February 6, 2025 • 58 mins
As Yaesu navigates a shift in its mobile radio lineup, we're here to dissect the implications of these changes. From the unexpected discontinuation of older models to the buzz surrounding the anticipated FTX-1F release, we examine what this means for the future of mobile communication. Dive into the amateur radio community's reactions and ponder Yaesu's strategic moves with us. We'll discuss the groundbreaking advancements in audio signal processing, especially their potential to enhance emergency communications, and consider how these innovations could transform the market.
Short show intro audio clip
Short outro audio clip
The Everyday Ham Podcast is hosted by James Mills (K8JKU), Jim Davis (N8JRD), and Rory Locke (W8KNX) – three friends who dive into the world of amateur radio with a casual, lighthearted twist.
Follow us at: Website: https://www.everydayham.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everydayhampodcast/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
All right, welcome everyone to Episode 2 of the
Everyday Ham Podcast.
This episode we're going todive into Yaesu's latest mobile
transceivers and we got a littlebit of speculation, sort of, on
where we think they're headingin the marketplace.
I'm James Mills, k8jku.
I'm joined here by Jim Davis,n8jrd, and Roy Locke, w8knx.
(00:23):
So before we get into theformal topic, jim, what are you
excited for currently in hamradio?
What's on your mind?
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Yeah, very good and welcome everybody.
Glad to do this for a secondtime.
We'll see if we can make itwork.
I was excited to sit downtonight knowing that we were
going to do a little chat hereand a couple things going on in
the last month.
After Christmas I set up myFTDX101MP and I finally made it
(00:51):
to FT8 with much goading fromRory over here W8KNX.
So he told me Jim, you got toget that thing going on FT8.
I've been having a lot of funwith it.
I fully admit that I have notbeen a digital guy at all.
I have only operated phone forthe last six months, so I was
dragging my feet pretty hard.
(01:11):
But I set it up a couple ofevenings ago and both James and
Rory got on and we chit chattedabout how to do it.
We got it up and running andI've been having a whole bunch
of fun with FT8.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
And my ham alert has not stopped since.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
That is exactly right .
Speaker 3 (01:27):
So there's a whole component missing there, that
we're all repeater dwellers, weall like our local repeater.
We like to call out when we'remobile, we like to call out when
we're sitting at home bored.
So there's a whole componentmissing that.
I know, jim, that you enjoy andthat's the person-to-person cue
.
So how does it feel doing ft8with that aspect completely?
Speaker 2 (01:48):
not there.
Yeah, it was very strange, Iguess at first, and I won't I'm
sure we could go into a wholeepisode about ft8.
We're not going to.
But I'll just say out loud that, uh, I expected it to be like
okay, I expected it to be likewatching paint dry, right, like,
uh, that it was gonna be areally boring mode where I just
clicked on a thing and thingshappened and then I got a cue,
so right, and I think initially,when I started doing it, that's
(02:10):
kind of what it was.
But the more I began tounderstand how the transaction
worked in FT8 and then pairingit along with GridTracker,
that's very important Yep.
It really makes it a more visualexperience, right, I can see
where my signal's going, I cansee where I'm being heard, and
that helps me understand thepropagation that's happening at
(02:31):
any given time.
It's a lot more insightful thanI thought it was going to be,
and I'm having a lot of fun withit.
I'm only on my second day andI've already lit up a number of
DX locations that I would neverhave been able to get on my
limited antenna setup here atthe house so.
I'm having a lot of fun with it,so that's what's got me fired
up right now is a little bit ofhow limited of an antenna setup
(02:52):
are you?
Speaker 3 (02:53):
I mean, come on, you have a place where you have
antennas outside.
I'm stuck with a fairly lousyNFET up in the attic, strung
between whatever's up in theattic, so you're doing okay over
there antenna-wise.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
This is true.
I'm an HOA ham, basically aswell.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
You're doing okay too .
Speaker 1 (03:10):
So we're envious of you.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
You guys are both doing okay with your outside HF
antennas, I think, but that'sexcellent.
I don't have any new thingsgoing on here.
As we get through winter andall the things, I keep talking
to people on the local machine,and you guys as well, and I keep
dreaming about getting a newrun of coax up to the attic to
do some work with my 2 meter 440antenna, and I'm also dreaming
(03:35):
what I'm going to do in thespring, because there is a plan
off the side of the building toget something up vertical in the
little bit of real estate thatI have available to me outside
of the condo.
So that's about it here, justdreaming mode in the middle of
winter.
How about you, james?
Speaker 1 (03:51):
You know, honestly, almost the same thing.
While we were doing the FT8demonstration with Jim.
We were talking about well, Iwas talking about having you
guys over in the summer for abarbecue and setting up a actual
two meter antenna.
Yeah, let's do it, get that upon the roof and actually get
some local setups going.
So I live geographically.
(04:11):
I don't know how many miles itis, but it's a 30 minute drive.
Like Michiganders will talk inhow long the drive is how long
is the?
Speaker 2 (04:18):
drive.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Yeah, it's about a 30 minute drive, so I'd like to.
I'm jealous of all your localQSOs.
You guys are getting andhitting the repeater, so I'd
like to get that set up and thenwe'll talk about it probably
one day in an episode as well.
Jim and I have differentopinions on one of our home
antennas, which is the DXCommander Signature 9.
So that will make for a goodfuture episode.
(04:38):
We'll share our opinions andmaybe that will be a live
recorded outdoor episode afterwe get off the roof mounting
some antennas.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
I love it.
The joy of ham friends.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
Jim's opinion of that antenna may change as he does
more digital though too, becauseI think it's serving him pretty
well with the FT8 mode.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Yeah, that's 100% true.
I think that it is.
We won't go into it.
Let's keep it moving here, guys.
I don't want to go into DXCommander.
Let's keep it moving here, guys.
I don't want to go into DXCommander too much, but I will
agree, it's working fine for FT8.
I've been set up so that I canrun either that or my NFET
Halfwave, which are my twooutdoor antennas over here.
So it definitely has worked outall right and I'm really
(05:21):
impressed with FT8 and itsability to get out places that I
would not have been able to getto on sideband by any means.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
How did you feel about getting Japan last night?
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Yeah, that was extremely exciting, right?
So I had not had a CUSO withJapan in any fashion at all.
And so being able to get a tipfrom the club members here in
the South Line Club and say,able to get a tip from the club
members here in the South LineClub and say, hey, when Gray
Line hits over in Japan, tune itup to 24 megahertz, 12 meter,
and you'll probably hear someJapanese stations, and I was
(05:52):
like, well, that'd be awesome.
I visited Japan many years agonow and I had just a blast over
there, and I've always, sinceI've gotten my radio fired back
up, I've wanted to be able totalk or make cue.
So to Japan and it was excitingto uh to get that and it wasn't
uh, it wasn't hard at all.
Uh, I did turn up the power alittle bit.
I won't lie.
I know a lot of people run FTAto like 35 or 40 Watts.
(06:14):
I had the power cranked up alittle bit further than that
Cause I wanted to guarantee acontact, but it happened.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
That's good.
Yeah, I felt somehow I feltcomplete when I made that first
contact over to Japan.
That was pretty cool.
All right, james, what's onyour mind for the podcast today?
Speaker 1 (06:31):
So today we were going to dive a little bit into
Yaesu.
So, jim, you will talk a littlebit about breaking news and we
want to kind of speculate alittle bit on where we think the
market is heading specificallyfor the Yaesu.
But maybe it is an indicationfor the larger market.
So before we go into more ofthe formal discussion, let's
(06:52):
talk about the models.
That will probably be the focusof today's chat.
So in November Yezu releasedthree new mobile transceivers.
All three radios featureSuperDX technology enhancing
weak signal reception and audiosignal processing, or ASP for
Crystal Clear Audio.
(07:14):
Crystal Clear, yeah, crystalClear, first up is the FT3165
RASP, currently priced at$249.95 at DX Engineering, and
this radio is a two-meter onlyradio if I remember correctly,
single band, single band yep,yep.
Next is the FT3185 RASP.
(07:37):
It's also available for $274.95at dxengineeringcom.
This one steps up the power alittle bit, so you're getting a
little more features.
You get 85-watt output andincludes what they call primary
memory group feature, allowingyou to monitor up to five memory
channels in real time.
Now, last but not least, we'regetting into their let's say big
(07:59):
boy of the new models, theFTM-150 RSAP.
They all roll off the tongue.
That's one thing they got incommon.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
This is the only one that excited me, so I'll just
say that.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Yep, it's also going to come with a little bit
heavier price tag so $379.95from currently dxengineeringcom.
It is a dual band transceiver.
It covers 144 megahertz and 430megahertz with true, with true
dual band functionality,independent vfos and a full dot
(08:31):
matrix display that matrix yeah,now we're in the future with
our dot matrix displays.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
That's a deal there, so at the time.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Uh, the reason we even bring these up is at the
time there was a little bit ofconfusion on the introduction of
these three new radios.
I know they had some newfeatures, specifically looking
at their audio processing, butthere was some overlap in their
lineup.
Let's say so, jim, I thinktoday you kind of announced, or
you saw, some news breaks aswell which I think maybe are
(09:04):
important to talk about at thestart.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Yesu's making some moves.
It sounds like.
Sounds like it.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Yeah, it's absolutely interesting to me.
So when these launched, right,we were looking at what the
current model line was, whichwas the FTM 200, which was a
true it's a dual bander, but nota true dual bander, right, it
was one that was limited and itbasically played some tricks to
allow you to hear two bands atonce, but it wasn't a true
dual-band UV, uu, vv type radio.
(09:30):
They had the FTM-300, which wasactually a pretty nice radio
capable of a lot of thingsdigital modes, aprs whether you
love APRS or not and, of course,the FTM-500.
So when we saw these threeradios drop seemingly out of
nowhere right from Yaesu, therewas not much hype around these
things coming, not much fanfare,and they didn't announce them
(09:51):
at any major event release likea hamcation or hamvention.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
It was just sort of thrown out there.
And it would seem like such anunusual move with bringing what
we would consider lower techradios onto the market too.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Exactly so.
When we saw these three thingsdrop and then we saw the prices,
it really became quite aconfusing proposition, at least
for me.
I had at the time an FTM 300 inone of my vehicles and an FTM
500 in the other and I saidwho's buying these right?
(10:28):
The FTM 300 I purchased fromHam Radio Outlet for $369 in the
box it was an open box special,but $369, right.
And I looked at the price ofthe FTM 150, which is the new
RASP model, and it was well overthat price.
And even when the 300 was brandnew in the box you were still
able to get it around the $400mark, depending on the sales.
(10:49):
So we were asking are theycompeting with themselves and
where do these fit?
In the last week, ftm 200,completely discontinued,
Confirmed by Yesu.
They are no longer producing it.
(11:09):
It has been moved to the Yesuarchive, so gone is the FTM 200.
And actually, although I didn'tthink the FTM 200 was a
particularly great value, therewere a lot of people that loved
that rating.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
One of our friends, Blakey WSK, here in the club as
well, he runs that.
It was actually a gift from hiswife, who was thrilled that he
was getting into ham radio,which is an odd thing to happen.
I think it was either abirthday or Christmas gift and
he loves that radio.
So you know, but that one isgone.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Yeah, there's a lot of folks that said you know, the
FTM 200 is going to be missed.
It filled a very nice niche andit was very affordable for what
you got, right, and so I guessI find it quite interesting, but
they discontinued that.
Then the picture started tomake a little bit more sense.
Right, we've got three newradios that dropped.
They've discontinued one.
Okay, the 300 and the 500 stillexist at maybe the top end of
(12:03):
what Yaesu is going to offer formobile radios.
Well, come to find out,questions continued to mount as
300 stocks sort of dried up,right, so if you go around the
web today and today's date isFebruary 5th 2025, it is
impossible basically to find anFTM 300 new in the box at any of
(12:26):
our major retailers DXEngineering, hro or GigaParts.
Right, there are a few that arein stock at some of the smaller
radio sites where they areprobably sitting on the floor
waiting to be sold, but the FTM300 appears to have been
discontinued as well.
The interesting part about that, of course, is Yaesu has not
yet confirmed that it's gone.
(12:47):
There's been speculation by acouple of different channels on
the YouTubes, the ham tubers.
One was KB9MLI, who called upHam Radio Outlet and said, hey,
are you getting any more 300s?
And they said, nope, no more,we're pulling it off the site,
right?
So just a really interestingsudden change in what Yaesu is
(13:10):
offering in their product line,and I think that we'll dig into
it more here.
But it kind of blows my mindbecause you eliminated two of
three radios in a product linethat offer digital output for
C4FM, so system fusion and youeliminated two radios that had
nice color screens, hadadditional functionality built
(13:33):
into them like APRS, gps,bluetooth, and now we've got the
3165 and the 3185 that appearto be straight up analog single
band radios.
I don't believe that these fillthose niches, but the FTM-150
is interesting.
So I think that I understandYesu's story a little bit more.
All that being said, but let'sdive into it.
(13:54):
That was late-breaking newsthis afternoon as I started to
read, and it kind of is a realinteresting shift and I'm
curious if that means at Daytonwe're going to find out that
Yesu's got some fancy new mobilemodels on the way.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
I mean, there's this.
