| AF5CC |
Rating:  |
2025-01-12 | |
| A worthwhile upgrade |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Updated Review-January 2025
In the past 3 years I have picked up 3 Ft450 series radios for less than $400 each. This is the best value in radio-to get an HF/6m radio with all of these features for less than $400. Look at the used ads, people want $350 or more for 30 year old radios (TS140, fT840) that need extra filters, outboard keyers, DSP boxes, etc. You can get that all in one package in a 10 year old rig for the same or less price after you include the accessories the other radios would need.
Just picked up a Yaesu FT450D last week for $380 or so after selling the extras that came with it that I didn't need. Tried out a Kenwood TS590 for a while, it is a great rig, but someone offered me a price I couldn't pass up for it so when and got a FT450D instead for about half the price. I like the small size and the included voice keyer, try finding a VGS-1 for the TS590 at a reasonable price today. Before the 590 I had used 2 different FT450ATs. One did go bad on transmit so I found another one for $350 or so. Previous one cost me $375.
Just ran the FT450D in the NAQP CW yesterday for around 315 QSOs in a few hours of operating. The 300hz CW filter is really nice. The FT450AT has a 650hz CW filter, which works but makes you use the filter between your ears more.
The FT450 interfaces nicely with N1MM so you can use the function buttons on your keyboard to send the CW or voice programmed memories. You can program the UP/DOWN/FAST buttons on the MH-31 mic to do this also, but it is easier to just tap the F1, F2 and F3 keys. Email me if you need to CAT commands to program N1MM to do this. Also, use the PCC-450 control program from Yaesu (free!) to program your CW memories. Much easier just typing them in than to use the VFO dial. I have used this program remotely to work a few DX stations on CW or SSB while out of the shack-how cool is that!
80 meters was kind of noisy last night in the contest. Using the Contour Control and Notch Filter were able to really soften the noise, reducing operator fatigue. A manual notch is great for doing this on CW, can't do that with an autonotch filter.
The backlit buttons on the FT450D are nice, as my shack is kind of dark. Putting red lettering on black buttons on the FT450AT wasn't the greatest decision. They could have made it easier to see by making the faceplate white like in the Yaesu FT107M, probably the best looking radio ever made!
The antenna tuner doesn't work as good as the one in the Kenwood TS590, but it is what it is. Does good enough for what Yaesu claims it will do.
So, if you are looking for a decent priced rig with good performance and lots of features, check out the fT450 series. It does seem like this radio might have been made simpler for newer hams with its 3 mic gain settings (no all knobs to the right) and 3 filter positions, but seasoned hams will love this as well. I have been licensed 45 years, have 8 band DXCC and 328 countries worked, 685 6 meter grids worked, and this is still my go to radio!
ORIGINAL REVIEW------------------------- |
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| K5TED |
Rating: |
2024-08-08 | |
| Radio is fine. Physical issue is not. |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
Just got this radio and am very impressed with the performance/$$
Not impressed with the naked PCB edge connected DB-9 port. Not a good design. Should be anchored to the chassis and fed to the board with a ribbon cable.
~6 month review - 8/7/2024
Still impressed with the radio performance at the price point. It is still a good buy on the used market in the $400 - $550 range as there is no equivalent in desktop form factor with the IF DSP features. I use the radio as my "bench" operating position, and as yet another SWL workhorse, remotely controlled from across the room, synched up with other radios using HRD.
Specs say it is 6kHz max receive bandwidth. It does sound that way on AM. Not a perfect casual SWL radio, but pretty good on noisy band conditions.
Lastly, the transmit audio. It is not good with the MH-31 mic unless you do a bit of tweaking. I run mine at the 9 setting on EQ, Normal level, and get "good" audio reports. With a MD-100 desk mic I get "excellent" audio reports at the 8 setting and Normal.
