That’s genius. I love it. 5 and 9?
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It’s a piece cut off an old screen for a bigger mic - it needs to be an open foam
It has no effect on voice quality but kills the wind noise 100%
The piece is only as big as it is so it doesn’t get lost
Cheers
Rick
3 Likes
Most of my 2m FM SOTA contacts have been made with the FT65 and a roll up slim Jim.
The FT4x is very similar but somewhat smaller in size and a few less buttons and strangely uses a different font.
My ageing eyes preferred the FT65 font & size.
Top Tip:
Buy yourself a couple of sweatbands from Amazon and slide it over your mic / HH to eliminate wind noise on TX.
Depending on the HH, just slide it so you can still see the display but the mic is covered. When not in use it either protects my HH during transport or is used to hold some pole straps together.
73, Robert
4 Likes
I love it. I’m going to do that. The Yaesu FT65E. The Bjorn Borg of handheld radios!
I’d buy a pair of Yaesu underpants if the FT65E decides to release some in the forthcoming Yaesu Autumn/Winter catalogue.
3 Likes
Hi folks. I wasn’t sure where to post this, so figured rather than start a new thread to carry on here. Hope that is OK.
The Slim G arrived here today. I took it out for a flash test drive. Made 1 QSO so happy enough with that given it was a random spot.
A couple of parish notices really, 145 Alive related:
- I CAN. NOT. WAIT. for the FT65E to arrive. The TidRadio H8 is a load of pants. I can’t seem to get any QSO on it. The H3 is alright but I noticed today when I spent 40 mins calling CQ on 145 that it doesn’t half get warm fairly quickly. What’s the story there?
I just want my Yaesu and for everything to be right with the world. If it hauls in the QSOs (on 2m? Yeah right, no sod uses 2m!), then I’m getting rid of my Chidio HT’s.
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Anyone in Wales or Isle of Man etc, might want to keep a look out on Sunday. I’m doing a test run for my 145 Alive net. No Yaesu, just my mast and Slim G. I’ll spot on SOTA Watch and DX Watch etc. I’ll be at Ben of Howth some time Sunday morning. Worth a shot!
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Just spotting myself here for tomorrow morning we have an IRTS Contest I’ll be taking part in and also I’m doing a 2 for 1 POTA and WWFF on the same site. 8:15am UTC give or take 15 to 20 mins if I have issues getting set up. I hope to maybe QSO with some of you tomorrow or Sunday (no HF on Sunday, just a 2m test run for 145 Alive, minus the Yaesu).
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IRTS Contest info is here if anyone wants to have some fun and join in!
My POTA.app spot info is as follows:
IE-0115 Rogerstown Estuary Nature Reserve
IE-L
2m 20m 40m
2024-09-07 08:15 to 2024-09-07 10:30 UTC
IRTS Contest & POTA & WWFF [EIFF-0204] +/- 15mins
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Just to chip in here - as many have pointed out, the cheaper HTs can suffer from QRM due to the lack of filtering.
Yesterday, I was walking on the Quantocks and with the squelch off I had noise in the region of S2-S3 in places (2m, Quangsheng with a Nagoya 771 antenna). This would be far worse with the likes of a Slim-G or Flowerpot antenna attached. This made QSOs difficult/inconsistent for simplex and repeater usage. I was not activating a summit, neither was I doing anything important (other than having a bit of fun). Still, it was frustrating.
I have an FT-70d and I’ve done some side-by-side comparisons whilst on Raynet duty last month. Also on the Quantocks. FT-70d+771 antenna vs Quangsheng+771 antenna:
- The FT-70d would remain quiet, whilst the Quangsheng would break squelch occasionally (there was a lift on, and some packet data from Europe was causing interference).
- When listening to Raynet QSOs, the packet data would interrupt the Quangsheng and comms would cut out occasionally. No such problem with the FT-70.
Listening to airband is like night and day too, if that’s something you consider.
Regardless of the use case it makes sense to buy something with some filtering, saving you a few ££ in the long term.
The FT-70 does lack stamina in the battery department, so consider buying a spare. That said, I will buy an FT-4x for only £30 more than the cost of a battery for better redundancy.
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When you get your FT-4x do the same comparison and report back here. It’s a cheap rig that almost certainly has a similar low cost architecture as the Baofengs, Quangshengs etc but hopefully has decent filtering. Please let us know.
73 Richard
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I have the FT-4x and a Quansheng thing and used Boafengs on Billinge (G/SP-17). Only the FT-4x is usable without external filtering. Well worth the extra cost. Also the FT-4 has a simple user interface and programming it with a cable was easy.
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So if you add the cost of a Sotabeams band pass filter + Quansheng, you end up with the price of a FT-4x roughly… less to carry & connect. Good to know. 
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