The FT-70D nearly passes out at the thought of even having to be switched on!
In contrast, my FT-202 runs on 8 AA’s and is a 1 Watt BRUTE! Same with the FT-290, mine is still running nicely on a bunch of alkaline C cells.
Not sure what Yaesu were doing with the FT-70. My FT-60 is a bit like that on battery life too.
The FT-65 is a total contrast and just laughs it off when it comes to battery life, often roaring out “is that the best you can do!? Go on, press the PTT again, i dare you! Is that all you’ve got? Again!” etc…
The main problem with FT-70 battery life is there are internet reports of issues. When they first started being used by SOTA people, this reflector and similar was full of people reporting how good a radio it was and having no problems. The poor battery life only became an issue once the stories of questionable life appeared on the intarwebz.
One issue, like many modern radios is that it has a soft power switch. Instead of a hard on/off switch, there’s a power FET used to control the power. This means the radio is never off and always using power. My Alinco DJ-G7 is similar. If I power it on the switch and leave the LiPo cell connected and come back a month later, a lot of charge will have been lost from the cell. If I pull the cell (I only use it for 23cm so not too often) I can come back 6months later, attach cell and we’re back to just about the same charge level as when I left it. Morale: remove the battery when not in use.
Your FT-60 will be at least 6 years old as the last ones sold by Yaesu dealers in EU was 2018. It was not that popular by then so is probably more like 10-20 years old. The NiMh packs are very tough and long lasting but any such pack will be moving into its geriatric state now. Time to contact the Yaesu main dealer and order an FNB-83 from them directly. That way you don’t get a faux one.
And remember what Confucius said about charging multiple cells in battery packs in series “man who charge multiple cells in series without BMS going to bu**er up some cells quickly.”
If you paid more than a few € you’ve been had.
Confucious other saying about wisdom is always relevant. “Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing you do put tomatoes in fruit salads.”
This - leave the battery off as Andy said, or put a bit of tape over the contacts (remove when you’re ready to use it). I really liked the headset too.
It’s a shame a bigger battery wasn’t released (akin to the one available for the FT65). Some of the Raynet events go on for quite some time - one might be stationed right on the moor (a decent walk from the car).
I’ve gone for two FT65s for redundancy - same antenna connectors, same batteries, same chargers, same menu, same programming, less faff.
That is on my to-do list. As for the 202, I did get it from a fellow EI jamon for a very fair price. Great little radio though I am hoping to find three more xtals for it to add more flexibility.
The FT-65 was recommended to me on this reflector ages ago, very glad I got one now as it has been my default handheld for yonks. I think Yaesu made a cracking little HT with the 65.
I think the FT70 battery must be made out of marshmallows!
A bit of an update on my continuing crusade to get folks to give 2m and 70cm CW a try.
The good folks here in EI at the IRTS are picking up the mantle (I contacted them a while back about the possibility of an event) and were extremely positive about seeing if we can organise something in 2026 for increasing VHF/UHF CW (and perhaps some S2S/P2P SSTV?) activity in EI.
This was reported in the previous edition of the IRTS news:
If anyone is interested in joining in please do drop the IRTS folks an email per the news article. Would be great to have some UK&NI interest too! (Or further afield if we are lucky enough to get E’s - the sporadic kind that is).
