| KC0TDE |
Rating:  |
2006-03-02 | |
| Great mobile radio |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
| I put the FT 8800 in my truck and use it constantly. Whether it is for storm spotting( dual band works great for this) or just rag chewing with other hams. The durability and ruggedness of the radio stand up well to my 4X4. The size was just perfect to fit where the ashtray was on my 1991 Ford F 250. Almost looks like a cutom install. The dual band function comes in handy while spotting for severe weather. You can monitor the station at the weather service and also the local storm net together. Not to familiar yet with cross banding but am learning as I experiment and get to know the radio. would recommend this rig to anyone who needs a good solid mobile radio. |
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| KB6REY |
Rating: |
2006-02-24 | |
| Nice try, but no cigar! |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
(I rate this radio as a 2, it needs help!)
Original message and symptom from dk-mods.
__________________________________________
Dear Paul KF6PGN,
I really enjoy the features of the FT-8800R.
Wideband and the ability to cross band repeat were a few of the features that attracted me. It seemed to put out an awesome 50 watts and works well on 440 MHz.
I kept getting on the air reports of a hum. At first it was every so often. Soon the hum would return and eventually became so loud, that it would override the microphone audio level.
At first, with the help of other local hams, we thought a thermostat on my oil filled space heater was the noise source.
I even checked the power supply with an oscilloscope in line for several days to detect any A.C. present in the supply. I thought, maybe an intermittent filter capacitor might be the problem but the scope proved otherwise.
I read your article about transmit failure and decided to check the quality of construction and assembly of my FT-8800R.
I found splattered bits of solder across traces and component leads. A poor solder connection of the center coax (chassis SO-239) connector.
I also found the same condition of the inadequate or lack of solder at the through the board connections.
The FT-8800R would be a great radio if it were constructed properly. The radio truly needs the standard plated through the hole pressed in.
There is no telling of how many of the (radial) electrolytic capacitors are not soldered correctly (directly under each can).
I feel that I caught my rig before a possible meltdown and believe the found problems are related to the noisy audio.
This is a drag, because I find myself basically working on a kit radio. It’s as if Yaesu is selling trouble-shooting kits at $400.00.
My question is: Do we get brownie points or cash/rebate for making Yaesu's radios work properly?
Thank you for the heads up. Looks like this on is on it’s way to eBay!
kb6rey
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Earlier 5-star review posted by KB6REY on 2004-11-06
It's "Simple and Sweet".
Easy crossband function and slim in size.
I have always been partial to Kenwood - but after comparison of features -vs- the bottom line, the Yeasu FT-8800R was the logical choice.
I have not had a chance to look at the construction inside. Let's hope that they have improved with their soldering process. Apparently there was not a quality control inspection on some of the the past production models.
R.M.F |
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| VK2XDZ |
Rating: |
2006-02-21 | |
| the ants pants |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
When I first set this radio up, I was blown away by all of the features it has,but I don't use many of them.
There are 2 things which I have a minor dislike for.1 the volume and channel knobs are very small ,and 2 if you accidently push one of the bottom buttons,it can get frustrating if your new to using this radio.
The radio is only used as a base station and it has given me no problems.
I recomend this radio 100 percent |
|
| W8KAR |
Rating: |
2006-02-18 | |
| Very good, but not perfect |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
Relative to other "amateur" class mobile radios, the FT-8800 is clearly near the top.
The technical performance parameters (such as PL/DPL TX/RX (except no reverse burst decode), RF sensitivity, frequency stability, etc) are all excellent for amateur radio products.
Yes, the volume controls are small, and the low end has a narrow range of adjustment (i.e. in a quiet environment, getting the desired volume level requires a fine touch), but it should be more than loud enough in any typical environment.
I do wish the beep volume were adjustable, as it is in commercial equipment, but of course it can be turned off.
I also wish for more versatility in being able to split PL/DPL operation, but that is beyond what 99.9% of amateurs would use.
The crossband repeat performance is excellent, provided you have an antenna that doesn't create its own noise.
I really miss not having a "call" paging type decoder where DTMF tones would make the radio alert. It also would have been excellent to make the crossband repeat controllable with DTMF.
The programming software Yaesu sells is somewhat buggy when trying to setup Hyper memories, but you can workaround the bugs. I do really love the Hyper memories that allow me when traveling to store & recall custom scan lists, memories, etc.
