Nope. I prefer quality. I'll never own a Baofeng. Nothing personal but no.
Yaesu: Yaesu FT-5DR Thoughts or reviews...
- Thread starter SurgePGH
- Start date
Nope. I prefer quality. I'll never own a Baofeng. Nothing personal but no.
YES! Complete bummer. I have no need or desire to TX there and am not interested in a MARS/CAP mod but would love to RX all of the conventional that is local to me. I'm fine on everything EXCEPT that one. I have my SDS-100 and that works great but would like a dual band Ham HT for the local repeaters and be able to monitor public safety at the same time. My search continues...
palmerjrusa
Member
I saw a price drop and special at HRO ($279.95 till the end of Dec) and just bought an Alinco DJ-X11 wideband receiver which has been on the market for a while now.
What a fantastic little receiver this is, came with an alkaline battery case as well as its Li-ion battery plus a desktop charger to boot!
There's also free programming software you can download at the Alinco website.
It's built like a tank and packed with features, some I haven't seen on other wideband radios, having a lot of fun with it here.
It accepts 151.2425 MHz on FM no problem at all.
Cheers...
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prcguy
Member
Most amateur radios will do 5, 10, 12.5, 25KHz steps but not 7.5KHz because that's not a legitimate increment for amateur service. There may be some amateur radios that will do 2.5KHz which will get you there but its going to be uncommon. The Anytone 878 series is a commercial FCC part 90 radio and will do 7.5KHz by design.
I understand that some of the lower end equipment can do it. I am not interested in AnyTone, Baofeng etc. I am really only interested in Yaesu and/ or Kenwood but would make due with an Icom.
Several years ago, while the Dayton Hamvention was still at Hara Arena, I asked the Kenwood guys in the Kenwood booth about including 7.5 or 2.5 kHz steps in their radios (given the timeframe, I was probably asking about the TH-D72). Their response was "Why?". I explained. Their response was "Buy a scanner."
Thank You for pointing this out. I've seen quite a few people complaining about not being able to tune into certain channels and otherwise dunking on the FT5DR and I'd wager that 90% is user error. RTFM is not just a suggestion.
yancey1000
Newbie
You're going to need a radio with a 2.5 kHz step. THe Wouxun KG-UV9 series radio has 2.5 step you need. I have the Wouxun KG-UV9P radio and it is a very nice radio. Do a little research on it and i think you might like it.I tried that again using 6.25 and I can only get 151.34375 and 151.350.View attachment 113789
I just can't bring myself to do it. I'm a Kenwood and a Yaesu person. I'd rather do with out than go to another brand. Appreciate the opinion though.
So was I until I bought a Wouxun KG-UV3D off my brother-in-law. It has a full 1 watt speaker output and full 5 watts on VHF and a little more than 4 watts on UHF. I paid $10 bucks for it and got the drop in charger off flea bay along with an extra battery. Soon after that I got a hand mic w/speaker. All in all I have less than $30 in the whole thing. Already had a programming cable and "Chirp" will fully program it and I believe RT systems has programming for Wouxun, too.
The sound quality (on my particular HT's, I have 2 now, a KG-UVD1P also) is superb and I have had no negative reports from the reception. Looking at the recent prices of Wouxuns on flea bay, other hams have turned to liking the radios, also. One used to buy them for $20 to $30 on flea bay, not any more. Last I looked they were $65 to $100 used. I highly recommend any ham to at least try one...
yancey1000
Newbie
I'm a kenwood and Yaesu fan as well, but for SHTF situations i want the greatest receive capability available. Carrying a scanner and a HAM radio doesn't work for me as it's going to be hard enough keeping 1 radio charged. My Wouxun KG-UV9P has up to 9 watts of power, cross band repeat funtion, true dual receive on any combination UHF-VHF, UHF-UHF and VHF-VHF. Not dual watch. Both A and B will receive at the same time and the battery life is amazing. I have the Yaesu FT-3D and the Kenwood TH-D74, but when things go south, my Wouxun is the first radio i will pull out of my 50 caliber ammo can faraday cage. Unfortunately the Wouxun doesn't do HF receive like my Kenwood TH-D74 but it has just about everything else including 2.5 khz step option. I bought 2 wouxun radios in case i need to use the cross band repeat function. I say it's better to have it and not it than to need it and not have it. 73 to all.
OK. I'm stumped. I have the FT5-D programmed, correct mode, correct frequency. On my hotspot frequency, it shows a signal being received but no audio is present. This is regardless of whether its in single band or dual band configuration. Seems to be C4FM/YSF ONLY. I'm sure I'm missing something simple, but I can't find it. Any thoughts? Thanks, in advance, for the rescue!
yancey1000
Newbie
What mode are you in? I Normally leave mine in AUTO to transmit and receive which ever mode that's coming in.
yancey1000
Newbie
Sorry, i just noticed you said that you were in the right mode. I'm stumped too.
