| K5RWS |
Rating:      |
2007-04-23 | |
| Just keeps getting better |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
It was 2 years ago almost to the day that I wrote my review of this radio. I gave it a 5/5 and said my wife was getting one and that I thought it was a great radio. Well, I've had over 2 years with this radio and the only problem I have is that my wife made me stop buying them, (for now), after the purchase of my 4th one. This has almost become an addiction for me! I have one in my F-250 7.3 diesel, one in my '06 Chevy HHR, one in my wife's Lexus, (new car - new radio, makes perfect since to me!), and now the latest went on my '06 GoldWing with a interface kit from Kennedy Technologies. I truly appreciate it when a product works as advertised and the interface kit from Kennedy is easily in that catagory. The people at Kennedy got it right.
The programming software from G4HFQ makes this one of the most usefull radios I've ever owned. Some of the things I look for in reviews is the usefull stuff like intermod, ease of use, reliability and other concerns. I can truly say after over 2 years with these radios in all the uses I have for them that I cannot remember any intermod issues. I live in the Albuquerque area and it just has not been an issue with this radio. This radio is surviving very well in/on all my vehicles with no concerns there, and with only one exception that my wife seems to have trouble with it is a very easy radio to use. Her problem? (besides me), she keeps hitting the internet button. I need a way to turn that off!!!
I'm truly sorry for those VERY few hams who have not had good experiences with this radio. My suggestion is try again cuz I really think Yaesu hit a grand slam home run with this one.
73 de Jimm
K5RWS
(I'm buying another one today, just don't know how to tell her!)
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Earlier 5-star review posted by K5RWS on 2005-04-25
Over the years I've owned several Yaesu mobile radios and ALMOST without exception they have all been above expectations. The last Yaesu dual band I owned was an FT-8100 and loved it, so of course I sold it. What was I thinking?!?! Since then I have owned other radios in a effort to replace it. While I liked some of the features of one or another radio, none came close to that 8100. Then I got an FT-8800. I've had it for about 9 months and use it in my work/play truck, (a Power Stroke Diesel), and have had only excelent performance from it. My last radio in this truck was a Icom IC-2720 which suffered it's share of intermod. NONE from this radio. I liked that the IC-2720 used one database that both sides of the radio could access. Well the 8800 went one better. You can build the same or different databases with a mix of VHF and UHF for both sides of this radio. For all intents and purposes this is two seperate radios in one box connected with a cross band repeat feature. I travel around the state for my job and it is very useful to move memory channels into one of 10 memory banks depending on the area of the state I'm in. I have over 200 memories programmed in this radio and moving them into seperate memory banks makes it much easier to go thru them when there are fewer in any given bank for the area I'm in.
I listen to State Police a lot, (I don't speed anymore), for road conditions and other information. We had a heavy winter this year and more than once being able to hear what they were doing with the highways kept me from getting stuck in a linier parking lot waiting for the state to re-open a stretch of I-40 or I-25. NM State police use two freq's to communicate between car and station in every district, and the scan in this Yaesu is fast enough to hear both sides of the conversation. I mentioned the type of truck because the Power Stroke IDM, (Injector Driver Module), is noisier than a bad ignition system in a gasser and some of the radios I've had in the truck suffered from this noise. Not the FT-8800. Quiet as a church mouse. (The only HF radio I've had that would cut out most of this noise with the NB so far has been a FT-900CAT, a Yeasu).
Get the software and spend some time with it. This a very powerfull radio and software package in terms of features and flexability and certianlly rates a 5 in my book.
My wife is getting one for her Liberty to replace her IC-207 for her birthday next week. She just doesn't know it yet. She says she likes that old radio but she's really gonna love this one. She knows what freq's are where but the Alpha tagging really makes her driving easier when changing channels when she's driving my truck. (The deal was she would let me buy a new truck if I let her drive it once a year. I just don't look!!!).
