Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: Yaesu DMU-2000

Category: Ham Shack Accessories

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : Yaesu DMU-2000
Reviews: 48MSRP: $999
Description:
The Yaesu DMU-2000 option provides a wide array of informative and useful displays for the FT-2000 series.
Spectrum Scope with Limited Bandwidth Sweep feature
Audio Scope/Oscilloscope Display Page
Swept-Frequency SWR Page
Memory Channel List
World Clock with GrayLine Page
Rotator Control Page
Log Book Feature
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.yaesu.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00483.5
KE5SPP Rating: 2008-04-22
Am I in the 70's Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I hate to do this but... I have had the DMU-2000 connected to my FT-2000 for a while now and have the following observations:

It does supply a usable visual respresentation of received signal.

My gripe is with the entire user interface. I have not encountered a user interface this bad since PC's first emerged. It makes me wonder if any of the Engineers at Yaesu have ever had or used a PC or MAC in their life. Clumsy would be a polite term. Absolutely no use of function keys or any industry standard keyboard commands. Escape to delete! Come on guys, how about the delete key. Back and forth between the buttons on the front of the radio and the keyboard! Yuk. I am hoping for a firmware upgrade that will at least make it as friendly as Wordstar was???(I'm kidding)
Yaesu, fix this or loose the fishfinder business.

No complaints about the FT-2000
NNN0YFA Rating: 2008-02-27
RF SCOPE Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO MAKE THE RF SCOPE WORK FOR A MONTH NOW DONE EVERYTHING THE BOOK SAID TO DO NOTHING BUT ONE SPIKE WHEN THE SPAN IS SET TO 2500 KHZ NOTHING ANY OTHER SETTING
MIGUELORAMAEXK2QB Rating: 2008-01-29
Great Unit Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I like it very much the DMU-2000, yet I agree some improvements needed, but I am sure Yaesu will get the input and probably release a firmware update and improve and fix anything, but in overall it has great features and I am very happy with its job. I like the callbook and the abilities it has and the scopes and more.

G8UBJ Rating: 2008-01-29
Average but so much potential Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is a really useful accessory but I think the GUI lets it down.

I like all of the functions and its been well thought out. But I hate having to navigate using the function buttons on the FT-2000. Being able to use the keyboard function keys would be an improvement. The addition of a mouse would make it perfect.

Come on Yaesu, you can do better!

3 because it works, 5 if it had better user interface.

So holding on to this and hoping Yaesu find time to provide an upgrade.
W5RLW Rating: 2007-06-22
LOVE MY DMU Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I JUST RECEIVED MY DMU-2000 FOR MY FT-2000, I PURCHASED A HIGH RES MONITOR AND THE READOUT AND SCOPE ARE SHARP AND CLEAR. BAND SCOPE WORKS GREAT. READ THE MANUAL FIRST AND YOU WILL AVOID SOME OF THE COMMENTS ON THE OTHER REVIEWS ABOUT PROBLEMS.I HAVE A 756PROIII ANOTHER GREAT RADIO, BUT THE READOUT AND SCOPE ON THE DMU ARE BETTER. THANKS,BOB W5RLW.
PD5DJ Rating: 2007-04-04
Great Accesoiry Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Hi all,

Received my DMU last weekend (march-31)

I Like the DMU very much.

Map:
The world map is ok, not spectacular, I use it as a screensaver function when the DMU is not used :)
It's nice to see day and night.

Bandscope:
The band scope is very nice, and works as advertised.
I use the bandscope in combination with my 2m Transverter, and is very usefull for contesting.
Need to play with the marker and Centerfix some day.
Not much comment on this. but it works nice.

Audio Scope:
The audio scope is ok..
Like what AA6VB says, it would be nice to have a peak and hold function on the scope and analyzer..
The waterfall i find is very nice for receiving CW.
Specialy for non CW'r like me i can now figure out the dit's and the dah's..
I have hookedup the ext audio in to my Kenwood TS-2000. works nice.

Logbook:
I found the logbook one of the most usefull options on the DMU, dont have to turn my pc on for a quick log.
The only thing i would like to see is a prefix database, when a callsign is entered the country should be filled in. and a separate band and frequency field would also be apreciated.

SWR:
Also a great feature,
Intresting to see a graphical plot of your antenna swr. Now you can see the bandwith of you're antenna.

Rotator:
This is the reason I bought the dmu.
A great Graphical interface for controlling you're rotator.
With a simple homebrew control box. you can nearly connect any rotator system to the FT2K and read it out with the DMU.
The greatcircle is very nice, also the memory function is great.
GPS function is working perfectly.
I am using a Holux PDA GPS mouse wich works fine.

MCH List:
I think this works as advertised, i dont use this option..
I personaly dont find memories usefull on HF tranceivers.. maybe for storing some digimode frequencies.

I have heard that the software inside the DMU is also upgradable (via the CF reader)
Dont hang me up by this, if this is a fairytale
But if this is true.. we maybe can expect some great software upgrades, maybe with all the wishes we have?!
The FT2K is upgradable so why not the DMU?

Further experience is, that the DMU is a stripped PC.
With a standard PC bios, and some kind of Linux installed on a flash drive.

That's all for now..

Björn / PD5DJ
AA6VB Rating: 2007-03-29
Overpriced Accessory Not Up to Potential Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
When reading this review, keep in mind this accessory costs between $900.00 and $1000.00 depending on where you buy it.

I have had my DMU-2000 for about a month now and am very much under whelmed. The unit is somewhere between a "2" (Needs help) and a "3" (OK).The resolution of the world map is substandard, the grey line is not very sharp and the detail in the world map is almost non-existent. The DX Atlas software I purchased for a mere $35.00 is FAR superior to the DMU in terms of the world map and grey line functions.

The Audio Scope does not show your own CW trace, so you can't see your own cw waveform, contrary to the advertisement. You cannot freeze either incoming or outgoing waveforms, so you can't study the waveform. You can slow the speed down and get a reasonable look, but you can’t study it.

The Band Scope is useful, but it does not do a very good job of distinguishing between band noise and signals. What looks like a signal might actually be noise, and some signals do not appear at all.

If it cost $200.00 that would be one thing, but for $1000.00 there is no excuse for the level of performance you receive. It has been reliable, but don't expect to get your money’s worth, because you may be disappointed, depending on what you expect for your money.

Having said that, the FT2000 itself is an entirely different story. The rig is terrific.

73,

Bob/AA6VB
NE7X Rating: 2007-03-29
So far its great! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.

I just received my DMU-2000 and it’s a bit pricy for what it does, however it does what is advertised. I did notice it has lots of features/SW_buttons/rear_panel_ports which are either disabled not yet implemented. It looks like it has lots of room for growth and improvements. I'm sure it will do a lot more then what its capable of doing today. It will be interesting to see what Yaesu does with updates. However it’s a fun addition to the FT-2000.
Tom NE7X...