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Reviews For: Yaesu FT-90r

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

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Review Summary For : Yaesu FT-90r
Reviews: 138MSRP: 399.96
Description:
Micro 2m/440 transciever
Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.yaesu.com/ft90r.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
001383.5
KV7X Rating: 2003-05-24
I have 2 ... they're great Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I use one for a base unit and the other is mounted in my Jeep with the separation kit. Very cool install! But the thing is so small, you can just velcro it to your dashboard.

I've had zero problems with these radios. It hears well, and the audio is not bad through the built-in speaker. I get very good reports on the transmit audio. Have done the MARS mods on both. The programming software is a must in my opinion - makes entering 100+ repeaters/freqs easy.

I would recommend them for anyone wanting dual band capability in an amazingly compact rig.
WB9BVB Rating: 2003-05-24
problems Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I bought my FT-90R December 2002 and about a month of little use it went back to AES in Milwaukee. They were unable to fix it so they shipped it back to factory. The UHF audio went bad and factory replaced the VCO on radio. Well looks like same thing happened on VHF side of the radio so it will go back to AES again, I would not buy another FT-90R.
KC2IYK Rating: 2003-05-02
Good Radio Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
There are good reviews on this radio, and bad reviews. Guess what? Every radio has good and bad reviews! I have had no heat problem, good overall performance. I did need to access the alignment menu to slightly change the modulation to get better output audio- so what? Lots of radios need a tweak. I'm not defending Yaseu- found their tech support disappointing, especially when it's a toll call to get to them- but some of the problems many folks are writing about are solved by reading the manual and understanding the operation of the rig. This group of users are going to have problems with any radio, "I don't get it, therefore it sucks".

Anyhow- small size is nice, plenty o' features, audio is what you'd expect given the size. Be a realist and you'll appreciate this radio for what it is.
KB3FTP Rating: 2003-04-19
Good radio by my experience Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Reading some of the reviews here, I wonder if there is another FT90 model out there. Sure doesn't describe mine. I've got two of them, one I have had since they first came out, the second more recent. The one I've had for the couple years I use almost every day, carrying on QSO's around an hour on the morning commute. No problems but for having to reset once during that time. This was, in my opinion, most probably due to a mod issue.

The radio gets warm, you'd expect this. The programming is much easier in my opinion than the ICOM (experience via 706, T81A). It's pretty straightforward, just hold down the middle button and use the dial to find the function you want. I really don't uncerstand how that is so hard for some people, but based on some of the reviews I guess so.

It is a radio which is a two band, not a dual band. Yes, it's a "basic" radio, can't do everything with a small package. However, given that, I don't have any gripes with it, as my purchase of a second shows.

The only real gripe I have comes from the other direction temperature wise. When the radio is cold, ie below freezing, the volume and squelch dials don't work so well, and the display is somewhat unreadable. Given that I'm typically on the same freq I was when I shut it off the night before, this presents no real problem to me, unless the volume is up too high.

However, I'm not working so well when it gets cold either, so I guess I can't complain too much.

73's
Matt
KF6GOM Rating: 2003-03-05
Small Package,Great Radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Installed this radio 1 Month ago. Fits Great on the steering wheel cover in a Nissan Pickup Truck,
have received great audio reports on 2M and 440.
already have close to 150 Frequencys of public
service,Fire,Police and sounds Great!!. Wish i bought one of these early..when transmiting i set mine on 10 watts as default this keeps the radio happy and cool....
W5ZZQ Rating: 2003-03-05
GREAT LITTLE RADIO!! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Had the squelch problem with my first one - sent it back for replacement. No problems at all with this one. It is a great little rig. Thanks!
N3XWJ Rating: 2003-03-02
squelch problem Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Got my FT-90 (and programming software) a few days ago and experienced some of the same problems with the squelch problem at 860 - 870 mhz others have reported. After about a day, the audio got choppy until it finally disappeared. I decided to program another channel on the same frequency and play with the settings to see if I could get anything to work. I noticed that the channel I programmed without the aid of the programming software worked just fine (audio was strong, stayed strong and never got choppy while the other channel wouldn't open the squelch).

So I bypassed the programming software and entered all my 860-870 channels direct and the radio performs just fine.

When I attempt to upload from the radio to the my PC, the radio now errors out...my experience is pointing to something amiss in the programming software, not the radio...
VK2BYF Rating: 2003-01-14
Squelch problem fix Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had my FT-90 for 2 years and more. I never had the squelch on strong signals problem because I programmed all my memories as 25kHz channels.

Try this. In VFO mode tune to a strong signal. Now go into menu 32 (synthsiser step), step through all the options. You will notice in 5kHz step the signal will disappears.

So !!!

leave your TVR in 25kHz steps and program your channels into memory as 25kHz steps.

What's the point of setting up your radio with 5kHz steps if in your country you uses 25 or 12.5kHz steps?

You will find your squelch problems fixed.

Let me know how you go or if you have any questions.

73s de Bob, VK2BYF@hotmail.com
put QSL and your callsign in the subject line to get past the spam filter.
W7TDC Rating: 2003-01-10
Horrible on 9600 Packet Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The FT-90 is a great radio but not for 9600baud packet. It works fine for 1200 baud. I could not get the 9600 baud to work whatsoever. Ive heard of this problem before from node operators.
KB1EFZ Rating: 2003-01-10
great all around mobile Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have had the rig installed in the car for about 9 months, and have not had any issues at all. RX/TX seem to be just fine for both UHF/VHF. With the remote seperation cable, the radio takes up virtually no space.

I take trips from MA -> ME, and can hit many repeaters along the way with ease.

Besides it's small size, the extended recieve capabilites of the radio seem to work just fine as well. It is nice when I am talking with hams to be able to monitor local public service channels.

For the size and price, you get a lot of radio.

(as a note: I run my ft90 with a Diamond sg7900 antenna, with a Par VHFTN152-158 tripple cavity intermod filter. This seems to be a good winning combo)