I could go on and on about this radio. The more I use it the more I find I can do with it and the more I like it. I remember how much I liked the FT-8100 and now that felling's back, with one exception. I'm not selling this radio ! |
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| W6RAM |
Rating:   |
2007-03-31 | |
| Right Side Problems |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| High expectations based on reading the reviews here. Radio programmed fine on the left side of the dial using manual freq, channel, and alphanumeric entry. Programming software wouldn't work even though correct comm port was selected and instructions followed so programmed each channel by hand. Went to right side of radio and nothing worked right. Cannot program the alphanumerics. Will enter one letter and it will jump to another. Guess I got a bad radio after all these years of great radios from Yaesu. Will be returning it to AES next week. Randy W6RAM |
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| SQ9MCS |
Rating:     |
2007-03-29 | |
| Good but to difficult |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I used it for 3 months but I sold it now. Transceiver is great but set it up is too difficult. For me the knobs had too many functions. Supplied microphone had clear modulation but too flat. Great idea for U-U, V-U, U-V operations. That was great when I want receive two freuquencies at the same time. Using TRX in mobile had many problems. First Mic MH-48A6J, it didn't have function controls. Changing for example CTCSS tone while driving is impossible. |
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| KD5UDE |
Rating:      |
2007-03-12 | |
| buy it!!! |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
excellent radio!!! way to go yaesu!!! they outdid thereselfs. i liked this one so much that i just got off the phone with hro and bought another one today!!! seeing how my icom 2720h blew up again,that makes 3 of them no more icoms!!! this yaesu 8800 is the very best radio i have ever owned. easy to program! excellent cross band repeat! hats off to ya'll yaesu!!!! aaaaa+++++++++++++
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Earlier 5-star review posted by KD5UDE on 2007-01-11
this is a great radio it works perfect!! very easy to program,crossband repeat works perfect,easy to see display,has over 1000 memory channels,small,compact, and it runs very cool,considering it has a very quiet fan!! i feel like it is better served as a base radio than a mobil radio,but don't sell it short from using it as a mobil radio! it really performs!!! so get online to www.hamradiooutlet.com and order one today! you'll be glad you did!!! |
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| KG0WX |
Rating:      |
2007-01-28 | |
| You'd better buy the software..... |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
This truly is two radios in one box - I found out the hard way - after programming 350 memories into my new rig I was shocked to find out I needed to do it all over again on the right side!
D'oh!
Thank god I hadn't programmed any alpha tags! Anyways, my point is the software is cheap ($18) and it can use windows' cut and paste feature to transfer data from column to column or bank to bank or memory to memory..... You get the idea.
The software I'm using is FTB8800 and it will get it's own review in a bit.
A note on programming cables - I'm using an ICOM CI-V cable to program! Yep, you read right - All I had to do was take a mouse cable and wire 2 pins (GND & PTT) to a 1/8" Mono headphone jack. I did that before I bought the software and I needed to test it before buying the software so I did a web search. You can test your cable with Hyper terminal. Just type in a letter and if it gives you an echo return back, it works. I unplugged my cable to verify that - no more echo. Nice!
I only have two complaints about this rig:
1) There is no function to clone memories from one side of the rig to another, hence the need for the software or the patience to do everything twice.
2) Like my FT7800r, there is a very fine line in the volume controls between too low audio on FM and too much audio on AM. Set your audio for a low level FM signal and get BLASTED out of your chair when you try to listen to that plane overhead on AM. Yaesu either needs to adjust or redesign the AGC. Simple as that.
Neither problem would stop ME from buying this radio again. Nope, no way.
There is a Yahoo! eGroup for this radio with TONS of help full info (including how to wire up a programming cable from an Icom CI-V cable).