Oh sorry, james go ahead.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
No, no, go ahead, Roy , no, no.
I was going to say there's agigantic hole there.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
Oh, you said, go ahead, and then you said I did.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
My bad.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
We're professionals.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
We know what we're doing.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
Now you go ahead, now I go ahead.
Okay, good job.
No, that's fine.
So that leaves a gigantic holebecause it's just the 500 is the
(14:40):
only Fusion C4 FM capablemobile left, if I followed all
that correctly from your update,and it definitely leaves a big
gap.
I don't know.
I'm surprised they got rid ofthe 300.
It seemed to be such a nice.
I mean, I don't know that youreally want to call it entry
level, but easier to swallowpurchase cost-wise into Fusion
and C4FM.
The 500, of course, is a bitmore expensive, but maybe we'll
see some adjustments on pricewith that here in the
not-too-distant future.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
We'll have to wait and see and see and I'll put an
asterisk on this right.
What I'm seeing today is onlybased on stock availability at
the major retailers and folkscalling and asking are you
getting more?
And being told no, we don'tbelieve that there is any more
stock of the FTM 300 coming.
So if you go to Yesu's websitetoday, the 300 is not in the
(15:21):
archive yet, but it certainlyseems like it has one toe in the
grave.
As far as Yaesu is concerned,james, go ahead.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
No, I was going to say, and I think that we know
it's hard to believe Yaesu isgoing to abandon their Fusion or
digital in general.
You still see an interest frompeople for APRS features.
You obviously still see theyput a lot of investment into
clubs getting Fusion repeatersonline.
Absolutely so to yourspeculation.
(15:49):
You already made this point butto further emphasize it, we
have to probably anticipate thatsomething is coming in the
lineup.
And you're right on theirwebsite the 200 is officially
gone.
If you look at their lineup,they have big, shiny new buttons
next to the 3185, the 3165, andthe 150.
And then the 300 is still there, but it's all the way at the
(16:10):
far right now.
So you're right, it's settingup for some discontinuing, it
looks like.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
I just think that it's a very interesting product
move when I see radios thatseemed more fully featured at
similar price points beingremoved.
And I will say, if we go just ahair deeper into the
speculation before we get intofacts again, it appears that
there might be partsavailability issues that Yaesu
is running into as a result ofdeciding that it's time to end
(16:39):
those two models right now.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
That was actually one of my first thoughts when they
came out with this new line ofthe 3185, 3165, and 150 line.
Did they have to make somechanges because of what they
could get and what was easy tosource for parts and technology?
That was actually one of thethings I wondered If, deep down
in the supply chain and in themanufacturing process, that that
(17:02):
was something they had toconsider.
So the 400 went away.
I mean, these are radios thathave been around a while, but
the 400 went away not that longago and I feel like that was a
fairly popular radio.
Oh, absolutely.
But hopefully you know, alongwith this transition that of
them adding these new radios wemight see something new that's
(17:22):
Fusion and APRS capable.
So I'm very happy with my 500.
It's the newest radio in myfleet.
I purchased basically underpeer pressure just to see
because I heard it was a coolradio and I wanted to dip into
APRS.
But certainly surprised to seethese moves.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
I'll take credit for forcing you to buy yet another
radio, Rory.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
That would be you, yeah, and.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
I'm just disappointed .
None of these new radios havethe one big knob feature that
everyone seemed to love.
But it is interesting, rory, toyour point on supply chain
availability.
I mean we know the chipshortage and other electronic
components have sort of, overthe last few years, straightened
itself out.
But we are seeing more threat tothe supply chain, not a
political statement, but we lookat some of the production
(18:10):
footprint for electronicscomponents based out of China
and other Asia-Pacific regions.
They could be trying to maybebatten down the hatches a little
bit and having a more reliableparts supply, like a dot matrix
display, for example.
That's technology that's beenaround forever.
It's reliable.
And it's technology that's beenaround forever, it's reliable
and it's probably available formultiple supply sources.
So that could be part of thestrategy as well.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
Because it's funny, the dot matrix thing.
I mean that FTM-150, you lookat that, that would have been at
the top of my list in 2002 whenI got licensed.
That would have been a veryattractive radio at that time.
So a lot of radios looked thatway.
I had an icon, similar inscreen display and so forth.
(18:52):
But it's just an interestingmove.
I'm curious what they have uptheir sleeve.
I feel like there's one moreradio in this line that we
haven't seen yet Something tobridge between the 500 and the
150?
Speaker 1 (19:06):
I think so In terms of function and appeal.
I think so.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
There absolutely has to be.
The 150 is so far removed fromthe 500 as far as functionality.
There has to be a radio coming,and I know that we talked about
the three major Japanesebuilders of radios having a
cyclic release where they kindof made way for the next guy to
release their radio ICOM oneyear, kenwood the next year,
(19:29):
yaesu the next year.
I almost wonder if Yaesu issaying we're going for it, right
, kenwood has one coming.
We know that.
When is it coming?
We don't know that yet.
But I just wonder if Yaesu saidwe're looking at market right
now and these radios are A notprofitable and can't be built
with the products, componentswe're getting, so we're going to
(19:52):
revamp altogether.
I have one thing that I'll sayout loud here, and maybe it'll
give us our transition thethings you're losing in this
current new launch.
For the most part, you don'tget GPS anymore that was in both
of the other radios, right.
You don't get a digital modemno C4 FM, no APRS, so no digital
modem.
You lose your color display.
(20:13):
You're back to a monochrome ora segmented LCD and you lose all
the WiresX capability if thatwas something that you were
doing on the internet.
So it really is a significantremoval of features when we look
at the pricing being veryequivalent.
So I don't know, let's jumpinto a 3165, maybe let's take a
look Now.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
this one is the 2-meter 65-watt radio correct?
Speaker 2 (20:42):
That's right.
Yep, the 3165 is 2, two meter,only 65 watts, and I think James
quoted the price there beingsomewhere in the neighborhood of
249.
I saw it as low this afternoonwhen I was doing a little
research as 219.
So they already are discountingthese radios pretty
significantly.
So seeing it at about $220,that to me, that seems pretty
(21:05):
approachable for a single banderwith 65 watts.
65 watts, no slouch.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
Yeah, to have a few extra watts over 50 is always
good, I mean, it's certainly nota bad thing to have a bit more
power.
But for me, I mean a two meteronly radio almost isn't even an
option.
I work a fair amount of 440locally and I work a fair amount
of 440 using some of myAll-Star hotspots and so forth.
So to have the loss of 440,this guy's not even a contender
(21:35):
for me.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Yeah, for me it also is not a contender.
I actually just a few monthsago sold my FT-1900, which was a
single-band, 2-meter 50-wattrig.
It reminds me a lot of the 3165RASP.
Now we haven't talked at allabout the audio processing yet.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
I was about to say Now, the big new feature for
them is Now.
We should also maybe mentionbackup for one second.
All three of us have notphysically held or operated one
of these radios.
So we are basing a lot of thison what we've read, our kind of
past knowledge of yeezy productsand some other things.
However, uh, one of the bigfeatures was their audio signal
(22:17):
processing, and the reviews ofthat have been phenomenal.
Uh, from everything I've seenof the users that it is a
breakthrough in how things arecleaned up and how you can take
the incoming and make it worksome magic on the signal
processing side, and we'vespeculated also that With that
(22:38):
technology, maybe this is one oftheir proving grounds.
So get it into some mobiletransceivers, get the
functionality out there, getpeople used to it and then start
to branch into other radios, soHF transceivers or even
possibly their update to the 891, extremely popular HF
transceiver mobile line radio,to see what they could do with
(23:00):
that product and make this partof their new marketing tool or
feature set to really boosttheir lineup in the future.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
It almost ties back to what we talked about in our
first episode a little bit.
I know that this is not an AIprocessor by any means, but we
were talking about theimportance of being able to
clean up audio in a reallymeaningful way, and it looks
like ASUS unlocked that codewith the uh SPU one, which is
what is built into thesemachines.
So, um, if you visit any ofyour favorite ham tubers, we can
(23:30):
, you know, pick your, pick yourpoison.
Uh, all of them have run theirtests and, uh, I personally love
ham radio.
Crash course.
Josh over there did a test onone of these and showed rasp on
versus off I'm sorry, asp, onversus off with the SDX function
, and it was pretty impressiveto see how well it was able to
clean up the audio and make itvery, very readable,
(23:50):
intelligible audio from signalsthat were pretty rough otherwise
to listen to Noticeablydifferent.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
Yeah, he pulled in some very weak 2-meter Simplex
conversations.
I probably watched the samevideo you're referring to and it
cleaned it up.
I mean he discussed whether ornot it sounded like there was a
little bit of an underwatersound to it.
But I think you kind of get alittle bit of different audio
processing when you do thesethings.
(24:17):
You're going to have a soundthat's not natural to your ear.
But the difference between aweak signal versus one that's
being processed by ASP there isphenomenal, and if there's times
that you're at the fringe of arepeater or you're just going up
and down hills or you're in anarea where it might be weak to
(24:39):
be able to pop that on and cleanit up and not miss anything is
is is tremendous.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Yeah, you and I.
I went across town we're inMetro Detroit, the everyday ham
podcast is and I went acrosstown.
On the West side of town, roryand I were chit chatting on the
repeater as I was cruising alongon the freeway and he said I
think you're at the like,superdx is going to be a boon,
right, it'll buy you an extraCUSO or two so that you can find
(25:06):
your next strategy to make surethat you're getting connected,
and I like that idea of it.
Right, you're not going to useit all the time.
The processing probably issomething that sounds a bit
unnatural to the ear, but I dolove that.
It gives you the ability, whenyou're at the close end of that
ability to hear a signal, toturn it on, say what you need to
say and then maybe you QSY toanother radio, another repeater
(25:27):
right, another rig where you canget reconnected with that
person.
And I think that becomesextremely important when we're
talking about MCOM, right.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
And that's what I think, these rigs.
I was about to say that, okay,there we go, james, take it away
.
No, no, no, I didn't want tosteal your thunder there.
No, no, no, I didn't want tosteal your thunder there.
But I was about to say thatYou're looking at some radios
that are very basic, that twometer only, for example, with a
very simple dot matrix displayand some audio signal
(25:55):
enhancements.
You're talking about a veryeffective MCOM radio where, if
you're on the fringe of signals,receiving that signal is
important and that becomes avery affordable use case for a
lot of people in terms of havingthat option.
Yep.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
And there are still a lot of areas, a lot of metro
areas, that there isn't a huge440 presence.
So there are people who wouldsee no problem in not having a
440-capable radio.
I didn't even consider theemergency communication
standpoint.
I didn't even consider theemergency communication
standpoint.
There are times where and I'msure we can look at there was a
whole ton of emergencycommunications done in the
(26:30):
eastern Tennessee flooding there.
I'm sure there were a ton ofpeople trying to make contacts
that if they could press a magicbutton and hear the message
that was being passed just alittle bit better, it would have
made a huge difference.
So that is definitely a keycomponent.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
I look at the emergency situations, as you're
always in a difficult climate touse radio.
Right, it's going to be in themountains, it's going to be in a
situation like we have out inLA where there are fires.
There is just a number ofchallenges, and if there's an
easy button that can help mehave a more effective way to
(27:05):
communicate, I love that.
That is as easy as hit me superDX.
I got that message.
Now we can keep this thingmoving forward.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
And here's another emergency thought If you're in
an emergency and you're runningbackup power, perhaps you only
want to be running five wattsand if you're in a series of
people where you've got yourradio turned down to five watts
and you can turn on theprocessor, and here are the
people just fine, at five watts,that could make the difference
of your radio lasting a coupledays versus a few hours.
(27:35):
So there's a lot in play therethat I really hadn't thought
about until we started talkingabout the emergency aspect.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
The other thing.
On the HF side, we're seeingthe emergence of QRP radios.
Obviously that's becoming moreand more popular.
It always was so, not to sayit's becoming more popular, but
there's always that segment ofQRP.
But you're seeing the ICOM andnow the Yaesu FTX1F.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
I believe it is Yep you're correct.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
Which is going to compete?
I mean, that's a QRP all-moderadio with sound card has the
same aesthetic or designaesthetic of the 500 mobile
radio.
So maybe you're seeing thempush more of the design
aesthetic fusion, digital soundcard into more of that HF mobile
rig, qrp and, as you said,maybe they're becoming more of a
(28:23):
practical lineup for everydaypurposes on their their mobile
market.
From a standpoint of that, Imean it's an interesting
philosophy you have your big boyexpensive radios and then you
have your, your more affordablemobile rigs I don't.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
By the way, I will say I don't believe the ftx1f is
ever going to be an affordablerig, but I do believe that that
these rigs that we're looking attonight are definitely in that
affordable category, under $300,giving you significant power,
allowing you to communicatepretty decent distance.
One final thing before wetransition, in the interest of
making sure we talk about eachof these the FT-3165 RASP
(29:00):
apparently, for me, steals thedesign aesthetic from a 1990s
squad car radio, if you haven'tseen the 3165, it's a wide,
narrow.