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| WY1P |
Rating: |
2023-07-08 | |
| More features than perfoemance and GREAT service from Yaesu. |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I only use this for FT8. It has a very easy to use digital interface. Excellent features for digital modes. I have two issues with this radio. With the stock MH-31 mic, people tell me it sounds "terrible". That's the exact word they use, most of them. I was making repairs to my usual radio, TenTec Jupiter. People told me to hurry (seriously and literally) and get my Jupiter finished up. I've tried the mic EQ settings and I have the best one selected. I don't much care because I use it for FT8. But the receiver is worse. The notch filter takes so long to find a carrier that it will be gone by the time I can find it, rendering it useless. Filtering and noise reduction aren't great either. Can be difficult to hear weak stations in a crowded band. But this radio is loaded with many features not found on some high end radios. Before I got the Jupiter, my FT-450D was my only radio. I bought it lightly used from HRO. A few months later I sent it to Yaesu for repair. It was making 150 watts and the ALC was acting oddly. But only intermittently (the hardest to troubleshoot). For several days, Yaesu techs couldn't get it to act up. About a week later the service manager called me and he was all excited. They found the problem and fixed it. A surface mount resistor had no solder on one end. It was only touching the solder pad. And then it wasn't! Great service from Yaesu: Even though the
radio was long off warranty AND I wasn't the original purchaser, Yaesu said it was a factory defect and did the repair and return shipping all for free. Awesome service from Yaesu. |
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| KD2ZYW |
Rating: |
2022-12-31 | |
| Great radio ! |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
My first HF rig - bought it used.
Just the right balance of features so as to not be overwhelming.
Running 50 to 60 watts with a 10M horizontal dipole in the loft, I have been able to reach Germany and numerous states in the first few days of using this radio.
Very solid build and feels rugged. |
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| ON6KE |
Rating: |
2022-05-14 | |
| Shortcut to change RFPower and CWSpeed setting |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
We all know that Kenwood's DSP - have a TS-590SG - leaves to be desired but hate to admit that I today found out that my FT-450D's DSP has better NR and is better at isolating a CW signal in a busy contest..
In a few reviews here I saw people stating that changing RFPower and CWSpeed on the 450D is a hassle. I found myself a brand new 450D today, read the manual front to back and found that the DSP/SEL button can have a 2nd function, direct access to the RFPower and CWSpeed buttons being an option. A decent little rig excellent for taking with you on vacation, impossible to not like it. :-) |
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| K2WPM |
Rating: |
2021-04-25 | |
| Great radio fixed or portable |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I love the 450D. I have used it as my fixed station radio, as well as for portable activations. The best feature is the internal antenna tuning unit, which easily matches anything from 3:1. I actually think it matches even more than that. It's great when setting up portable, not to have to worry about bringing a tuner. Even after I got an Icom IC-7300, I have continued to use the two radios almost interchangeably. But the IC has the cutsie waterfall, slightly better audio and the screen is more readable. (That's the only "con" of the 450D, I find it hard to see the screen in bright sunlight.) |
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| W8NOR |
Rating: |
2021-01-19 | |
| Great for FT8 |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I still love this radio but it has been discontinued (as of last July even though still on the Yaesu website). I hope for an updated version with more current technology. If you find it on the used market it's still a great buy.
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Earlier 5-star review posted by W8NOR on 2017-10-03
I bought this rig specifically as a backup to my FT-DX1200 and to be used on vacation or in the back yard. Most reviewers agree that there are a few flaws, but for the price you can hardly do much better. The relays and fan are noisy, the controls are not what I'm used to from the bigger sibling, and the speaker isn't great. The tuning knob is small and the tuning not as smooth as in the 1200. But this little guy/gal performs very well and is doing what I wanted in a 2nd rig. The receiver performs very close to the FT-DX1200 and the DSP works very well.
I have used it primarily on FT8 over the last few weeks and it works great. Transmit audio appears to be good and the interface to my laptop and Signalink is solid. I have decided to use this in my shack as the primary digital transceiver and use the FT-DX1200 for CW.
The FT-450D works well on CW but the relay is too noisy for QSK and access to CW speed control is a little awkward but adequate. I suggest an external keyer if you work mostly CW. And an external speaker or headphones are helpful.
