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Reviews For: Yaesu FT-60R

Category: Transceivers: VHF/UHF+ Amateur Hand-held

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Review Summary For : Yaesu FT-60R
Reviews: 324MSRP: TBA
Description:
A dual-bander io the same case format as the VX150!
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.yaesu.com/indexVS.cfm?cmd=DisplayProducts&ProdCatID=111&encProdID=PUtPQg4MnJI%3D&DivisionID=65&isArchived=0
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
33.73244.6
KD9VI Rating: 2010-07-14
Fun Radio Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Bought as my second VHF/UHF radio. Turns out I enjoy the scanner ability (wide receive) I once did so I have all the local police and fire in a bank of memories. 2m in another bank, and 440 and 220 (receive) in a third! I am never bored because I can switch from ham to police/fire. I love carrying the thing around too. Look on ebay don't be afraid to get used since these radios really hold up. I got mine with a longer whip antenna which is the ongoing recommendation.
OE5BFM Rating: 2010-05-23
Really fine but a bit misaligned Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is a really fine and pleasant handheld! It has great sensitivity and is surprisingly easy to program and to use!

The reason why I give only four points is as follows:
My new FT-60 had good modulation on 70cm but relatively weak deviation on 2m. Other stations confirmed that.
But this was not a big problem. I downloaded the technical supplement, went into the service-menue and adjusted the deviation on 2m till it sounded right. In my case, the original adjustment for 2m deviation was DEV25H. I went till DEV35H without overmodulation.
On 70cm the modulation was fine right out of the box.
Beside this, I am very satisfied with the FT-60.
W5AAX Rating: 2010-05-23
Just Got it. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Just received the FT-60R and it is a fine radio with the exception of the rubber ducky antenna. I replaced the antenna with a SRH519 and it performs much better. Also, I have a Yaesu VX-3R and I replaced the antenna with the SRH519. Yaesu makes good radios, but other antennas perform better. Also, I use the computer program to program the radio -- and that makes the setup a breeze (ARRL's Travel Plus and G4HFQ's programming software along with a USB cable). All in all, it's a fine radio.
EI4GMB Rating: 2010-05-21
Long lasting and reasonably priced Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I purchased my FT-60 second-hand from another radio amateur for 100 euros. It is now 5 years old and I've had no problems whatsoever with it.
The radio is very sturdy and well constructed and can take strong handling.Though a word of warning is not to drop it as the internal speaker can become slightly dislodged causing audio break-up!
The 7.2v NiMh battery which is included is certainly long lasting.I can usually get about 2 weeks of battery operation out of it when fully charged and with moderate use.
Although not specifically mentioned in the FT-60 Manual this radio is capable of cross band satellite operation.Check the web for info.
The radio is a reasonably priced offering and I would certainly recommend it for low budget satellite use.
Like all rubberduck antennas the one that accompanies this handheld does not perform very well.Another portable antenna or a made up external antenna e.g a J-Pole with a SMA adaptor would be more suited and would obviously extend the range of the radio.
My advice is if you want a reasonably priced HT that performs well and will last for years,then the FT-60 handheld by Yaesu is the one for you!
N5OFQ Rating: 2010-04-09
Good ...but you can't monitor the 900MHz Ham band Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Good intermod rejection, even on mobile antenna. Great battery life. Power runs between 4 & 5 watts output, as advertised. Ability to allocate 1000 channels into multiple banks is outstanding! Search speed good. Only negative about this radio is the fact that Yaesu put a 47.25 MHz IF in it, which places the cellular band images in the 33cm Ham band. Since cellular AND cell images are blocked, you can't monitor the 33cm (900MHz) Ham band on this radio. Most of those frequencies (918.500 through 943.500) have been deleted on the US version.
WB6BJM Rating: 2010-02-15
WHERE IS THE DTMF DECODE ? Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Yeasu ALWAYS had the option of a DTMF DECODER !!!

