We talk to John Kruk of Yaesu about the new FT5DR on Coffee and Ham Radios

Yaesu misses the mark, the camera is still on a speaker mic accessory, LOL ROFLMAO, HELLO 2003!

For anyone interested, look up my EHAM review of the Yaesu VX8 in 2008... They STILL haven't modernized enough, though the color touch screen is a real good improvement.

...They ALL miss the mark, including the DMR, P25 or whatever flavor of digital is all the rage today... why?

1. None of these digital systems are interoperable.
2. Each manufacturer (Kenwood just took one side) has it's own digital platform.
3. With #1 above, you can't share data, like photos or voice clips or messages or QSOs for that matter, making "digital" on all this new equipment useless, unless you stick to a single ecosystem.

Yaay for the Pi bridge dongles... no thanks. Let's QSO straight away from the rig, duh!

APRS is probably the only useful digital system that is built in to HT's. It's UNIVERSAL (unless Icom pulls a #2 above with DPRS)

At least there is still Packet... right? Oh wait, Icom and Yaesu do not have capable open TNC's anyway, my bad... Plus, what packet standard does store-forward of modern attachments like a photo, voice clip or ADIF log? (Winlink?)

Again, I am talking sending useful stuff into the ether and getting useful stuff back, while using your handie-talkie, the way it was meant to be used... in your HAND, Outdoors, and away from your Shack.

The Kenwood TH-D74 is a useful tool, now discontinued. The TNC is not only open, it's USB AND Bluetooth accessible! I have never made a C4FM or D-STAR QSO as of yet, and yet I own HT's capable of those.

I have the most fun hoofing it up the mountain and breaking some squelches on good ol' analog FM .52
...you can honestly use any old HT and a decent antenna for this stuff.

For HT satellite use, it seems you need an Alinco or maybe a Kenwood TH-D72.

I wish I could be on a design team for an HT that hams actually want. Elecraft/Kenwood... contact me here... I'm good on the 'Zed...

73 de KA1YBS

 

Kinda like sending code with a simple deck of cards size transceiver or a $2,500 Transceiver, the operator on the receive end can not tell the. diffrence.

 

I don't know about receiver performance, but the Icom IC-V86 is an IP67 brick with a BNC antenna connector.

 

It's bigger than my VX-7 though. I have the V8 and the VX-7, I want the best features of each.

I also recall reading the V86's receiver wasn't as good at filtering intermod as the earlier IC-V* radios. I don't know how true that is, but I know my V8 will perform in locations where my VX-7 is deaf.

I have 3 HTs and use them in these scenarios:
Icom IC-V8: Must have the best 2m FM performance. I might be near other operators on 2m or near some sort of radio tower. Being able to run full power on AA batteries a plus (travel?). This is currently the "mobile" radio in my daily driver. With a 1/4 whip mounted on the rear hatch I've made contacts to SOTA activators 60 miles away (ok, they had a beam, but they still heard me 55).

Yaesu VX-7: I need a small radio that is durability and waterproof. I want 6m FM. This is my general purpose radio and chosen by default when there aren't more specific criteria. This is also my longest owned radio (bought new as a newly licensed Tech in 2006).

Kenwood TH-D74: I need APRS and/or GPS and/or full power 220mhz. VHF/UHF receiver performance not demonstrably better than the VX-7's.

Chris

 

https://media.giphy.com/media/3oz8xIuzYcJLlrVFII/giphy.gif
Maybe Linda Richman will do a Coffee Talk show on just the radio... OK, maybe daughters, dogs, and coffee, too.

 

Going to wait until it is released sometime next year?

 

Do you have any of the Yaesu gear that does C4FM ? I get a lot of enjoyment running Wires X. I'm glad you have fun with SOTA and such, but you're being a bit critical. Other folks like the various digital types out there. I don't like all the segmentation, but it is what it is for now, and will change more in the future.

