Today, having still received no feedback from Waters and Stanton about my emailed question on the FT-450D TX hum (has Yaesu fixed it yet?), I decided to ring them up, check prices and ask the question directly. To my amazement the sales person said, "I have never heard of the TX hum problem". Well, he can't be too well in touch with the market and customers then.
I also asked what was the best price for the rig ("same as in the magazines, no deals") and then asked if they still had the 3 year warranty running. "What 3 year warranty? I've never heard of that." I pointed him in the direction of several recent RadCom and Practical Wireless adverts.
In summary, I was NOT impressed with the responses, or rather lack of them, from this well known UK supplier. At a time when business near Christmas is tight surely it is important that sales staff know about the product and can answer questions as simple as "what is the length of the warranty?".
Unless this supplier wakes up a bit I think I will defer my decision about purchasing the FT-450D.
Incidentally, they did say that Yaesu would be at Hockley this weekend for the W&S open day. I expect people going will ask about the TX hum question directly. And I wonder if there will be any news about the FT817's replacement?
15 Dec 2011
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I WOULD GIVE YAESU DIRECT OR TRY MARTIN LYNCH
Roger
It seems like the sales staff at W&S are right wally brains.
There is a very active FT-450 Yahoo group with over 2200 members here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Yaesu_FT-450
If anyone knows what's going on with this rumored FT-450D hum problem, they're probably in this group.
73's, David WB4ONA
hi i got my ft450d from martin lynch,they also said they had not heard of this,so i said check the internet,apparently,im the only one to have complained about it to them they did offer to carry out mod to stop hum on tx,but i would have to pay postage to send radio back 30 pounds no way fixed it my self,but the hum is still there on rx it can not be got rid of, because of the display light they use,yaesu need to wake up and fix this and offer to all who have purchased one to fix it and pay for costs ,evan the service manager of yaesu in the UK does not seem bothered,he told me there was nothing he could do,i find this just not good enough,i intend to get back in touch with them,and make a complaint with a view to sue,maybe this might get some result
A few minutes ago I rang W&S about to purchase an ft817. In their ad its states now covers 5mHz, man said no. I would have to produce my lic variation and it would then need to be modded.
Their ad also states early on it comes with 1.4 amp hr batt---further down it says comes with 1 amp hr batt. He said he did not know and he suggested I rang Yaesu direct.THESE PEOPLE DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT. AND WHATS MORE THEY DON'T SEEM BOTHERED ABOUT IT.
I agree Roger I have been there, would you like to see the packing that they used to send me my radio just a few weeks ago..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG-aA1yLMMA
Or look-up notechidea on YOUTUBE
73
Sorry to reply to such an old post Roger, but I just wanted to add I have found the same casual attitude to sales at W&S on more than one occasion. A month or so ago, I thought I would give them another chance and got them to quote for almost 2k's worth of Ten-Tec equipment. The guy I was dealing with just didn't get back in touch when I had a question he couldn't answer.
Anyway, lesson learned, stick with ML&S. I purchased a new FT-450D radio this week. It had a fault on the DSP/SEL knob that was painfully hard to replicate but ML&S took me at my word and replaced the offending part anyway and since receiving the radio back, I have not encountered the same fault again. Sherwood hasn't tested the FT-450D but the ARRL's figures for 2KHz 3rd-order dynamic range is actually showing better on the FT-450D than the FT-950! Wow. I am very happy with my purchase. I did have one some years back but whilst I had an elite class rig (5000 or 9000 not sure which at the time), so I didn't give it a proper outing.
73 Roger, and I hope your recovery is still measurable.
Mike
M0SAZ
Sorry to reply to such an old post Roger, but I just wanted to add I have found the same casual attitude to sales at W&S on more than one occasion. A month or so ago, I thought I would give them another chance and got them to quote for almost 2k's worth of Ten-Tec equipment. The guy I was dealing with just didn't get back in touch when I had a question he couldn't answer.
Anyway, lesson learned, stick with ML&S. I purchased a new FT-450D radio this week. It had a fault on the DSP/SEL knob that was painfully hard to replicate but ML&S took me at my word and replaced the offending part anyway and since receiving the radio back, I have not encountered the same fault again. Sherwood hasn't tested the FT-450D but the ARRL's figures for 2KHz 3rd-order dynamic range is actually showing better on the FT-450D than the FT-950! Wow. I am very happy with my purchase. I did have one some years back but whilst I had an elite class rig (5000 or 9000 not sure which at the time), so I didn't give it a proper outing.
73 Roger, and I hope your recovery is still measurable.
Mike
M0SAZ
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