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Reviews For: Yaesu FT-2600M

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

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Review Summary For : Yaesu FT-2600M
Reviews: 102MSRP: 170
Description:
HEAVY-DUTY VHF FM TRANSCEIVER
Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.yaesu.com/ft2600m.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
001024
G7TOK Rating: 2003-10-02
Bomb Proof !! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Works as advertised, gets very hot on 60w, but doesn't mind anyway, hears everything except pagers and intermod, internal front mounted speaker can go VERY loud, audio is acceptably punchy, never get a bad report.
If you want Hi-Fi audio, go elsewhere.
If you want a scanner, go elswhere.
If you want needlessly cluttered displays, go elswhere.
If you want a radio that does exactly as described, very well too, then get this.
WA0UDX Rating: 2003-09-26
better than most 2 meter radios Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I own 2. One for over 3 years, the other for just 2 months. The older one is used strictly in the house, and as reported by others, it had memory loss problems. It happened on 3 occasions during the first 2 months I owned it, but it's never happened again in 3 years. I always did switch the power supply and radio off and on in the correct order, so I don't know what ever caused the problem. The newer one is in my car, and I haven't experienced the memory loss problem with it, nor did the previous owner. It was one of the very last ones sold when they were closing them out, so maybe production dates have something to do with it.
I get virtually zero intermod on either radio, but I run just a 1/4 wavelength antenna on the car (which I assume helps), and the base station yagi is pointed away from the broadcast towers overlooking Denver. I tested the sensitivity on one of them and got 12dB SINAD at -122.0 dBm (.18 microvolts). The transmit frequency error was < 200 Hz, output power was right around 60 Watts, and the deviation was a little less that 5KHz. CTCSS tone frequency accuracy was good, and the DCS signaling was well shaped.
The display has 8 characters which is great for alpha numeric naming. (Why in the world they reduced that to 6 characters on the new FT-2800 is beyond me.) The channel scan is fast. As most modern Yaesus, it has CTCSS encode AND decode standard (wake up Kenwood) and digital coded squelch standard. It also has a feature I almost can't live without which is the "nuisance delete" function during scanning. If the radio stops scanning on a channel that you don't want to listen to, just hit the SET/Mhz button, and it takes off scanning the remaining channels. You can continue to temporarily delete channels from the scan list. When you stop scanning, and then restart scanning, all those deleted channels are back in the scan list again. You can of course more permanently delete channels from the scan list through the menu system. The menu system has thirty-some parameters. They are fairly easy to interpret. It has many other neat features like selectable auto power off, Yaesu's ARTS system (which I haven't used), packet support, etc. It has a small front firing speaker. Front firing beats upward or downward firing in most installations, but it IS pretty small. As on most consumer radios, you need an amplified Motorola speaker (or similar) if you are going to drive 60 MPH with the windows rolled down. The speaker is great in the house. The 2 styles of squelch settings in the menu system pretty much make up for the lack of a squelch knob. You can open the squelch with one of the programmable buttons on the microphone. The heatsink is large, and on the bottom of the radio! The placement seems weird to me, but I guess it does dissipate heat even on the bottom. I use a manually controlled fan on both of my radios. It doesn't take much flow to cool them as long as you get some air moving over that large heat sink. On the radio in the house, after 30 minutes of full power rag chewing, the fan drops the heat sink temperature from 140F to 80F, with room temp at 70F. I don't usually wait for the temp to get that high before using the fan.
I have read some reviews trashing almost every aspect of the radio, and all I can say is they obviously had a defective unit. Except for the memory loss problem early on with the first unit, I have had no problems with these at all. I liked the first one so well, I traded my FT-3000 for the second FT-2600. The 3000 had many more features, a squelch knob, and dual cooling fans, but I felt it was worth the trade to have 2 of a kind.

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Earlier 3-star review posted by WA0UDX on 2002-07-19

If your 2600 is running cool, there is a problem. I guess "cool" and "hot" are subjective, but by most people's definition, it will run pretty hot even at modest power levels. Mine puts out 60+ watts, and I fan cool it. I don't rate the rig too high because it does have the problem with loosing its memory. I like the front facing speaker.
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Earlier 3-star review posted by WA0UDX on 2002-04-27

Just a few days ago, I programmed in alpha channel labels for the first time in 2 years of ownership. I had always used just the frequency/channel number display mode before this. Now this morning I lost the memory for the first time. I use it only in the shack, and always power the power supply and radio up and down in the correct order. Hmmmmm?
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Earlier 4-star review posted by WA0UDX on 2001-06-27