It's a wide chassis, uh, narrowheight.
Uh radio that looks like itcame right out of your mother's
cadillac in 1995 it also.
Speaker 3 (29:19):
It you got.
I got a flashback of somethingcompletely different.
Uh, vertexex Standard, who Yezuacquired at some point, had a
series of commercial radios, theVX4200 series, to which I have
a VHF-only 4204 that looks a lotlike the 3165 now that I'm
really thinking about it.
I actually have a couple ofthose.
(29:39):
I hope to put them intoportable repeater service at
some point, but that's a projectfor another day.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
Yeah, this radio looks dated right out of the
gate.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
That's all I wanted to say about it.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
It's really interesting that they launched a
radio in 2025 that looks likethis radio.
For me, the display is dated,the controls are dated, the case
is dated.
I do wonder if they'reborrowing components from an
existing product line to buildthis.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
It looks, as you said , dated.
It also looks cheap.
There we go Dated is one thing.
I'm good with some throwbackaesthetics but, to me it also
looks cheap.
That grill, the plastic, a lotof plastic.
That speaker grill looksold-fashioned and and chunky
plastic I'm sure it's wellcrafted and molded.
(30:30):
We haven't again touched any ofthese radios, uh I'm looking
forward to yeah, yeah, me too.
Um, but when I visually layeyes on it, I think oof that uh
that's a lot of money for whatyou're getting.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
That's a decision.
I won't be any more impressedby it if I can touch it and see
it in person.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
The neighborhood skepticism here.
Speaker 3 (30:50):
I love it.
I love it.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
I agree with you.
Let's talk a little bit aboutthe 3185 RASP.
Sure, and I think that we'vealready touched a lot on what
we're going to talk about with3185, because what you've got
here is a more modern case and20 more watts of power.
It looks like a beefy heat sink.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
On the case for low power output.
Speaker 3 (31:14):
Well, 85 watts in a small package like that, you're
going to start generating a lotof heat real quick.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
Yeah, you will, it's designed.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
If we look at this radio right, the 3165 and the
3185, very similar functionallyright.
Single band or again.
You get a little bit more power, you get a more modern-looking
radio and you get a betterdisplay.
That's about it for the 3185.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
You get that primary memory group as well.
Oh, but you get primary memorygroup yeah, which is an
interesting feature, so you canmonitor what is it.
Five channels.
Yep simultaneously You're right.
Again, if you're looking atMCOM or a club radio or
something to have out of fieldday as your club radio, I mean
that's an interesting feature.
Speaker 3 (32:05):
I mean, as I sit here at my desk, I have the
capability of listening to fourfrequencies on three different
radios, and there are times Ihave them all cranked up, so
that actually did catch myattention.
The PMG functionality, becauseI am someone who does like to
monitor several thingssimultaneously.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
Yeah, I'm glad that you corrected me there, because
for me when I was looking atthat, I did not even register
the PMG as being a value-addfeature at this level.
Right, it's a couple more bucks, but I looked a lot at the
radio and it kind of ate it withmy eyes.
I didn't, actually I didn'tconsider it PMG, and PMG for
emergency comms certainly doesmake sense here.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
And I'm clearly looking at the stat here real
quick.
I was curious on what thefeature has to offer, but
transmit is automatically movedto the received channel as well.
So again, if you're looking atan MCOM radio or you're in your
car driving and you'remonitoring a lot of repeaters or
stations.
That's an interesting featureto have repeaters or stations.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
that's an interesting feature to have.
Okay, so it basically gives mean ability to monitor many
channels in a more effective waythan I would if I was just
scanning on a rotation with astandard machine.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
You'd just be lurking out there just monitoring and
lurking and waiting to pounce.
Is that what you're saying.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
Is that what you're saying?
I do with my listening?
Speaker 1 (33:21):
No, not at all.
I see, yeah, I see.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (33:23):
I'm always.
Anyone who's on a couple ofrepeaters around here know I'm
always lurking.
The 85 watts is interesting.
And that's another one of thosethings where there's probably a
use case scenario for peoplethat are in more rural areas, or
need to regularly hit somethingthat's that little stretch away
, that 50 watts isn't going todo it.
(33:46):
I think there's probably a callfor that being interesting.
I listen semi-regularly in themornings to Northern Michigan
Net.
I listen through All-Star.
The West Branch Michiganrepeater has a morning
roundtable and I a couple ofdays a week and some of those
guys are close enough to therepeater that they can get in on
(34:07):
a good condition morning.
But if it's a bad two metercondition morning they can't get
in.
And you know up there there'snot that much going on for
repeaters.
So to be able to get into thisround table is a big deal to a
lot of them.
So having that extra, you know,to be able to push 85 watts on
a bad day, I think someone inthose situations might be
interested in this.
So it's one of those things.
(34:29):
It's another item that could beattractive to the right person.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
Well, and I was trying to see if I could find
the size dimensions and I'msorry I didn't look this up
beforehand, but it's also as yousaid, and I got my models
confused there at the end withall the rasps and the beautiful
numbers, but for the size it isa pretty petite package for 85
watts, and that is veryattractive and again, I was
(34:56):
trying to see if I could findthe exact dimensions.
I'm sure if you have them,someone you know, go ahead and
put them in the comments whenyou're listening to this and you
can be angry at me, but it is,it's definitely I see where this
radio belongs in the lineupfrom a function and beauty
standpoint.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
Let me build on that idea, because I think that when
these all launched, there was alot of like well, why?
Right, a lot of like well, why?
But there was also a prettyloud crowd that said thank you,
Yesu, for bringing somethingthat's simpler back to the
market.
There are folks that don't wantall those bells and whistles,
(35:36):
that just want to click the keyand have a rag chew, and these
models absolutely are that typeof radio for me.
Speaker 1 (35:41):
Yeah, for me, if you look at it and I'm a big fan of
this radio and I've talked aboutit the FT-891.
It is my go-to HF transceiver.
We mentioned before in thefirst episode, but just to
restate it here, all of us enjoyPOTA a lot and I've put that in
my suitcase.
I've traveled with it.
It gets me 100 watts out and Ienjoy the fact that the setup
(36:06):
and the interface okay, nowaterfall.
I understand that as sort of afeature set that a lot of people
enjoy, but I don't have toworry about it breaking as much.
Speaker 3 (36:17):
It's a durable radio.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
I know where the buttons are.
I can operate it without evenlooking at it.
Pretty much I can just feelover with my hand and change the
dial and adjust the filter andanything else I want to do.
And that's a big feature setfor me.
And maybe this is Yaesurecognizing a little bit that
the 891 is a form factor thatpeople enjoy and this is them
(36:41):
bringing again into a differentlineup.
It's, it's a good, I think, agood move.
Honestly, I I think the eight 91has been a very big success and
you know, we heard a lot ofcriticism you mentioned it a lot
of criticism on the uh 500 whenit came out with the big knob
and the screen and it's hard tohit the touch screen to make
changes and small.
Speaker 2 (37:08):
Yeah, hit the touch screen to make changes.
And small, yeah, I didn't evenrealize it was a touch screen
the first month I had it.
That's how much I.
That's how small the screen ison the 500.
It is true, rory said we'retalking on the radio and I said
rory, just touch the screen.
He's like what do you mean?
Touch the screen?
Didn't realize that when youcan.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
You can do everything you want with rotating the dial
, which is fine, but uh, yeah,the you the touching of the
screen.
That is a small screen to be atouch screen, so I justify my
error with that.
So the 3185 is Boy, I just hadit here and now I'm.
Speaker 1 (37:34):
I had the dimensions up on the screen.
The dimensions elude us.
Speaker 3 (37:37):
Yet again 6.3 inches wide, 2 inches tall and 7.3
inches wide.
2 inches tall and 7.3 inchesdeep, so it's a small radio for
what it's doing.
Speaker 2 (37:52):
I have a tape measure in front of me, so I'm actually
measuring as we're saying thesethings.
Speaker 1 (37:56):
Of course you do, yes .
Speaker 3 (37:58):
Shocking.
You know you mentioned, Jim,something that I didn't consider
easy either is the ease of useof the radio and people wanting
something simpler, and that wassomething that was mentioned, I
think, on Josh's from Ham RadioCrash Course video.
I think that was the one Iwatched.
He took a fair amount of timeto go through the menus of these
(38:20):
radios.
He did yeah of time to gothrough the menus of these
radios, and the menus are fairlysimple.
Um, the the font, the menus arein large print.
You're turning the dial.
You know exactly what's goingto happen when you turn the dial
and it's, it seems, veryintuitive to get through those
menus, versus some of yezu'sother stuff, which a lot of
people will describe as menuhell, which the 891 is kind of
(38:41):
in that category as much as Ienjoy my 891 as well.
If you're not familiar with it,the 891 has a tough menu-driven
radio, as most Yezus do.
You look at even my older one,the 897 that sits on the counter
here, that I've been usingprimarily for slow-scan TV and
packet lately, but that radio isextremely menu-driven.
(39:03):
So to have a series of radioshere with easier menus, that
could be attractive as well,yeah, I love that For my money,
guys.
Speaker 2 (39:12):
I'm buying the 3185.
Hands down For $60 more.
I'm buying the 3185 over the3165.
Speaker 3 (39:21):
I would agree.
It gives you the extra power ifyou want it.
It's visually more appealing.
The screen is larger, not tomake an old person here, but
when you're trying to look at ascreen when you're driving 50,
60, 70, 90 miles an hour downthe road you want to be able to
see it.
That's a big deal there.
Speaker 1 (39:40):
Again, these are mobile radios.
That is a key feature with thatfull dot matrix display there.
Speaker 2 (39:48):
All right, let's talk about the FTM-150, which is by
far the most interesting model.
And again, before we go on 3185, it still gets the SPU-1, which
means it still gets Super DX,just like the 3165, so you can
still push the button.
It's still going to do theawesome stuff.
All three of these radios getthat.
But let's talk about theFTM-150, the most interesting
(40:08):
one of these, right, it is atrue dual-band radio.
It has the ability to operatein a cross-band repeater mode.
If you want to do that, right,it's hidden in some menus,
you've got to hold some buttons,but you can do that, and it
offers pretty much what I wouldconsider to be a quintessential
FM mobile radio experience in apretty nice-looking package and
(40:30):
an extremely high-contrastdisplay.
So FTM-150.
Let's talk a little bit aboutit.
It comes in at $379, right?
So now we're right up therewith what is starting to feel
like a premium radio.
Icom's offering the ID5100,which is a long-running, very
popular rig that can operatebasically duplex, right, it
(40:53):
operates both bands for $429.
So we're getting up to thatpoint where it's in premium
radio category, close to $400.
Speaker 1 (41:01):
I mean, it is a premium radio.
I think so I mean you'regetting in a couple features you
didn't mention as well.
You're getting the detachablefaceplate, so you gain a lot in
mounting options within yourvehicle.
As Rory said, having a largescreen in a place that is
convenient to see is important,and I think a detachable
faceplate says it.
You also have Bluetooth, whichI would say is definitely a
(41:23):
premium feature in amateur radio.
Maybe, not in other markets forelectronics, but it is
definitely for us as well, andthat's all included in that
package.
So you are looking at somethingwith a more simpler form factor
that starts to compete withthat 500.
And you can now make a decisionas a consumer on what are the
(41:46):
important features to you and Ithink that's an important
marketplace, I think.
Speaker 3 (41:52):
So this one.
They have the case size splitinto two and, jim, you have your
tape measure ready over there.
All right, I'm going to pull itout again.
The radio unit itself 5.5inches wide, smaller than the
previous, 1.66 tall, smalleralso, and 5.23 deep.
That's the radio unit itself.
(42:12):
They call out the controllerseparately at 5.82 wide, 2.2
tall and 2.2 deep.
So your total depth, if you hadthe controller on the front,
would be 7.4 roughly.
So that would give you thedepth, and then 5.8 wide with
(42:33):
the control unit mounted on thefront.
So it's a small radio.
Now, I know someone called itout in one of the videos or
something I read.
It appears it's the same bodyas something else that they make
.
Was it the 300 or the?
Speaker 2 (42:51):
I've got you here.
The 300 and the 500 body sizeare almost identical, so this
appears to adopt the samechassis that the 300 and the 500
use for the main radio box, thebrain box if you will, Yep.
Speaker 3 (43:08):
So having the 500 that sits under the seat in my
Jeep, it's small.
I mean it's a nice compactradio unit to have to tuck away
under a seat.
Speaker 2 (43:19):
Even if you had to mount it somewhere, it's not
that big tuck away under a seat,even if you had to mount it
somewhere.
It's not that big and I thinkthat this radio is highly
unlikely to be mounted inanyone's mobile rig.
With the head connected to thebrain, with the head connected
to the main radio body, thisradio intends you to mount the
head remotely, and I'll tell youwhat I love about this.
Yesu listened to everyone andsaid the FTM 500 did it right.
(43:44):
You can connect the hand mic tothe head and you can listen to
the audio from the head.
This has a speaker in the head.
It has a speaker in the body.
