Yaesu FTM-350 Review

[Moleculo]

FTM-350 supplied cable

I verified today that the supplied 10 foot cable is nothing more than a straight through cable, NOT a CAT 5 cable. I just happen to have both types on hand with RJ-45's already attached and tested it quite easily. The CAT 5 cable did not work. I also tested the pins with a multimeter and verified that it's straight through.

 

[doctordave]

Moleculo,

Still no lock-ups today? Appreciate the great review & related info. I just ordered one from HRO. Looking forward to checking it out!

Dave

 

[jetson747]

FTM-350 cross-band repeat function

Does the FTM-350 have cross-band repeat capability? It is listed as a function on Yaesu's web site but I can't find any reference to it in the manual.

 

[Moleculo]

Does the FTM-350 have cross-band repeat capability? It is listed as a function on Yaesu's web site but I can't find any reference to it in the manual.

It's on page 46 of the manual. You have to make sure the APRS Modem is turned off (this part ISN'T in the manual). I commented on the crossband repeat functionality in an earlier post, but here is a picture of it in action:

It works great!

 

[Moleculo]

moleculo,
I wondered if it is possible for the display to show the frequency in the large font and the alpha tag in the smaller font above it?

One more follow up on this question. The setting to display either the alpha tag or the frequency as the main display is set uniquely for each VFO. In this example, I set the left side to display the frequency, but the right side to display the alpha tag. I thought some might like to see this.

 

[Bubba]

That is Cool!

 

[Moleculo]

Audio Reports

I've used the radio sufficiently now to have received quite a bit of feedback about the audio quality of the radio when used both with the hand mic and the mic built into the control head.

Reports using the hand mic are all glowing. One station commented that it was one of the best sounding mobile radios he has heard on the air. This comment was made with the mic gain set to the default setting. I've since turned the gain down a bit because I tend to talk close to the mic. Everyone who hears the radio with the stock mic says it sounds really good.

Using the mic built into the control head is a different story. The comments I generally get with that are that it sounds like it's in a tunnel. I tried different gain settings and distance from the control head, but it didn't make much difference. I need to do one more test with this, which is to try disconnecting the hand mic while using the control head mic. Perhaps that will make a change...I'll report back on that.

I'm currently doing some testing on the audio quality while crossband repeating. I've had some interesting comments so far, but I need to eliminate a few variables before I post anything concrete about this.

More to come...

 

[Moleculo]

I got the opportunity to review the GPS & Navi features in the car today. Because there will probably be significant discussion around this particular feature, I started a new thread here:

http://www.worldwidedx.com/vhf-uhf-...ftm-350-gps-navi-video-review.html#post176526

 

[dli009]

Problem is after part GPS if ?? or radio ??

 

[Moleculo]

The GPS functions seem to work fine. I compared the readout of the GPS coordinates against other known good GPS units, and the radio is right on. However, in the Navi function, whatever logic they used to display where your destination is relative to you is totally messed up.

 

[Wise87]

Lets just hope that is a firmware update and you don't have to send the unit in to Yaesu.

 

[Moleculo]

Well, the radio went in to Vertex Standard (Yaesu) today. Fortunately they're not far from me. I had contacted them on the lockup and NAVI problems and they said to send the whole thing in. It will be interesting to see if they can fix the problem.

 

[Moleculo]

I confirmed that the radio arrived at Vertex Standard today. It will be interesting to see how long it takes to return it to me with a fix for these issues.

Stay tuned...

 

[Skysho]

They better hurry, I've been looking forward to your reviews! If they don't want to tick off a handful of new owners and prospective buyers, maybe they should let Jackie go for an outing and drive the unit back to you. She seems to be great at customer service!

 

[dfm]

More NAVI problems

Further info on probs with NAVI etc is here;

n5fdl.com

I hope this is not a sign that we all will be sending the rigs in for a rebuild!

...:angry: