I just noticed that the crack has appeared in the radio that I had sent back to Cypress and was supposedly repaired. Obviously this is a design flaw in the case that Yaesu isn’t going to fix.
I guess I am just going to live with it instead of racking up more postage.
I would not recommend this radio for SOTA. Too fragile.
73 Eric KG6MZS
and here’s me being a cheapskate with a Baofeng and an old droid phone! 
Hey, if it works, it works!
Cheers - Alan
Good for you Alan! I’d probably do something like that if I was going to do it all over again.
I worried about the front end of Chinese radios getting over-loaded in RF saturated environments like we sometimes find around Southern California. Plus - gotta have APRS built in.
73 Eric KG6MZS
They do on voice, but seem fine for APRS…
Cheers - Alan
You could try a little APRS modem from Argent Data or Byonics to connect a GPS to your existing handie.
Back in 2006, I used a Garmin Etrex and Argent OpenTracker with my Alinco DJ580:
and a few months ago I tried a similar system with a simple GPS receiver, OpenTrackerPlus and ADI handie, which tracked me well over Winter Hill.
But recently I’ve been trying out the LoRa APRS system, which works over surprisingly long distances for 100mW on 70cm. This is an independent unit, so it carries on tracking whilst I’m using my Alinco DJG7 for QSOs.
I use the AnyTone D878UVII-Plus for Sota, APRS, DMR and GPS and so far it works great. I was able to reach out over 70miles from a summit. The only problem I have with it is programing it. Once you know how to program it, it becomes lots easier to use.
73 KN6HVU
I am still happy with my FT3D. I will get around to getting the radio programmed with some local repeaters and also for WiresX. But on the whole, still happy.
cheers
john
M0VAZ