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Reviews For: Yaesu FT-1000MP Mk V

Category: Transceivers: HF Amateur HF+6M+VHF+UHF models - non QRP <5W

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Review Summary For : Yaesu FT-1000MP Mk V
Reviews: 179MSRP: 3300
Description:
Yaesu FT-1000MP MK5
Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.yaesu.com/markv.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
151794.4
A61I Rating: 2008-01-02
#1 Radio and the best Time Owned: more than 12 months.
If you are looking for base radio there is no radio can beat this one.
It should be the mine radio on any shake.
Easy use with nice out audio.
Its looks like classic radio and when you will use it you will feel that its have all what you want.
EA1BSU Rating: 2008-01-02
REALLY SURPRISED Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Buyed with eBay in near mint condition, I`ve had the radio for about 1 month and I can say that has been a great surprise for me.
I agree with the previous review, the noise reduction ability is excellent, mainly in CW, even without additional filters.
Using a PR40 Heil microphone with the radio default settings I`ve received plenty of unsolicited good reports for my audio quality. Solid 200 watts output, class A capability ... I own the IC-756PROIII, TS-870, FT-1000D, .... I prefer the FT-1000MP MK-V, mostly in bad reception conditions.
I touch on wood for a possible failure in the future, but even if this happen, it`s a great radio.
N9MWL Rating: 2007-12-29
its superior to field model Time Owned: more than 12 months.
HI MY EXPERIENCE THE THE MARK MK V ITS NOISE REDUCTION SYSTEM EXTRA IMPRESSIVE IT ABILITY TO HEAR THINGS THAT THE FIELD MODEL JUST CANT.. I HAVENT ADDED ANY EXTRA FILTERS..JUST HAVE A X7 BEAM & WIRE FOR ANTENNAS.. NOTHING SPECIAL** MY IDEAL IS IF YA CANT HEAR THEM YOU CANT TALK TO THEM HUH .. I THINK HAVING LOTS OF TOWERS ARE A WASTE MONEY ...UNLESS IT TO IMPRESS THE NEIGHBORS LOL
K5YY Rating: 2007-12-28
Very Good radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I only rate a 4 now because of two repair jobs that had to be done, so there are some issues with age. Some radios last longer before any repair like my FT1000D and Icom 781 which have had none in 10 plus years!
To the EA ham review below: With age these nice rigs will have problems with the tuner or on receive or with the problems that he describes. BUT, you can expect used rigs to present problems. Blame components rather than the rig if rig is used and more than a year old.
His problems are with the Antenna Tuner I/O relay and the CM coupler diodes D6001-6004 on the LPF board. Easy fix with good technician. Sometimes also the switching diode D6452 ($2 item) needs replacing at same time and maybe the driver transistors Q6450/51 ($2 each).. So, if power is 200 watts fixed and not varied with power pot and if NO reading on meter of power output at all, check the above areas. Do NOT continue operating with fixed 200w output since the other ALC circuitry is protecting the final transistors and if THAT circuit goes, you lose $300-400 worth of finals!
The rigs work great BUT do need repairs over time and worth the effort every 3-4 years.
Hope this helps the EA station fix his rig!
EA4ST Rating: 2007-12-28
Terrible Time Owned: more than 12 months.
It was the worst buy I have never done. Not only my epersonal experience but a I a friends of mine one as well.
The automatic tunner is very delicate.
The final pass transistors silenk key while testing the rig with 10 watts with a 1:1 swr antenna.
The power display did not work.
No power control. 200 watts output when the power control was on 10 watts position.
Headaches and more headaches.

N6TZV Rating: 2007-12-01
Flawless Workhorse! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned the Mark V for over 5 Years without any trouble. Before that I have owned the Yaesu 1000 MP, and 1000D, as well as many Icom, a few Kenwood and Ten Tec radios, and an Elecraft K2. The Mk V has been a workhorse, and always delivers good performance. This radio has the Inrad roofing filter added, as well as the high stability crystal and all accessory filters from both Yaesu and Inrad.

The roofing filter does indeed improve overload characteristics and close in dynamic rage quite a bit. I was able to compare the 1000MP to the MKV side by side for a few weeks before selling the former. The bands seem much less cluttered on the MK V, even in very crowded contest situations. This is noticeable on both SSB and CW. It is possible to tune right next to a very strong station and hear very weak signals with no trouble. The roofing filter mod is highly recommended and makes this rig even more of a joy to use.

