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Reviews For: Yaesu FT70G

Category: Transceivers: HF Amateur HF+6M+VHF+UHF models - non QRP <5W

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Review Summary For : Yaesu FT70G
Reviews: 4MSRP: FT 817 nd
Description:
Rugged, portable HF transceiver for field use. 10 watts SSB/CW, 5 watts AM. Transceives 80-10 meters, but receives all the way down to 500 khz. Shown here with optional antenna tuner.
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0044.3
GM0SIM Rating: 2007-04-08
real radio not an "activity centre" Time Owned: more than 12 months.
dislikes - thumbwheel tuning a real pain to scan around the band. No memories for bouncing all over the place between. Never really happy with the AM reception. No CW filter.

Likes - thumbwheel switches for dialing in the qrp freq (when you dont have memories). The simplicity of the controls (no 56 level menus to navigate requiring a 10 page "cheat sheet"). Their robustness. This is a real radio not a toy.

I traded mine in when I got my DX70, but in retrospect I should have kept it as it is a good honest rig.

Oh, be warned, the bias thermal matching diode in the PA is mounted touching the PA transistors and has its legs passing through insulation sleveing. Vibration can break the legs to this diode (which puts full volts on the PA transistors base & they dont like it) however the insulation sleving can do a good job of holding the legs just in contact making it only a very intermit fault. I first noticed it when the O/P would "kick" from time to time. Checking all the voltages found nothing wrong. It took 2 sets of PA's (fortunately not expensive) before I eventually found it.
GM0KMA Rating: 2004-03-05
Fun radio - keeper Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I am fatally attracted to quirky, minimalistic sets like this. 10 watts isn't much but just a few days ago I worked Venezuela SSB from Scotland with a 5/5 report using my fencing-wire G5RV - satisfying. The rig is probably 'bomb-proof'. Thumb-wheel tuning is different and frustrating intially. The basic toggles (ON, batt, NB, tune, power, light) have rubber sleeves, which allegedly cannot be replaced without buying a whole switch array. Audio reports are good. Receive could do with more selectivity but you cannot really complain. I use a BHI DSP speaker -worthwhile. Transmit cuts out automatically with antenna mismatch. The mic / speaker suits the larger fist, but of course this is a military rig isn't it? I'll keep this one...
Just found nice pics / info at yaesu-museum.de
W1RON Rating: 2002-03-12
A fun radio! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought my first one about three years ago. It was just the radio, tuner, battery pack, knapsack, and mike. No antenna or power supply/charger. A friend of mine who is an antique dealer found it in the basement of an estate he was cleaning out. Since then I have acquired two more, both complete with antenna and power supply. The FT-70G is able to be used with two different antennas, depending upon the tuner supplied with it. One antenna, the YA-70, is a tripod antenna five meters tall which is carried in a canvas bag and has five sections. You use two, three, or all five sections according to the frequency range you will be operating in. That antenna is used with the FC-70M manual antenna tuner and is all band. The other antenna is the RSL-70 which is just the top three sections of the YA-70 tripod antenna. With this antenna, you would use either two or three sections depending upon the frequency you wished to operate. It was used with the FC-70P tuner which has eleven presettable band positions and it screws directly onto the tuner and is used for 15 MHz and up. I have both setups and have had great contacts with them. Granted, the FT-70G is not as convenient as the FT-817 as it weighs almost 13 pounds (with battery pack and tuner) but it is certainly a lot of fun. Power output is 4 or 10 watts ssb/cw and 2 or 5 watts am. The receiver on my radios is pretty sharp with no noticeable drift. Repair is no problem as Yaesu still services them. One of mine was repaired in 1999 as a diode on the rf unit failed. Another has to go in soon as one of the thumbwheel switches has broken. The switches are in stock at Yaesu and are available also from another supplier in black instead of tan. The radios are quite rare and the YA-70 tripod antenna is particularly difficult to find. There is also a model FT-70F which I have never seen except in pictures. Instead of the thumbwheel tuning, it has an eleven position rotary switch for preset channels. It was recommended to be used with the FC-70P eleven position tuner. Anyway, if you can find an FT-70G, it is a neat and unusual QRP rig. They were very expensive when new and I have seen them go for between $600 complete without antenna up to $1500 complete with the YA-70 tripod antenna. As far as the LSB filter, it was an option but all three of my radios came with it so it was probably pretty much a "standard" option. The supplied speaker/microphone is described as "splashproof". The radio itself would best be described as water resistant, not waterproof. Yaesu says it is semi-weatherproof.
AC5XP Rating: 2002-01-27
Interesting little radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I owned one of these a few years ago, bought it used then, because I remembered the little radio from ads many years ago when it came out. then I could not afford it, but later i decided to buy it used. 'Weird' HF radios I have always liked, this certainly fits this category. It is a para-military radio, apparently certain third-world countries indeed bought it for this purpose in the eightees and it was the main market for which Yaesu developed it in those days. It is a very rugged little man-pack radio and gives general coverage from 2 MHz to 30 MHz in 100 Hz steps through a thumb-wheel dial. No memories , very basic controls. It worked quite well (only 15 watt or so) . A strange manual antenna tuner was included which actually did not work very convenient, especially for a soldier in the field I would say.
The radio works well for both transmit and receive, but the design is dated by today's standards. No DDS, and no single-source reference oscilator, and not very good dynamic receiver range. These were the reasons why I sold it again, just too dated of a design for my taste. But if you can pick one up in good condition for $300 or so, it's worth it. Problem is that it cannot compete any more with that new portable all-band radio that Yaesu now sells (its nomenclature escapes me right now), glad I sold the FT70G before that radio came out....
But again, if you see an FT-70G at Dayton for an acceptable price, it's a fun field day radio, very rugged with a die-cast front panel (too bad todays radios only have plastic front panels...
If you do, make sure the LSB filter is installed because that filter was optional.