Do you think or wonder if the Yaesu FT-710 is a field radio? I hiked up a short summit with a 40-pound pack to do a SOTA/POTA with it at Bare Hill (W2WE-098, US-5098) in WNY. Here's how it went, what I brought, and my takeaways.
Give it a try sometime and let us know how it goes! My club has the external speaker for this 710, but I'm not a fan of it, since I primarily use it for portable operations and it's just something extra to carry. I'm sure it's better when using it at home though.
One more question. How to enable CW break-in with keyer, while on USB mode in FT-710? I am unable to check in to morning SSB nets on CW because my keyer does not get enabled while I am on USB mode. There is a screen shot of the function menu at the end of this short video clip.
I'm not sure. I've only tried CW once and it was with my Icom 705. Next time I get my hands on my club's 710 I'll check it out.
Well, the FT-710 Field comes shipped with a handle for the purchaser to install. I guess that makes it "Field" capable. It doesn't hurt that it's compact (but it's not ultra-compact), runs on 12v power, and comes with a tuner built in. And it's a damn good performing radio. Maybe not best for challenging SOTA activations, but plenty of POTA and other field activities benefit from rigs like this one!