This a great product with Yaesu quality and performance but be aware of the flaws if you want this to be anything other than a starter rig or a backup. I hope that Yaesu will update firmware with improvements such as reducing the intermittent annoying fan noise. On the hardware side they need to have a quieter transmit relay. Still, this rig deserves a 5. |
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| AC5XP |
Rating: |
2020-09-26 | |
| Probably the best transceiver on the market for this price! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I bought this radio about 3 years ago from HRO, as quick second radio (make that tenth radio, probably closer to the truth ????). It was on sale, I paid only $600 for it (after mail-in rebate) during a Black Friday promotion, which included shipping.
It arrived quickly and well packed.
I have always liked Yaesu. In fact, my first HF radio was a Yaesu, an FT-707S, many years ago. And I have owned many Yaesu radios since. I do believe Icom has surpassed them as the number-one ham radio manufacturer (just my opinion, I could be wrong), but Yaesu is still an excellent ham radio brand, no doubt about that.
Back to the FT-450D. Excellent receiver, perfect modulation (ALSO in AM and FM!) and so many features it is too much to list it here. And covers 50 MHz as well for this $600!
Remember the days where we had to shell out hundred of dollars for additional crystal filters after a radio purchase? Those days are over. The FT-450D does it all in the digital domain. And the filter sharpness that you get with this radio’s IF DSP is much better than any crystal filter ever could offer.
Another nice feat: Very easy to modify for MARS/CAP (I like to be able to use my ham radios as a signal generator when I service vintage receivers/transceivers).
One would think such a low-priced radio cannot be built properly. Nothing could be farther from the truth. This radio is built like a battleship in a diecast alloy frame, one tough little bugger the FT-450D is. High quality PCBs throughout, and very sturdy bezel and controls. And an excellent readable LCD display. And made in Japan, not China.
Just for fun, I compared this radio against a top-of-the-line transceiver from the Nineties: the FT-1000(D) which I also have owned in the past. That transceiver set me back thousands of dollars in the day. Worth every penny then though, it was (is) an excellent transceiver. Even up to this day. But just for fun, take the QST test reports for the FT-1000D and the FT-450D, and do some comparing.
20 kHz blocking gain compression for the FT-450D: 137dB. For the FT-1000D: 143dB (both best case)
Third order receiver IMD at 20 kHz: FT-450D: 101dB. FT-1000D: 98 dB (both best case)
Minimum discernable signal (noise floor): FT-450D: -137dBm FT-1000D: -137dBm (both best case)
Transmitter composite noise away from the carrier: FT-450D: -120 dBc/Hz. FT-1000D: -110dBc/Hz
As you see, the FT-450D performs perfectly on par with a top-of-the-line transceiver from the Nineties that cost more than 10 times as much in the day (taking inflation into account). And on top of that, the FT-450D gives you six meters as well.
Ham radio an expensive hobby? Nonsense. It is cheaper than ever these days to buy first class transceivers….
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| WB4TJH |
Rating: |
2020-08-15 | |
| Best buy and easy to use. |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
No radio is perfect, but this little unit works well for general amateur use. I had the original model FT450 for a couple of years, sold it to a friend, and bought the upgraded FT450D and it was well worth the upgrade. The DSP works well, the menue is easy to navigate, and the radio in general is very easy to use. I have owned dozens of HF radios over the decades but this is one of my favorites. I also have an FT950 which has more features, but really like using the FT450D because it is more simple to use. This is a good radio for the money, and probably the best out there for the features and price. It is also compact enough for mobile and portable use and the tuner works well. After about several years of use, I will say I have no complaints about it and it has had no problems .I don't think you can buy a better or more practical radio in its price class.
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Earlier 5-star review posted by WB4TJH on 2016-06-28
I owned the original FT450, minus the tuner, for several years and was quite happy with it. I sold that radio to a friend, and then acquired an FT-450D several years ago. I also own an FT-950. The FT-950 has more adjustments, and offers more adjustable parameters than does the FT-450D, but I find myself using the FT-450D more and more because of its simplicity of use and its outstanding performance for 90% of my day to day operation. I'm not a DX hound, and abhor the confusion and bedlam of contests, and don't need the "contest" quality, $3000 radios. For general ragchewing, casual CW, and ease of use, including portable, I find the FT-450D very close to an ideal radio for me. I'm even considering trading my perfect FT-950 for one of the soon to be available Yaesu FT-891 mobile radios. In the meantime, after 45 years on HF and having owned dozens of HF transceivers of all brands, the small, portable FT-450D with the 300hz CW filter, and other enhancements over the original FT-450, fits my needs very, very well. Both of my FT-450 models have been totally trouble free for the past 5 years. It's a darn good little radio.
