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Reviews For: Yaesu FT-726

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

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Review Summary For : Yaesu FT-726
Reviews: 26MSRP: 1095.00
Description:
All-mode transceiver for 50, 144, and 432 MHz
Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.yaesu.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00264.7
DL5OAQ Rating: 2004-02-28
Very good rig Time Owned: more than 12 months.
several times I had the idea to sell it
and look for something better.
But I can not find a better one.
I have it with 6m 2m and 70cm plus satunit
and 600Hz cw filter.
It has no 23cm but I use a transverter and
so there is nothing to change.
If you want a good transceiver for vhf/uhf
buy it.It has only 10 watts but linears will
do more power if necessary.
OE1GNU Rating: 2004-02-02
best 430mhz rx! great in sat operation Time Owned: more than 12 months.
bought the radio used two years ago 144/430/satboard installed, mainly worked sats with it. I feel that this rig has an outstanding 430 tx. why do I feel this: because I did sat operation with only a 9ele 430 yagi under the roof (4ele 144 yagi for tx).
sold it a month ago because of upgrading (hope it will be an upgrade...)
If you want to start sat operation with a used rig, grab one if you can. this is the rig!
G7IGC Rating: 2003-06-23
brillent Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had my 726r for 12 years now and its a fantastic rig it works well on all bands had lots fun and dx on all bands i`ve tried the rest and its the best
N1OFZ Rating: 2002-06-17
reliable multimode Time Owned: more than 12 months.
One thing that is missing in the other reviews and in the specs is that there is also a 10M module for this rig. I use it with 2M and 10M modules for use with trnasverters for higher bands.

Rock solid rig. I'd love to have a second one.
AD6W Rating: 2000-07-12
Very reliable Time Owned: more than 12 months.
My FT726R continues to soldier on reliably year after year covering the 6m, 2m, and 70cm bands. The receiver is very sensitive and good all by itself in quiet areas, but it does benefit from the addition of outboard preamps at the antenna when using long coax runs, and bandpass filters in noisy urban areas. The transmitter has excellent audio quality. I like the separate PTT outputs for keying amplifiers on each band and the dual meters. The built-in AC power supply is also really nice for home use, as is the ability to run from battery when portable.
VK2XMD Rating: 2000-04-22
Yaesu Ft-726R - a VHF/UHF multimode/multiband CLAS Time Owned: unknown months.
Note: all comments refer to the Australian version.

I've owned a 726R for a year now, and it's a lovely radio. Vintage around 1986, somewhat large and heavy, built like a tank, reliable and stable. Audio reports are good, the receiver is reasonably sensitive and it's a delight to use once you get the hang of the layout. All the controls feel positive and there are switches for everything (none of the "function-this" and "function-that" garbage). (I *detest* menu/function-driven radios!)

I haven't had a single hint of a problem with this radio. It gives the impression of lasting forever. Of course, this all depends on how it's been looked after. Mine was obviously pre-loved.

If you are a newbie, don't expect the hopeless operating manual to teach you how to drive it. (I was a relative newbie, and the manual confused the heck out of me.) Ask an experienced friend instead. A couple of beers should do it.

Mine has the 6M, 2M and 70cm modules, plus the crossband satellite module installed. Note that all modules except 2M were optional! It has SO-239 sockets for 6M and 2M, and a N-type for 70cm antennas. Having separate output and alc meters is a joy. The front panel has (among other things) a speech processor, clarifier, shift and width controls, as well as switches for AGC fast, CW narrow and a noise blanker. (I've never used it). You can tune using the VFO, or on FM, a "channel" knob. Power is via mains or 13.8VDC. Speaker outputs and a record output are provided, as well as PTT, KEY input and control outputs for external amplifiers. The fluorescent display indicates memory channel (0-9), frequency, clarifier offset and error conditions, (eg wrong
offset for band segment). Scanning is continuous or by memory channel. Memory channels store frequency, mode and USB/LSB (but not +/- repeater offset).

Okay, it's not (quite) perfect. The few (minor) niggles I have about it are its low power output (10W on all bands), its inability to store offset
direction in memory (that's what you get with switches) and a stupid RED LED indicating "channel switched" FM. This is a really dumb thing, because you see, if you switch to reverse on duplex, another red light comes on to warn you, but because there is already another red light on, you don't notice it. Many's the time I've found myself TXing on the reverse. This would be
easy to fix, of course, by simply replacing the FM-CH LED with a different colour.

OTOH, if that's the worst I can come up with after a year of operating the rig, then you probably get the idea. I love using this radio, and recommend it highly. If you get hold of a good example, you're unlikely to want to part with it.

But before you buy, ensure it has the modules you want installed, because some are becoming difficult to find.