Ken KG0WX
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| WB5KCM |
Rating:     |
2006-12-25 | |
| Very good dual band rig |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I have had my FT-8800R for about 1 1/2 years without any problems. I have had some reports that the transmit audio is distorted. A friend in the Houston area (WB5HJV) has done a mod to the Yaesu MH-48 mics that involve enlarging the hole for the mic element and a couple other things. After doing this I have better transmit audio, more on the level of communications quality. I recommend obtaining the FTB8800 programming software and it really works well. I really like the extended receive frequency capability. Just overall I am very pleased with this radio. |
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| WV4R |
Rating:      |
2006-12-02 | |
| Same Box Better Unit... |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
FT-8800R - Product Review - 2 December 2006
After a storm blew through, I heard a very strange rubbing/rattling sound outside the shack. It was a gusty wind and I was puzzled until I looked UP. A thunderstorm had blown the top off my dual-band vertical on the main tower and the fiberglass tubing was split down the sides in many strips rubbing across each other as the wind gusted causing the strange noises from above.
Going back into the shack, I discovered my trusty ole Yeasu FT-8500R dual-bander was fried as well and beyond repair. After looking at the current models of the major manufacturers, I decided on the Yeasu FT-8800R after reading three years of Eham Product Reviews and because of special pricing available… and because Yeasu appears to consistently offer more features and benefits for the ham dollar spent.
Three days later, my spanky new FT-8800R arrived with the YK-8900 Separation Kit included in the special. When I smoke-tested it the display was bright and easy to read. Did I say I like its looks?
I am pleased to report the brackets from my old FT-5100 and FT-5200 and FT-8100 and FT-8500 all fit the new FT-8800R since the case size and mount screws are the same. Microphone uses telephone-style jack on outside of unit and has 4 programmable keys.
Cosmetically, the FT-8800R design provides the whole bottom of the unit as a caste aluminum heat sink with a Silent thermostatic fan so the unit runs Cool. The SO-239 connector is attached to the rear, Not a pigtail like my previous units giving it a real hammy radio base station feel. Front panel control is quite busy but very useful without going into menu mode like my ole FT-8500.
It would take a week to talk about All the features so let me brush over the biggies fer me… Two complete radios in one chassis, Cross-Band Repeat, 6- Hyper-Memory Bank in addition to over a thousand others, 50w/vhf, 35w/uhf, Encode/Decode, Smart Search scans band and Automatically loads 25 active frequencies in soft memory for logging local activity, hot receiver and great transmit audio to just name my personal favorites.
Ease of operation, features, pricing earn my new FT-8800R the WV4R “Five-Star” rating. 73 es God bless, murf/wv4r.
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| KG4OGE |
Rating:      |
2006-11-30 | |
| wonderful |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| Im a nub.. although i have had my license for a while now i still consdier myself a nub.. but this radio is the best rig i have ever owned and or used.. I will admit im 22 and like a lot of folks my age i have 2 subs in my trunk that produce a lot of vibration.. my rig is mounted in the trunk right above the subs ihave had this rig for about a year now and every day it has put up with my subs with no problems no noise no nothing.. as the person right begfor me said i use my left side as a scanner and the right side as my ham side.. there is nothing better than haveing 2 radios in one small little rig... if you dont have one get one if you have one get another.. ooh last thing i have heard a lot of folk complain about the small buttons and yes they are small but .... ok there small i have small hands so it dosent bother me.. but you can contol everything for the most part for the mike so dont worry about that.. its a wonderful rig.. yaesu forever.. good luck Matt KG4OGE |
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| WB6FQZ |
Rating:      |
2006-11-30 | |
| Nice Rig |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I've had one in a Jeep Wrangler for a year now and it is holding up fine after alot of off-roading.It gets a little intermod in high RF fields at repeater sites but I've had commercial equipment do the same. The only thing I would like to see is the ability to temporarily lock out a channel in scan with one button instead of having to go into the menu. I use the left side of the display as a scanner and the right side for ham use. I highly recommend the programming software! I plan on buying 2 more for my motorhome and my work truck. |
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| KI4IDB |
Rating:      |
2006-11-23 | |
| Wow ...What a Radio |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
This is the best radio I have bought to date. I have owned several Icom 2100's (which are great radios) and a Yaesu handy talky (vx-5r). But this radio out performs them all. It is easy to use and the dual listening feature is great.
I have trouble programing radios and this one is no different but with the software it is easy.
Can't wait to buy another one for my truck. |
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