| F5TYH |
Rating:      |
2023-03-07 | |
| One of the best transceiver yeasu has ever made |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I have 2 FT102 in my ham station . for the first I bought it in broken state , when i was a young om I didn't have a lot of money ( power transformer was burnt and the glass of the three 6146b tubes was melted by excessive heat. A hole appeared in glass by vacuum). I've manually disassembled transformer and remade it. I changed 3 dead 6146B and 12by7a by news GE ones , changed all relay , made a complete realignment more than thirty years ago and the TX works fine since 30 years . With filters (notch+sift/with knobs) , in RX I think it works better than a lot of modern transceivers. I bought the second FT102 6 years ago . just to change all relay, a complete alignment and a alignment of band switch and now it works great.
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| N4MJG |
Rating:      |
2022-03-04 | |
| Still Kicking |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
update
This old ft 102 is still working i have not replace old tube just yet !
i use it every now and then when the radio was gaving to me of my ex uncle but no micorphone i said no problem i had extra mic laying round will work i checked basger weather net asking me what i was running? i told stever i was ft-102 the old tube type radio pushing bout 150 watts ! compare my ft-847 i narmaling runing most morning ! best ft 102 ever had
73
Jackie
N4MJG
Here the Update !
Back in 2006 the day it was gaving to me and took it in field day same year,i thought the tube was weak nothing was wrong with them at all.the tubes is fine afer i download the manuel and read them real good,like wow !
The tubes works real good and i was able get about 150 watts out of this radio ,this rig never back me down yet ! i stay on 80 to 10 meters
73
Jackie
KG4ORX
WWW.KG4ORX.COM
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| LW8DJI |
Rating:     |
2016-04-15 | |
| the good years of yaesu |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
acquire a few months one of these does is a good team considering the years with the problems of relay are present, after making the repair proved to be a good receiver and an excellent transmitter, and very pleasant to the touch, very good construction, I have it as a memory of the good years yaesu
adquiri hace unos meses uno de estos, es un buen equipo teniendo en cuenta los años que tiene, los problemas de relay estan presentes , despues de hacerle la reparacion se revelo como un buen receptor y un excelente transmisor, y muy agradable al tacto, muy buena construccion, lo tengo como recuerdo de los buenos años de yaesu |
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| M0KKW |
Rating:    |
2015-03-23 | |
| OK but not the best build quality |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Had two of these over the years.There were many different builds of these rigs and mine were different in several ways. None of the problems on these are very difficult to fix but the quality of these old Yaesus aren't great. The Kenwood competition of the time was built to a completely different standard.
Having said that, the transmitted audio using the standard fist mic is exemplary if properly aligned.
A good rig but not a TS830. |
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| WK1W |
Rating:      |
2013-12-26 | |
| Wonderful Rig |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
I recently had the good luck to obtain a truly mint station consisting of YAESU FT 102 transceiver, SP 102 speaker, FV102DM remote VFO, MD-1 mic. The features are numerous. Superb audio reports. Ease of tuning, whether from remote VFO or on the radio itself. You can put the freuency into any of 12 memory channels. There are controls for split and you can split or operate on same frequency by choosing radio, remote or memory. In addition you can increment and decrement plus or minus 5KC. Also plus or minus 20 KC. Extrememly convenient. Covers 160-10m. Truly a breeze to use. I use this one for casual ragchewing. If I found another I would buy it immediately,
73
Ivan
WK1W |
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| KF2CF |
Rating:   |
2013-03-21 | |
| This is the radio that put me off of Yaesu products for a long |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I bought mine brand new when they first came out. I was entralled by the 3-6146 PAs and it was my first store-bought factory radio. After a few weeks of useage I started getting reports of low modulation after long QSOs. Then I started having drive problems and at certain tuning the PAs would oscillate. When the meter stopped working and the audio cut-out I called the dealer and they said send it back. After a month and several phone calls they said that of the three they had sold all of them had come back for repair. The final outcome was that Yaesu recalled them and they refunded my money. It was a beautiful radio to operate. I agree with others about the receiver being very sensitive and quiet although I thought the VFO drifted a little too much for a (then) modern rig. My HW101 was better in that regard. |
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| G4ICD |
Rating:      |
2013-01-06 | |
| FT102 30 years on |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| Superb radio and still going strong, super receiver as it runs on 24 vdc and the 3 x 6146B loaf along at 150 watts. The quality of the die-cast front panel beats the newer plastic type radios, I run 3 of them and would not part with them for any of the newer transceivers, spares are becoming hard to find in the US, however in Europe they are available even after 30 years |
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| PE1RLN |
Rating:      |
2011-11-18 | |
| Very good transceiver despite it's age |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I bought this transceiver a while ago from a relative. The receiver went dead after 1 transmission due to bad relays. I bought new relays, even the odd one, replaced them within about 2 hours and since that day, it works perfectly.