You can use the AESS system toget better quality audio by
prioritizing the frequencies outof each of the speakers, and it
gives the flexibility ofmounting it in challenging
(44:05):
mounting situations.
And that's why I love the 500as the premium radio, but I love
that they're bringing thatfeature down to the FTM 150.
Speaker 3 (44:13):
Yeah, having used various radios that have
detachable face plates,detachable heads, the ability to
just run one cable from thechassis to the control head is a
big convenience.
I have in my mobile.
I have both the ID5100 ICOM andI have the FTM500 Yaesu right
now.
The Yaesu is simply one cord upto the control head and the
(44:37):
microphone attaches there.
The ICOM5100, I've got a remotespeaker bouncing around in the
back seat I have an extraextension cord for the mic
between the seats.
You know that's a huge deal andhaving a nice, clean install to
just have to run one cable.
Speaker 1 (44:54):
That was always one of the drawbacks of the very
popular FTM 400 was where youhad to have an external speaker
and where you're going to run itto, and the hand mic is
connected to the main body andyou usually put that under a
seat or in the back, so you'rerunning an additional cable.
So it is for Yezu's point, orJim, your point, I guess, but
for Yezu's credit.
It is a very nice design tokeep going with and they're
(45:19):
doing a good job with that aswell.
Speaker 2 (45:21):
It's a well-packaged radio.
That's what I saw as soon as Isaw it, and with the other two
models apparently being nolonger able to be bought the 200
and 300, this makes sense to menow, much more than it did when
it first launched, aside ofthose other two models.
Now it does lack a couple ofthings here that make it
(45:42):
interesting, right.
Like again, where did C4FM go?
Yaesu has been pushing it foryears.
Uh, they're subsidizingrepeaters, so clubs install them
and we have c4 fm at ourfingertips.
Uh, where did c4 fm go?
When I look at this radio, whatwould it have taken, at 389
dollars, to put the c4 fm chipin right, unless there's
something on the horizon that isa dramatic shift away from that
(46:06):
particular technology for Yaesu.
That confuses me a bit and that, for me, is a really
interesting omission from thisradio at this price point.
Speaker 1 (46:18):
Yeah, I start to think that in pure speculation.
Speaker 2 (46:20):
In my opinion, I think you start to Sure we're
wild speculation right now.
Yeah, it's, a whole thing isspeculation at this point.
Speaker 1 (46:26):
No, I think you are seeing and we talked about it a
little bit earlier you're seeingthem maybe split into two
distinct product lines.
You also see it in thehandhelds, which we haven't
talked about either, in howthese radios and the aesthetics
tie into some of their morepopular handhelds, like the what
is it 70DR radio FG70.
Speaker 2 (46:43):
DR radio FG70,.
Speaker 1 (46:43):
yeah, same exact design aesthetic.
So it's Kevin there, and thenobviously the 500 ties into
their other more modern handheldJim, you'll know the.
Speaker 3 (46:49):
That is true, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (46:51):
So maybe they're splitting.
Point is, maybe they'resplitting into two distinct
product lines.
I want basic functionality withsome advanced features.
I want to have some of thosemore premium things in the
design, like the one cable tothe face plates, and then maybe
you're going to see a moreadvanced product line come out
that is going to have the fusionand all those other features
(47:13):
sound cards and built-infunctionality, aprs, gps, all
those things that some peoplewant, some people don't.
So maybe they're splitting.
We'll have one market for themore premium radios that want
APRS, gprs, digital and we'llhave one more for basic
functionality, mcom, basicmobile setups, etc.
And it would be an interestingchoice because you're going to
(47:38):
have two productions going.
But maybe the market's there,maybe they see it.
Speaker 2 (47:43):
I think that if you listen to, I always laugh.
I watch some of the ham tubersand they say Reddit are articles
.
But Reddit's not articles.
It's user opinions on products.
It's user opinions on amateurradio in general.
I like Reddit, don't get mewrong.
So I read a lot of Reddit and Ido read a lot of folks that say
I'm never going to use systemfusion.
(48:03):
I have no interest in it beingin my radio and if it makes it
cheaper to emit it, by all meansemit it right.
The interesting thing is thatfusion I think it gets paired
often with the other digitalstuff like APRS, right?
Yep, I don't know if they'resharing a chip there or what,
but it appears that when thedigital modem is present, both
of those things are present, andI'm a big APRS guy.
(48:25):
I like APRS, I enjoy using it.
I send it out from all the carswhile I'm driving about.
I've used it with Rory to sendmessages back and forth.
I've joined APRS Thursday.
I've done all the APRS things.
I enjoy it.
It works well in Metro Detroit.
I understand where other folkssay you know what, it doesn't
(48:45):
work where I'm at and that'stotally fair.
But anyway I digress.
Here's an interesting stat foryou guys.
Digest this for a moment.
There are only four digitalradios left in Yesu's lineup
that are actively being producedright now the FTM 500, the FT5D
, which is their flagshiphandheld, the-991A, which I
(49:07):
argue is not long for this world.
The FT-991A is their shack in abox.
It will be replaced, Iguarantee, in the FT-70DR.
So there's four rigs in Yesu'slineup, if we're not counting
the 300DR, because we speculatethat that's being discontinued.
That is curious to me.
Speaker 3 (49:31):
There's a certain reduction that we're seeing in
fusion.
Go ahead, rory.
I think you have a thought.
The question I was going topose next is what do we think Is
the ASP technology going tostart popping up in a handheld?
What are they going to do withtheir handheld line?
I wonder Because think about itthat way when you're running
portable with a handheld,there's a lot of times you need
just a little extra to hearsomething, so we'll see what
(49:52):
happens.
I think a big tell will bewhatever the next radio is that
disappears or appears from theirline, and we'll see what it is
and what it has.
Because they're making someinteresting moves.
I know Hamcation's coming up inFlorida.
I haven't heard any speculationof any big news, anything being
(50:16):
announced by any of themanufacturers down there.
So I would assume the next bigmove we see will be Dayton.
But who knows, we might get asurprise before then.
Speaker 1 (50:22):
Well, and what's interesting is, these radios
didn't get the splash releaselike the 500 did right, I mean
the 500 was a flagship release.
They, they all the pomp andcircumstance a new mobile radio
deserves was given to it, andthese ones were just sort of
here's a press release, and itwas even down to the point where
people were, you know, doubtingif it was a real release or not
(50:42):
or some, some sort of fakemessaging, so it makes you think
again, as you pointed out,those interesting stats about
how
Speaker 3 (50:51):
many digital cable radios they have left in their
lineup.
Speaker 1 (50:54):
I have to believe they're queuing up for something
to have a more pomp andcircumstance launch for some new
radios that go into the digitalroute.
I can't imagine they'reabandoning Fusion.
It's still a popular feature.
I can't imagine they'reabandoning Fusion.
It's still a popular feature.
I can't imagine they'reabandoning APRS.
It's still a feature used.
A lot of people have opinionson it, but it's still a feature
used.
Speaker 2 (51:14):
I thought you were going to say it was a popular
feature and I was going to enjoythat love.
Speaker 3 (51:19):
I look forward to an in-depth conversation about APRS
, because I have become a fan aswell.
Speaker 1 (51:29):
I think there's a use case for it.
So again, I don't think they'regoing to abandon that
functionality.
I think they're just gettingready.
Here's our basic lineup.
Here's some of our newtechnology, and hold on, because
something else is coming in thefuture.
Speaker 2 (51:38):
Couple more quick hits for you here.
Ftm 500 released just under twoyears ago, so it's only been
out for 22 months, the FTM 500.
It is a fairly new rig by byradio standards.
Speaker 1 (51:53):
Radio standards.
Speaker 2 (51:53):
Yeah, it's a baby Under two years old, is a very
young rig.
Speaker 1 (51:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (51:57):
FTM 300, which we speculate is being discontinued,
close to five years old at thispoint, and that to me that's
not old, Knowing that, though,it makes a little more sense
because I thought the 300 was alittle newer than five years.
But you're right, five years.
How long has ICOM run theID5100?
Rory probably knows this.
Speaker 3 (52:16):
I don't know, but I think didn't we look it up?
I want to say it was 2015,.
Was it?
Or was I having a conversationwith someone else?
Because I know I purchased myprevious vehicle in 2014, and I
installed one when they werebrand new.
I paid top dollar for my first5100, and that was not a cheap
radio, but I have it and I stillhave it in the current vehicle.
(52:37):
But I believe that one came outin 2015.
Speaker 2 (52:40):
Gosh.
So yeah, the 5100 basicallystalwart when it comes to
high-quality mobile radios atthis point, and I'm very excited
to see what ICOM could do.
But that's a whole otherconversation here.
What are we at?
Time-wise James, I know we'vegone long.
Speaker 1 (52:56):
Yeah, we're getting close.
But maybe one last point aswell.
So we know that the FTX-1F,their QRP radio, that's probably
going to get a lot of fanfareat.
Hamvention here in May.
We don't know the exact releasedate yet, but reservations are
out there.
So any of the major retailers$35, I believe, to hold your
(53:17):
spot in line to get one now.
So I know I'm the one that said, hey, they're probably going to
have something else atHamvention, and maybe they do,
but it's interesting that theyhaven't even launched one of
their new flagship radios andwe're talking about something
else coming in the pipeline.
For amateur radios in general.
That is maybe an odd step forone manufacturer to do, but
(53:40):
again, if they're going to go,try to make a splash and all
eyes are on that FTX1F, becauseI'm sure a lot of people want to
get their hands on it.
And invention when it rollsaround.
Put some other radios in thedisplay.
I'm sure you'll get a lot offoot traffic and you can get a
lot of good marketing from thatas well.
Speaker 2 (53:58):
And maybe there is some speculation there on when
they'll release it Very, veryinteresting and the FTX 1F is
what I think folks are nowconsidering to feel a bit late
because they were teasing itwhen they brought it to Tokyo
Ham Show for early 2025.
And most folks read that as Q12025.
We're in the second month ofthree here and there still seems
(54:21):
to be no indication ofavailability yet.
And a lot of folks are askinglike where is it, when is it
coming?
And you make a good point.
To have a couple more irons inthe fire seems very I don't want
to say interesting, a bitcurious for a company like Yesu.
Right, it feels like the FTXOne is going to draw a bunch of
(54:43):
attention and I wonder if youare right.
Maybe they're trying topiggyback on some of that high
level of interest we're going tosee in Dayton Because
everybody's going to be in thebooth poking the buttons on the
FTX One app.
I know I will I have areservation Whether I buy it or
not.
I don't know yet.
Speaker 1 (55:06):
But I am very interested to go touch the radio
, I mean the other interestingpoint there.
I like to believe that iswhat's happening.
The other interesting pointthough to.
Rory earlier mentioning supplychain issues.
It's a real possibility thatthat's why they haven't released
it yet, because oh, there couldbe a delay there, for sure.
And we already know they misseda key market Christmas time.
They said first half of 2025,and you know they wanted to get
that out in December, ifpossible, to catch that
Christmas money.
So maybe now they're just goingto be patient and time the
release with something else andfingers crossed that is what it
(55:29):
is.
So, okay, I think we're aboutat time.
From my side, again, I want tothank everyone for tuning in to
episode two and for those thatlistened to episode one.
Got some decent traffic, sothank you out there for everyone
.
If you've listened to that one,you're listening to this one.
If you're first time listeningto one, thank you for being here
(55:51):
as well.
Absolutely.
We'll do some formal sign-offshere in a second, but maybe, if
anyone is interested, you canalways follow us at
wwweverydayhamcom.
We do have a YouTube channel aswell at Everyday Ham if you
search that, and then ourInstagram is at Everyday Ham
Podcast.
(56:12):
So our primary format is goingto be a podcast format, so audio
, but we do record some video aswell and we'll put that out
there.
So if anyone wants to see thesepretty faces, they'll be
available to you, they'll beavailable to you out there.
The audio version's probablygoing to be your preference
after you get a view of us, butyou know viewer's choice.
Speaker 3 (56:32):
We're radio guys who wants to look at us.
That's for sure.
Speaker 2 (56:39):
I watch a lot of HamTubers.
I think we stack up guys.
Speaker 3 (56:43):
We're fine, we're doing okay.
I appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (56:46):
I put on my finest sweater today for this.
Speaker 2 (56:49):
I put on a new vest because I didn't want to look
the same.
This is a blue vest instead ofmy brown vest today.
Speaker 3 (56:53):
I threw on a hoodie.
I'm glad we all did something.
We all put in the work Puttingin the work.
Speaker 1 (56:59):
So with that, thank you everyone.
Speaker 2 (57:20):
As a reminder, this will be a monthly podcast format
, so we'll try to get in thehabit of actually teasing the
next show in these episodes,just so if you're curious what's
coming up.
But again, we're pretty new atthis, so thank you for your
patience.
Listen, I would love to hearfolks' feedback as far as what
topics we might discuss next,but I do think we have a couple
more exciting ones that are onthe docket and I do think that
we have a little special thingcoming for you during Hamvention
Absolutely.
That should be pretty exciting,so over to Rory.
(57:42):
Pretty exciting, so over toRory.
Speaker 3 (57:44):
Yeah, definitely tune .
