| KI4MIU |
Rating:  |
2005-12-29 | |
| Good Radio |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
This radio I got for myself and I am glad I did.
I love the buttons on the microphone that will let you set the CTCSS tones and more. I think it is a easy radio to program and I love the CTCSS decoder what will tell you the tone. The radio reqires at leat a 9 amp power supply what is less than most other radios. Buy this radio you will be glad you did. |
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| KC9AYN |
Rating: |
2005-12-21 | |
| DIODES WENT OUT |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
After rx dropped out, took it to the "candy store" and was told they could not fix it. After Yaesu sent it back to me along with the $86 bill, my 7800R works fine. Wonder if they have a problem with certain diodes?
Overall I think this is a fine dual band radio. I can only find fault with the dial for changing channels. Too touchy.
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Earlier 5-star review posted by KC9AYN on 2004-05-14
I HAVE TWO YAESU FT-8800 AND I BOUGHT THE 7800 FOR USE WHILE DRIVING/WORKING. DRIVE ALL OVER THE CITY.
THIS RADIO IS SOLID. VERY STEADY AND ACTUALLY HAS BETTER QUALITY SOUND ON THE REMOTE SPEAKER THAN MY 8800.
PROGRAMMING IS TYPICAL YEASU. IF YOU ARE USE TO THE 8800 OR 8900, IT IS EASY TO USE. I NEVER READ THE BOOK TO PROGRAM IN THE 85 CHANNELS I HAVE PUT IN THE RADIO ALREADY.
THE WEATHER FEATURE IS GREAT. SCANS NICE, USE TWO METERS AND 70 ALONG WITH MANY AIRCRAFT FREQ'S.
EVEN PUT SOME RAILROAD FREQ'S IN AND WORK WELL IN THE SCAN MODE AFTER PUTTING THEM IN A SEPERATE BANK.
IF YOU DO NOT NEED THE CROSS BAND FEATURE, THIS IS A GREAT RADIO. THE BACKLIT BUTTONS REALLY ADD A NICE TOUCH WHEN IN THE TRUCK AT NIGHT.
I THINK YEASU IS ON TRACK. THATS MORE THAN I CAN SAY FOR THE TWO ICOM 2720'S I DUMPED DUE TO INTERMOD PROBLEMS. !!
73
KC9AYN |
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| VY0PW |
Rating: |
2005-11-19 | |
| Good radio |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
My experience with the FT-7800R:
Bought it 14 months ago, first ever Yaesu radio. Normally I prefer ICOM. Looked at the IC-208 first but choose the Yaesu as it had the better range on the rx.
What is good:
Radio is very well, tough built, easy to read dial and very good sensitivity. Audio is fine and lot of output. Excellent scanner capacity and sensitivity.
What could be better:
The manual could use a few flowcharts where the main functions are better explained, often you have to do a lot of reading on different pages to put together what you want to know. Some of the op functions one has to get used to as I find them a bit unusual in the way things are done.
On my radio two diodes in the rx went bust just after the warranty had expired. No idea why and no explanation from the repair place either, just happens one of those things I guess.
That was sure disappointing as I never had any such problem with any of my ICOM rigs even after more than 10 years of running them on three continents.
Would I buy the rig again: Probably except I find similar performance and rx range in an ICOM.
I give it rating of (only) OK because of the rx break down otherwise it would most likely be a very fine radio.
Peter
VY0PW
ex VE8PW
ex VK8PW |
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| KC5HMC |
Rating: |
2005-11-15 | |
| Thanks Yaesu |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I purchased my FT-7800 as a replacement for my FT-8100 which had RX/TX problems. The WX alert was a big deciding factor in the purchase, but I have found lots of features that are nice. Hyper memory and 20 memory banks and one band at a time are just a few. The FT-7800 is also easy to program and operate as well. I give it a 5/5 for price, capabilit( RX/TX ), audio quality ( I use an external speaker )and ease of use. Just plain nice. Great job Yaesu.
Herb
KC5HMC |
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| W5ZZQ |
Rating: |
2005-11-09 | |
| Love it! |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
If you don't want cross-band repeat then this is for you. Really great rig. No intermod at all and I live downtown - police / fire / light company and all. Not a peep. Great audio in and out.......
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Earlier 5-star review posted by W5ZZQ on 2004-06-16
No software problems at all. One great radio. Very easy to program and operate. I highly recommend it....... |
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| N1EWI |
Rating: |
2005-11-08 | |
| great radio |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
Just got back into amateur radio and I must say this radio is absolutely great! I live in a rural western Massachusetts area and use this rig as a base. I'm up 900 feet second highest point in the town. The first highest point is just 1/2 mile away 1300 feet with a cell tower and all kinds of communication repeaters on it. I even have a repeater less than a 1/4 mile away and a ham just 6 houses from me. no-intermod.
