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Reviews For: Yaesu FT-100D

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

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Review Summary For : Yaesu FT-100D
Reviews: 167MSRP: 1,200.00
Description:
HF MOBILE
Product is not in production
More Info: http://yaesu.hamgear.eu/ft-100.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
001674.2
AF4KK Rating: 2002-09-27
A dream come true!! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
This is one of the best radios I've ever owned! It seems to do it all from wide frequency coverage to great sensitivity! My only minor gripe is the lack of alpa-numerical channel naming. I sent the rig is for the thermal upgrade, a ground-loop modification and a check on the optional CW board and I got back an even better radio (same radio; it was improved) in only 2 weeks, 2 days! Kudos to the guys at technical support!!
NK7J Rating: 2002-09-11
Life is Good with this unit! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this radio about two weeks ago brand new with a Atas-100. Before I had a Icom 706MK2G running hustler antenna and hamsticks.

Talk about a GREAT mobile HF rig this is it. The Atas makes it almost perfect for me. This radio beats the 706mk2G hand downs on ease of operation. While mobile I like to be able to fiddle with the radio with the least amount of distraction from my driving as possible and this rig does that. Takes about 1-2 hours to figure out how to make it go and then your set. I don't know how many times I had to stop the vehicle, get the manual out and fiddle with the 706 trying to get something done. Not to mention changing antennas/coils.

Only using it the last two weeks I have not figured out all (for that matter ANY) weak points. For a small unit it has great RX audio, seems fairly selective, and I have received many good audio reports even while mobile at 70 MPH with the road noise.

If you are looking for a mobile HF rig I highly recommend this one, very easy to use, lots of bells and horns and with the ATAS it is as close to perfect as I have been able to come.

God Bless.
K7BIT Rating: 2002-09-11
FT-100D still works Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I bought mine in May 2002. So far it seems to work well without mods. I did replace the mic with my Heil, but other than that it is solid. Yeasu could really improve its CAT 100 interface, this radio has good xmt/rec capability that is hampered by a poor quality s/w interface. Kenwood for the TH-6Fa and TS-2000X have some pretty nice s/w and the firm ware in the box to handle it. I am looking into replacing the front panel with a bit serial custom interface I can run Rs-232 to my PC. Add a little VB and we can just link as if it was via the front panel. By emulating the front panel it may be possible to get full functionality out of the unit vs the limited CAT 100 function set. I did have another minor nit, the ATAS-100 doesn't like below 30M. Did the grounding and still have the problem. Gonna take it apart and see if there is something amiss.

One day Yeasu may actually get it right. There QC seems very spotty and I am probably lucky with this particular rig.
KD4AMG Rating: 2002-09-09
four-out-of-five rating Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
bad points: table of contents does NOT mention SWR meter funtction ( must see page 56 - 57 ? )... would prefer to have so-239 coax connectors MOUNTED to rear of unit instead of "pigtails"...display dimmer is sort of sudden on dimmer function.
GOOD points: excellent radio on vhf and uhf ( 6 meters ssb is awesome, 2 meter ssb also )
OVERALL rating of 4 out of 5, this unit is in a home and will stay there. Ease of operation is extremely easy . would recommend it to any one .
W9WHE Rating: 2002-08-27
Excellent ballance of features Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
This radio represents a great ballance of features and size.

Within the ham bands, it has a good-very good reciever. Power output on 450 is 18 watts....a tad whimpy. Go outside the bands, and power output and sensitivity drop off. Not all that unusual.

The noise blanker really works on ignition noise!

Easy to operate after about an hour of fiddling. Reading the manual helps.

Drives the ATAS (Yaesu's automatic screwdriver) with the push of a button. God I love digtal stuff! Tunes in 15 seconds. First mobile contact was Brazil, 5-8.

Developed a heat related reciever sensitivity problem. When hot (monitoring a repeater for about an hour) or about 20 min of 50/50 ragchewing, recieve sensitivity dropped by about 20 Db. Called Yaesu. Two min. later, they identified the problem & told me how to fix it. (excess solder blob) They gave me the choice of free repair & alignment at the factory or I could do it myself. Hummm....what do you think I chose?

Would I buy it again? Yes.

As for $79 for the remote kit....give me a break. I notice that Yaesu dealers are now "bundling" the radio with the kit for about $30-40. Much better!
KC2IHD Rating: 2002-08-24
The All New FT100D Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I have found eham.net to be very helpful when making decisions on ham equipment. For those of you whom find the need to be the first kid on the block with a new Yaesu product, you are in for a surprise (like the vx7R). Unfortunately, Yaesu products need to be field tested by us. I have purchased what I consider to be the all-new FT100D with fan/SWR modifications done from Yaesu. The radio has worked flawlessly so far. The new generations of these rigs are great. I have not experience any of the problems mentioned in all the reviews. I primarily operate 2/440 bands.

