Yaesu Announces FT-25R and FT-65R Handheld Transceivers

I have been away, and have not been able to respond to posts as I normally would.
So if you have responded to one of my posts I am not ignoring you, I just haven't got around to answering it yet.

Also I am currently having a problem posting and liking other posts, because it does not appear to be working very well.

73 to all.

 

I have that on my Yaesu FT-1XDR.. great radio.

 

I have owned the FT2DR, The OS was as buggy as hell and required a battery pull often. The display is nothing at all like the advertising images which are an outright lie. My particular radio was in comparison to my FT-1XDR deaf. The touch screen is not glass it is soft plastic, like a coke bottle. In the electronics world that sort of technology is archaic at best. Yaesu should be ashamed of that alone, it's a joke. A $2.00 display on a $400 radio.. no thanks. With a soft plastic display to claim the radio is rugged is a lie.

My FT-1XDR can get a GPS fix indoors during a rain storm, the FT2 can't get a GPS fix indoors at all, even on a sunny day.

 

I've been a Yaesu fan for a long time... I really do not like any of the new radios. I still got my first HT when I got my tech ticket 8+ years ago. That was a Yaesu VX7R in black. I didn't like the design because of the swivel belt clip. One day I lost the radio on a golf course in a ditch and didn't even know it was gone until I left. I had to search all over the golf course for about 2 hours until I found it. So I did without it for many years, mostly because I have a FT2800M in my truck. The only time I used my VX7R was during public service events. Even then, I didn't like it.

I still have the VX7R, only because it is a neat radio to play with, but practicality is just... well, like a child's toy. I just want something I can quickly plug a frequency in or a repeater and be done with it, AND for it to be dirt cheap if it got broke, lost, or stolen.

The radio I went for was the Alinco DJ500T. Been using it every single day for the past year and a half. Best radio I ever got. I got three antennas for it, one a Comet SMA209, Comet SMA24J along with the stock antenna. Which, for the win, the stock antenna is BETTER than the stock antenna for the VX7R. I can run on 1 battery pack all day and use it on high power for about 5 hours of talk time. The battery will stay charged in receive mode practically all week if I don't transmit, running it for about 2 hours a day. It doesn't get obnoxiously hot when doing long QSOs either. The VX7R gets painful to hold if you use it a lot at high power.

All in all, I do not know why Yaesu would make these two radios... I have no idea.

Don't get me wrong, I like Yaesu, but for cripe's sake... we don't need more of these type radios!

 

Yes, I don't know if you read the thread but I had one of those too, it's a very good radio.

73.

 

You're very welcome

Even better though: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-carrots-improve-your-vision/

Eat different kinds of vegetables every day!

Stay healthy and 73


Mark.

 

I wish it had RX for the aircraft band (I like to monitor the tower of a local general aviation airport) and I would like to see an available AA battery case like the FT-60 has.

 

The new FT-65 touts "louder audio." If anyone needs louder audio than an FT-60R, then they REALLY need an audio accessory (earpiece or speaker-mic). If your environment is so loud that you need to crank ANY radio up to its max, then you are bothering others with your audio, and really wasting battery energy.

Yes - using a speaker-mic or earpiece saves on battery life. What kills batteries? Keying the mic and turning up the receive audio. Place a speaker-mic on your shoulder or use an earpece, and what automatically occurs? You turn DOWN the volume.

The new '65 touts a screen that will kill your nighttime vision - it is bright. Ever wonder why most law enforcement rigs have amber displays? Because Motorola and Kenwood commercial manufacturers know what is best for those environments. Amber is best on the eyes ...

Lithium battery pack on the new '65. So we can expect about one-half-to-two-thirds the number of discharge-charge cycles of NiMH packs. The new pack IS a little higher capacity ...

I am still using 2700mAH NiMH AA cells in FBA-25 packs on my FT-60R radios. AND by turning my TX power DOWN to 2W, improving the antenna with a Smiley 270A (I mean, if you are not making it at 2W with a good antenna, you're not gonna make it with 4W), and using audio accessories --- I am quadrupling battery longevity as compared to those using stock duck, 4W, and cranking up the audio.

The FT-60R offers a roomy 1000 memories. The new '65 offers 233.

So - at first glance - I didn't purchase one at HRO-Burbank this week.

Clint K6LCS
http://www.work-sat.com
1-800-999-SATS

 

The slow death of Yaesu is a text book example of what happens when you don't actually listen to your customers.

How many years were people telling them exactly what was wanted?

How many years did they ignore the calls for an updated versions of the 897/857/817 (still waiting)?! Those would have sold very well but the feedback was on deaf ears.

Oh well, eventually someone else will hear what people want and make it.

 

Like most others I'll stick with my FT60. I'll admit that Li-Ion battery would be nice but only if you can still get an alkaline battery pack that still gives you 5W, which is one of the reasons I picked the Ft-60's for my wife and myself. One of the other big reasons is the top panel squelch. A menu controlled squelch is one of the worse ideas the radio manufacturers ever devised. As far and comparing any Yaesu with the likes of a Baofeng or any of the other similar Chinese made junk is ridiculous! I wouldn't even put one of those pieces of garbage in my backup go bag much less try to use one for every day comms. They"re garbage even by Chinese standards. I mean really! Would you want your life depending on one? I don't think so.

 

I really wish they would have made the FT891 like an updated FT857... Would've been a perfect opportunity to gain momentum on a new product. Most folks around where I am would like the FT891 IF it had VHF/UHF like the FT857. The folks around here asked "Why would you buy a mobile radio that had no basic VHF/UHF capabilities?" Exactly -- Yaesu didn't listen to the customers.

Another example, one of the local clubs in my neck of the woods got a Yaesu Fusion repeater DR-1X for "discounted club cost" from Yaesu. They were having problems sourcing parts for the aging GE MASTR II. They go to put it in, and the squelch settings are atrocious, the whole menu system is atrocious, and it's half deaf! Not to mention there is no courtesy beep and the whole setup seems so hodgepodge. They did exactly what they said: Link two FT-400DRs together with some cheesy interface. I could do better with an Arduino. So after sourcing parts to get the GE MASTR II up and running, they ripped the DR-1X right on out. It's also funny that the DR-1X audio quality sounds like a tin can on FM.

I'd love an update to my aging FT857D. I just don't see anything calling me to "want" a new radio.

And C4FM? That's a joke in of itself.

 

think about it. Providing other sources of info besides Gigaparts. You're welcome.

 

Believe me, it's a dual band transceiver. See the rubber plug on the back? That's to flip the micro switch to allow firmware and vocoder updates for Fusion.

 

It's got a flashlight!

 

Well then I am sold!