You know, give us a shout ifyou have an idea that you want
our everyday opinion on, becauseI'll tell you.
You know I might not have awhole lot to say on some of
these things, but there's a fewthings you can get me started on
and I'll give you plenty of myopinions.
Speaker 1 (58:00):
So with that 73 from W8KNX.
Speaker 3 (58:03):
73 from InnateJRD.
Speaker 1 (58:04):
Yep and 73 from KJKU Stay.
All right, welcome everyone to Episode 2 of the
Everyday Ham Podcast.
This episode we're going todive into Yaesu's latest mobile
transceivers and we got a littlebit of speculation, sort of, on
where we think they're headingin the marketplace.
I'm James Mills, k8jku.
I'm joined here by Jim Davis,n8jrd, and Roy Locke, w8knx.
(00:23):
So before we get into theformal topic, jim, what are you
excited for currently in hamradio?
What's on your mind?
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Yeah, very good and welcome everybody.
Glad to do this for a secondtime.
We'll see if we can make itwork.
I was excited to sit downtonight knowing that we were
going to do a little chat hereand a couple things going on in
the last month.
After Christmas I set up myFTDX101MP and I finally made it
(00:51):
to FT8 with much goading fromRory over here W8KNX.
So he told me Jim, you got toget that thing going on FT8.
I've been having a lot of funwith it.
I fully admit that I have notbeen a digital guy at all.
I have only operated phone forthe last six months, so I was
dragging my feet pretty hard.
(01:11):
But I set it up a couple ofevenings ago and both James and
Rory got on and we chit chattedabout how to do it.
We got it up and running andI've been having a whole bunch
of fun with FT8.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
And my ham alert has not stopped since.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
That is exactly right .
Speaker 3 (01:27):
So there's a whole component missing there, that
we're all repeater dwellers, weall like our local repeater.
We like to call out when we'remobile, we like to call out when
we're sitting at home bored.
So there's a whole componentmissing that.
I know, jim, that you enjoy andthat's the person-to-person cue
.
So how does it feel doing ft8with that aspect completely?
Speaker 2 (01:48):
not there.
Yeah, it was very strange, Iguess at first, and I won't I'm
sure we could go into a wholeepisode about ft8.
We're not going to.
But I'll just say out loud that, uh, I expected it to be like
okay, I expected it to be likewatching paint dry, right, like,
uh, that it was gonna be areally boring mode where I just
clicked on a thing and thingshappened and then I got a cue,
so right, and I think initially,when I started doing it, that's
(02:10):
kind of what it was.
But the more I began tounderstand how the transaction
worked in FT8 and then pairingit along with GridTracker,
that's very important Yep.
It really makes it a more visualexperience, right, I can see
where my signal's going, I cansee where I'm being heard, and
that helps me understand thepropagation that's happening at
(02:31):
any given time.
It's a lot more insightful thanI thought it was going to be,
and I'm having a lot of fun withit.
I'm only on my second day andI've already lit up a number of
DX locations that I would neverhave been able to get on my
limited antenna setup here atthe house so.
I'm having a lot of fun with it,so that's what's got me fired
up right now is a little bit ofhow limited of an antenna setup
(02:52):
are you?
Speaker 3 (02:53):
I mean, come on, you have a place where you have
antennas outside.
I'm stuck with a fairly lousyNFET up in the attic, strung
between whatever's up in theattic, so you're doing okay over
there antenna-wise.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
This is true.
I'm an HOA ham, basically aswell.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
You're doing okay too .
Speaker 1 (03:10):
So we're envious of you.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
You guys are both doing okay with your outside HF
antennas, I think, but that'sexcellent.
I don't have any new thingsgoing on here.
As we get through winter andall the things, I keep talking
to people on the local machine,and you guys as well, and I keep
dreaming about getting a newrun of coax up to the attic to
do some work with my 2 meter 440antenna, and I'm also dreaming
(03:35):
what I'm going to do in thespring, because there is a plan
off the side of the building toget something up vertical in the
little bit of real estate thatI have available to me outside
of the condo.
So that's about it here, justdreaming mode in the middle of
winter.
How about you, james?
Speaker 1 (03:51):
You know, honestly, almost the same thing.
While we were doing the FT8demonstration with Jim.
We were talking about well, Iwas talking about having you
guys over in the summer for abarbecue and setting up a actual
two meter antenna.
Yeah, let's do it, get that upon the roof and actually get
some local setups going.
So I live geographically.
(04:11):
I don't know how many miles itis, but it's a 30 minute drive.
Like Michiganders will talk inhow long the drive is how long
is the?
Speaker 2 (04:18):
drive.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Yeah, it's about a 30 minute drive, so I'd like to.
I'm jealous of all your localQSOs.
You guys are getting andhitting the repeater, so I'd
like to get that set up and thenwe'll talk about it probably
one day in an episode as well.
Jim and I have differentopinions on one of our home
antennas, which is the DXCommander Signature 9.
So that will make for a goodfuture episode.
(04:38):
We'll share our opinions andmaybe that will be a live
recorded outdoor episode afterwe get off the roof mounting
some antennas.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
I love it.
The joy of ham friends.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
Jim's opinion of that antenna may change as he does
more digital though too, becauseI think it's serving him pretty
well with the FT8 mode.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Yeah, that's 100% true.
I think that it is.
We won't go into it.
Let's keep it moving here, guys.
I don't want to go into DXCommander.
Let's keep it moving here, guys.
I don't want to go into DXCommander too much, but I will
agree, it's working fine for FT8.
I've been set up so that I canrun either that or my NFET
Halfwave, which are my twooutdoor antennas over here.
So it definitely has worked outall right and I'm really
(05:21):
impressed with FT8 and itsability to get out places that I
would not have been able to getto on sideband by any means.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
How did you feel about getting Japan last night?
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Yeah, that was extremely exciting, right?
So I had not had a CUSO withJapan in any fashion at all.
And so being able to get a tipfrom the club members here in
the South Line Club and say,able to get a tip from the club
members here in the South LineClub and say, hey, when Gray
Line hits over in Japan, tune itup to 24 megahertz, 12 meter,
and you'll probably hear someJapanese stations, and I was
(05:52):
like, well, that'd be awesome.
I visited Japan many years agonow and I had just a blast over
there, and I've always, sinceI've gotten my radio fired back
up, I've wanted to be able totalk or make cue.
So to Japan and it was excitingto uh to get that and it wasn't
uh, it wasn't hard at all.
Uh, I did turn up the power alittle bit.
I won't lie.
I know a lot of people run FTAto like 35 or 40 Watts.
(06:14):
I had the power cranked up alittle bit further than that
Cause I wanted to guarantee acontact, but it happened.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
That's good.
Yeah, I felt somehow I feltcomplete when I made that first
contact over to Japan.
That was pretty cool.
All right, james, what's onyour mind for the podcast today?
Speaker 1 (06:31):
So today we were going to dive a little bit into
Yaesu.
So, jim, you will talk a littlebit about breaking news and we
want to kind of speculate alittle bit on where we think the
market is heading specificallyfor the Yaesu.
But maybe it is an indicationfor the larger market.
So before we go into more ofthe formal discussion, let's
(06:52):
talk about the models.
That will probably be the focusof today's chat.
So in November Yezu releasedthree new mobile transceivers.
All three radios featureSuperDX technology enhancing
weak signal reception and audiosignal processing, or ASP for
Crystal Clear Audio.
(07:14):
Crystal Clear, yeah, crystalClear, first up is the FT3165
RASP, currently priced at$249.95 at DX Engineering, and
this radio is a two-meter onlyradio if I remember correctly,
single band, single band yep,yep.
Next is the FT3185 RASP.
(07:37):
It's also available for $274.95at dxengineeringcom.
This one steps up the power alittle bit, so you're getting a
little more features.
You get 85-watt output andincludes what they call primary
memory group feature, allowingyou to monitor up to five memory
channels in real time.
Now, last but not least, we'regetting into their let's say big
(07:59):
boy of the new models, theFTM-150 RSAP.
They all roll off the tongue.
That's one thing they got incommon.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
This is the only one that excited me, so I'll just
say that.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Yep, it's also going to come with a little bit
heavier price tag so $379.95from currently dxengineeringcom.
It is a dual band transceiver.
It covers 144 megahertz and 430megahertz with true, with true
dual band functionality,independent vfos and a full dot
(08:31):
matrix display that matrix yeah,now we're in the future with
our dot matrix displays.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
That's a deal there, so at the time.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Uh, the reason we even bring these up is at the
time there was a little bit ofconfusion on the introduction of
these three new radios.
I know they had some newfeatures, specifically looking
at their audio processing, butthere was some overlap in their
lineup.
Let's say so, jim, I thinktoday you kind of announced, or
you saw, some news breaks aswell which I think maybe are
(09:04):
important to talk about at thestart.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Yesu's making some moves.
It sounds like.
Sounds like it.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Yeah, it's absolutely interesting to me.
So when these launched, right,we were looking at what the
current model line was, whichwas the FTM 200, which was a
true it's a dual bander, but nota true dual bander, right, it
was one that was limited and itbasically played some tricks to
allow you to hear two bands atonce, but it wasn't a true
dual-band UV, uu, vv type radio.
(09:30):
They had the FTM-300, which wasactually a pretty nice radio
capable of a lot of thingsdigital modes, aprs whether you
love APRS or not and, of course,the FTM-500.
So when we saw these threeradios drop seemingly out of
nowhere right from Yaesu, therewas not much hype around these
things coming, not much fanfare,and they didn't announce them
(09:51):
at any major event release likea hamcation or hamvention.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
It was just sort of thrown out there.
And it would seem like such anunusual move with bringing what
we would consider lower techradios onto the market too.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Exactly so.
When we saw these three thingsdrop and then we saw the prices,
it really became quite aconfusing proposition, at least
for me.
I had at the time an FTM 300 inone of my vehicles and an FTM
500 in the other and I saidwho's buying these right?
(10:28):
The FTM 300 I purchased fromHam Radio Outlet for $369 in the
box it was an open box special,but $369, right.
And I looked at the price ofthe FTM 150, which is the new
RASP model, and it was well overthat price.
And even when the 300 was brandnew in the box you were still
able to get it around the $400mark, depending on the sales.
(10:49):
So we were asking are theycompeting with themselves and
where do these fit?
In the last week, ftm 200,completely discontinued,
Confirmed by Yesu.
They are no longer producing it.
(11:09):
It has been moved to the Yesuarchive, so gone is the FTM 200.
And actually, although I didn'tthink the FTM 200 was a
particularly great value, therewere a lot of people that loved
that rating.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
One of our friends, Blakey WSK, here in the club as
well, he runs that.
It was actually a gift from hiswife, who was thrilled that he
was getting into ham radio,which is an odd thing to happen.
I think it was either abirthday or Christmas gift and
he loves that radio.
So you know, but that one isgone.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Yeah, there's a lot of folks that said you know, the
FTM 200 is going to be missed.
It filled a very nice niche andit was very affordable for what
you got, right, and so I guessI find it quite interesting, but
they discontinued that.
Then the picture started tomake a little bit more sense.
Right, we've got three newradios that dropped.
They've discontinued one.
Okay, the 300 and the 500 stillexist at maybe the top end of
(12:03):
what Yaesu is going to offer formobile radios.
Well, come to find out,questions continued to mount as
300 stocks sort of dried up,right, so if you go around the
web today and today's date isFebruary 5th 2025, it is
impossible basically to find anFTM 300 new in the box at any of
(12:26):
our major retailers DXEngineering, hro or GigaParts.
Right, there are a few that arein stock at some of the smaller
radio sites where they areprobably sitting on the floor
waiting to be sold, but the FTM300 appears to have been
discontinued as well.
The interesting part about that, of course, is Yaesu has not
yet confirmed that it's gone.
(12:47):
There's been speculation by acouple of different channels on
the YouTubes, the ham tubers.
One was KB9MLI, who called upHam Radio Outlet and said, hey,
are you getting any more 300s?
And they said, nope, no more,we're pulling it off the site,
right?
So just a really interestingsudden change in what Yaesu is
(13:10):
offering in their product line,and I think that we'll dig into
it more here.
But it kind of blows my mindbecause you eliminated two of
three radios in a product linethat offer digital output for
C4FM, so system fusion and youeliminated two radios that had
nice color screens, hadadditional functionality built
(13:33):
into them like APRS, gps,bluetooth, and now we've got the
3165 and the 3185 that appearto be straight up analog single
band radios.
I don't believe that these fillthose niches, but the FTM-150
is interesting.
So I think that I understandYesu's story a little bit more.
All that being said, but let'sdive into it.
(13:54):
That was late-breaking newsthis afternoon as I started to
read, and it kind of is a realinteresting shift and I'm
curious if that means at Daytonwe're going to find out that
Yesu's got some fancy new mobilemodels on the way.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
I mean, there's this.
Oh sorry, james go ahead.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
No, no, go ahead, Roy , no, no.
I was going to say there's agigantic hole there.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
Oh, you said, go ahead, and then you said I did.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
My bad.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
We're professionals.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
We know what we're doing.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
Now you go ahead, now I go ahead.
Okay, good job.
