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Reviews For: Yaesu FRG-7

Category: Receivers: General Coverage

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Review Summary For : Yaesu FRG-7
Reviews: 53MSRP: 300.00
Description:
General Coverage Receiver
Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.crocuta.com/FRG7/index.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00534.7
VK3YWB Rating: 2014-05-02
Classic Radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
What can I say that others haven't already said?

Acquired mine at a garage sale in 2011 for the princely sum of $50.

Although the leaves on the i.f. board lead me to believe it had been stored in a shed, the only work it needed was the mode and band switches. These responded well to switch cleaner and have been flawless ever since.

The set is in really good condition apart from the leaves, minimal scratches, no dents. No real sign of wear and tear. It has some leds replacing bulbs that failed.

Agree with the SSB filter. 6khz does result in a bit of "monkey chatter" but otherwise a nice performer that gives ATS909 a run for it's money.

Although there is a bit more to tuning it than other sets it does become 2nd nature readily and you can quickly roam about the various bands in search of interesting stations.

I do find the gain switch has to be in the centre position (maximum) for 500 - 1600 khz otherwise there is noise but no signals.

The FRG-7 is 35 years old and still performing well, my ATS909 is in for repairs after only ten years. It seems more than certain that this radio will keep you listening to HF for the longest time
KYSPENTAY1 Rating: 2012-01-03
Well Proven Design Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Ok, I'm not going to tell you that the FRG-7 is the greatest DX machine ever. Of course, it's not. But, I do believe it's a pretty darn good receiver. With even a modest improvement in filtering and a decent antenna, one can do some serious DXing with this radio. My only major complaint about this rig is the lack of a genuine RF gain control, which would help a lot when trying to get the necessary S/N ratio to copy weak sideband signals when noise is high. Still, there's something of a prince within this Frog.

One thing I really appreciate about the FRG-7 is its durability. I think there are only about 15 electrolytic capacitors in the thing. If you replace all those and touch up the alignment a bit, it's as good as new. Unlike many of the 1980s-era receivers that followed, the FRG-7 has almost no exotic, hard-to-find parts in it. I've never heard of any part in this radio that has a history of repeated failures. Many Frogs have gone deaf, but the culprit is almost always lighting-caused damage to the front-end FET. Very easy to remedy with a modern equivalent, like the NTE454. To me, the analog display is actually a blessing. I did purchase an external digital display for mine, but, in all honesty, I rarely use it. I think the dial drum on the Frog is plenty accurate for me in most situations.

In summary, if you're looking for a vintage shortwave receiver that will require little, if any, work done to it and does a great job of pulling in stations on all bands, I heartily recommend the Yeasu FRG-7. If you do decide to work on it(like replacing the "barn door" standard filter), you will find the FRG-7 very accommodating to your soldering iron.
SIERRAHOTEL Rating: 2012-01-01
A classic receiver! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I had a Sears FRG-& years ago, but sold it when I bought some other radio. I always wanted another one, and a while back, a little over a year ago, I found one on Ebay that looked good, in the pics, at least. Sadly, not only was it in poor shape due to neglect that the seller hid very well, but it was damaged in shipment due to bad packing. I started looking for another one, but I lost a lot of auctions. I got the first one going, the damage was mostly cosmetic, but the alignment is a bit off. Just before Christmas, I saw a lot of them on ebay again, and I bid on several of them, and I won not one, but two of them! The first one was very cheap, due to it being a bit rusty, and was slightly damaged due to bad packing again, but the other one looks new! It has one tiny scratch on the front panel, and that's it. The manual shows a lot of wear, but the radio itself is in amazing shape. I'm going to take the rusty one and paint the case after sanding all the rust off of it, and change the filter for improved SSB operation, and get it aligned, along with changing out the caps which seem to be ok, but a couple look a little swollen. The nice one is staying untouched, and the first one will be a parts donor for the two new ones, as it's in by far the worst shape of the three, both electronically, and cosmetically.

Pros:

Built like a tank, and amazingly, a lot of parts are still available, like the front panel switches and audio amp IC! Simple to use once you get used to it. Decent audio.

Cons:

Analog dial is "close", but you never know exactly where you are unless you hear the station say it, or it's WWV, etc. Overloads on a good antenna. SSB filtering is way too wide.

