Yaesu: New Yaesu FT-3DR

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AK9R

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I found it very easy to set up after just skimming the manual; within an hour I had our local repeater frequencies and my hotspot frequency programmed, and was monitoring YSF off of my hotspot.
....
Set up APRS today, again without really looking at the manual (except to see which band the TNC operates on, (and it’s the B band).
I found your comments to be quite interesting since there are a number of people on Facebook who can't seem to figure out how to program this radio. They get responses along the lines of "have you read the manual?". Which then spirals off into a discussion of the FIVE manuals that Yaesu has published for this radio.

You must be smarter than those folks on Facebook. ;)
 

WQ2H

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I've actually been looking forward to this for quite some time. Price is a little steep - but love it or leave it that's Yaesu.

I'm one of those few people I know who seem to get along with the FT2DR. I've had it since it was released and I love it - have the camera mic as well and it works great with the C4FM / Fusion repeater we have here in our town. If I read this correctly - they dropped the capability for image transfer, and added the audio recording, multi channel GPS receiver, and Bluetooth (and of course the display). I also like the additional power settings - could be a huge battery saver.

Hopefully they did a better job with the GPS antenna placement - that's my only real beef with the FT2. (well....maybe the LCD could have been a little better...... :cool:)

All in all - looks like a really nice HT.

73
Jim, WQ2H / WK2XAH


Looks like they crammed a FTM-400DR display on a FT-2DR. Nice.

Yaesu FT-3DR C4FM/FM Dual Band Transceiver
 

vagrant

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Very nice !! Still monochrome images I suppose ? (always pushing the envelope.....) :)
Having used the Yaesu camera mic with my 400xdr, which also has a color screen, I doubt it will be monochrome.

Still, I have a $5 app on my phone that will TX/RX SSTV modes and it works well as an alternative with most any transceiver using the same app or whatever various SSTV programs. Options are good.
 

WQ2H

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I have only been using the FT2 only with other FT2s, and I had totally forgotten that the QVGA format was capable of color.

Also, I've never sent an image to the FTM-400 (in the car) - but I intend to give it a try. :cool:

73
Jim, WQ2H / WK2XAH
 

vagrant

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It was on that day, the day Edmund sent an image from his FT2DR to his FTM400 with a color screen, that he knew an FT3DR would soon be his to enjoy. The question now is, will he be willing to wait for the usual Yaesu $50 off coupon at the end of the year.

While I am already sold on the FT3DR because of other features, I wish Yaesu would create a 991D and jam the features of the FT3DR into it for all bands. Maybe they should name it 991E for feature Extravaganza!
 

kf6gpe

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I found your comments to be quite interesting since there are a number of people on Facebook who can't seem to figure out how to program this radio. They get responses along the lines of "have you read the manual?". Which then spirals off into a discussion of the FIVE manuals that Yaesu has published for this radio.

You must be smarter than those folks on Facebook. ;)

Hah! I will say the plethora of manuals was intimidating. It helped to have previous time with a Yaesu to sort of know their menu structure, and just not be afraid to push buttons until it did what it wanted.

I think a lot of problems with all of these high end radios — at least Yaesu and Kenwood, I can’t speak for Icom — is the need to cram a crazy number of options into something with just a few affordances for UI. D-STAR, YSF, APRS are all non-trivial, and if you don’t have at least some good familiarity to start with, mastering the radio itself would be a nightmare. When I first started with a D-STAR radio a couple of years ago, I was completely intimidated getting it and a hotspot set up.

I don’t know how I’d make it simpler, though.
 

N4DJC

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Hah! I will say the plethora of manuals was intimidating. It helped to have previous time with a Yaesu to sort of know their menu structure, and just not be afraid to push buttons until it did what it wanted.

I think a lot of problems with all of these high end radios — at least Yaesu and Kenwood, I can’t speak for Icom — is the need to cram a crazy number of options into something with just a few affordances for UI. D-STAR, YSF, APRS are all non-trivial, and if you don’t have at least some good familiarity to start with, mastering the radio itself would be a nightmare. When I first started with a D-STAR radio a couple of years ago, I was completely intimidated getting it and a hotspot set up.

I don’t know how I’d make it simpler, though.

That’s the truth, all these newer multimode HT’s are incredibly difficult to program initially. It took me a month to get familiar with the D74 being new to APRS, and I’m still working on D-Star. The software is not intuitive either.

Personally, I’d prefer to see more radios dedicated to only a couple of digital modes, without the wide band features. Just stick with the ham bands for transceivers, with solid build quality. My D74 seems fragile compared to older rigs. The 3DR does appear to be more rugged.
 

palmerjrusa

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I've actually been looking forward to this for quite some time. Price is a little steep - but love it or leave it that's Yaesu.