No, that's fine.
So that leaves a gigantic holebecause it's just the 500 is the
(14:40):
only Fusion C4 FM capablemobile left, if I followed all
that correctly from your update,and it definitely leaves a big
gap.
I don't know.
I'm surprised they got rid ofthe 300.
It seemed to be such a nice.
I mean, I don't know that youreally want to call it entry
level, but easier to swallowpurchase cost-wise into Fusion
and C4FM.
The 500, of course, is a bitmore expensive, but maybe we'll
see some adjustments on pricewith that here in the
not-too-distant future.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
We'll have to wait and see and see and I'll put an
asterisk on this right.
What I'm seeing today is onlybased on stock availability at
the major retailers and folkscalling and asking are you
getting more?
And being told no, we don'tbelieve that there is any more
stock of the FTM 300 coming.
So if you go to Yesu's websitetoday, the 300 is not in the
(15:21):
archive yet, but it certainlyseems like it has one toe in the
grave.
As far as Yaesu is concerned,james, go ahead.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
No, I was going to say, and I think that we know
it's hard to believe Yaesu isgoing to abandon their Fusion or
digital in general.
You still see an interest frompeople for APRS features.
You obviously still see theyput a lot of investment into
clubs getting Fusion repeatersonline.
Absolutely so to yourspeculation.
(15:49):
You already made this point butto further emphasize it, we
have to probably anticipate thatsomething is coming in the
lineup.
And you're right on theirwebsite the 200 is officially
gone.
If you look at their lineup,they have big, shiny new buttons
next to the 3185, the 3165, andthe 150.
And then the 300 is still there, but it's all the way at the
(16:10):
far right now.
So you're right, it's settingup for some discontinuing, it
looks like.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
I just think that it's a very interesting product
move when I see radios thatseemed more fully featured at
similar price points beingremoved.
And I will say, if we go just ahair deeper into the
speculation before we get intofacts again, it appears that
there might be partsavailability issues that Yaesu
is running into as a result ofdeciding that it's time to end
(16:39):
those two models right now.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
That was actually one of my first thoughts when they
came out with this new line ofthe 3185, 3165, and 150 line.
Did they have to make somechanges because of what they
could get and what was easy tosource for parts and technology?
That was actually one of thethings I wondered If, deep down
in the supply chain and in themanufacturing process, that that
(17:02):
was something they had toconsider.
So the 400 went away.
I mean, these are radios thathave been around a while, but
the 400 went away not that longago and I feel like that was a
fairly popular radio.
Oh, absolutely.
But hopefully you know, alongwith this transition that of
them adding these new radios wemight see something new that's
(17:22):
Fusion and APRS capable.
So I'm very happy with my 500.
It's the newest radio in myfleet.
I purchased basically underpeer pressure just to see
because I heard it was a coolradio and I wanted to dip into
APRS.
But certainly surprised to seethese moves.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
I'll take credit for forcing you to buy yet another
radio, Rory.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
That would be you, yeah, and.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
I'm just disappointed .
None of these new radios havethe one big knob feature that
everyone seemed to love.
But it is interesting, rory, toyour point on supply chain
availability.
I mean we know the chipshortage and other electronic
components have sort of, overthe last few years, straightened
itself out.
But we are seeing more threat tothe supply chain, not a
political statement, but we lookat some of the production
(18:10):
footprint for electronicscomponents based out of China
and other Asia-Pacific regions.
They could be trying to maybebatten down the hatches a little
bit and having a more reliableparts supply, like a dot matrix
display, for example.
That's technology that's beenaround forever.
It's reliable.
And it's technology that's beenaround forever, it's reliable
and it's probably available formultiple supply sources.
So that could be part of thestrategy as well.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
Because it's funny, the dot matrix thing.
I mean that FTM-150, you lookat that, that would have been at
the top of my list in 2002 whenI got licensed.
That would have been a veryattractive radio at that time.
So a lot of radios looked thatway.
I had an icon, similar inscreen display and so forth.
(18:52):
But it's just an interestingmove.
I'm curious what they have uptheir sleeve.
I feel like there's one moreradio in this line that we
haven't seen yet Something tobridge between the 500 and the
150?
Speaker 1 (19:06):
I think so In terms of function and appeal.
I think so.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
There absolutely has to be.
The 150 is so far removed fromthe 500 as far as functionality.
There has to be a radio coming,and I know that we talked about
the three major Japanesebuilders of radios having a
cyclic release where they kindof made way for the next guy to
release their radio ICOM oneyear, kenwood the next year,
(19:29):
yaesu the next year.
I almost wonder if Yaesu issaying we're going for it, right
, kenwood has one coming.
We know that.
When is it coming?
We don't know that yet.
But I just wonder if Yaesu saidwe're looking at market right
now and these radios are A notprofitable and can't be built
with the products, componentswe're getting, so we're going to
(19:52):
revamp altogether.
I have one thing that I'll sayout loud here, and maybe it'll
give us our transition thethings you're losing in this
current new launch.
For the most part, you don'tget GPS anymore that was in both
of the other radios, right.
You don't get a digital modemno C4 FM, no APRS, so no digital
modem.
You lose your color display.
(20:13):
You're back to a monochrome ora segmented LCD and you lose all
the WiresX capability if thatwas something that you were
doing on the internet.
So it really is a significantremoval of features when we look
at the pricing being veryequivalent.
So I don't know, let's jumpinto a 3165, maybe let's take a
look Now.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
this one is the 2-meter 65-watt radio correct?
Speaker 2 (20:42):
That's right.
Yep, the 3165 is 2, two meter,only 65 watts, and I think James
quoted the price there beingsomewhere in the neighborhood of
249.
I saw it as low this afternoonwhen I was doing a little
research as 219.
So they already are discountingthese radios pretty
significantly.
So seeing it at about $220,that to me, that seems pretty
(21:05):
approachable for a single banderwith 65 watts.
65 watts, no slouch.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
Yeah, to have a few extra watts over 50 is always
good, I mean, it's certainly nota bad thing to have a bit more
power.
But for me, I mean a two meteronly radio almost isn't even an
option.
I work a fair amount of 440locally and I work a fair amount
of 440 using some of myAll-Star hotspots and so forth.
So to have the loss of 440,this guy's not even a contender
(21:35):
for me.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Yeah, for me it also is not a contender.
I actually just a few monthsago sold my FT-1900, which was a
single-band, 2-meter 50-wattrig.
It reminds me a lot of the 3165RASP.
Now we haven't talked at allabout the audio processing yet.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
I was about to say Now, the big new feature for
them is Now.
We should also maybe mentionbackup for one second.
All three of us have notphysically held or operated one
of these radios.
So we are basing a lot of thison what we've read, our kind of
past knowledge of yeezy productsand some other things.
However, uh, one of the bigfeatures was their audio signal
(22:17):
processing, and the reviews ofthat have been phenomenal.
Uh, from everything I've seenof the users that it is a
breakthrough in how things arecleaned up and how you can take
the incoming and make it worksome magic on the signal
processing side, and we'vespeculated also that With that
(22:38):
technology, maybe this is one oftheir proving grounds.
So get it into some mobiletransceivers, get the
functionality out there, getpeople used to it and then start
to branch into other radios, soHF transceivers or even
possibly their update to the 891, extremely popular HF
transceiver mobile line radio,to see what they could do with
(23:00):
that product and make this partof their new marketing tool or
feature set to really boosttheir lineup in the future.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
It almost ties back to what we talked about in our
first episode a little bit.
I know that this is not an AIprocessor by any means, but we
were talking about theimportance of being able to
clean up audio in a reallymeaningful way, and it looks
like ASUS unlocked that codewith the uh SPU one, which is
what is built into thesemachines.
So, um, if you visit any ofyour favorite ham tubers, we can
(23:30):
, you know, pick your, pick yourpoison.
Uh, all of them have run theirtests and, uh, I personally love
ham radio.
Crash course.
Josh over there did a test onone of these and showed rasp on
versus off I'm sorry, asp, onversus off with the SDX function
, and it was pretty impressiveto see how well it was able to
clean up the audio and make itvery, very readable,
(23:50):
intelligible audio from signalsthat were pretty rough otherwise
to listen to Noticeablydifferent.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
Yeah, he pulled in some very weak 2-meter Simplex
conversations.
I probably watched the samevideo you're referring to and it
cleaned it up.
I mean he discussed whether ornot it sounded like there was a
little bit of an underwatersound to it.
But I think you kind of get alittle bit of different audio
processing when you do thesethings.
(24:17):
You're going to have a soundthat's not natural to your ear.
But the difference between aweak signal versus one that's
being processed by ASP there isphenomenal, and if there's times
that you're at the fringe of arepeater or you're just going up
and down hills or you're in anarea where it might be weak to
(24:39):
be able to pop that on and cleanit up and not miss anything is
is is tremendous.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Yeah, you and I.
I went across town we're inMetro Detroit, the everyday ham
podcast is and I went acrosstown.
On the West side of town, roryand I were chit chatting on the
repeater as I was cruising alongon the freeway and he said I
think you're at the like,superdx is going to be a boon,
right, it'll buy you an extraCUSO or two so that you can find
(25:06):
your next strategy to make surethat you're getting connected,
and I like that idea of it.
Right, you're not going to useit all the time.
The processing probably issomething that sounds a bit
unnatural to the ear, but I dolove that.
It gives you the ability, whenyou're at the close end of that
ability to hear a signal, toturn it on, say what you need to
say and then maybe you QSY toanother radio, another repeater
(25:27):
right, another rig where you canget reconnected with that
person.
And I think that becomesextremely important when we're
talking about MCOM, right.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
And that's what I think, these rigs.
I was about to say that, okay,there we go, james, take it away
.
No, no, no, I didn't want tosteal your thunder there.
No, no, no, I didn't want tosteal your thunder there.
But I was about to say thatYou're looking at some radios
that are very basic, that twometer only, for example, with a
very simple dot matrix displayand some audio signal
(25:55):
enhancements.
You're talking about a veryeffective MCOM radio where, if
you're on the fringe of signals,receiving that signal is
important and that becomes avery affordable use case for a
lot of people in terms of havingthat option.
Yep.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
And there are still a lot of areas, a lot of metro
areas, that there isn't a huge440 presence.
So there are people who wouldsee no problem in not having a
440-capable radio.
I didn't even consider theemergency communication
standpoint.
I didn't even consider theemergency communication
standpoint.
There are times where and I'msure we can look at there was a
whole ton of emergencycommunications done in the
(26:30):
eastern Tennessee flooding there.
I'm sure there were a ton ofpeople trying to make contacts
that if they could press a magicbutton and hear the message
that was being passed just alittle bit better, it would have
made a huge difference.
So that is definitely a keycomponent.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
I look at the emergency situations, as you're
always in a difficult climate touse radio.
Right, it's going to be in themountains, it's going to be in a
situation like we have out inLA where there are fires.
There is just a number ofchallenges, and if there's an
easy button that can help mehave a more effective way to
(27:05):
communicate, I love that.
That is as easy as hit me superDX.
I got that message.
Now we can keep this thingmoving forward.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
And here's another emergency thought If you're in
an emergency and you're runningbackup power, perhaps you only
want to be running five wattsand if you're in a series of
people where you've got yourradio turned down to five watts
and you can turn on theprocessor, and here are the
people just fine, at five watts,that could make the difference
of your radio lasting a coupledays versus a few hours.
(27:35):
So there's a lot in play therethat I really hadn't thought
about until we started talkingabout the emergency aspect.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
The other thing.
On the HF side, we're seeingthe emergence of QRP radios.
Obviously that's becoming moreand more popular.
It always was so, not to sayit's becoming more popular, but
there's always that segment ofQRP.
But you're seeing the ICOM andnow the Yaesu FTX1F.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
I believe it is Yep you're correct.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
Which is going to compete?
I mean, that's a QRP all-moderadio with sound card has the
same aesthetic or designaesthetic of the 500 mobile
radio.
So maybe you're seeing thempush more of the design
aesthetic fusion, digital soundcard into more of that HF mobile
rig, qrp and, as you said,maybe they're becoming more of a
(28:23):
practical lineup for everydaypurposes on their their mobile
market.
From a standpoint of that, Imean it's an interesting
philosophy you have your big boyexpensive radios and then you
have your, your more affordablemobile rigs I don't.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
By the way, I will say I don't believe the ftx1f is
ever going to be an affordablerig, but I do believe that that
these rigs that we're looking attonight are definitely in that
affordable category, under $300,giving you significant power,
allowing you to communicatepretty decent distance.
One final thing before wetransition, in the interest of
making sure we talk about eachof these the FT-3165 RASP
(29:00):
apparently, for me, steals thedesign aesthetic from a 1990s
squad car radio, if you haven'tseen the 3165, it's a wide,
narrow.
It's a wide chassis, uh, narrowheight.
Uh radio that looks like itcame right out of your mother's
cadillac in 1995 it also.
Speaker 3 (29:19):
It you got.
I got a flashback of somethingcompletely different.
Uh, vertexex Standard, who Yezuacquired at some point, had a
series of commercial radios, theVX4200 series, to which I have
a VHF-only 4204 that looks a lotlike the 3165 now that I'm
really thinking about it.
