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Reviews For: Yaesu FT-690R

Category: Transceivers: VHF/UHF+ Amateur Base/Mobile (non hand-held)

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Review Summary For : Yaesu FT-690R
Reviews: 6MSRP:
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Product is not in production
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# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0064.7
M0RTS Rating: 2007-07-27
Brilliant Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned one of these rigs now for about 2 years, but only just had the chance to start using 6m for 4 months now due to work commitments,so my thoughts on this review will be from the rigs use so far!

I use my FT 690R with the matching FL 6010 amplifier which enables you to use 10 watts. My aerial is a tri-band co-linear for 6m/2m/70cm.With 10 watts output I have contacted many stations all over Europe when the band is open with 5/9 reports(ssb).Transmit quality is good which i have been told and recieve has been just as good,receiver seems to be sensitive and a nice little rig to listen to.This rig is easy to use,ideal for portable use and built like a tank, and generally speaking my experience so far has been superb. I have not used this rig on fm except for local ragchews so cannot comment on fm performance.

If you are interested in 6m and like myself very new to the band i would suggest buying one of these radio's to get started. I will review this little radio again after some more use.

I also use the two sister radios FT-290r for 2m and FT-790r for 70cm which you can see my reviews for.

73
ZR1AEZ Rating: 2004-09-28
Very Good! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought one second hand, with a 10 W homebrew linear inside the casing. It worked well, with a 100+ W linear and my homebrew 5 element yagi, worked many ZS5 and ZS6 stations, MS and Sporadic E.

Only problem is, the LCD unit. Mine developed a big black spot in the middle. Still looking for a replacement, as I can't get any from any Yaesu Office. Anyone out there with advice?

73
Johan ZR1AEZ
JF96RJ
NE0P Rating: 2004-04-15
Nice little portable rig Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I had one of these rigs recently for portable use. Got it used, and it looked well used, but worked just fine. Ran it on the local 6 meter net a few times with great reports, and that is at 3 watts. The fact that the telescoping whip is built in is nice-one less thing to lose. Also, this rig contains AM, which the later FT690RII doesn't. Even made a couple of 6 meter AM contacts on it.

The FT690R is a 2.5 watt model that runs off of internal batteries. This is not the newer model with the clip on battery case/10 watt amp. The batteries go inside of the radio. There was a 10 watt amp/docking station made at one time, but I think those are extremely hard to find.

Also, the rig wasn't the greatest for CW. To send CW you have to hold down the microphone button to key the transmitter, or insert a shorting plug into one of the jacks. PL tones were an option, but not sure how necessary they are on 6 meters unless you are doing repeaters. It does contain an internal charger for charging batteries, and a jack to run the rig off of 12 volts.

Overall, a decent 6 meter portable, but I recently replaced it with a FT690RII so I could have a battery portable and a 10 watt mobile all in 1 box.
KC8LGL Rating: 2004-01-03
Great Little Rig Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Nice Qrp rig with battery power, too!
Very nice Rx.
Was able to work many Dx stations via the whip and a simple dipole, VE., CE.,G., EH., and probably a few more I forgot.
Will try a buy another unit at Dayton this year for a spare.
K4LYP Rating: 2002-05-03
Good older rig Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Great QRP rig. Bought mine used and it looks great. Fun for backpacking and mountain toping.
I bought a Ranger RCI-5054 for more power and have the 690r on the shelf for now. I'm sure it was great when new, but next to a newer rig, it's pretty plain.
TI2KI Rating: 2001-11-11
Incredible, after 20 years !!! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had the FT-690R for over 2 years.Before I bought it, the radio was used for monitoring beacons, so it has been on for a long, long time...I have been able to do great QSOs with it and a 6 element beam 45 feet high.Last one was YB on long path with 2.5 watts. In general it is a great rig.The whip it brings I haven't really used allot, but it works relatively well (don't expect doing any DX with it!!). What I love is that with any car battery you can work several hours of DX, if you have at least a 3 element yagi (like the MFJ I use in the farm)and an opening for that long!!.The little rig uses very little power to RX/TX. The LCD has some problems, since it was hit before I bought it, but this can happen to any rig. I have no complaints about it, it is just great!!!