FTM-350 Irresistible

[N3KDJ]

Darn you guys (especially Moleculo and W1MED/Craig) for your awesome and incredibly thorough Vimeo HD reviews and Blog posts with high quality pictures of the FTM-350! I can't take it any more and plan to pick one up in the afternoon tomorrow on my way home to CT from business in Portsmouth, NH. At least NH is a tax-free state and the,y have an HRO that has the FTM-350, internal GPS and ADMS SW in stock.
I am hoping they'll have a Lido Vent mount that will work for me as in the BMW SUV I have the dash is slanted and very rough textured and not a good surface for the suction cup and I really want it near eye level and with a good GPS-acquiring view of the sky.
The good news is I posted my Kenwood TM-V7A on the local club mail list and sold it within the hour...now I need to sell the Kantronics KAM+ and the Kenwood TM-733A to be whole on the deal. I know I'll get a lot of fun out of the FTM-350 though and thanks for the detailed info.
Phil
N3KDJ

 

[N3KDJ]

Questions on FTM-350

It will allow the VX-8DR to send it APRS transmissions and repeat them out from there cross-band?
I gathered that here:
http://www.worldwidedx.com/vhf-uhf-bands-vhf-uhf-rigs/40252-review-new-yaesu-ftm-350-a-6.html
but I also see the petition post for digipeating....can someone clarify?

I don;t have many digis around it seems that I can hit with the VX-8DR, if the mobile could repeat it that's be pretty useful.

 

[W1MSG]

Be very very careful going in to that HRO store in Salem you could loose all your money faster than at the Casino...

Digipeat would be nice for the 350 but since mine stays mobile I really dont need it, it would be nice to have for a fill in if you were parked somewhere for an event with a good antenna.

I would much rather have memory banks like the VX-8DR ...

 

[N3KDJ]

Nice Store

That Salem store is nice, nice group of people too. Picked up the FTM-350, the internal GPS, ADMS SW and cable and a mount. They didn't have the Lido passenger seat bolt gooseneck mount I want so they ordered that for me. In the meantime I used a cup holder mount with a gooseneck on it. Worked fine.

Great radio...great interface....fantastic display! I am looking forward to throwing 400 or 500 repeaters and a few hundred local emergency service frequencies in with the ADMS software coupled with the ARRL Travel Plus for Repeaters. That will have to wait until tomorrow, but I am super pleased with the radio so far.

Now I also have to check the FW version and see if I need to update it.

 

[Moleculo]

You can use the crossband repeat to effectively make it a personal digipeater. I have done it. If you wanted to make your station a fill-in digi at home or mobile, having the digipeat function is the way to do it that benefits more than just your own handheld. If you decide to use the crossband repeat to make it a personal digi, remember that you have to turn the APRS modem off on the FTM-350 while you're doing this.