| Author |
Message |
    
Barracuda
| | Posted on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 11:02 pm: | 
|
I'm thinking about purchasing one of these radios. Does anybody have any first hand or reliable 2nd hand knowledge about them?
Thanks,
Barracuda |
307
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 13, 2004 - 7:04 am: |
|
Had an FT-8900 for many years , works like a champ!
307 |
Pig040
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 13, 2004 - 10:55 am: |
|
Hi Barracuda, A friend of mine has one, and it is an awsome little radio, four bands, great audio. He bought a multiband antenna to use with it, if you dont do that you have to have another antenna setup because there is only one coax connection. Aes has a nice multiband antenna they suggest for use with it. I started a thread on this radio before, you can probably look it up in the archives. The thing is though the radio is a current model, and no one had too much info on it on the forum. I am trying to trade for the one my friend has, from what I have seen you sure wont be disappointed. |
Barracuda
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 13, 2004 - 12:46 pm: |
|
307 & Pig040,
Thanks for the information. I had read several user reviews and it had gotten some high marks. I was just curious if anyone here had any comments.
I was actually looking to get the MFJ-1438 antenna with it. It is a quad band, made just for this radio, or at least the MFJ manual for the antenna suggest that it is a great match to this radio. The Diamond HVA7 would also work, but I would need something else for the 10m band.
Anyway, thanks again for the input, it is always appreciated,
73
Barracuda |
Pig040
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 20, 2004 - 11:18 am: |
|
BARRACUDA, I have been using the radio for about a week now, I have a two meter mobile antenna on a cake-pan on my fence, and it has been working great. It has good documentation with it too. If I trade him out of it I am going to put the multi-band antenna on top of my horizontal beam. I think this radio is a keeper! |
Barracuda
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 20, 2004 - 12:31 pm: |
|
Pig040,
Thanks for the first hand update. I still have not purchased anything. Possibly in the next week or so. I've got some other stuff going that's got me busy. By the way, what size cake pan are you using and is it non-stick...LOL
Barracuda |
Pig040
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 21, 2004 - 10:50 am: |
|
Barracuda,
It is rectangular about 8 by 12, and I have been served notice, she wants it back!! I got that multiband antenna, with the little arms sticking out so it handles the other bands, I think I am gonna mount it on my tower above the beam. It handles all the bands supposedly. |
Barracuda
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 21, 2004 - 11:39 am: |
|
Pig040,
Did you get the MFJ 1438 antenna or something else?
Barracuda |
Pig040
| | Posted on Thursday, January 22, 2004 - 10:20 am: |
|
Barracuda, I am not sure who makes it, it is black with a chrome arm sticking out one side, I am going to take a closer look at it, and see if it has a name on it. I was checking it on my MFJ to see what the swr's were, but didnt look for a name. By the way those MFJ people are really nice, I sent my MFJ swr meter back to replace a burntout resistor, and they went over the whole thing, and recalibrated it an all, and I think the charge was 20.00, very pleasant people to deal with. |
Barracuda
| | Posted on Thursday, January 22, 2004 - 11:39 am: |
|
Pig040,
Well, I did it. I ordered an FT-8900R and a Diamond HV7A antenna. Should have it mid next week. By the way, I was mistaken in an earlier post in this thread, the HV7A has 10M capability. For some reason I had thought it did not.
Next thing to figure out is where and how to mout the antenna to my Jeep.
Barracuda |
Pig040
| | Posted on Friday, January 23, 2004 - 11:45 am: |
|
Barracuda, Congrats, you will love it. Now just get ready to spend some quality bathroom time with the manual, haha. The first set-up is the pain, once you get your favorite settings in there it is a piece of cake! I am just going to mount my antenna on top of my JoGunn, I dont want to use a huge antenna up there because the JoGunn alone is 27 lbs, and I dont want to stress out my rotor. |
Pig040
| | Posted on Friday, January 23, 2004 - 11:47 am: |
|
Hey Barracuda, I just checked out the pics, that is the exact antenna that I have! Havent used it yet though, still using the 2 meter on the cake pan! |
Barracuda
| | Posted on Friday, January 23, 2004 - 1:48 pm: |
|
Pig040,
I've read in reviews that the radio is a pain to configure at first, especially from the head. I also heard that it's much easier to do via software on a PC, though I have not yet orderd the software and cable.
