Yaesu Ft-60r

[scanner99]

What do you think about this radio for a first ham radio? What are the pros and the cons of this radio

 

[volstag]

The FT-60R is a great beginner radio. It does 2m and 70cm which will allow you to get onto 90% of the repeaters in your area. 1.25m and 6m are nice, but few people are on those bands, and 3 or 4 band radios tend to not excel at any of them. also with the keypad it will allow you to work with IRLP and echolink nodes from the local repeaters. If you put a better than stock antenna on it ( Diamond SRH77ca for example), and get a couple of AA battery packs you will be ready to go for many years to come.

I also recommend a speaker mic, which just makes things much easier.

Pros:
Inexpensive
AA battery packs power the radio for a good long while
will get you on 90% of the repeaters in your area
very sturdy
lots of useful features

Cons:
complicated menu system

i cant think of any more cons. I love my FT-60r

 

[wajenkins]

I agree with all of the above, buy the cable and programming software, not to say it is not handy to learn of the functions of the keypad, but the software and cable make life easier. Great first radio, I would had a high gain antenna as the stock antenna is a little lacking an extra battery is also handy.

Best regards,
Allen J.
K5WAJ

 

[SouthSoundScanner]

I have an FT-60R on Ebay if you want to check it out,
YAESU FT-60R Dual Band Handheld with USB Cable - eBay (item 180343823040 end time Apr-12-09 12:00:00 PDT)

 

[NeFire242]

Yes buy an extra battery, and save the "AA" battery pack for when you're in dire need of power.

I have a buddy who has the cable and software and it saves a lot of time. Get use to the menu, all Yeasu radio's are menu driven the same way so once you own one, you can run any Yaesu radio which is nice.

It is a good radio. Also like the fact the belt clip is a real belt clip, not the kind that comes with some scanners. Its good and solid.

 

[kato]

Good all around HT... for me personally, I don't care too much for the squelch knob which gets bumped at times and blows noise if I'm not a CT memory.
Bought mine in 2005.

 

[KevinGC]

Love my FT-60R. Have had it a little over a year now and it gets a LOT of use during ARES events.

 

[emtcop]

Best Ht all arounf

the Ft060r is the best all around Ht it does everything that you need it to do the battery last a good long day and but remember to alweay have a extra one for a back up every ham should have atleast one

 

[kb0nly]

The 60r is a great radio, got one here too. I had a VX7R but it was just more then i needed, so i scaled back to a nice basic dual bander, the 60r fit the bill.