All the receiver controls are useful in fighting QRM. The shift and width controls are even more effective on the MP than the predecessors. I did really love the ability of mixing filters on the MP, but the resultant pairings on the MK V work fine and I don't miss the extra flexibility in practice. The DSP is also useful at times. The cascaded filters are amazing for working close in.

All in all I have enjoyed owning this radio and operating it. It works well for both SSB and CW. The receiver audio has perhaps a bit more hiss than a very few others, but the options for attenuation and tuned preamps makes this a moot point. It can be dealt with. But the "analog" sound is quite pleasing, and to me superior to the DSP sound of many of the newer radios including the FT 2000 and Pro III.

Ergonomics, panel layout, menus, are all easy to learn and use.
I always get really great audio reports using a Heil 5 Proset. When needed, the RF processor allows mild to "chainsaw" processing with great results. This adds punch and intelligibility and is almost impossible to overdo. Great sounding rig.

All in all, a great effort from Yaesu in the long line of 1000 radios that made their DX reputation. This one is a classic.
KB1PDZ Rating: 2007-11-12
6 year review Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I purchased mine Jan. 2001
This rig has been absolutely flawless.
With the 200w of power I am able to make contact with any station I can hear.
I must admit some of this may be due to antenna.
great audio reports (unsolicited)
I also must admit the W2Ihy 8 band EQ/ W2IHY EQ Plus and the MD 200 may help this.
This will be my last rig until I ware it out
K8DO Rating: 2007-10-17
Long time user Time Owned: more than 12 months.
OK, it is from their first production run and it is not perfect and it was back for repairs 3 times, but still gets a 5 - so why?

Well, because I have a raft of other rigs to compare and every single one has failed one or more times - and because this rating system doesn't have 4.65 available to me...

My TR7 had to go back twice
My Kenwoods (oh gawd, gag me with a stick)
My Icom's (too painful to remember)
My Omni 6's (563's - 3 of them) went back at least 1 or 2 times each (forget now)
My current Omni 6+ (564)went back twice
My FT-990 went back once
My spanking new Orion 2 failed right out of the box when it popped the breaker the instant I turned it on (fixed without sending back)


Also, my new cars have had problems, every single one including the 2007 I'm driving (well the xyl has the keys but I'm allowed to admire it as I walk past to my 9 year old truck)

So, why do I still like my MK-V? Well, ergonomically it is a fine contesting radio splits are a breeze, it hears well, runs cool at 100w continuous RTTY (I contest low power), good filters (Inrad mods)etc. ... It has powered me to some top tens and first places in some contests... When you have experienced enough radios you recognize that none are perfect - unless they sit on the bench and just get admired - it is when you put them in a contest and pound the snot out of them for 48 hours at a stretch they all begin to show the weak spots...

The MK-V will replace the 1000D as a legend as the decades go by...
KG8JF Rating: 2007-10-09
I got rid of mine Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I went for this radio because I had owned an Ft-990 and figured that the time increment would imply a technology increment. It did not. One day I started looking at the receiver reviews in ARRL and then had to actually learn what the numbers meant. The Ft 1000MP MK V had just awful numbers. I bought an Orion I. Most of these performance numbers are transparant to a SSB operator, which I am. I just want to own the best technology and performance I can afford.
M0IOD Rating: 2007-08-10
Good performer Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I owned a FT 1000MP MKV for around a year or so and until replacing it with my current transceiver I though it one of the best rigs I had used(overall). The audio on TX and RX could be tailored to sound just great. In my experience(of the rigs I have owned including IC 746PRO,IC 7400,IC 756 PRO,IC 756PRO2, IC 765, IC 775DSP TS 870,TS 940, TS 2000 FT 990,FT 1000MP) the receiver is beaten in terms of low noise floor only by the IC 775DSP. It seemed to be "not very sensitive" compared to other rigs.
Rejection was adequate(no extra filters aside) .
TX Audio out can be set just right and i found it just behind that of the TS 870.
With 200 watts on board this radio obviously could power on without any linear amplifier.

The FP 29 30 volt external power supply and a little concern about Receive sensitivity were the down side to this lovely radio. The FP 29 will cost the best part of £400 (yes around $800) to replace new over here in ROB (Rip Off Britain).

I weighed up the pros and cons and went for a new FT 2000 which so far has been the best move I have made.

So the trusty FT 1000MP MKV scores a 4 in my book.


Cheers Ian M0IOD