I've already downloaded the manual and spent some time skimming it to get acquainted with the controls and features, but it's not so easy to get too deep without having the radio in front of you to try.
One note about the antenna, in the manual I have for that, it states in a couple of places that the antenna needs a good ground, so make sure you provide one if you put it on your mast. Several reviewers of the antenna have suggested the same thing.
Barracuda |
Pig040
| | Posted on Saturday, January 24, 2004 - 9:49 am: |
|
Thanks for the info Barracuda, I will keep that in mind. |
Barracuda
| | Posted on Sunday, January 25, 2004 - 12:40 am: |
|
Pig040,
I got the radio, though I didn't get the antenna yet. I spent a little bit in the car earlier setting it up temporarily to see if it works (not doa). I was able to get the regular 2m repeater set up pretty quickly and had a good ragchew with a few of the locals for about 45 minutes. The radio sounds great and got good reports into the repeater. I'm better than 15 miles line of sight from the repeater and used the mid2 and mid1 power settings and made the trip full quieting either way. I didn't want to interrupt the group too much so I didn't try low power, though I know from here I can make the repeater reliably on just 2 watts, so the 5 watt low power position should be no problem either. I have a transmitter hunt tomorrow, so I wanted to set the radio up to at least try it on the road for the talk-in and afterward. The real test though will be on Monday when I'm back to work. There are major sections of the commute where I have had trouble making the repeater at all with the radio I have been using. This should change nicely for the better now.
I don't know if I will catch the CEF net tormorrow, but if I do I hope we get a chance to make contact again.
Barracuda |
Pig040
| | Posted on Sunday, January 25, 2004 - 10:48 am: |
|
Hi Barracuda,
I am about 8 crow-miles from the closest repeater, and I can use low power, and hit it all day long with this radio. A fail-safe for me here, is they also have a repeater on top of the Capitan mountains, which I can see out my window, and it is at about 10000 feet, and you can hit that thing from almost anywhere! I am in the process of making a mount to mount that antenna on top of my JoGunn, the xyl is starting to give me strange looks when I come in carrying anything like an antenna box, so I have to be careful, haha. The radio I have is opened up, and I can use it as a scanner for the local police/fire/rescue too. |
Pig040
Intermediate Member
Username: Pig040
Post Number: 284
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, February 21, 2004 - 11:18 am: |
|
Hey Barracuda, its been a while since you put the radio in service, how is it working out for you so far? |
Barracuda
Intermediate Member
Username: Barracuda
Post Number: 188
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, February 22, 2004 - 1:38 am: |
|
Very well, though I have only used it to transmit on 2M so far. I had one of the phone guys at the office make me up a longer cable for the remote head so that it could be mounted on the dash. The radio has been working very well getting to the local repeaters from most areas that I drive through daily. I still have not mounted the HV7A antenna on the Jeep, but hope to have that done in the next few weeks. I'm looking for a decent mount for it. There is a local hamfest next sunday that I may find something at. We'll see. I also need to make the installation of the radio more permanent in the Jeep. I'm still working off the lighter, even though I do have power lines (2 hot, 2 ground, all 10ga) coming in under dash direct from the battery. I want to get a power distribution panel so I can distribute it to the several radios I now have. I also want to convert all the radio power plugs to a common type so I can more easily interchange equipment. I'm considering the anderson powerpole connectors. There seems to be a standardization to them and/or Molex connectors. I think I prefer the powerpole connectors.
Anyway, I am very pleased with the purchase even though I've only scratched the surface of its capabilities. I am also wanting to try using the data capabilities of the radio. Maybe I'll set one of my laptops up to work in the Jeep.
Anyway, How is your 8900 working and did the XYL get the bake pan back yet?
73
Barracuda |
Pig040
Intermediate Member
Username: Pig040
Post Number: 288
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, February 22, 2004 - 9:58 am: |
|
Haha, yeah I gave it back to her under threat of her going shopping! Put the HV7A on top of my JoGunn, it is working really well so far. I have only really used the 2 meter so far too. Not too many people around here, I am gonna set it up with someone to try the other bands. |
|
