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Reviews For: Yaesu FT-1500M

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

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Review Summary For : Yaesu FT-1500M
Reviews: 185MSRP: 229
Description:
This is the new Yaesu FT-1500M Mono-band 2 Meter mobile radio. 50 watts out, MH-48 mic, CTCSS encode + decode, DTMF encode + decode, 130 memories, 1200-9300 Packet ready (connector on back), Backlit display, and most other bells and whistles you would come to expect from Yaesu (including SmartSearch, Clock Shift, ect.).
Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.yaesu.com/ft1500m.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
001854.6
W6RLF Rating: 2002-10-01
An excellent easy-to-use radio at a great price! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I concur with all the other positive reviews. I've had the 1500 for a few weeks. Also got it for $129. That was a price based upon an "instant coupon" deal that just expired, but I'll bet they'll find a way to keep the price down.

It's a piece of equipment that I just fell in love with right a way. Compact, well-designed, solid as a rock. As far as programming menus go, IMHO this one is pretty intuitive after a very short time.

Two worthwhile "mods" for the mic. Several months ago "eham" had a post about a mod to the FT-100 mic: There is a little plastic disk in front of the teeny microphone element. If you remove it, you get stronger/better audio, as you are not muffling it. I did it with the FT-100 mic, and have now done it with the 1500 mic (a very similar model.)

Second "mod": These mics tend to have scratchy, sibilant audio (you can confirm it by listening to yourself if you have a second radio.) Buy some foam weather-stripping, about 1/4" thick, so you can slice off the gummy side. You want a fairly thin piece. Neatly tape the piece over the microphone holes so that the tape doesn't cover the foam/holes. Presto! Scratchiness eliminated.

These two mods make a great radio even better.

73,

Paul W6RLF
WD8OKN Rating: 2002-09-27
Excellent Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I own two of these. It's the best radio deal going. Excellent!
AA9NN Rating: 2002-09-27
HOT, Really Hot :) Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
This is a awesome little radio. I had mine for over a year and works flawlessly.
just be careful,It does heat up on Hi Power. If you run it at mid power no issue.
this radio deserves a 5 !
also I only paid $129.00 NEW. Unreal.

73
Jim AA9NN
KL7PB Rating: 2002-09-27
A fascinating radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
A remarkable radio at 5 inches square and about 1 1/2 high. On the air in 5 minutes with a great manual. Putting the buttons on the top instead of the front makes for much more convenience. It is more sensitive than my used $475 market priced ICOM..I ended up buying 2. Not much need for all those expensive multi confusing computer aided programing radios from where I sit. Great job Yaesu..
KB3ING Rating: 2002-09-23
Great Radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I had purchased a Radio Shack HTX-252 a week ago, and had nothing but problems with it. After I went through 2 HTX-252s I decided to take it back and order a Yaesu FT-1500M. It was $30 cheaper than the HTX-252, has four power levels instead of two, twice the maximum output, well over ten times as many memory channels, and plenty of features not found on the HTX-252. I am very pleased with the FT-1500M. It also has an interesting mounting bracket which really holds the radio in place well unlike the standard u-type bracket. For the price, you can't go wrong. Way to go Yaesu!
KE4BMT Rating: 2002-09-18
Display Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I bought the radio new and I have had it back to Yaesu for a display problem, some segments don't show up. Radio has been back from Yaesu for less than two months and the problem is occuring again.
Even if it has an attractive selling price, beware. You would be better served with a Kenwood or Icom radio.
AD5BN Rating: 2002-09-18
EXCELLENT radio! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned my FT-1500M for about 2 years and believe that this is THE best single band 2 meter mobile on the market. Especaially for its attractive price right now of around $120. The radio is easy to program, looks great, small enough to fit ANYWHERE in the car, has an ingenious mounting bracket, and has great TX and RX audio. Large, backlit, blue display and backlit keypad on the microphone make it easy to use at night or in low light. This radio feels as hard as a rock with die-cast aluminum casing. Has somewhat of an intermod problem, but nothing that I can't handle by turning up the RF squelch and the standard squelch. Highly recommended for a single band radio!

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Earlier 5-star review posted by AD5BN on 2001-02-24

In the time that I have owned this rig, I have fell in love with YAESU products. The solid feel of this rig (die-cast aluminum housing) and the great performance of this rig have turned me on to YAESU products, especially this rig. In fact, I even sold my HTX-242 that was my base rig so that I could purchase another FT-1500M to use instead. 50 watts of output along with a compact, solid design make this rig VERY attractive. Backlit MH-48 microphone that is included with the rig improves the functionality, especially when mobile. Most all of the functions of the radio can be done right from the microphone. What makes it better is that it is not a LARGE microphone like ICOM has. Versitile, solid, good receiver sensitivity, and high power make this the BEST monoband 2 meter rig (IMO) on the market.
7J1AIL Rating: 2002-09-16
Great IRLP node radio Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
My 1500M has been turned on for some six months straight as the radio for an IRLP simplex node here in Tokyo. It is putting 35 watts out and is not bothered by a heavy duty cycle. No problems, so far. However even at a medium power setting, it gets very hot. Basically the body is one big heat sink. In order that it doesn't leave burn marks I have it sitting atop two bar bell weights for extra heat absorption. (You can see a picture of it at: http://tvtokyo.com/irlp.html ).

This is one of the very few (if any) rigs for which an IRLP cabling plug n' play solution is available mainly because it is one of the few ham rigs that is trouble-free for IRLP installation and use.

Also, using Tone Squelch it has very good rejection of unwanted signals. This radio is connected to a yagi up 40 meters above average terrain very close to two major highways where truckers routinely use 100 to 500 watts (!) on the 2-meter band.
K6SBA Rating: 2002-09-11
Great Rig...Great Price Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is a user-friendly, high quality radio at a knockout price. The build quality (including the mic) is first rate. I am using this as a base radio so the speaker is more than adequate. I quickly programmed my favorite repeaters with five minutes of manual review. Highly recommended!
KF4VRB Rating: 2002-09-10
Awesome Mobile Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
The FT-1500M is a great little mobile that fits nice into cramped compact cars. I actually was getting away from Yaesu products, but the 1500 changed my mind. I find the menus well laid out and easy to set what I need pretty quick. I wish that all the buttons were backlighted though. I got mine @ a local hamfest for $110 out the door. Great price and not a finer single bander on the market...