It is very easy to program, and has most of the "extras" you need. I've had nothing but great audio reports even from stations a good ways away. I talk to station in VT, NH, CT and NY.
The display on this radio is extremely bright and easy to read.
If you buy this radio you won't be sorry; it's size, functionality and cost make this rig a terrific value. |
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| K4PDM |
Rating: |
2005-11-07 | |
| Almost great... |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I hope I don't anger too many Yaesu fans...If I had never owned an IC-208H, I probably would have given this radio a "5." The reason that I have the 7800 instead of the 208H is the wider receive coverage--primarily the 222MHz band, which the Yaesu covers but the ICOM does not. I liked everything else better on the ICOM.
My dislikes with the 7800 do not involve performance, but ergonomics. The mic plugs into the right side of the control head, which is pretty darned inconvenient for me. Using Velcro to attach the separated head is an exercise in frustration, as the mic cable attempts to pull the head loose every time you use it. In addition, the separation cable is a flat telephone-type instead of the small, inoubtrusive black cable that comes with the smaller control head of the 208H. I ended up sticking the 7800 head into a utility slot at the top of my dashboard, a wire protruding from each side. The mic won't fully remote-control the radio, either.
The control head is larger than it should be, and the garish lighting on the buttons is pretty distracting, because the lighting illuminates the entire button. I prefer the ICOM style of backlighting, where only the letters are illuminated, not the whole button. The 208H just seems "classier" in its design.
No complaints about performance, though. Very sensitive, good transmit audio reports, no intermod in my rural area. I love the wide receive coverage and all those memories. I think it's a good value for the money. Oh, set the "Hyper" memory menu position to "Manual" before you wipe out a bunch of settings you have programmed like I did! But, in my humble opinion, if you don't want or need the wider receive converage and additional memories, the IC-208H is a better package. |
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| KE7CSV |
Rating: |
2005-11-02 | |
| A Great Rig! |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
| This radio is absolutely great! It is very easy to program, and has most of the "extras" you need. The alphanumeric display makes this rig very simple to operate once programmed. I've had nothing but great audio reports even from stations a good ways away. Buy this radio and you won't be sorry; it's size, functionality and cost make this rig a terrific value. |
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| VK5RQ |
Rating: |
2005-10-19 | |
| FT-7800R on Echolink ! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I am an Echlink system operator, I started to operate since Feb of 2005, started with an Icome 2400 Dual Bander, used to get very hot in the brink of just about melt, I installed extra coolling, but unfortunitly the 2400 done a lot of work in the past on my packet/pactor BBS for 8 years strait, in one word done its time.
So since I only had Icom radio's for over 15 years, I decided to give yeasu products a try this time, so went and bought the FT-2800M 2 meter rig, which I was very inpressed with its comertial biult type of a radio, it was doing a great job on echolink, didn't get hot at all with its huge heat sink, and mind you the 2800M had no fan at all, but unfortunitly we where hit with a bad storm with high winds and rain, and some commertial station went spurous and start to interfere with the whole 2 meter band, so I had to switch it off and take it out of service.
So I had a bit of luck and help from one of our local Yeasu dealers where i bought the 2800M from where he swapped my 2800M with the new FT-7800R so then I can have the choice of the 2 bands on echolink, so I have put the FT-7800R on echolink, on echolink I have sensions going for 3 to 4 hours strait with hardly any breaks, as we all know who have a 2800R, that it has a very small coolink fan, which it is very quiet, but I found that if one is going to put a 2800R on a link or packet radio with even only 25 watts output, extra cooling is needed, so I have installed a cooling fan with it, with a thermal switch on its heatsink going via a timer cerciut, and now it is operating wonderfully well and happy.
To Sum it all up in the moment I am very happy with the FT-7800R for its menu system and performance, also have a nice crisp audio.
Anyone needs further info, you can write to me to girna5@aapt.net.au
73 to all De Joe VK5RQ/9H1GR |
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| KA3SEI |
Rating: |
2005-10-13 | |
| HAD to buy another one! |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| Had one - sold it - HAD to buy it again! This is the best dual band I have ever used. The receive is superior to the FT-8900R, which I just sold. Not a whole lot happens in my area on the 6 or 10 meter FM bands, so the 8900 was just too much radio for me. However, the 7800 has the hyper keys which allow you to set them up to monitor 2 frequencies at the same time (using the "priority watch" feature). I have an 8900 in the shack, but I haven't missed it one bit in the car. The 7800 serves all my FM mobile needs just fine. |
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