I actually have a couple ofthose.
(29:39):
I hope to put them intoportable repeater service at
some point, but that's a projectfor another day.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
Yeah, this radio looks dated right out of the
gate.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
That's all I wanted to say about it.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
It's really interesting that they launched a
radio in 2025 that looks likethis radio.
For me, the display is dated,the controls are dated, the case
is dated.
I do wonder if they'reborrowing components from an
existing product line to buildthis.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
It looks, as you said , dated.
It also looks cheap.
There we go Dated is one thing.
I'm good with some throwbackaesthetics but, to me it also
looks cheap.
That grill, the plastic, a lotof plastic.
That speaker grill looksold-fashioned and and chunky
plastic I'm sure it's wellcrafted and molded.
(30:30):
We haven't again touched any ofthese radios, uh I'm looking
forward to yeah, yeah, me too.
Um, but when I visually layeyes on it, I think oof that uh
that's a lot of money for whatyou're getting.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
That's a decision.
I won't be any more impressedby it if I can touch it and see
it in person.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
The neighborhood skepticism here.
Speaker 3 (30:50):
I love it.
I love it.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
I agree with you.
Let's talk a little bit aboutthe 3185 RASP.
Sure, and I think that we'vealready touched a lot on what
we're going to talk about with3185, because what you've got
here is a more modern case and20 more watts of power.
It looks like a beefy heat sink.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
On the case for low power output.
Speaker 3 (31:14):
Well, 85 watts in a small package like that, you're
going to start generating a lotof heat real quick.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
Yeah, you will, it's designed.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
If we look at this radio right, the 3165 and the
3185, very similar functionallyright.
Single band or again.
You get a little bit more power, you get a more modern-looking
radio and you get a betterdisplay.
That's about it for the 3185.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
You get that primary memory group as well.
Oh, but you get primary memorygroup yeah, which is an
interesting feature, so you canmonitor what is it.
Five channels.
Yep simultaneously You're right.
Again, if you're looking atMCOM or a club radio or
something to have out of fieldday as your club radio, I mean
that's an interesting feature.
Speaker 3 (32:05):
I mean, as I sit here at my desk, I have the
capability of listening to fourfrequencies on three different
radios, and there are times Ihave them all cranked up, so
that actually did catch myattention.
The PMG functionality, becauseI am someone who does like to
monitor several thingssimultaneously.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
Yeah, I'm glad that you corrected me there, because
for me when I was looking atthat, I did not even register
the PMG as being a value-addfeature at this level.
Right, it's a couple more bucks, but I looked a lot at the
radio and it kind of ate it withmy eyes.
I didn't, actually I didn'tconsider it PMG, and PMG for
emergency comms certainly doesmake sense here.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
And I'm clearly looking at the stat here real
quick.
I was curious on what thefeature has to offer, but
transmit is automatically movedto the received channel as well.
So again, if you're looking atan MCOM radio or you're in your
car driving and you'remonitoring a lot of repeaters or
stations.
That's an interesting featureto have repeaters or stations.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
that's an interesting feature to have.
Okay, so it basically gives mean ability to monitor many
channels in a more effective waythan I would if I was just
scanning on a rotation with astandard machine.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
You'd just be lurking out there just monitoring and
lurking and waiting to pounce.
Is that what you're saying.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
Is that what you're saying?
I do with my listening?
Speaker 1 (33:21):
No, not at all.
I see, yeah, I see.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (33:23):
I'm always.
Anyone who's on a couple ofrepeaters around here know I'm
always lurking.
The 85 watts is interesting.
And that's another one of thosethings where there's probably a
use case scenario for peoplethat are in more rural areas, or
need to regularly hit somethingthat's that little stretch away
, that 50 watts isn't going todo it.
(33:46):
I think there's probably a callfor that being interesting.
I listen semi-regularly in themornings to Northern Michigan
Net.
I listen through All-Star.
The West Branch Michiganrepeater has a morning
roundtable and I a couple ofdays a week and some of those
guys are close enough to therepeater that they can get in on
(34:07):
a good condition morning.
But if it's a bad two metercondition morning they can't get
in.
And you know up there there'snot that much going on for
repeaters.
So to be able to get into thisround table is a big deal to a
lot of them.
So having that extra, you know,to be able to push 85 watts on
a bad day, I think someone inthose situations might be
interested in this.
So it's one of those things.
(34:29):
It's another item that could beattractive to the right person.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
Well, and I was trying to see if I could find
the size dimensions and I'msorry I didn't look this up
beforehand, but it's also as yousaid, and I got my models
confused there at the end withall the rasps and the beautiful
numbers, but for the size it isa pretty petite package for 85
watts, and that is veryattractive and again, I was
(34:56):
trying to see if I could findthe exact dimensions.
I'm sure if you have them,someone you know, go ahead and
put them in the comments whenyou're listening to this and you
can be angry at me, but it is,it's definitely I see where this
radio belongs in the lineupfrom a function and beauty
standpoint.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
Let me build on that idea, because I think that when
these all launched, there was alot of like well, why?
Right, a lot of like well, why?
But there was also a prettyloud crowd that said thank you,
Yesu, for bringing somethingthat's simpler back to the
market.
There are folks that don't wantall those bells and whistles,
(35:36):
that just want to click the keyand have a rag chew, and these
models absolutely are that typeof radio for me.
Speaker 1 (35:41):
Yeah, for me, if you look at it and I'm a big fan of
this radio and I've talked aboutit the FT-891.
It is my go-to HF transceiver.
We mentioned before in thefirst episode, but just to
restate it here, all of us enjoyPOTA a lot and I've put that in
my suitcase.
I've traveled with it.
It gets me 100 watts out and Ienjoy the fact that the setup
(36:06):
and the interface okay, nowaterfall.
I understand that as sort of afeature set that a lot of people
enjoy, but I don't have toworry about it breaking as much.
Speaker 3 (36:17):
It's a durable radio.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
I know where the buttons are.
I can operate it without evenlooking at it.
Pretty much I can just feelover with my hand and change the
dial and adjust the filter andanything else I want to do.
And that's a big feature setfor me.
And maybe this is Yaesurecognizing a little bit that
the 891 is a form factor thatpeople enjoy and this is them
(36:41):
bringing again into a differentlineup.
It's, it's a good, I think, agood move.
Honestly, I I think the eight 91has been a very big success and
you know, we heard a lot ofcriticism you mentioned it a lot
of criticism on the uh 500 whenit came out with the big knob
and the screen and it's hard tohit the touch screen to make
changes and small.
Speaker 2 (37:08):
Yeah, hit the touch screen to make changes.
And small, yeah, I didn't evenrealize it was a touch screen
the first month I had it.
That's how much I.
That's how small the screen ison the 500.
It is true, rory said we'retalking on the radio and I said
rory, just touch the screen.
He's like what do you mean?
Touch the screen?
Didn't realize that when youcan.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
You can do everything you want with rotating the dial
, which is fine, but uh, yeah,the you the touching of the
screen.
That is a small screen to be atouch screen, so I justify my
error with that.
So the 3185 is Boy, I just hadit here and now I'm.
Speaker 1 (37:34):
I had the dimensions up on the screen.
The dimensions elude us.
Speaker 3 (37:37):
Yet again 6.3 inches wide, 2 inches tall and 7.3
inches wide.
2 inches tall and 7.3 inchesdeep, so it's a small radio for
what it's doing.
Speaker 2 (37:52):
I have a tape measure in front of me, so I'm actually
measuring as we're saying thesethings.
Speaker 1 (37:56):
Of course you do, yes .
Speaker 3 (37:58):
Shocking.
You know you mentioned, Jim,something that I didn't consider
easy either is the ease of useof the radio and people wanting
something simpler, and that wassomething that was mentioned, I
think, on Josh's from Ham RadioCrash Course video.
I think that was the one Iwatched.
He took a fair amount of timeto go through the menus of these
(38:20):
radios.
He did yeah of time to gothrough the menus of these
radios, and the menus are fairlysimple.
Um, the the font, the menus arein large print.
You're turning the dial.
You know exactly what's goingto happen when you turn the dial
and it's, it seems, veryintuitive to get through those
menus, versus some of yezu'sother stuff, which a lot of
people will describe as menuhell, which the 891 is kind of
(38:41):
in that category as much as Ienjoy my 891 as well.
If you're not familiar with it,the 891 has a tough menu-driven
radio, as most Yezus do.
You look at even my older one,the 897 that sits on the counter
here, that I've been usingprimarily for slow-scan TV and
packet lately, but that radio isextremely menu-driven.
(39:03):
So to have a series of radioshere with easier menus, that
could be attractive as well,yeah, I love that For my money,
guys.
Speaker 2 (39:12):
I'm buying the 3185.
Hands down For $60 more.
I'm buying the 3185 over the3165.
Speaker 3 (39:21):
I would agree.
It gives you the extra power ifyou want it.
It's visually more appealing.
The screen is larger, not tomake an old person here, but
when you're trying to look at ascreen when you're driving 50,
60, 70, 90 miles an hour downthe road you want to be able to
see it.
That's a big deal there.
Speaker 1 (39:40):
Again, these are mobile radios.
That is a key feature with thatfull dot matrix display there.
Speaker 2 (39:48):
All right, let's talk about the FTM-150, which is by
far the most interesting model.
And again, before we go on 3185, it still gets the SPU-1, which
means it still gets Super DX,just like the 3165, so you can
still push the button.
It's still going to do theawesome stuff.
All three of these radios getthat.
But let's talk about theFTM-150, the most interesting
(40:08):
one of these, right, it is atrue dual-band radio.
It has the ability to operatein a cross-band repeater mode.
If you want to do that, right,it's hidden in some menus,
you've got to hold some buttons,but you can do that, and it
offers pretty much what I wouldconsider to be a quintessential
FM mobile radio experience in apretty nice-looking package and
(40:30):
an extremely high-contrastdisplay.
So FTM-150.
Let's talk a little bit aboutit.
It comes in at $379, right?
So now we're right up therewith what is starting to feel
like a premium radio.
Icom's offering the ID5100,which is a long-running, very
popular rig that can operatebasically duplex, right, it
(40:53):
operates both bands for $429.
So we're getting up to thatpoint where it's in premium
radio category, close to $400.
Speaker 1 (41:01):
I mean, it is a premium radio.
I think so I mean you'regetting in a couple features you
didn't mention as well.
You're getting the detachablefaceplate, so you gain a lot in
mounting options within yourvehicle.
As Rory said, having a largescreen in a place that is
convenient to see is important,and I think a detachable
faceplate says it.
You also have Bluetooth, whichI would say is definitely a
(41:23):
premium feature in amateur radio.
Maybe, not in other markets forelectronics, but it is
definitely for us as well, andthat's all included in that
package.
So you are looking at somethingwith a more simpler form factor
that starts to compete withthat 500.
And you can now make a decisionas a consumer on what are the
(41:46):
important features to you and Ithink that's an important
marketplace, I think.
Speaker 3 (41:52):
So this one.
They have the case size splitinto two and, jim, you have your
tape measure ready over there.
All right, I'm going to pull itout again.
The radio unit itself 5.5inches wide, smaller than the
previous, 1.66 tall, smalleralso, and 5.23 deep.
That's the radio unit itself.
(42:12):
They call out the controllerseparately at 5.82 wide, 2.2
tall and 2.2 deep.
So your total depth, if you hadthe controller on the front,
would be 7.4 roughly.
So that would give you thedepth, and then 5.8 wide with
(42:33):
the control unit mounted on thefront.
So it's a small radio.
Now, I know someone called itout in one of the videos or
something I read.
It appears it's the same bodyas something else that they make
.
Was it the 300 or the?
Speaker 2 (42:51):
I've got you here.
The 300 and the 500 body sizeare almost identical, so this
appears to adopt the samechassis that the 300 and the 500
use for the main radio box, thebrain box if you will, Yep.
Speaker 3 (43:08):
So having the 500 that sits under the seat in my
Jeep, it's small.
I mean it's a nice compactradio unit to have to tuck away
under a seat.
Speaker 2 (43:19):
Even if you had to mount it somewhere, it's not
that big tuck away under a seat,even if you had to mount it
somewhere.
It's not that big and I thinkthat this radio is highly
unlikely to be mounted inanyone's mobile rig.
With the head connected to thebrain, with the head connected
to the main radio body, thisradio intends you to mount the
head remotely, and I'll tell youwhat I love about this.
Yesu listened to everyone andsaid the FTM 500 did it right.
(43:44):
You can connect the hand mic tothe head and you can listen to
the audio from the head.
This has a speaker in the head.
It has a speaker in the body.
You can use the AESS system toget better quality audio by
prioritizing the frequencies outof each of the speakers, and it
gives the flexibility ofmounting it in challenging
(44:05):
mounting situations.
And that's why I love the 500as the premium radio, but I love
that they're bringing thatfeature down to the FTM 150.
Speaker 3 (44:13):
Yeah, having used various radios that have
detachable face plates,detachable heads, the ability to
just run one cable from thechassis to the control head is a
big convenience.
I have in my mobile.
