User Panel
Posted: 8/22/2010 4:36:17 PM EDT
picked one up at the hamfest today. a bit over 100.00 cheaper than what i had found online...WOOOT!!
so far i am SERIOUSLY impressed with this rig. have the gps module and software inbound. tx/rx is fantastic and the aprs setup is so simple it's almost idiot proof. my only issue so far is the control head mount is complete garbage. Luckily i had a cell phone holder i got from deal extreme last year that fits it perfectly and makes it easy to pull down and hide. this rig rocks! |
|
yup. took me about 20 min atart to finish for the install today.
|
|
the display is awesome. sadly yaesu ships a damn near useless mount for it and it doesn't mount on the radio frame. i ended up using a 4.00 cell phone holder i got from dealextreme last year to temp hold the head unit.
|
|
Very nice radio with a ton of functionality. Did you get it new or used?
|
|
new. so far i am diggin it.
it may be just the "new radio" syndrome, but i'd swear i am getting MUCH better tx than out of my ft-8800 |
|
I have been eying this rig for use in a possible EM-COMM box. As typical with Yasaeu radios is it menu intensive? I know you are use to menu
style of Yasaeu, but is it simplistic enough for someone not familiar with the menu style to operate the radio, with nothing more than maybe a nifty manual? |
|
Quoted:
I have been eying this rig for use in a possible EM-COMM box. As typical with Yasaeu radios is it menu intensive? I know you are use to menu style of Yasaeu, but is it simplistic enough for someone not familiar with the menu style to operate the radio, with nothing more than maybe a nifty manual? it's the easiest menu system i have ever seen on a yaesu. i had it programmed manually with repeaters and on aprs in less than an hour with only minimal looking at the book. This may well be the first radio i don't actually NEED to keep the manual with in the truck. the menu is not anything like i have seen on other yaesu products. |
|
When you get mobile with it, let us know how the blue display works in sunlight. I have a Kenwood TMV-7A (the old cool blue) that can't be seen in sunlight.
RS |
|
full sunlight today on the way home from work. display bright is set to 3. <very low> and it was plenty bright and easy to read. Full power is VERY bright. multi colr option is also nice.
one feature i really like is the mic can go on the radio and or the head. i plan to run a mic extension to the rear of the truck and have 2 mics for the radio. |
|
Quoted: Nice to hear good things of this radio. Why do all the cables when this radio will do Bluetooth?full sunlight today on the way home from work. display bright is set to 3. <very low> and it was plenty bright and easy to read. Full power is VERY bright. multi colr option is also nice. one feature i really like is the mic can go on the radio and or the head. i plan to run a mic extension to the rear of the truck and have 2 mics for the radio. |
|
the only cable is from the control head to the radio itself. I seriously doubt bluetooth would handle that very well. You can go completely micless and use a BT headset.
the bt speaker monitor is a pretty neat idea as well. if i have time this weekend i will try to see if i can get some pics of the display and menus. i have a LOT going on so it may be next week. |
|
well first problem encountered....
got my gps unit in thursday. went to install it and the ribbon cable that connects it to the system is DOA. called yaesu and they told me this is a common problem just keep reseating the cable it will eventually connect. after much cussing i finally drug out my meter and there is no continuity on any of the 8 wires. hopefully i can call them back monday and get a replacement cable shipped asap. whoever came up with using a flimsy as hell ribbon cable for a user installed option was a moron. |
|
Quoted:
no pics yet? will try tomorrow. just got back on my feet this afternoon. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
no pics yet? will try tomorrow. just got back on my feet this afternoon. no excuse, you could have loaded up on pain killers, crawled out and snapped some pics |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
no pics yet? will try tomorrow. just got back on my feet this afternoon. no excuse, you could have loaded up on pain killers, crawled out and snapped some pics i could have but you wouldn't have gotten pics of the a radio |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
no pics yet? will try tomorrow. just got back on my feet this afternoon. no excuse, you could have loaded up on pain killers, crawled out and snapped some pics i could have but you wouldn't have gotten pics of the a radio Mona might have taken pics of you passed out in the front yard lol |
|
wll get pics today as soon as i can walk again. i called yaesu and they wanted me to return the radio for warranty work. i asked about buying the ribbon cable instead and it's .79
i bought 2. figured 2.00 shipped was much prefered than mailing my new radio in for 2 weeks. |
|
Quoted: you would think at those prices they would just mail you the new cable for free wll get pics today as soon as i can walk again. i called yaesu and they wanted me to return the radio for warranty work. i asked about buying the ribbon cable instead and it's .79 i bought 2. figured 2.00 shipped was much prefered than mailing my new radio in for 2 weeks. |
|
no shit. for warranty repair they wanted the whole radio. i couldn;t ship it to them that cheap.