Maybe I have just been lucky. Reading all the negative reviews makes me worry a bit. Mine has been just fine though. Great receiver, the transmitter shows over 60 watts out on a Bird into a 50 ohm dummy load, and I have never lost the memory or anything like that. I do wish it had a squelch knob and a cooling fan though.
KB4LP Rating: 2003-09-23
Rugged Radio Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
The FT-2600M is a great little single band radio with most of the features needed for mobile operation. Some have mentioned that this radio has problems with loosing memories when the automobile is started with the radio already powered on. In the time I have owned this, no such problem has ever occured and it is left on very frequently. The Programming software is not required for programming, but it is desirable.(Especially, if you get one that has the memory loss.) I have always purchased the software for any radio I purchase...if it is available. This is the 5th or 6th Yaesu I have owned...all have been great radios. This radio has great intermod rejection. It has been on "RF Hill" where all the towers and transmitters are located. It did howl once, though. But this was while it was under a 1000 foot tower! The rig has a front firing speaker that is fairly strong, although I use a remote speaker. The internal speaker is suffiencient for quiter cars, but not so for the loud trucks that some of us own. The microphone PTT is slightly sensitive, other than that the Mic is very functional and straight forward. Constantly receive good audio reports. The TX audio apparently is a little strong...at least for my deep voice. Back away a few inches and the TX is great. These radios are now discontinued but should be available on the used market at hamfests and such. They were selling for $109 when the closeout took place! A great bargain for this rig!
KD5TJW Rating: 2003-09-07
Excellent Radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This was my first 2m radio and I completely love it. The radio works like a charm with no problems. The memory concerns that I established with it were only minor. I found if it is left on and the power supply or the ignition is turned off, the radio will reset itself when the power supply or ignition is turned on. "JUMP IN VOLTAGE" This will completely erase all memories and settings for the radio, a real pain. To combat this problem I just turn the radio off when I am done. I use it mobile with a 1/4 wave magnetic mount and completly rave about the radio.

Excellent purchase and curious as to why they were discontinued.
W3FHW Rating: 2003-08-24
nine feet tall and bullet proof Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have three of these radios, two mobile and one base. Bought them when the going price was $109 and change. (new from HRO). A 60 watt radio, with all the features, for $109 makes sense to me. I haven't had a single problem with any of them and they are in use daily. My son has one in his truck, I have one in my truck, and one is in the shack. My son travels from central georgia to north west Florida and communications with repeaters along the route is no problem. We have the Rt Systems computer programming software and program the radio to coincide with the differing routes. I give it a 5 rating because it does what I need it to do and all three radios have performed daily for 9 months without a single malfunction.
KB1JEC Rating: 2003-04-19
Very nice... Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Excellent radio! This is my first 2-meter radio and I use it at the base station. With a homemade copper J-Pole it gets out about 100-125 miles. Only had a single memory dump, when I killed the PSU with the radio still running. No problems since... highly recommended, excellent, not-too-expensive radio for 2m mobile/base.
N5MZ Rating: 2003-04-14
OK Radio with one exception Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I bought this radio just before Christmas 2002 to install in my wife's car. I had it on the bench with a power supply until about mid-March 2003 and it performed flawlessly. I like the mic, the programming functions and menu, and the front-fire speaker is ideal for the location I chose to mount it. I installed it in the car with a quarter wave spike on the trunk and was well pleased with its operation and signal. Until - and I'll admit operator fault on this one - I started the car with the rig on. *POOF!* All the memories gone. I had read about that here and tried to be extremely careful to have the rig switched off when starting the car, but alas, on the first time I forgot to check it they were erased. Even though I knew about this "glitch", it still gripes me. If you buy one - and you will enjoy one if you get one, especially on your workbench - be careful about starting the car with the rig on!! Even the later serial numbers still have this problem!!
N5MJ Rating: 2003-03-30
Good design - here's why (IMHO) Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Having used the 2600M for about 6 months, and not having had any of the problems mentioned by others in this forum, I thought it might be prudent to air a thought on Yaesu's design.

Heat sink - on the bottom. Sure, heat rises. Then again, think of the typical auto mount location - midline, under dash, likely near the floorboard. There is air flow there by default and by design in most cars, even with the HVAC off.

On/Off - super, finally a real on/off switch, in line with the volume control like it should be (IMHO), instead of that annoying push-and-hold power sequencer.

Power out - high power setting on a dummy load, my rig consistently shows 70W output from 144-154. Yes, that's measured with several different wattmeters designed and built for VHF freqs. Those that measure radically less may wish to evaluate their test equipment for suitability. I use a Bird 1KW dummy load rated to 1 GHz, as well as a Bird 43, Yaesu YS-500, and a hamfest door prize freebie Welz/Kenwood HF thru VHF wattmeter.

Price - I picked mine up when they were on clearance, for $109 drop shipped to my door (Thanks HRO!). You can't beat it.

One negative - it won't do differential PL, i.e. different TX and RX PL freqs. You'd think it would, what with "odd split" using two different memories, but nope, it won't. Does that affect amateur operations? Not in the least, at least not in this area.

To summarize - the FT2600 is a capable transceiver at a fantastic price.
K8UPA Rating: 2003-03-12
OK for base ops Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Had this mobile for a couple of years and had many memory problems. Although I will admit this started over a year after installation. Removed it and use it in the shack with a power supply with no issues. Do like the power output but I wouldn't recommend putting in a lot of memories if you go mobile.
N8DOT Rating: 2003-03-11
Bad radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Having had two of them with same problem no wonder they dropped it! NO memory. Had the second one back twice and still no memory! And they want me to spend 3k on and HF rig? I don't think so!

Can't afford the shipping!

73 Larry