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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
W8WZ Rating: 2006-12-07
Nice Rig Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I loved my FT-1500M. It worked well and had all the features I wanted.

HOWEVER: It lacked a dedicated squelch knob. Any FM Xcvr should have a dedicated squelch knob, espeially a mobile. It was very hard to adjust the squelch while driving.

Also, It was too menu driven for my taste. I had to read the manual everytime I wanted to do anything. I didn't like that feature.

over all: a very good radio for the money. very solid and a good performer with a few down sides listed above.
KB3NDS Rating: 2006-08-16
Good rig Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Picked mine up at a local Hamfest for $40.00. It was all banged up and missing the tuning knob, but I didn't care as it was going to be a dedicated APRS digipeater rig. Got it home and it fired right up. All the functions that the tuning knob performs can be done with the mic so it really didn't matter that I didn't have it. I ordered the interface cable for the mini-din in the back and this rig is quite the workhorse. It has been running 24/7 now for 6 months and hasn't even broken a sweat. The digi coverage in my area is slack so mine is quite active with probably 30 seconds of each minute in transmit. The rig stays cool and keeps on ticking. The mini-din makes it a great rig for digital work.
N5NPO Rating: 2006-05-07
Great 2m rig, very small! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had mine for going on 4 years now without the slightest problem. It has been in 3 or 4 vehichles and on the base. I got it on sale for $119 and I wish I had bought 4 of them! I have the ADMS programming software and it really makes programming a breeze. An external speaker is helpful in noisy enviroments. If I had something to gripe about it would be that this rig does not have DPL encode. Not a problem to 99.9% of hams, but useful for two way radio techs. I would not hesitate to get another one!
73
KY7F Rating: 2006-03-21
Disappointed Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Had mine for a little over 2 years. Used mine in a mobile application. This was the only rig I could get mounted in my small pickup and have any room at all. Loved the radio's size and it worked well...for a while. Then, the problems started.

First, the speaker would suddenly quit, only to return later. This happened a lot and was quite annoying. Usually, you could tell when it was gonna happen because the audio would suddenly get very distant and "tinny"-sounding.

Secondly, and this was the final "killer" of the rig, one day the display started showing black "mini-worms" on the screen. Started from the bottom right of the screen and then slowly began to cover the entire display over a 3-week period. Finally, it got to the point that you couldn't see what frequency you were on. Tough to operate like that!

Replaced the FT-1500 with an FT-1802. We'll see how that one does. Thus far, I've had very poor luck with my Yaesu mobiles. My first disaster was the FT-8100, then the FT-1500. Hopefully, Yaesu has gotten the FT-1802 "correct". If not, this is the last Yaesu mobile I'll own.

I'd rate my experience a "0", but I actually like the FT-1500, and it worked great when it was reliable.
N1RIK Rating: 2006-03-14
Great Radio. Couldn't believe it Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This radio was actually the first radio that I EVER bought brand new. I couldn't believe that I spent only $130 on special from Ham Radio Outlet in NH 5 years ago. I remember the very first radio I got in 1994 as a teenager was an Azden PCS-4000 (which kicked the bucket a few year later) w/6 amp power suppy cost me $175, AND IT WAS 12 YEARS OLD WITH NO FEATURES. Currently I'm in the market for a Icom-706MKIIG, but I'm defenatly not getting rid of this radio. The receiver is great (a lil suseptible to intermode), durable (has survived a MAJOR car wreck which I almost didn't survive. It only lost a knob), and full of features. I recommend this radio to anyone. Most important of all was the cost of this radio. 50watts @ 8amps is impressive, not to mention you can beef it up to about 70-watts with no problem after doing the power adjustment in the "sevice menu". I might try to buy another one of these down the road just to keep on backup, but it defenatly is a keeper, and I won't get rid of this radio for ANYTHING. On the Cons side, it does get a bit warm when TXing long, and maybe a cooling fan might not hurt it. Still it indures the heat. The radio is like one giant cast iron heatsink. You could probably fry an egg on it while making a long QSO, HOWEVER, mine still runs like it's new with no quirks. A+++++
VK2XDZ Rating: 2005-10-07
the bees knees Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Purchased new about four years ago,my first amateur radio.Have since replaced it about a year ago with a dual band rig,but if you want 2m fm only then buy an ft1500.
Even though I don't use it anymore,she's such a great radio,I'm going to hang on to it.
WB5GEO Rating: 2005-08-11
Great Rig with one little problem Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I picked up my FT1500 for $100.00 back in August of 2001, and mounted it on the console in my jeep. Using on-glass antenna, this rig has given me great service and hit repeaters I never thought it would with the Junk Shack antenna.

However, it has one negative, as the volume and channel selector knobs break off way too easy. This seems to be due to the fact that Yeasu cheated and used hollow shafts.
KC4YVK Rating: 2005-04-14
One of my favorite 2M mobile rigs! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I don't know what all the fuss is about the mike cord and the squelch etc.
I love this radio. I just decided to sell it after purchasing a FT857.
This radio is a tank. You will not have any problems with the mike chord if you do not pull it half way across the vehicle every day. I have had no problems with this rig at all.
The people talking about the squelch. It has never been an issue with me. If you do not lick digital squelch buy a radio with a potentiometer squelch knob. When using the digital squelch, set the digital squelch so it is high enough to keep out any unwanted signals. If you do not want any squelch, you temporarily disable it by hitting the star key. No problem. If you have a big enough antenna (collinear on the vehicle) the squelch control really isn't an issue at all because the radio receives better. No intermod problems, I live in the city. For those complaining about the microphone and pushing buttons, there is a lock button on the back. The issue of the hot radio is because the heat sink is the outside of the radio. Heat sinks do get hot. My rig was located in a Nissan Pickup in the small box under the radio and performed with out any heating issues at all, even though there was an inch of space on each side, the top and bottom had about 1/16th of an inch space. The radio performed like a champ. I read allot of the reviews on Eham. On half of them I do not think people read the directions that came with the radio, or they expect a 149 dollar rig to be like a 1000 dollar rig. As with any new radio. Take time to read the instruction book many times and setup the rig in the house for a while so you can learn how to run it properly. It's hard learn how to control all functions on a rig when it goes into the vehicle when you first buy it. If you can find one of these radios, if you buy it , you will not be disappointed.
G4KSG Rating: 2005-03-17
Brilliant Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
So in view of the need to have a rig with DTMF for 'Echolink'ing I decided to retire my old FT-270R (nearly 20 yrs old). I checked this listing and discovered the FT-1500M was the one to get - used ofcourse. Well I then found - I presume because they are so great - they are very rare on the secondhand market. Anyways I got mine last week - looks like its a 2003 model according to the issue date on the manual and the serial number - and I think its brilliant. I also have a 706MkII and a VX5R - so don't think I am comparing it with the 270R !!!!
KG4YOL Rating: 2005-03-15
Happy Again! Time Owned: N.A.
I had trouble with receive out of ham Band frequency. After a little research on internet, I found the fix. If you perform a factory reset on CPU, it will only function on ham bands. The fix is to hold down on D/MR button and power on the unit. This came from Technical Suppport...N6UME.

I hope this helps out some...73!