This Yaesu 100W radio is now £669 with the Yaesu £42 rebate whereas it was over £800. I suspect even lower is possible for cash by negotiation with the dealer.
There are a couple of technical issues with this rig that bother me: the VFO shaft encoder failures and TX hum. Both issues are meant to be fixed now but I wonder if they are good, proper fixes? 100W is more than I need but it can run at much lower power and does include 50MHz and has an excellent RX.
Roger,
ReplyDeleteI am glad to see you are back at home and feeling much better, your postings of late have been most prolific.
As to the FT-450D, I have one going on three years. I sometimes use it portable rather than my FT817 simply because it feels more like real radio but the FT817 gets used a lot portable too.
I seem to recall the complaints of hum are long past. I have never had such an issue with mine nor has the encoder given me any issue. I think these complaints may have their root in the older pre D version of the radio.
Given a choice between the FT817ND and FT450D and VHF or UHF not being a requirement, the FT450D would win out every time.
However, the only real downside to the FT450D for portable use is that it is much more power hungry than the FT817ND.
cheers, Graham ve3gtc