New radio?

My Christmas present was a new radio, although I have still not bought one! Main candidates are the IC7300, the FT991A or the FT450D. In my mind the FT818 is suitable, but is really only an FT817 dressed up a bit.  As my voice is poor most of the use would be on FT8. The FT450D is far less expensive. I could almost certainly buy an SDR with this as well.

In my operating, it is unlikely to be run at more than 10W. Sadly, the IC7300S, which is the low power version, in not available outside of Japan. People tell me the IC7300 is a great radio, but I am in no great hurry. For my sort of operating any of those listed would probably do.

If you want to offer any suggestions please feel free. BTW, I have already seen the eHam reviews.

FT450D 100W radio

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.

FT-450D hum: a good response from Yaesu

Last night I wrote to Yaesu UK about the FT-450D hum issue and got a very fast and very helpful, response from Paul Bigwood their Technical Sales Manager. All credit to him.

I will paraphrase Paul's reply below.

He confirms the hum problem has been recognised and that it doesn't affect all radios. Those it does, are only affected in voice modes, when the display brightness is reduced below its normal maximum level. The level of hum is generally low and is usually only noticeable when the received signal strength is high [i.e. with local stations], DX stations don't normally hear it.  He says that steps have been taken to resolve the issue and product shipping into the UK dealers since the beginning of the year have a modification to resolve it. He told me that if I purchased one that does suffer from hum under the circumstances as above, then it can be returned to Yaesu for updating under warranty.

He went on to say,

"Please rest assured that Yaesu does care about its products, their reliability and performance. We certainly look to resolve any problems as soon as they become known to us.  The FT450D is a splendid radio, having done excellently at the T32C DXpedition last year when over 200K QSOs were made with no reports to us of any hum problems."

I thought this was an excellent and totally professional response. Yaesu is a first class manufacturer and it is reassuring to see they have taken on board the hum issue in this otherwise excellent little radio and have now taken steps to properly fix it on new build units.

FT-450D hum?

Although usually/mostly a QRP operator, I've been considering an update to my main station transceiver since selling my 10W IC703 to a local friend. One possible candidate rig is the 5-100W Yaesu FT-450D. It is getting very good reviews with excellent comments on its  receiver features. For a "full feature" HF/6m radio it is good value for money.

But, I am bothered about one thing: many reviews and comments on the FT-450D Yahoo group confirm a design issue with TX hum, believed to eminate from the poor grounding of the display unit. Nothing I've seen or heard has convinced me this widely reported issue has yet been properly fixed by Yaesu. This is not a problem with the display set to its brightest setting, but should one pay around £800 for a radio with a fundamental design issue not solved in a recent upgrade? No.  A question to Waters and Stanton asking if Yaesu has fixed it has not received a reply yet after 2 days: I suspect they don't want to say "no". I have said that if it hums it would be returned.  So, until I hear the problem has been resolved my "buy" decision is on hold. I am in no great hurry.

IC7000 versus FT450D?

As a keen QRPer I'm usually quite happy with 5W (sometimes 10W) but I'm considering upgrading my IC703 to a newer radio as it is now many years since I've done so.  My main (non-LF/VLF) interest remains 10m and 6m although I quite fancy doing more on 2m and 70cm SSB. With HF conditions unlikely to be great in the coming years (even with cycle 24 peaking soon) maybe a little more power would be useful at times. Also, improved filtering and DSP functionality could be helpful as the HF bands get noisier.

The favourites on my shortlist are either an FT450D or an IC7000 as www.eham.net reviews give both radios good scores and these are feature-rich small radios.  The IC7000 is quite a bit more expensive but adds 2m and 70cms.  I'm wondering if readers can make any recommendations please based on personal experience? The other option is to wait another 6-9 months until the Elecraft KX3 appears.

Finally, in the UK, what is the best deal on these radios? I want a supplier who is likely to be around in 3 years time, a long warranty and the best price!

Yaesu FT450D (new version of the FT450)

Stateside magazines and websites are talking about a new version of the FT450 from Yaesu.  See the Universal Radio page about the FT450D. Apart from differently styled knobs and a couple of fold down feet - the original did not have a stand - I cannot really see what has changed. The FT450 has consistently got good reviews as a relatively inexpensive 160-6m 100W rig. As someone who has always been very pleased with Yaesu products right back to the FT7 days, I would consider this if buying a new HF radio for general use.