Yaesu Discontinuing Several Models

[Jackalope]

Yaesu announced today they will be discontinuing the FTM-400 series of dual band FM/System Fusion mobile radios.  They will also be discontinuing their FT-818 QRP radios.  The reason is due to component shortages. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p_HNsAYZxY

The FT-818 radios were decent, but they were not state-of-the-art like the IC-705, some of the Chinese offerings like the Xiegu models, and the CTX-10. They were popular with folks that work satellites, because they covered both two meters and 70 centimeters.  I guess I'll hold on to my FT-817, because it will do SSB and CW on the VHF/UHF bands and my other QRP radios don't have that capability.

[Sir John Honeybucket]

Agreed and more -  The FT817/818* series is a fine ' Swiss Army Knife" type transceiver.  Not the BEST at any one narrow task but definitely useful at a very broad swath of tasks.  Need a HF/VHF/UHF all mode transceiver - it does it. Voice - it can work, digital - definitely.  Add the narrow CW filter and it's a good CW transceiver.  It's been extremely popular in it's class since just before the year 2000, for very good reasons.

Keep it, or like me, you'll one day regret selling it.

- Sir John Honeybucket

[Jackalope]

I was an early adopter of the FT-817, and the finals died the first month after I bought it.  Yaesu repaired it, and it has functioned flawlessly since then (over 20 years).  However, a spare finals board is in my inventory, just in case.  I'm guessing the finals and other parts are soon to be unobtanium.

Speaking of selling radios and later regretting it, I have two: the first was a Collins KWM-1, serial number 107, and the other was a Heathkit HW-101 that I spent six months building. 

[JohnyMac]

Good stuff gentlemen. Yeah Jackalope, I read that too this morning. Chips are just too hard to obtain. The Kenwood TS-890 was supposed to come out at the beginning of this year and still is not out. If you talk to some folks in the know, they just can not obtain the qty of chips to roll this baby out. Did anybody notice that Kenwood was not at the hamvention in OH this year?

Being on a retirement income with a few investments coming in  here and there, I restrict myself to only several large purchases during a fiscal year. Lookin at radio's my buy list is short. For sure a Yaesu DX10 and a (tr) u SDX maybe a G90. I would love to get a IC-705 or a CTX-10 however, they are a bit pricy right now. As a side note: The CTX-10 can not be opened-MARS. (Ability to use all frequencies for you non-radio guys & gals).

I have a 817nd that works flawlessly. It just does not have all the bells and whistles the newer radio have plus 5-watts is fine for CW and digital but sucks for phone especially during contests. With that written, I got a full sweep on my 817 during the July 4th contest. That included France and UK.

Mmmm, I did sell 2 things that I wished I had never sold. One was a model 99 Savage manufactured in 1917 in .303 Savage. Because .303 savage cartridge's were tough to find (Now impossible) I rolled my own starting with 30/30 brass and just forced it through the press and then did a bit of trimming. Used .308 cal conical jacketed SP bullet (Forget which brand) and loaded it with IMR 4064 around 35 grains (I think). Does IMR even exist anymore? The round out of that model 99 pencil barrel zipped along at around 2,400 fps and was dead nuts on at 100 yards. Sold it for $100- at the time and now similar ones are going for 10x that price.

The second one was a Stoger Lugar in 22LR. That handgun along with a Navy .36 C&B was my EDC at 16-years old. Still have the Navy though. Mmmm.

So there you go, my 2 cents worth. 

[Sir John Honeybucket]

Yeeeeeah -

I sold my M-1 Garand , that I had bought from an old Army armorer.  He fought in the Korean war and that rifle was excellent.  I also sold my WW II govt issued 1911A .45 .  Divorce bills had everything to do with it.  I would rather have sold my Ex-wife,she was very good looking and would fetch a good price in some distant land, but evidently that is illegal in the United States.  Too bad, because I do miss my very good rifle.

- Sir John Honeybucket

[JohnyMac]

Sir John