I have both the ID5100 ICOM andI have the FTM500 Yaesu right
now.
The Yaesu is simply one cord upto the control head and the
(44:37):
microphone attaches there.
The ICOM5100, I've got a remotespeaker bouncing around in the
back seat I have an extraextension cord for the mic
between the seats.
You know that's a huge deal andhaving a nice, clean install to
just have to run one cable.
Speaker 1 (44:54):
That was always one of the drawbacks of the very
popular FTM 400 was where youhad to have an external speaker
and where you're going to run itto, and the hand mic is
connected to the main body andyou usually put that under a
seat or in the back, so you'rerunning an additional cable.
So it is for Yezu's point, orJim, your point, I guess, but
for Yezu's credit.
It is a very nice design tokeep going with and they're
(45:19):
doing a good job with that aswell.
Speaker 2 (45:21):
It's a well-packaged radio.
That's what I saw as soon as Isaw it, and with the other two
models apparently being nolonger able to be bought the 200
and 300, this makes sense to menow, much more than it did when
it first launched, aside ofthose other two models.
Now it does lack a couple ofthings here that make it
(45:42):
interesting, right.
Like again, where did C4FM go?
Yaesu has been pushing it foryears.
Uh, they're subsidizingrepeaters, so clubs install them
and we have c4 fm at ourfingertips.
Uh, where did c4 fm go?
When I look at this radio, whatwould it have taken, at 389
dollars, to put the c4 fm chipin right, unless there's
something on the horizon that isa dramatic shift away from that
(46:06):
particular technology for Yaesu.
That confuses me a bit and that, for me, is a really
interesting omission from thisradio at this price point.
Speaker 1 (46:18):
Yeah, I start to think that in pure speculation.
Speaker 2 (46:20):
In my opinion, I think you start to Sure we're
wild speculation right now.
Yeah, it's, a whole thing isspeculation at this point.
Speaker 1 (46:26):
No, I think you are seeing and we talked about it a
little bit earlier you're seeingthem maybe split into two
distinct product lines.
You also see it in thehandhelds, which we haven't
talked about either, in howthese radios and the aesthetics
tie into some of their morepopular handhelds, like the what
is it 70DR radio FG70.
Speaker 2 (46:43):
DR radio FG70,.
Speaker 1 (46:43):
yeah, same exact design aesthetic.
So it's Kevin there, and thenobviously the 500 ties into
their other more modern handheldJim, you'll know the.
Speaker 3 (46:49):
That is true, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (46:51):
So maybe they're splitting.
Point is, maybe they'resplitting into two distinct
product lines.
I want basic functionality withsome advanced features.
I want to have some of thosemore premium things in the
design, like the one cable tothe face plates, and then maybe
you're going to see a moreadvanced product line come out
that is going to have the fusionand all those other features
(47:13):
sound cards and built-infunctionality, aprs, gps, all
those things that some peoplewant, some people don't.
So maybe they're splitting.
We'll have one market for themore premium radios that want
APRS, gprs, digital and we'llhave one more for basic
functionality, mcom, basicmobile setups, etc.
And it would be an interestingchoice because you're going to
(47:38):
have two productions going.
But maybe the market's there,maybe they see it.
Speaker 2 (47:43):
I think that if you listen to, I always laugh.
I watch some of the ham tubersand they say Reddit are articles
.
But Reddit's not articles.
It's user opinions on products.
It's user opinions on amateurradio in general.
I like Reddit, don't get mewrong.
So I read a lot of Reddit and Ido read a lot of folks that say
I'm never going to use systemfusion.
(48:03):
I have no interest in it beingin my radio and if it makes it
cheaper to emit it, by all meansemit it right.
The interesting thing is thatfusion I think it gets paired
often with the other digitalstuff like APRS, right?
Yep, I don't know if they'resharing a chip there or what,
but it appears that when thedigital modem is present, both
of those things are present, andI'm a big APRS guy.
(48:25):
I like APRS, I enjoy using it.
I send it out from all the carswhile I'm driving about.
I've used it with Rory to sendmessages back and forth.
I've joined APRS Thursday.
I've done all the APRS things.
I enjoy it.
It works well in Metro Detroit.
I understand where other folkssay you know what, it doesn't
(48:45):
work where I'm at and that'stotally fair.
But anyway I digress.
Here's an interesting stat foryou guys.
Digest this for a moment.
There are only four digitalradios left in Yesu's lineup
that are actively being producedright now the FTM 500, the FT5D
, which is their flagshiphandheld, the-991A, which I
(49:07):
argue is not long for this world.
The FT-991A is their shack in abox.
It will be replaced, Iguarantee, in the FT-70DR.
So there's four rigs in Yesu'slineup, if we're not counting
the 300DR, because we speculatethat that's being discontinued.
That is curious to me.
Speaker 3 (49:31):
There's a certain reduction that we're seeing in
fusion.
Go ahead, rory.
I think you have a thought.
The question I was going topose next is what do we think Is
the ASP technology going tostart popping up in a handheld?
What are they going to do withtheir handheld line?
I wonder Because think about itthat way when you're running
portable with a handheld,there's a lot of times you need
just a little extra to hearsomething, so we'll see what
(49:52):
happens.
I think a big tell will bewhatever the next radio is that
disappears or appears from theirline, and we'll see what it is
and what it has.
Because they're making someinteresting moves.
I know Hamcation's coming up inFlorida.
I haven't heard any speculationof any big news, anything being
(50:16):
announced by any of themanufacturers down there.
So I would assume the next bigmove we see will be Dayton.
But who knows, we might get asurprise before then.
Speaker 1 (50:22):
Well, and what's interesting is, these radios
didn't get the splash releaselike the 500 did right, I mean
the 500 was a flagship release.
They, they all the pomp andcircumstance a new mobile radio
deserves was given to it, andthese ones were just sort of
here's a press release, and itwas even down to the point where
people were, you know, doubtingif it was a real release or not
(50:42):
or some, some sort of fakemessaging, so it makes you think
again, as you pointed out,those interesting stats about
how
Speaker 3 (50:51):
many digital cable radios they have left in their
lineup.
Speaker 1 (50:54):
I have to believe they're queuing up for something
to have a more pomp andcircumstance launch for some new
radios that go into the digitalroute.
I can't imagine they'reabandoning Fusion.
It's still a popular feature.
I can't imagine they'reabandoning Fusion.
It's still a popular feature.
I can't imagine they'reabandoning APRS.
It's still a feature used.
A lot of people have opinionson it, but it's still a feature
used.
Speaker 2 (51:14):
I thought you were going to say it was a popular
feature and I was going to enjoythat love.
Speaker 3 (51:19):
I look forward to an in-depth conversation about APRS
, because I have become a fan aswell.
Speaker 1 (51:29):
I think there's a use case for it.
So again, I don't think they'regoing to abandon that
functionality.
I think they're just gettingready.
Here's our basic lineup.
Here's some of our newtechnology, and hold on, because
something else is coming in thefuture.
Speaker 2 (51:38):
Couple more quick hits for you here.
Ftm 500 released just under twoyears ago, so it's only been
out for 22 months, the FTM 500.
It is a fairly new rig by byradio standards.
Speaker 1 (51:53):
Radio standards.
Speaker 2 (51:53):
Yeah, it's a baby Under two years old, is a very
young rig.
Speaker 1 (51:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (51:57):
FTM 300, which we speculate is being discontinued,
close to five years old at thispoint, and that to me that's
not old, Knowing that, though,it makes a little more sense
because I thought the 300 was alittle newer than five years.
But you're right, five years.
How long has ICOM run theID5100?
Rory probably knows this.
Speaker 3 (52:16):
I don't know, but I think didn't we look it up?
I want to say it was 2015,.
Was it?
Or was I having a conversationwith someone else?
Because I know I purchased myprevious vehicle in 2014, and I
installed one when they werebrand new.
I paid top dollar for my first5100, and that was not a cheap
radio, but I have it and I stillhave it in the current vehicle.
(52:37):
But I believe that one came outin 2015.
Speaker 2 (52:40):
Gosh.
So yeah, the 5100 basicallystalwart when it comes to
high-quality mobile radios atthis point, and I'm very excited
to see what ICOM could do.
But that's a whole otherconversation here.
What are we at?
Time-wise James, I know we'vegone long.
Speaker 1 (52:56):
Yeah, we're getting close.
But maybe one last point aswell.
So we know that the FTX-1F,their QRP radio, that's probably
going to get a lot of fanfareat.
Hamvention here in May.
We don't know the exact releasedate yet, but reservations are
out there.
So any of the major retailers$35, I believe, to hold your
(53:17):
spot in line to get one now.
So I know I'm the one that said, hey, they're probably going to
have something else atHamvention, and maybe they do,
but it's interesting that theyhaven't even launched one of
their new flagship radios andwe're talking about something
else coming in the pipeline.
For amateur radios in general.
That is maybe an odd step forone manufacturer to do, but
(53:40):
again, if they're going to go,try to make a splash and all
eyes are on that FTX1F, becauseI'm sure a lot of people want to
get their hands on it.
And invention when it rollsaround.
Put some other radios in thedisplay.
I'm sure you'll get a lot offoot traffic and you can get a
lot of good marketing from thatas well.
Speaker 2 (53:58):
And maybe there is some speculation there on when
they'll release it Very, veryinteresting and the FTX 1F is
what I think folks are nowconsidering to feel a bit late
because they were teasing itwhen they brought it to Tokyo
Ham Show for early 2025.
And most folks read that as Q12025.
We're in the second month ofthree here and there still seems
(54:21):
to be no indication ofavailability yet.
And a lot of folks are askinglike where is it, when is it
coming?
And you make a good point.
To have a couple more irons inthe fire seems very I don't want
to say interesting, a bitcurious for a company like Yesu.
Right, it feels like the FTXOne is going to draw a bunch of
(54:43):
attention and I wonder if youare right.
Maybe they're trying topiggyback on some of that high
level of interest we're going tosee in Dayton Because
everybody's going to be in thebooth poking the buttons on the
FTX One app.
I know I will I have areservation Whether I buy it or
not.
I don't know yet.
Speaker 1 (55:06):
But I am very interested to go touch the radio
, I mean the other interestingpoint there.
I like to believe that iswhat's happening.
The other interesting pointthough to.
Rory earlier mentioning supplychain issues.
It's a real possibility thatthat's why they haven't released
it yet, because oh, there couldbe a delay there, for sure.
And we already know they misseda key market Christmas time.
They said first half of 2025,and you know they wanted to get
that out in December, ifpossible, to catch that
Christmas money.
So maybe now they're just goingto be patient and time the
release with something else andfingers crossed that is what it
(55:29):
is.
So, okay, I think we're aboutat time.
From my side, again, I want tothank everyone for tuning in to
episode two and for those thatlistened to episode one.
Got some decent traffic, sothank you out there for everyone
.
If you've listened to that one,you're listening to this one.
If you're first time listeningto one, thank you for being here
(55:51):
as well.
Absolutely.
We'll do some formal sign-offshere in a second, but maybe, if
anyone is interested, you canalways follow us at
wwweverydayhamcom.
We do have a YouTube channel aswell at Everyday Ham if you
search that, and then ourInstagram is at Everyday Ham
Podcast.
(56:12):
So our primary format is goingto be a podcast format, so audio
, but we do record some video aswell and we'll put that out
there.
So if anyone wants to see thesepretty faces, they'll be
available to you, they'll beavailable to you out there.
The audio version's probablygoing to be your preference
after you get a view of us, butyou know viewer's choice.
Speaker 3 (56:32):
We're radio guys who wants to look at us.
That's for sure.
Speaker 2 (56:39):
I watch a lot of HamTubers.
I think we stack up guys.
Speaker 3 (56:43):
We're fine, we're doing okay.
I appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (56:46):
I put on my finest sweater today for this.
Speaker 2 (56:49):
I put on a new vest because I didn't want to look
the same.
This is a blue vest instead ofmy brown vest today.
Speaker 3 (56:53):
I threw on a hoodie.
I'm glad we all did something.
We all put in the work Puttingin the work.
Speaker 1 (56:59):
So with that, thank you everyone.
Speaker 2 (57:20):
As a reminder, this will be a monthly podcast format
, so we'll try to get in thehabit of actually teasing the
next show in these episodes,just so if you're curious what's
coming up.
But again, we're pretty new atthis, so thank you for your
patience.
Listen, I would love to hearfolks' feedback as far as what
topics we might discuss next,but I do think we have a couple
more exciting ones that are onthe docket and I do think that
we have a little special thingcoming for you during Hamvention
Absolutely.
That should be pretty exciting,so over to Rory.
(57:42):
Pretty exciting, so over toRory.
Speaker 3 (57:44):
Yeah, definitely tune .
You know, give us a shout ifyou have an idea that you want
our everyday opinion on, becauseI'll tell you.
You know I might not have awhole lot to say on some of
these things, but there's a fewthings you can get me started on
and I'll give you plenty of myopinions.
Speaker 1 (58:00):
So with that 73 from W8KNX.
Speaker 3 (58:03):
73 from InnateJRD.
Speaker 1 (58:04):
Yep and 73 from KJKU Stay.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.