YAESU still provides quality,case,knobs very good materials...like other Japan products....but isn't Kenwood,Icom etc...
Not really. The Flex M transceivers are most assuredly SDRs, but they do have knobs...Flex pasted a Maestro on the front. Why? That's what people want, SDR or not.
If there are 20 hams calling a DX station and running 100 Watts the 200 watt station has the advantage. (antennas being equal gain, distance, etc.) 200 Watts with a high gain antenna will be giving 600 watts and a vertical station a run for the money.
And from my perspective the addition of the Maestro created a departure from a "true" SDR which was meant to be PC controlled. And this is just my spin on things - nothing important.
I just wish the FT-DX101D and FT-DX101MP had full duplex for satellites, plus everything the FT-847 has.
But the thing is, whether you've got the Maestro or a M version, you can still control it with a PC. Just like the no-knob models. If you're still bothered, you can disconnect the Maestro and hide it in a closet, or you can turn your M to the wall so you don't have to see those darned old knobs!
Another part of The digital revolution, year’s ago They talked about hf Going digital, I’m not so sure That I like It Though.
At the moment, I use an ICOM 7800 which is like a small suitcase sitting on the bench. I'm looking into getting one of the Expert Electronics Sun SDR Pro2 radios. The reason being is will free up a lot of space because I can make all the big changes using my trackball and computer screen. I don't really understand why someone would trade in something like what I've got and replace it with an SDR radio of exactly the same size with all the knobs and buttons
The real question is have Yaesu solved the ultimate problems all British Hams want solved? 1 Can it make a decent cup of tea and 2 Can it stop a woman from nagging that your on the radio to much ? When these pressing technological problems are solved we may finally have found the ultimate rig !