| KC4GMY |
Rating:      |
2005-02-26 | |
| Big value in a small package! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| Never a problem and loaded with features. |
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| KG4ACE |
Rating:      |
2004-08-30 | |
| Good Performer |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I've owned and used this radio since June of 1999. I bought it from Ham Radio Outlet and paid $241.00 for it with shipping. I then went to radio shack and bought a magnetic mount mobile antenna.
To maximize its use, I elected to install the radio on a 1x6 piece of pine with the radio mount, along with the microphone hook or bracket. I then attached a simple cigarette lighter adapter to the power cord. With this arrangment, I can use the radio in any of my vehicles or in the house with a DC power supply and a home built antenna that I put together with coat hangers and electrical conduit attached to my back porch. In the vehicle, I either set it on my seat, on the floor, or on the "hump." I can also bring the radio on road trips in a friends car - very flexible configuration.
I still use this radio and am now looking for another one. I recently bid on one at eBay, which sold for $152.00. I would have gladly bid higher, but I'm waiting for a new HT coming out, which Yaesu has not released yet, and I had to restrict my bid to $150.00.
I have never, let me repeat this - "never" had a problem with hitting repeaters or with simplex. With 4 power settings and a full 50 watts on high, I have hit repeaters at great distances and have always, since day one, been told by fellow hams that my voice is clear and crisp and many have been quite impressed with the distances I have reached. Keep in mind, this is all with a Radio Shack mag mount.
The internal speaker is more than sufficient; loud, clear, crisp.
Do I have a complaint? Sure; I wouldn't be human or at least American if I didn't. It's the blue display. We all know that color matters and that red is the least disturbing to ones night vision, followed by yellow or amber. With 10 light levels, even on low the blue display lights up the inside of the vehicle and upon viewing it and then looking away, there is a period of obstruction to ones vision.
I never travel without this radio and yet, due to the configuration I use, it still looks like brand new. The microphone features are very flexible and allow me to scan back and forth while driving and then stop on any frequency or repeater I happen to hit without ever looking at the display.
Is this radio a great radio? In spite of the blue display yes, it is a great radio. Once I get my new HT bought and move into the house I'm now trying to purchase, you may all rest assured I will find another one of these, used, to mount in my off-road vehicle; it is to harsh a ride to have it resting on the seat or floor... |
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| KA3SEI |
Rating:      |
2004-08-03 | |
| UPDATE! |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
After almost a year with this rig, I had to upgrade the 4 I gave it the first time to a 5.
I took this rig out of my car figuring it was time to replace it with my Icom IC-207H so I could have dual band mobile. After a few weeks of listening to the Icom receive audio flutter wildly every time I went down a hill, I finally got fed up! Out came the Icom, and back in went the Yaesu. The heck with 440! I'd rather have good strong quality TX/RX on one band in the car than mediocre on two! The Icom is fine as a base rig, but the Yaesu is superior as a mobile.
They don't make this anymore, and they're selling for more used than they were new. What does that tell you about the quality of this radio? |
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| W0NQ |
Rating:      |
2004-05-31 | |
| I really like this radio |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I really like this radio. I'm looking around for another to use for my vehicle. I use it with a copper J-Pole up on my roof and it really gets out there. Super easy to program too. I wish the mic connect was a little more solid but other than that I can't think of a thing I'd change. Overall it's an excellent basic 2 mtr & that's exactly what I was looking for. AAA+ |
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| AF4KB |
Rating:    |
2004-05-10 | |
| Ok Rig |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I own three, two of three are used as mobiles.Strange frequencies(20.00002) appear in scan display without being put there by operator. Lost all recieve functions except 144-148 in one of three rigs.Mike functions also quit working.Easy to use in mobile but not durable ,will not buy another. |
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| AB8JH |
Rating:    |
2004-04-26 | |
| Decent radio if mic connector holds up |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
This radio is built solidly, but I have a serious problem with the mic connector. It seems the connector pins have settled within its shell, leaving me with intermittent problems with audio and radio controls from the mic. I'm going to re-crimp the connector and see if that helps. Be aware that this radio uses an RJ-25 phone-style modular connector unlike most other radios which at least use the larger ethernet RJ-45 plug. For this reason I will stay away from radios with this smaller, seemingly more fragile connector.