All in all, it's a really fun radio to play with, and if you accept that you have to twiddle knobs constantly, a radio that works amazingly well.
RAMBULLY Rating: 2011-12-06
I have been very pleased with my Yaesu-Musen radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned my frog-7 for 35 years. I bought it new in Jacksonville, Fla and it has traveled with me to 35 of the 50 states during my working as a DJ in commercial radio. This set has never let me down with it's crisp reception, clear tones and ease of operation. I am amazed how easy it picks out hard to hear stations and have had no mechanical problems
except replacement of some light bulbs and a little drifting until the set warms up. I have listened and used very expensive monitoring equipment and this Yaesu holds its own.
K4DSB Rating: 2011-05-02
Excellent General Coverage Rec. Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Obtained on eBay in the mid $100's and in excellent condition I'm impressed with the quality and performance. Not as accurate as a digital display receiver but quite usable for general coverage and SSB/CW with suprising low drift. This triple conversion receiver is very different in the tuning department than most GC receivers! It uses a WADLEY LOOP System, which uses the harmonics from a 1Mhz osc to form the local osc/mixer circuits. You tune in 1 Mhz segments and have to 'lock the loop' again if you tune into another frequency range. The receiver covers 500Khz to 29.9 Mhz and is a little broad in the IF stage..however that makes for a little better quality audio on SW broadcast stations.. ON SSB and CW it's OK... but the receiver sensitivity is VERY good..
I love this receiver and for the money is better than almost all GC receivers (of vintage age) that I have owned, Including some of my drakes
LW8DJI Rating: 2011-01-20
good buys Time Owned: more than 12 months.
despite its age, is an excellent receiver, assembly quality is very good, all original keys and potentiometers, has little shift, it is pleasing to the ear, although a bit wide to the standards of today, is much better than the drake ssr-1 and realistic dx300-dx302
also it is a classic, the used market in your favor ... for now .... is good to buy one to save. good example of the golden age of yaesu

a pesar de los aƱos que tiene , es un excelente receptor, la calidad de armado es muy buena , todas las llaves y potenciometros originales, tiene poco corrimiento, es agradable al oido, aunque un poco ancho para los estandares de hoy en dia, es mucho mejor que el drake ssr-1 y realistic dx300 - dx302
ademas ya es un clasico , el mercado usado lo favorece... por ahora.... es bueno comprar uno para guardar. buen ejemplo de la epoca dorada de yaesu
TERRYW Rating: 2010-07-03
Great old analog receiver Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Solid old boat anchor and a welcome addition to the collection. High-quality Japanese construction holding up well 30+ years later.

Pros:
Very sensitive
Very good sound and clarity
Selectable USB/LSB
Very good preselector
Very accurate analog tuning
Accurate analog dial reading
Handles fading distortion in AM quite well
Automatic Noise Limiter effectively reduces static bursts
Very good dial S meter
Very low noise floor
Haven't noticed any images from local powerhouses
Many mods available

Cons:
Small drift makes ECSS difficult: you'll constantly be retuning
Stock filter a bit wide, so selectivity is only fair
Tone switch isn't too useful, should have been a notch filter instead
Triple-conversion tuning could be too cumbersome for some, though I like it
Some counter-intuitive labeling, though you get used to it

If you think you'll like it, you probably will. Very reasonable resale prices, especially for what you're getting.
W6QT Rating: 2010-04-06
Gets High Reviews for a Reason Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
With replacement of old caps & alignment, this receiver works very well with the Wadley Loop system. It seems to be built very well and is held in high regard by radio amateurs. I'm happy to have one and use it just about every day.
ERIEDXER Rating: 2009-10-28
Hard to beat the Frog Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The FRG-7 is a great little analog SS receiver. Not a lot of bells and whistles or even a digital readout, but it gets the job done right. It's fun for me to operate these types of classics, and the FRG-7 has great sensitivity and audio clarity. For this generation of analog solid state receiver, it was one of the best and still holds its ground today for the SWL/DX'er.

G8ITB Rating: 2008-04-18
Just Nice to Use! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
The lst time I owned an FRG-7 was a couple of decades ago! But, I was given an immaculate model a few months ago, still in its original box and packing case. Bought by the original(previous) owner from Western Electronics in Louth in 1978 (the dispatch stamp is on the packing case). The "Ambit International" switched narrow bandwidth modifiation, with a 2.1 KHz mechanical filter, has been properly implemented as per the RSGB RadCom article and switches with the ANL switch. It is a later model with the 'fine tune' control.
It had not been used for a decade or so; all it needed was a gentle clean and a squirt of Servisol on the potentiometers and away she went!
It takes a while to get used to the peculiar way you have to operate the 'old girl' - but she is a great SWL radio and with the narrow bandwidth modification manages to hold her own on the amateur bands - just!
Not a modern DSP all-singing; all-dancing receiver - but still a "classic" in her own right!
I notice on E-Bay that FRG-7's command a higher price in the USA than in Europe - so they have become collectable items; have they?