 

Oh, not against the digital modes AT ALL, however, we both agree the fragmentation is absolutely a mess. I could see it getting worse once C4FM was introduced after DSTAR. Then DMR comes along, etc. I, like you, hope this somehow improves.

I have tried a C4FM repeater and never heard anyone. That was it, I gave up. I will say that I am not "into" repeaters much, and that leads to: "I am sure there are internet-connected goodies to behold on these modes that I am ashamed to be ignorant about."

APRS was designed to be a connection-less, low data rate, information exchange rate system. While it is a but kludgy at first to use the more "advanced" services, you realize that it is very limited in scope beyond simple query/response. This is by design. It's simple and effective and fast.

With the advent of DSTAR in the early 2000's, I was hoping to send email to a ham or non-ham with an attachment right from an HT... An attachment like a photo, taken, and sent, straight from the HT while on an mountain... (no cell app, no attached accessory) nope, not then, not now... Since we can't do that simple thing straight away with an HT, I'm absolutely going to be critical. I've written services for Arduino that do more than that with 50 lines of code. (Time for an FPGA HT folks...)

I hope there are many thousands of hams who enjoy the modes. I do wish they (manufacturers) could agree on an open standard and not only fix the fragmentation, but open it up so hobbyists could then create useful data-exchange services that live in this open world... like APRS does.

 

This will sound like sour grapes but unfortunately I don’t have as much use for an HT as I once did. First of all other than nets there is little radio activity on the repeaters, the repeater coverage on some of the repeaters isn’t quite as good as it once was. I seldom hear much chatter going to meetings or other events. It used to be we all packed an HT to call a friend while at the Hamfest if we saw something they might be interested in. Now we reach for the #@#$ cell phone instead! That’s right the cell phone has taken the place of the HT. It’s sad but true.

 

Yup. A cellphone is much more convenient and more likely to work if you're in range of a cell tower. And, if the person's phone is off, you can leave a message.

I use my HTs a lot, but not for things I'd use a cellphone for. Technology marches on...

Chris

 

As an FT3D, 7oD, FTDX10, hri-200, DR2x, and 2800 owner, I only have this to say: The ONLY HT ever made worth $500 is the Kenwood. People have lost their damn minds paying $500 for a 5 watt radio.

 

I have yet to encounter an HT with better FM receive performance than my Kenwood D72--besting the D74 side by side when I was partnered with a friend to work a race event. However; it not a simple HT, it is not small, and you would have to either get very lucky or pay an arm and a leg to obtain one.

 

According to this chart: VHF/UHF handheld performance comparison | QRPblog, the IC-V8 has better 2m performance than the D72 (at least in terms of sensitivity and ability to reject non-amateur interference), but not by a huge amount, probably not to an extent most of us would be able to discern in the field. The D72 is considerably better than the D74 and slightly better than the VX-7 (only drawing comparisons to radios I have).

What I've experienced firsthand is that while the IC-V8 is significantly better in difficult RF environments involving radio towers and such, it's not noticeably better in quieter locales, so I generally just use my VX-7 as it has other capabilities and is smaller (the latter being important if I'm toting other gear like an HF rig).

Chris

 

Sounds like the FT-5DR was made out of necessity due to discontinued or unavailable parts. Good on them too for adding a few improvements along the way as well with this new rig. I'm glad they made the effort to keep making handhelds where it seems like some other manufacturers are just about out of the handheld business altogether. I'm not the target market for this new rig as I don't use any of the digital modes at the moment, and I wouldn't spend that much for a handheld right now. I'd rather have a pair of VX-6R rigs for that money. I do think however it'll sell well for Yaesu to those who do use it's capabilities and are willing to spend the money for it. I just tend to go for analog rigs I can program from the front panel easily in the field if needed.

 

did they make the drop in charger last longer, i have 2 failed ones for the ft2d , but a nice take along ht , with a $20 mag mount i can scan the bands ( even CHP on low vhf ) and make a aprs track in the work car.