I have several other less serious nitpicks. First, the mic itself has a weak spring that makes unintentional transmission easy. Also, the internal speaker is not as clear as it could be. It sounds very good with an external speaker.
Aside from the above problems, this radio is a solid performer. It was one of the first to incorporate a fourth power setting at 25 watts, which I love because it minimizes my potential to get into unwanted distant repeaters while still giving me extra power when I need it.
Also, the rig stores power settings into memory along with split, tone, etc. I gather that this is a standard Yaesu practice.
I like the fact that you can control every aspect of the radio from the mic (when it works), although usability of this feature is not as easy as that of the Icom 2100H. It has many settings which are accessible only through menus, requiring the driver to take their eyes off the road.
For me this radio gave me at least a year of trouble-free service before the mic connection started to falter. If it turns out a re-crimp of the connector doesn't help this radio will be delegated to packet service. If that does prove to be the case, it will be a shame, since it almost every other respect it has been a decent rig. I will probably buy an Icom 2100/2200H if it can't be properly repaired. 73 DE AB8JH |
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| AK4P |
Rating:   |
2004-04-21 | |
| Getting ready to replace |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I have had my 1500 for about a year. It worked great at first, but now it only receives from 144-148 MHz, nothing out of band, not even the WX freq's. I bought an Icom 208H to replace it. I should have waited before getting the 1500. |
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| WA2TCE |
Rating:      |
2004-04-21 | |
| Rock Solid Performer |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
The technical specs and quirks have been well-described in earlier posts (I would have preferred amber backlighting, and the mic connector seems vulnerable). The FT-1500M seems to be bullet-proof, I transmitted 50 watts into an intermittantly open coax connector and the radio suffered no ill effects. Drawing only 8 amps at full power is impressive. My only concern before buying was the lack of a squelch control. Let me reiterate the undocumented feature: Press * on the microphone, it takes you to squelch. Use up/down buttons to change setting. Press * again to return to normal operation. This controls "noise" squelch, be sure RF squelch feature (controlled by received signal's S-meter strength) is turned off as "the receiver's squelch will open based on the highest level set by the two squelch systems".
If you burn your hand on the heatsink, it is God's way of telling you you're hogging the repeater :-)
All in all this is a great radio for a very high performance to price ratio. |
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| KC8UJZ |
Rating:      |
2004-03-25 | |
| Also a Great Rig! |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| I use this as a base rig. The heat sink gets hot, so to keep the the heat off the table, I used the mounting bracket to keep heat off the table. I also would have liked to see a volume knob on the mic. Overall a great rig. |
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| K8LEA |
Rating:      |
2004-02-26 | |
| Great but... |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Only one comment - I think I covered this before....
I use the 1500M to scan several PS channels locally, as well as various repeaters & such. One such PS channel uses DCS, and shares with another user that's just noisy enough to be a nuisance.
It really would have been nice....
I'd also love to have a real squelch knob, but to be honest, it's rarely an issue.
Lately, too, it's tended to loose it's mind on occasion at power up. I think it's a spike from the car. NBD to grab the laptop and reset it, but not fun if you're out of town. In one case it needed a full reset. Guess what's not on the little reference card I bought....
(This has only happened twice.)
My vote is still "run out and buy one just to keep in the closet" [grin]. I once paid $550 for a Brimstone 144 with essentially half the power and no "features" (or scanning). That'd be three times that in today's money. If I didn't still have that antique and two other good 2M mobiles (Icom IC-28H, Kenwood TM731A), I think I'd go grab another one myself.
Stu K8LEA |
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