Spot on.Ian,
We have to wait and see. If I look at the display of this radio to me it looks rather like the display on the FT991A if it shares some of that design - as the 991A doesn’t do 4m, I suspect this one won’t as well.
Whether having 4 Metres makes this a more attractive QRP radio for SOTA - I don’t know. The database kings might be able to tell us how common SOTA activations on 4 metres are.
73 Ed.
The 4m/70MHz option may be of more interest to POTA activators, as there is an award for activating parks on 10 bands.
I tried this the other day after activating G/WB-005 using my FT-891, but couldn’t make a contact on 80m or 60m, which was annoying. So having VHF/UHF would give more opportunities to activate somewhere on multiple bands using one device.
I enjoyed playing with 70MHz when RSGB had an FMAC for that band, but they scrapped it the following year which meant my FM gear became redundant basically. If this new radio can do all modes on 4m, that would be a bonus that you don’t get with the IC-705, KX-2 etc. Not sure it’s enough to make me buy one, but if the price is right, then maybe? It needs to be priced at sub-£1k for me though.
It needs to be light-weight for SOTA too; for POTA that’s generally not such an issue of course.
73, Simon
Well, it looks like Lynchie is adamant about the 4m coverage:
It will be interesting what people think if the FTx-1F costs (as I expect) more than its 100w “father”, the FT-991A (which does not cover 4m).
I think I know where the FTx-1F case came from - the FTM-500DE head unit:
So car mounts for that radio may fit the new radio …
73 Ed.
W&S and Lamco both also say 70 MHz in the title. Radioworld don’t mention it.
The ftdx10 covers 4m, and I think it was initially advertised in the same ambiguous way.
I bought mine second hand (originally supplied by ML&S) and I had to download and install a service update from Yaesu to make it fully aware of 4m. Without the patch, I could tune to 70MHz, but it wouldn’t remember it as a “Band” IIRC.
Also, the autotuner doesn’t extend to 4m, though by sheer luck my LF doublet matches quite well anyway!
JP1EOM put the following photo on Twitter:
Beware what you wish for. With the Nepalese Sherpa come the Nepalese Summits …
73 de Martin / HB9GVW
I think the external battery is not so bad. Now, if you could exchange the elements inside easily, that’d be great. Additional bonus feature would be to be able to charge the battery externally also (I hope that the battery can be charged while on the radio).
73 de Martin / HB9GVW
my favourite brand of rigs are Kenwood. Prefer their audio, easy to listen to all day on a special event station. Seem easier to use and i like the buttons rather than delving into menus.
The only reason you were able to sell it for more is because it was discontinued with no replacement on the horizon
Now that we are about to have one, I can’t wait to see prices for used 817/818’s drop as the asking prices were absolutely stupid for used 10-20 year old radios