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Earlier 4-star review posted by WB4TJH on 2015-07-28
I bought one of the original FT450s minus the tuner new and got good service out of it for a couple of years. I sold it to a friend and then bought an FT-950. After my 950 developed a problem, I bought an almost new FT-450D and I must say, the improvements made to it over the original are very welcome. The lighted buttons and the 300Hz CW filter really make this little radio shine. I'm going to get the FT950 repaired and will be keeping the FT-450D which will make a handy radio for portable and maybe even mobile use. I gave it a 4 rating, but I really rate it a 4.5 overall. It's a good radio for a new ham or an old one who wants a good, solid, functional all around radio without having to hock your soul to buy one.
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Earlier 5-star review posted by WB4TJH on 2014-11-20
I just bought this radio used from another ham, and am very pleased with it. I bought one of the original FT450s without an antenna tuner several years ago and was very pleased with its over all performance, but decided to sell it to a friend to finance a new FT-950. That original FT450 is still going strong. But I wanted a full featured, small radio for portable use and the FT950 is a bit large and heavy for portable use. I have a 10 watt Elecraft K2 for qrp, which can be turned into a 100 watter, but a used FT450D can be had for little more than what I needed for my K2. The FT450D offers the lighted buttons and has a new 300Hz CW filter in addition to the 500Hz of the older Ft450. That makes a big difference in a crowded CW band. Some reviewers have bad mouthed the built in tuner's limited 3:1 SWR tuning ability, but the fact is, only Ten Tec and Eecraft offer built in tuners with a wider range, 10:1. So the more limited range of the Yaesu tuner is right in league with radios offered by other makers, including Icom and Kenwood. My antenna systems consists of a tuned trap vertical, ground mounted with 1000 feet of buried radios, so I rarely need the tuner for that. I also have a 135 foot dipole up 50 feet, fed with balanced feed line. I use an external Palstar tuner for that, so the limited 3:1 capability of the FT450D is not an issue, and I usually keep it disengaged. I find the menu system easy to use and have the CS button programmed for a 10 watt signal so I can tune my Palstar. That is a very neat feature of the radio. No radio is perfect, but the little FT450D has a good receiver, tho not as selective as my Elecraft, but it has a good DSP system that is effective and easy to use. I get good reports on transmit audio quality with the stock hand mike, but also have a Yaesu desk mike that will probably get some use with it also. So for the money, the FT450D is a real bargain radio, and especially now that Yaesu has cut the price to $699. They undoubtedly are going to release a new radio to replace it, but I'm happy with the FT450D, especially for what I paid for it. I'm sure what ever replaces it will be a nice unit too, but that will cost a lot more money, After 45 years on HF, I pretty well know what I need, and the little FT-450D has some nice improvements over the original model and takes care of my needs. I'm primarily just a rag chewer. It's a good, solid little radio, and there is nothing else to buy to take advantage of what the radio can do. For that and its ease of operation, I rate it a 5. Though I have only had this radio a short time, I did use the original FT450 for several years, so I feel I have had enough experience to give it an honest appraisal of the newer FT450D. |
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| KI5IHU |
Rating: |
2020-06-28 | |
| Solid radio |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
This radio is a great little rig. Its only down side is the built-in tuner should go to maybe 5:1 instead of three. But it receives and transmits with a good signal, The speaker could also be better but I usually have headphones on anyway so that isn't a big deal with me. For my first HF rig I don't think I could have done any better with the money
I had. I have received stations from the east coast and have transmitted to Florida with a EFRW. Now have a vertical that I am tuning and will be adding a 600w amp soon. This is a solid radio without a lot of frills, and is fairly easy to operate. |
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