It now has INVENTED some CRAZY method of selective calling using 2 subaudable tones; PL TONES. Why would you come up with a NON STANDARD format.
SUB AUDABLE tones DO NOT PASS through REPEATERS !!!

I spoke to a YEASU ENGINEER and he said it does... he should go back to RADIO SCHOOL !!!
I just didn't feel like arguing ... I must be getting older (63)
Anyway this feature is a zero. DTMF is the standard for paging and selective calling.
Not 2 PL tones in sequence.

I look forward for YEASU putting DTMF DECODE BACK in in ALL THEIR RADIOS.....

NEXT.....
There is a P1 and P2 option that is stated to be programmed by the user for any personal function... I could not find anything in the book on how to do that after 3 hours of reading. That P1 is for PL PAGING...
P2 is for SCAN SKIP or SCAN SELECT !!!

The lock KEY MUST BE USED... if you do not.... the slightest touch on any buttons will put the radio into a function that you will not know what happened !!!

Other than that.... it is a GOOD RADIO for the price !!!

I do not think I am asking for too much.

The FT50R was the best... I will say the FT 60 is MORE RUGGED.

Joe WB6BJM
HTGEEK Rating: 2010-02-13
FREE programming software Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have an yaesu FT-60R very good HT radio recently I have been sherching on the internet for free programming software and these days you can very reaely find things for free so I found a website you can download the software for free the site is: www.kc8unj.com


you can download software for these radios:
VX-2R
VX-5R
VX-6R
VX-7R
FT-60R

the cable does not come with it but you can get the software for free.
thanks for veiwing.
G7IGB Rating: 2010-02-04
Solid hand portable Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've recently bought a Yaesu FT-60E and I really like the layout of this 2m/70cm hand held transceiver. This is mainly because it's like a traditional hand portable and not one of these small and fiddly 'handy dandy' type units. The display is a good size and the buttons on the keypad aren't too small, it also feels really well made and the battery life is excellent with the supplied 7.2V 'NiMH' type battery.

I've had good reports on my transmissions and the supplied SMA antenna seems to work well, even on the wideband receive coverage on VHF and UHF. Audio quality from the built in speaker is excellent and it doesn't seem to suffer from PC breakthrough when use in the shack. The price was also right with an extra 7.2V battery pack and the desktop rapid charger, so overall I'm very pleased with the FT-60E.
K1SEZ Rating: 2010-01-30
Dead after 6 years... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This FT-60R was my first U/V HT when I came back on the air in December of 2004, and it has served me well for a bit over 6 years. That's 'way past the warranty period, and I have no regrets. As with all minidevices, they are not easily repaired, and the cost of sending it to Yaesu for repair would not be worth it, considering the cost of a new one.

The problem? ...in October 2009, it just didn't turn on one morning...nada. I replaced the battery, pushed the reset, jiggled and prodded the whole thing, etc. and had our local old timers give it the once-over. In addition, our area ham store tech reviewed it, and concludes with me that something bad happened internally.

I've already replaced it with a Kenwood triband TH-F6, which I'm happy with, so far!

If I replace the HT-60 later this year, it may be with a D-Star device to get into the 21st century of V/U communications!

K1SEZ, Paul Ciezniak

KD8BIW Rating: 2010-01-29
Great product Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I love this little thing! I've had it for over a year now, and it is working like day 1. Programming is easy, the screen is big and easy to read, receiver is good, and audio on both RX and TX is fine. I use it almost daily, mainly to monitor local repeater activity, and public safety stuff. I also monitor my 220 repeater with it thanks to it's slightly extended receiver. I don't need to monitor DC to light with an HT, so the front end is tighter than the VX8R and other similiar radios. My friend just got the Kenwood TH-F6A, and this outperforms his HT any day of the week. Intermod is not a problem with this radio, even on the hill at the repeater site, which is next door to a 50KW TV transmitter. Only negative I have about it: wish it had dual receive!