The receiver performs better than a lot of radios you find today. It is very quiet and I often let the local HF frequency standby as there is only little noise heard. As soon as someone starts to speak, you can hear him very loud and clear, just like in FM with squelched reception. Wow!
Transmitting goes just fine, about 150 to 200W maximum makes only a little difference but enough in a pile-up. The audio is very clean and I often receive compliments about the quality.
It is an old transceiver and you don't get RIT, split or shift. You will have to find the very rare FV-102 (I own one, great add-on) to get this, along with a stable VFO but without works just fine.
If you have a working FT-102, lucky you, if you can buy one with bad relays for little money, buy it and replace them, piece of cake. Then you will get a perfect receiver for little money. The transmitter is nice but not spectacular, however clean in class-A.
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Earlier 5-star review posted by PE1RLN on 2006-01-30
I got this rig from my uncle, who is also a HAM but using only another rig. It had been standing in the basement for over ten years but there was no visible damage to it. When I first powered it up, it seemed to work well but problems occured after a few hours.
When the rig has reached this age, you'd better change the relays immediately, also when no damage seems to be present.
The whole set of relays costs about 15 euros (20 dollars or so). Getting them out ain't the problem, getting them in is harder. The most important relay is underneath the bandswitch which has to be unsoldered for one row. After that, changing the relays takes about one hour or so, no big deal. Don't let this frighten you, it is really a harmless and easy to do job, you only need a litle patience.
Now after that, the world looks quite different. I will give some of my pros:
1. Good appearance. Doesn't look antique and can match with other rigs. When displays should fail, a digital display can be fit I believe.
2. Power. It runs 100w of power, even more when you heat 'm up. Replacement glow-in-the-darks don't cost that much.
3. Very good reception. The receiver is super quiet (eau contraire: FT-897 which I had before) and with new relays, very steady an sensitive.
There are some cons:
1. No memory (leaving one band, only changes the MHZ digit, not your position within the band).
2. Tuning all the time.
Now that's something I can live with, mostly because of the great pros.
I recommend this rig for anyone who encounters one and thinks about buying it. |
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| WS4B |
Rating:      |
2011-08-05 | |
| Love it as an AMer !! |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
As one that operates AM 99% of the time, the FT-102 with the 6146 tubes puts out one of the cleanest AM signals you will hear. The audio quality compares to the boat anchors of old, and the modern SDRs of today. Pending on the band, the radio will put out as much as 200 to 225 watts CW/SSB and not break a sweat.
Receive on this radio is equally impressive. I highly recommend that you either find a 102 that either has been Malcomized, or send it to him to get the mods done.
I am so impressed with this radio, that I am in the process of purchasing another. I have MP3 audio samples of me on AM with the FT-102, and I am happy to e-mail them to any interested parties. If you want a clean sounding signal with equally impressive receive, this rig is a winner! Ones in good shape are hard to come by, so grab one if you can. |
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| W1RKW |
Rating:      |
2011-02-06 | |
| Excellent Rig. I own 3 of them |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| My first FT-102 I purchased in the late 80's as used equipment from a ham radio dealer. I got a good deal on it but it needed a little work to make it work 100%. I did the relay update back when Yaesu supplied the relays. I've only had one problem with the rig since doing the relay replacement and that was a mechanical failure of the band switch. It was repaired and the rig has essentially operated flawlessly for over 25 years. I have been acquiring spare parts for it to keep it going. I have most of the PC boards and some mechanicals. And recently I acquired 2 more FT-102s for a total of 3. I hope to keep my main rig running for years to come. There's no other transceiver like it. |
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