73s
KC2IHD
K9FE Rating: 2002-08-23
Be Cautious Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After talking to my ham dealer who stocks Yaesu, Kenwood and Icom...I decided not to buy the FT-100d. There is a newly discovered bug that takes out the VHF/UHF side of the radio. This failure is a $500 repair from Yaesu. Until they solve this problem be cautious with the FT-100d
VK2ATN Rating: 2002-08-01
FT-100D revisited #3 Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
First I like to mention is that it is good to see alot more "5" ratings for this fantastic radio which I think is due to Yaesu getting it's act together and rectifying the SWR problem at the factory.
Not much has changed in my opinion of this radio (see my previous 2 reviews) except for a interesting side by side comparison with a FT-1000MP.
About 2 months ago I purchased a 2 year old imaculate 1000MP, which I found to be a great radio but when tested side by side with my 100D using the same antenna and ext-speaker, it just did not stand up to the quietness and weak signal receiving of this little excellent rig. Thats right the FT-100D was far more superior for me in general and weak signal receiving than the 1000MP. The main problem I had with the 1000MP is a hiss of the noise floor which made the radio useless and very tyring to listen to for any length of time. After reading about this problem on a FT-1000MP reflector, I found this to be global with 'many' 1000MP's and a suppose fix was the installation of a small first IF amp kit from Inrad. After installing the kit/board I found the problem had been slightly fixed but my FT-100D was still the most prefferd radio to use with sensitivity to match the 1000MP and general receiving won hands down and as a result I sold the 1000MP about 6 weeks later.
I know this is going to rattle many 1000MP owners, but this is my findings.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by VK2NEW on 2002-04-09

This is my experience with my FT-100D after 8 months of owning and using the radio.
After returning from the States (Reno NV) from a 2 month visit and able to erect a more efficent antenna, I put the radio through it paces operating in 2 contests and general DX and S/W receiving.
Firstly I like to mention that the front end/selectivity on a radio of this size is excellent. The only time I heard some splatter was mostly during the contests where I noted that many operators were driving their rigs hard which I think was to keep overs away from their frequencies.
Secondly the DSP on this rig is adjustable and works very well. The DNF or digital notch filter does seem to suppress the squeals but it is just not deep enough to completely get rid of it. The DNR or noise reduction is completely adjustable and it does work with reducing static crashes and some QRN. The DBP or bandpass is what I think makes the DSP on this radio. You can adjust the lowpass and highpass walls separately to narrow the passband and also you can use it to get rid of hetrodynes and squeals. Aswell when in the CW mode, you can adjust the DBP filter to 60, 120 or 240hz. Also you can adjust the DSP mic eq, which I used and got good reports.
Thirdly the transmit audio reports I was getting on SSB where strong and nice sounding, plus the receiver on the Ham bands is sensitive and sounds quite good through the internal speaker in a homebase situation. Receiving S/W outside the Ham bands on HF in SSB or AM is just as good as the Amateur bands plus the 6khz AM filter is a "much needed" item for AM transmitting and either S/W or VHF AM airband receiving.
Fourthly receiving in the V/UHF bands is very good, but I do notice the sensitivity to decline once pass 500 mhz.
For me using the radios menu system is quite easy and having fine hands I find the buttons and dials no problem at all to operate. Before I purchased the 100 I was looking for a radio that was small enough to travel with and had 100 watts O/P. Also I wanted it to Tx&Rx as much of the HF/V/UHF spectrum as possible and having DSP was a real plus.
So as you can read I still like my FT-100D as much as when I first purchased it. It has performed well pass my expectation and the only problem I have had is the select knob was replaced after it was behaving erratic. If you are in the market for a FT-100/D, make sure you have the 3 mods performed. 1) DTMF mics only, remove the baffle which is placed in front of the element. 2) Add a thermal switch or resistor to the fans so they operate continuosly while receiving on the V/UHF bands. 3) Make sure the radio has 2 grounding clips/straps to the chassis and internal coaxial connectors on the LPF board. These mods are quite simple if you are good with a soldering iron, if not and if the radio is still under warranty, send it in.
Anthony VK2NEW.
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Earlier 5-star review posted by VK2NEW on 2001-09-07

I rate my FT-100D as 1 of the best radios I have ever had. I recently purchased a FT-817 which is a fantastic radio for low-power 'QRP' backpacking and portable operating. Having the 817 as my only radio was not a real good idea, and when the conditions are not too good (plus the soon decline of the 11 year cycle) and maxium output power of 5 watts, my contacts were few and far between.
As my radio was purchased brand new I decided to exchange the 817 + $$ for a new FT-100D which turned out to be one of the most sensible decisions I have made for along time. When I took the radio out of the box the first thing to hit me was the smell of the new radio, I just love it. Another thing you notice with the 100D is its solid and sturdy feel and look, this is 1 cool looking radio, plus weighing in at just over 3kgs it is still lite enough for portable use.
As with alot of new radios I have purchased and not reading the manual thoroughly, I decided too with the 100D as it has got the most amount of features I have seen in a radio of this calibre.
One of the fields I am very active in the hobby of Amateur Radio is Shortwave and V/UHF receiving, and the wideband receiver in the 100D is second to non, especially when the DSP is correctly used.
So now my portable station consists of the FT-100D, Outbacker 'Perthplus' antenna with an alloy tripod, MFJ-971 tuner (when needed) and a Schurr 'Portable Wabbler' CW paddle.
I will update this review when I return from the States and this is 1 radio I am really enjoying and love.
SM4MI Rating: 2002-08-01
Very good receiver Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The FT100D have a very good receiver.
I like the design of the radio. The DSP work just fine, could not dream of the DSP possibility.LCD is easy to read.
WA9UEW Rating: 2002-07-31
excellent mobile radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had the radio for almost a year now, and have been very pleased with the perfomance. For me, I bought the radio because it was a much better buy than the competition. It came with everything I needed in a mobile radio. It came with a touch tone mic. None of the others did. I have a Ford Taurus. Very noisey. The Noise blanker totally eliminates the noise. Best noise blanker that I have ever used. Great audio on both xmt. and rcv. I use it on both HF and UHF and VHF with excellent results from the mobile. In my opinion is the best radio in the field.