|
|
the stock head mount is pure crap. I am using cell phone mount i got of deal extreeme awhile ago. It works ok but i want something more solid. I did talk to ram mounts last week and was told they are currently working on a head unit mount that should be out soon.
|
|
got my programming software in today... for once rt systems made something that actually works. All radio features are addressable from the software and it imports other radio saves just fine.
i have now found i need a firmware update as the orginal firmware has a gps bug that causes the compass to upside down... ie n=s. will call giga tomorrow about this as i really don't want to buy a 50.00 data cable to flash something that should have been done at the factory and i am not real keen on shipping it to yaesu. life on the bleeding edge . oh well other than these minor issues i really do LOVE this radio. |
|
Will the FT8800 RTsystems programming software work on the Ft-350?
|
|
haven't tried it but i doubt it. they handle memories differently and the layout of the a channels data fields are not the same. ie.... fields in different order.
|
|
for anyone interested....
just recieved this from ram mounts.... The face plate you are going to need is the: YEASU FTM-350RRAM-FP4-6200-2600B53 this is not available on the website yet, you will need to contact them directly for the mount. |
|
Quoted:
for anyone interested.... just recieved this from ram mounts.... The face plate you are going to need is the: YEASU FTM-350RRAM-FP4-6200-2600B53 this is not available on the website yet, you will need to contact them directly for the mount. pics of the ram mount? I am picking up the FTM-350r this weekend |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
for anyone interested.... just recieved this from ram mounts.... The face plate you are going to need is the: YEASU FTM-350RRAM-FP4-6200-2600B53 this is not available on the website yet, you will need to contact them directly for the mount. pics of the ram mount? I am picking up the FTM-350r this weekend they have none. supposedly it's just the back plate. on another note i got my replacement cable for the gps in yesterday and it STILL doesn't work |
|
i am using something similar to that windshield mount now.
the problem is the head unit is an odd shape and the cell phone type holders barely grip it. it really does need a fitted plate to secure it. yes i am using the internal gps. my problem isn't coverage it's that the unit just will not recognise it at all. |
|
Quoted:
i am using something similar to that windshield mount now. the problem is the head unit is an odd shape and the cell phone type holders barely grip it. it really does need a fitted plate to secure it. yes i am using the internal gps. my problem isn't coverage it's that the unit just will not recognise it at all. sounds like you need to pull the M1A out of the safe and adjust the unit's attitude with a butt-stroke or two |
|
all number 4 to yeasu today. they finally agreed it was a problem and told me to send the radio in on my dime for repair. i asked about them paying shipping since the radio is only a few weeks old and they had a recall on them for the firware that this one apparently missed. sorry was the only answer i got.
oh well it'll go back next month when i can do without it for a couple of weeks. i have heard good stories about their customer service but so far i am not really impressed. |
|
With the APRS, is it still their proprietary system that you can't hook up to an external GPS unit like an AVMAP? I'm really hoping they release some firmware update that will let it play nice with others.
|
|
Quoted: With the APRS, is it still their proprietary system that you can't hook up to an external GPS unit like an AVMAP? I'm really hoping they release some firmware update that will let it play nice with others. I thought it sent NEMA data out the serial if the configure parameters were set. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
With the APRS, is it still their proprietary system that you can't hook up to an external GPS unit like an AVMAP? I'm really hoping they release some firmware update that will let it play nice with others. I thought it sent NEMA data out the serial if the configure parameters were set. from the instructios i iread it does. you can send it out the data port via serial or usb. there is a selection on the radio to set the data type. |
|
Hrmmm...I wonder why the guys at HRO told me that the 350r was not capable of transmitting the aprs signal to an avmap g5. It looks like it will send out on the com port, and the g5 will take input from external aprs system....
After your response I went and looked up the documentation on it and it does indeed have GPS out, so I'm confused. |
|
Quoted:
Hrmmm...I wonder why the guys at HRO told me that the 350r was not capable of transmitting the aprs signal to an avmap g5. It looks like it will send out on the com port, and the g5 will take input from external aprs system.... After your response I went and looked up the documentation on it and it does indeed have GPS out, so I'm confused. after talking with giga parts folks and the guys at universal radio where i got all my components for this rig, and even the techs at yeasu, it appears NO ONE really knows much about this rig right now. when i called yaesu the first couple of times i got bounced between land mobile and commercial until they finally figured out it was amature. then the amatures guys kept thinking it was an old handheld. they didn't even know their own rigs even though they have apparently taken a TON of support calls on these things. |
|
Quoted: Quoted: Hrmmm...I wonder why the guys at HRO told me that the 350r was not capable of transmitting the aprs signal to an avmap g5. It looks like it will send out on the com port, and the g5 will take input from external aprs system.... After your response I went and looked up the documentation on it and it does indeed have GPS out, so I'm confused. after talking with giga parts folks and the guys at universal radio where i got all my components for this rig, and even the techs at yeasu, it appears NO ONE really knows much about this rig right now. when i called yaesu the first couple of times i got bounced between land mobile and commercial until they finally figured out it was amature. then the amatures guys kept thinking it was an old handheld. they didn't even know their own rigs even though they have apparently taken a TON of support calls on these things. Well thats good to know...I guess... Was it a ton of support calls about problems with the radio, or just people asking questions about its capabilities? Makes me kinda nervous if its about problems... |
|
problems...
more that few people with similar issues getting the onboard GPS to work. Haven't heard any stories of NOT getting it right eventually. Also there is a MAJOR frware update that the radio needs, Apparently in japn comasses read backwards and i the usa the gps reads north as south...etc. also some lockup issues that were resolved, there is also something about setting the WX alert feature and skipping all but one wx chan locks the radio forcing a complete reset. there was a note in the box when i got my programming software. That is also being addressed. that out of the way.... i have only posted the things here i am experienceing. these issues while annoying i expect to get resolved when the radio gets sent in, and they are only annoying not enough to make me dislike this rig or regret buying it. EVERYTHING else this radio does so far it has dome VERY well. it out performs my ft-880 in every way. given the need and the funds i'd happily consider buying a second. I have no reason to believe when i get it back from yaesu that it will not be right and working 100%. my honest opionion is yaesu rushed it to market before it was ready in an effort to grab some market share for these next generation radios. |
|
finally sent back to yaesu yesterday. here is hoping for a speedy return.
|
|
did I read you picked up a FTM 350R for a little over a $100 when it retails for over $600 ??????
smoking deal!! |
|
Quoted:
did I read you picked up a FTM 350R for a little over a $100 when it retails for over $600 ?????? smoking deal!! a bit over 100.00 cheaper than what i had found online man i wish. |
|
Thanks for all the info in this thread. I'm considering this radio too. Please let us know how it goes when you get it back. Thanks!
|
|
they recieved it yesterday and i was told about 10 days door to door. hopefully it will be back soon and working properly.
|
|
Did you have to cover shipping or did Yaesu take care of that or at least one way of shipping? I keep watching your thread hopefully all the bugs get worked out. Probably over kill for a base setup and would be better off with another FT-8800 for base until I Level Up and get General but my FT-1900 works fine for base since UHF and 220 isn't really used around me.
|
|
i paid shipping to them they pay return. cost me about 20.00 insured one way.
it's a GREAT radio. side by side it seems to get out better than my 8800 on the same antenna. the display is MUCH easier to see. that said the extra money for the aprs features may or may not be worth the extra money for a base rig if you not using it and don't need the tnc. for me this was cheaper than buying another 8800 and adding the stuff i needed for aprs in a mobile unit. |
|
Sign up for the ARFCOM weekly newsletter and be entered to win a free ARFCOM membership. One new winner* is announced every week!
You will receive an email every Friday morning featuring the latest chatter from the hottest topics, breaking news surrounding legislation, as well as exclusive deals only available to ARFCOM email subscribers.
AR15.COM is the world's largest firearm community and is a gathering place for firearm enthusiasts of all types.
From hunters and military members, to competition shooters and general firearm enthusiasts, we welcome anyone who values and respects the way of the firearm.
Subscribe to our monthly Newsletter to receive firearm news, product discounts from your favorite Industry Partners, and more.
Copyright © 1996-2024 AR15.COM LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Any use of this content without express written consent is prohibited.
AR15.Com reserves the right to overwrite or replace any affiliate, commercial, or monetizable links, posted by users, with our own.