I'm one of those few people I know who seem to get along with the FT2DR. I've had it since it was released and I love it - have the camera mic as well and it works great with the C4FM / Fusion repeater we have here in our town. If I read this correctly - they dropped the capability for image transfer, and added the audio recording, multi channel GPS receiver, and Bluetooth (and of course the display). I also like the additional power settings - could be a huge battery saver.

Hopefully they did a better job with the GPS antenna placement - that's my only real beef with the FT2. (well....maybe the LCD could have been a little better...... :cool:)

All in all - looks like a really nice HT.

73
Jim, WQ2H / WK2XAH


I love my FT2DR too, it's a great handheld radio.
Not sure why this model gets so little love!
Course I'm probably gonna get me one of those great looking FT3DR's as well.
 

AK9R

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Not sure why this model gets so little love!
Low contrast, monochrome display. Kenwood hit one out of the park with the full-color OLED display on the TH-D74. Yaesu had to do something about the FT-2D's display to compete (for those who aren't 100% brand loyal and/or don't care about digital voice modes). I can't speak for the FT-3D because I haven't seen one in person, but it should be more readable than the FT-2D's display.

Also, there's lots of discontent out there about the FT-2D's resistive touch screen. It wasn't what people were used to with their smartphones, so they didn't like it even though resistive is arguably a better choice for the application. I think the FT-3D's touch screen is also resistive.
 

palmerjrusa

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Low contrast, monochrome display. Kenwood hit one out of the park with the full-color OLED display on the TH-D74. Yaesu had to do something about the FT-2D's display to compete (for those who aren't 100% brand loyal and/or don't care about digital voice modes). I can't speak for the FT-3D because I haven't seen one in person, but it should be more readable than the FT-2D's display.

Also, there's lots of discontent out there about the FT-2D's resistive touch screen. It wasn't what people were used to with their smartphones, so they didn't like it even though resistive is arguably a better choice for the application. I think the FT-3D's touch screen is also resistive.

I actually own a TH-D74 and like the screen and the radio, it's not a touch screen though.
I've always thought the FT2DR's screen performed well and the screen looks fine to me. I think it's resistive so it can be operated wearing gloves.
Overall, I'm an Icom guy, to me Icom has always seemed to be the company that pushes the technology forward but presently their top model, which has been out a few years now in various iterations, lacks a color screen. Someone told me the ID-51A model is still selling well so it'll be interesting to see what Icom does next.
 

palmerjrusa

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It's on my Christmas list......... :cool:

I don't know if I can hold out that long. I almost took the plunge when I saw online a few of the HRO stores had it in stock and in quantity. I checked again a couple hours later and those same HRO outlets were showing out of stock, so they were obviously flying off the shelves.
 

kayleesdad

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Boy, you said a mouthful right there. Wouldn't that be handy while motoring down the highway...

JD
kf4anc

Amazing these transceivers don't atleast automatically decode ctcss/dpl like scanners. Takes a few buttons just to get the slow search going on the ft2, and by then..... transmissions are gone. Have to use a scanner for auto search and auto store.
 

palmerjrusa

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Just noticed the following:
HRO are running a $10.00 Huntsville Bonus Coupon (Expires 08/18/19, i.e.tomorrow!) on the new Yaesu FT3DR.
 

palmerjrusa

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Wow, about 30 mins ago the Burbank CA HRO listed the FT3DR at "green = good" stock level. Just checked again and it's out of stock.
 

vagrant

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Gigaparts is listing it for $439.95, but I figure as the radios come in they are already pre-sold at the various dealers.

Once Yaesu removed the need for an HRI-200 and a separate mobile device to get on Wires-X, things really took off. My Wires-X ID from several years ago, to earlier this year for a new registration, was a difference in the thousands. It will be interesting to see what ID number I will get for the FT3DR.
 

kayn1n32008

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I have to agree with a Facebook post I seen about this radio:
$520 and the mike is only held in place with the phono jack.
Quoting what the person said "You would think for that much money, Yaesu could have a clamp on mike like a commercial handheld.

Yup been that way since the VX-6(?) since they went away from the threaded 1/8” plug.

Very underwhelming. Too bad they did not do something like the VX231(and others) and used screws to retain the plug. It’s why I never ever bought a FT-60. Stupid speaker/mic plug design.

Problem is Yaesu doesn’t listen very well. Their APRS implementation in previous radios sucked.

...Kruk goes on to explain the number of characters as well, 16.

Finally. More than 6 characters!!!

It still is an underwhelming radio from looking at the flyer on the Yaesu site.
 
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