Sounds like the OP is looking for the ability to transmit out of the ham band. The Yeasu FT-5D will receive the frequency as the difference is minimal. So I am surmising the need for the exact frequency is driven by a desire to xmit. (It may only be in case of dire emergencies, but regardless, the radio is not intrinsically safe for one thing. That’s why the FCC requires “Type Acceptance”. Just because an agency (FD, PD, etc.) allows it is not good enough… the FCC Type Acceptance mandate supersedes its use.
I realize there are some agencies that allow the practice of using ham radio gear on their comms systems, and some consider it common practice but they run the risk of litigation should the type of radio being used be related to that litigation.
I realize there are some agencies that allow the practice of using ham radio gear on their comms systems, and some consider it common practice but they run the risk of litigation should the type of radio being used be related to that litigation.
Not the case at all. I have PLENTY of type accepted Moto AND Kenwood LMR that will go there AND TX there. I have ZERO interest in transmitting there. I would like to carry an HT that will recieve that freq with the proper step as I would like to monitor from my ham HT. I am also now looking into replacing my Yaesu FTM-100 with the FTM-500. It doesn't look like this has the step either. I have plenty of scanners as well so that is not the issue. NONE of my ham equipment is MARS/ CAP modified and I don't have a desire to ever do that. This is an RX only project and it gets frustrating when people make the wrong assumptions. UGH
I assume nothing other than what is obvious to those of us who are hams and live in the world of first responders. As a firefighter for 38 years, an electronic technician by trade and a guy that proposed, initially designed and oversaw a new comms system installation for my town’s FD, I believe my evaluation of your post is accurate 9 times out of 10. Maybe not in your case, but I still haven’t heard a valid reason for the actual need for 7.5KHz in ham gear that will “never” have a need to xmit.
I watched a dealer do the Mars/Cap mod and sell dual band VHF/UHF portable ham radios to fire/EMS volunteers in a town where EMS used UHF and the FD used VHF and The volunteers belonged to both agencies. The reason was obvious as the appropriate commercial gear cost thousands and the ham dual bands could be had for under a thousand. The dealer caught on in short order when the demand for a certain dual band ham radio was flying off the shelf. But as suddenly as the demand started it stopped. The dealer never did learn what happened as none of the people ever visited the shop again… why should they? They weren’t hams to begin with. So it was obvious what was going on.
I’m just saying posing any question/comment about mods that allow reception and transmission on a ham radio outside the ham bands will be seen as an attempt to ignore the FCC Type Acceptance rule. You really leave us no other place to go.
I watched a dealer do the Mars/Cap mod and sell dual band VHF/UHF portable ham radios to fire/EMS volunteers in a town where EMS used UHF and the FD used VHF and The volunteers belonged to both agencies. The reason was obvious as the appropriate commercial gear cost thousands and the ham dual bands could be had for under a thousand. The dealer caught on in short order when the demand for a certain dual band ham radio was flying off the shelf. But as suddenly as the demand started it stopped. The dealer never did learn what happened as none of the people ever visited the shop again… why should they? They weren’t hams to begin with. So it was obvious what was going on.
I’m just saying posing any question/comment about mods that allow reception and transmission on a ham radio outside the ham bands will be seen as an attempt to ignore the FCC Type Acceptance rule. You really leave us no other place to go.
LOL, OK. I've been a Ham since 1992 and a Firefighter since 94. Our county is on the ICORRS system and I actually have two radios, one personally owned and one department issued, so no need for anything other than that for my public safety needs. As a matter of fact the system admin for our county is on here and can vouch. I have no other reason for the 'need' to have the 7.5Khz other than my OCD and wanting it displayed properly on the screen that way. There is only one frequency in the area that is this way and I have PLENTY of radios that could TX there if I so choose BUT as I said, this isn't the reason. It's nothing more than my OCD and wanting that to display properly. You're 'just saying' that my comment about 'mods'.... I don't want a mod. I don't want a CCR. I don't need another Moto or Kenwood. I quite simply want to have that in the scan list with a few other frequencies so that when I am carrying a Ham capable radio I don't need to carry another radio or scanner. The frequency in question is well within the RX capabilities of a ham HT just not the 7.5Khz.
Taking you at your word, accepted. I have no reason to doubt you. And thank you for your service. You and I both know thanking you means something more, coming from a brother firefighter! I’m retired now, have been for the past 10+ yrs… and when I see the guys and gals in action on a fire scene I exclaim in wonderment their actions. My wife will look at me in astonishment and ask why is it I get amazed when I did the same job? I tell her there comes a time in a firefighters life when they finally realize running into a burning building is inherently dangerous, when all others are running out of the building… and that takes courage, even with the proper training… Stay safe. Good talk!
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