Besides these missing features, which would be addable via flash (of course, I don't think it has flash capability), the performance of the FT-8800 meets the quality of many commercial radios in RF performance. |
|
| WD6G |
Rating: |
2006-02-08 | |
| Audio failure |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
My new FT-8800R has a lot of important features, and it worked perfectly for about 6 months. Then, pooofffff!...no audio in either channel!
As an emergency services operator, such a failure is not tolerable. I returned the unit to Vertex-Standard and was told it would take 6 to 8 weeks, too long for my needs.
I stored all my emergency information in hundreds of channels, and that info will be lost during the reset operation at the factory. In addition, the unit was installed in a complicated structure in our emergency truck, and all that will have to be undone, then redone.
It is my first Yaesu, and it leaves me with limited confidence in the product. However, I am very happy for my fellow amateurs who all wrote such positive reviews. I am tempted to believe that my unit suffered a destructive divine intervention. I will try it again when it is returned from the factory. |
|
| K4DV |
Rating: |
2006-01-12 | |
| Great Dual Bander. Great Crossband repeat |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I have owned a Yaesu FT 5200 for years and finally decided to upgrade to a new radio. The old 5200 was a good radio, but as anyone that has read up on these, they had their bugs.
Well, I have owned the 8800 a month now and so far so good. I noticed immediately a better receive and the crossband repeat is a huge improvement over the 5200.
The cooling fan comes on at every key up and keeps the radio very cool. You would have to try really hard to warm this one up, if you could. The old 5200 would get hot before the fan would kick on, and I guess that was fine since it never burned out on me, but this is much better. Large heatsink and fan make for a great heat reduction system.
For those who use the crossband repeat, it is great. Simple to set up vs. the 5200. The mic no longer has to be removed. The volume control is not active as it was on the 5200 which means you don't have to worry about the audio issues of squealing if volume too high or low audio if too low. The only reason I even have the dual band is for the crossband repeat which I use alot on hunting trips, greatly increasing the range of our HT's.
Like any Yaesu product, it is well built and should last for years to come. I received the YSK 8900 seperation kit with it, but decided not to use it, so I can't give any input on those but I can see where that would be handy if you had a compact car or no space to mount a radio.
If you need a nice dual band, read up on this one and consider it strongly. I don't think you will be disappointed. |
|
| KI4MOH |
Rating: |
2005-12-19 | |
| Fantastic Radio |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I was looking for a dual-bander and after reading the reviews on Eham, I bought the FT-8800R. I'm glad I bought it. It is not the easiest radio to program, but it's easy to use. I would also highly recommend the ADMS software for programming in repeaters, as it takes 1/10 of the time it does to program by hand.
I did find a problem where the radio would stop transmitting when I was using 50 Watts, or it would continuously transmit even after letting go of the PTT. With some brief trouble-shooting it was determined that the problems were caused by leaving the computer cable, that comes with the ADMS software, plugged in to the back of the unit. Since you aren't likely to have the cable hooked up for normal operation, it doesn't affect anything. The radio works perfectly and I would highly recommend it to anyone else. |
|
| AC0DB |
Rating: |
2005-12-08 | |
| Awesome VHF/UHF Mobile |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
This is one of Yaesu's best VHF/UHF mobiles, by far. TX and RX sound great. The crossband repeater feature with built-in duplexer is EXTREMELY handy. Independent squelch and volume controls are a BIG plus. For remoting the head, they put the microphone on the head, so only one cable with RJ-11 ends is required to remote it. Why don't more manufacturers do this?!
The only thing I don't like is that Yaesu seems to have used linear pots for the volume controls, so the volume range is across a very short range in turning the volume knob. This doesn't preclude the radio from receiving a rating of "5" though. |
|
| W5ZZQ |
Rating: |
2005-11-09 | |
| Great radio!! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
The best dualbander that I have ever used. No intermod AT ALL. Great audio in and out. Would buy another one.......
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Earlier 5-star review posted by W5ZZQ on 2004-06-06
This is the best dualband radio I have had. Very easy to program and operate. Front buttons small but can live with that. Not one problem in over a year of use. Keep up the good work Yaesu. |
|
| K6SCC |
Rating: |
2005-11-09 | |
| Great radio! |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
| Great radio by Yaesu. It really IS two radios packed into one unit. NO intermod on any of the bands. I have been using mobile for approx. 7 months with ZERO problems. |
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