyond expression and home to add a second unit to my truck.
KC9MOE Rating: 2008-01-03
Excellent Rig! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I am a new ham and wanted a mobile rig for my vehicle. I spend a lot of time in my car and wanted something with more power than an HT. I talked to another local ham who mentioned that he had a mobile rig just laying around and would be willing to part with. I bought it for $100. It came with everything including all the original packaging materials.

I installed it a few weeks ago and have never regretted it! It is a GREAT rig.I can hit every repeater in my area and the 65 watt power boost helps to ensure that I hit those repeaters with clear reception even if I am far away.

I have also received several reports that my audio is crisp and clear.

If I ever replace this rig, it will very quickly become a base unit as I simply love this rig.
KJ4AGA Rating: 2007-12-21
Love it Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
This has been my favorite radio since I bought it. I'm just a tech and I wanted something with a little bit more power than most dual banders, but I don't even have to use it with that mutch power. I run this model mobile with a larson nmo150 antenna and it's flawless except for programing an offset repeater shift.
KB3DLP Rating: 2007-12-08
So far, so good. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I'm rating this a 5 for the time being. I just received my unit this evening. It is used mobile and replaced my T81A HT using the same dual band mag mount on the roof. First thing I did after reading a few reviews was to put it on a wattmeter. Prior to any tx mod I was pushing a flat 65w on high other powers were as advertised. I did the TX mod (wasn't sure what it actually did) I had no out of band tx, yet my high power climbed to 8w, 25w, 35w, 70w. I held a decent qso over roughly 50 miles (band conditions were great tonight in southern PA) using 35w, my reported audio was crisp and clear so no issue with the tx audio problem on my rig. I bumped to 70w to test the heat problem, after 45 minutes it was warm, but bareable to the touch, no overheating problem. I've had the unit a total of 4 hours now, with roughly 1.25 hours usage time on it and I'm very happy with the rig.

Thinking of another one for the shack to replace a dying kenwood 2m.

Time will tell. Thus far 5 of 5 as far as I'm concerned.

73's
N8LTD Rating: 2007-11-12
So far so good. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Well, after I ordered it from Hamcity I read reviews and regretted ordering this model. But I decided to give it a chance instead of changing the order before it was shipped. For $117usd, it would be a great deal if it turned out to be a trouble free unit. I've had it a week now, and am still wanting to take the long way home! No distorted TX audio when transmitting a tone. Yes TX audio is a tad low. But that is a good thing for me. My car is 15 years old and is noisy at highway speeds. I tend to talk loud in the noisy environment. The low audio will not transmit road noise and my loud voice makes up for it. It has many good features-alpha numerics, over 200 memories, extended RX, lighted mic keypad with 4 programmable buttons, 65 watts, dimmer, instant access to NOAA weather frequencies, and more. It displays the voltage of the power source upon request. And it does many other things I'll never need while mobile. The mic has so many buttons I'll probably rarely need to touch the front of the unit(except for vol, squelch, and power on-off). The only thing that bugs me is the volume and squelch knobs feel like they're about to break off, but probably won't. Actually, I rate it a 4.5.
KB1PDZ Rating: 2007-11-12
Highly reccomended Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Nice display
Easy to navigate while mobile
Heavy duty
Good audio
Great recieve
Great adjasent channel rejection
Easy to program after reading manual
Manual very explanitory
Mine does not get hot as I see others suggested but then again I dont tie up a repeter for hours at a time
The radio is well worth the price


KB3PXZ Rating: 2007-11-12
decent for the price Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
It has plenty of power to hit all the repeaters in my area. It does seem to get hot on extended conversation if set above 10 watts It actually gets uncomfortable to the touch at 65W if you talk more than a few minutes. It took me awhile to get used to the mic. You have to place it right up against your mouth (within an inch) or people can't hear you. A little too much noise cancellation is what I think that is. I am using it as a base and wish I could adjust that. Programming software and a cable would be a real nice feature. Its kind of a pain to program although its my first 2m so others could be worse. I paid 119.00 at gigaparts so I shouldn't complain I have CB's that cost twice that
KC8UIO Rating: 2007-10-27
Programming Acutriments Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Everything is cool with this radio. I don't have the PL tone or overheat problems mentioned belowe.

I just wanted to add some (computer) programming information. Buy the cable from RT Systems (37 USD, ouch!) and the software from http://www.g4hfq.co.uk/ftb2800.htm (the RT Systems software sucks).

I was unhappy paying 37 USD dollors for this cable, but it is really the only turn-key cable available. If you have more time than money, there are many plans available. Check the G4HFQ web-site. The "insult to injury" was that when the cable arrived, there were no DB-9 thumb-screws installed. For 37 USD, this cable should have thumb-screws!

Hope this helps,
Wayne P. Muckleroy
(KC8UIO)

KC8YTY Rating: 2007-10-14
good radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
this radio i hav had for about a week... nice rugged 2 meter rig.. replaced my icom 2100h.. no problems what so ever. 65 watt out put, good audio, easy to program.. it's a little bigger than most 2 meters. dispaly is wonderful, bigger numbers easier to see. i would by another.... not bad for the price
KI6FJP Rating: 2007-09-06
Good for the money but not as good as expected Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Good unit for the money - very rugged. I have a problem with distorted PL Tones causing audio noise at receive sites when a PL Tone lower than about 130 Hz is turned on.The unit was sent in twice to the service center without a fix-they claim all of the units do this. Non of my other Yaesu radios have this problem. Power setting will only reach 52W-not the specified 65W. Voice audio quality was fixed with a microphone modification. Still a good general purpose radio.