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Yaesu FTM-350 Review

Moleculo - thanks for your continued review efforts. Your comprehensive review and detailed information and pictures are immeasurably valuable to anyone interested in this rig. The negative eHam comment(s) are not in line with your experience and I was frustrated not to find any reviews until this eve. I will buy this at Frostfest in Richmond on 6 FEB. I also have the VX-8R and hope they will compliment each other. I haven't seen any comments on x-band repeat - comments? Thanks again!

Howard
 
Your reviews are certainly appreciated. The odd splits for specific emergency freqs is a great idea, I'll be programming those in all my opened equipment. Since my radio is already in the truck and not on the bench, I stuck a 3.5mm stereo cable between the 350 and line in on my vehicle. The audio is really nice in the entire cab and will work super for rally communications but probably drive the wife over the edge on trips. Looks like my GPS shipped, I'm anxious to link the 350 to my VX-8. Looking forward to your APRS/GPS review.
 
Awesome work, moleculo. My FTM-350R is sitting beside me awaiting some other bits for installation.

I'm curious about the GPS side of things. Looks like the ONLY way to feed it a GPS signal is via the Yaesu GPS modules (FGPS-1 or FGPS-2). Is that correct? I'm planning to put mine in a vehicle that already has a Garmin GPS that has a serial output. I was hoping to just use that as I already have an antenna solution for it that I like. It really sort of drives me nuts to have so many redundant systems like that in a vehicle, but perhaps I will have to bite the bullet on that one.

I'm also curious about a combination of your next few topics...can one cross band repeat APRS? I want to use my VX-8DR as a safety device when mountain biking in strange places that I may not be able to hit an APRS digipeater with the HT, but probably could with the 350R.


--Donnie
 
GPS

Actually, they sold me the wrong GPS unit and it is not installed yet.

I plan to correct that tomorrow. I also play to use it for APRS, but also as an Altimeter. The barometer seems to work well. Might as well add the rest of it.

I already have an APRS transponder in this vehicle. I figured it would be good to have a backup though. Especially headed into storm season back home. (I actually am moving back to Texas in the middle of next month.)

I'll post an update when I get the new one installed.
Dave
 
Looks like the ONLY way to feed it a GPS signal is via the Yaesu GPS modules (FGPS-1 or FGPS-2). Is that correct?
Click to expand...

You could figure out a connection from another device. Here is the pinout of the VX-8 connector - the FTM-350 would be the same. Noticed that another member in this post has gotten it to work with another GPS:

http://www.worldwidedx.com/handital...ule-fgps-2-pinout-information.html#post172912

can one cross band repeat APRS?
Click to expand...

Sure, I don't see why not.
 
moleculo said:
You could figure out a connection from another device. Here is the pinout of the VX-8 connector - the FTM-350 would be the same. Noticed that another member in this post has gotten it to work with another GPS:

http://www.worldwidedx.com/handital...ule-fgps-2-pinout-information.html#post172912
Click to expand...

Hmm, good info. Now the question is whether the hack attempt is worth the time.

And on the cross band repeat question:

Sure, I don't see why not.
Click to expand...

Which leads me to another question. Should I get a multi-band antenna (the Larsen NMO2/70BK seems the one to get, though I can't seem to find them in stock online) or would I be better off with an antenna for each band? The vehicle this is going on can definitely handle two antennas, but I notice the 350R only has the one connector. I'm a HAM newbie, so this antenna business is all new to me. Perhaps this isn't the thread for it, but pointers on the best answer to this problem are welcome. If two antennas are better, I'd love a recommendation on what kind of "splitter" I'd need as well as what to get for antennas.


--Donnie
 
I purchased the Diamond CR320A which covers all three bands of the FTM-350. It runs around 90 bucks, but works great without having multiple holes in your rig.
 
And on the cross band repeat question:

Quote:
Sure, I don't see why not.
Which leads me to another question. Should I get a multi-band antenna (the Larsen NMO2/70BK seems the one to get, though I can't seem to find them in stock online) or would I be better off with an antenna for each band? The vehicle this is going on can definitely handle two antennas, but I notice the 350R only has the one connector. I'm a HAM newbie, so this antenna business is all new to me. Perhaps this isn't the thread for it, but pointers on the best answer to this problem are welcome. If two antennas are better, I'd love a recommendation on what kind of "splitter" I'd need as well as what to get for antennas.
Click to expand...

First let me clarify the cross-band repeat APRS question. If you want to do that, you will only be using APRS functionality on your VX-8. The APRS modem on the FT-350 must be turned off to use the crossband repeat function. However for the application you described, it sounds like it will work fine. I tested this using my VX-8 and the FTM-350 and it worked without a hitch.
Which leads me to another question. Should I get a multi-band antenna (the Larsen NMO2/70BK seems the one to get, though I can't seem to find them in stock online) or would I be better off with an antenna for each band?
Click to expand...

It's really up to you and what your application is. I use a Comet 2m/440 antenna on my Jeep. You can also find 2m/220/440 mobile antennas, which would be a good idea with this radio. If you want to use multiple antennas, you'll have to buy a duplexer or triplexer, which is added expense.
 
Crossband Repeat

Crossband Repeat Functionality

One of the features that I use quite often on vhf/uhf radios is crossband repeat. In fact, crossband repeat was a requirement for replacing my Icom 2720h. Here's how you do it on the FTM-350.

The first thing to remember if you wish to crossband repeat is that the APRS Modem must be turned off. The FTM-350 will not enter the crossband repeat mode if the modem is on. It does not say this anywhere in the manual, but trust me.

After the APRS Modem is off, select your frequencies on each band. You should also select any CTCSS tones that you wish to use. In this example, I'm setting up the radio to talk to others on 146.52 and crossband repeat to my HT on a 440mhz frequency. Notice that I've set a CTCSS tone on the 440 side to help prevent accidental keying of my crossband repeater:

964-1263699108-9a406c0182e37b12daf445171e7d5527.jpg


After you select your frequencies and tones, turn the radio off, then turn it on by holding down both the power button and the button just to the left at the same time. When you do, it will come up with this "Special Function" menu:

965-1263699108-7abbb8735dc8ec91a2c668f6d53a008a.jpg


Use the left main knob to scroll down to menu 11 - XBAND REPEATER. When you do, it will flash a confirmation up in the right corner, shown here:

966-1263699108-40be4a34f6c29da0f1c566f9e9ab1119.jpg


If you confirm by pushing in the left main knob, the radio will recycle the power and turn back on in crossband repeat mode. Here's the resulting screen shown receiving a signal on the right side and repeating it on the left side:

967-1263699108-30a4b6346aa21ec375d5c9efa6a8da67.jpg


To turn off crossband repeat, turn the radio off then back on using the same two button technique, select the same option and it will turn off. The crossband repeat function works very well, in my opinion. I have not experienced any strange birdies or intermod that sometimes shows up on radios that have this features. If I do notice it, I'll be sure and report it.

One last comment: Although the manual does not indicate this, you can crossband repeat on 220mhz! I actually like this because I have a 220 brick amp and antenna which will let me put out 20 watts on that band. Now I can walk around the house with my HT and talk to my buddies at 20 watts on 220 Mhz! (y)
 
wishing my tax refund was here hah! ... got the rack i need to mount an antenna to my car picked out ... got the mount picked out ... and now the radio ... only decision left is an antenna that is not a 1/4 wave that will work with this radio
 
So just so I'm straight, to cross band repeat APRS, I'd simply follow your instructions above and set one side to 144.390 and set the other side so some reasonable 70cm frequency (would need to research that, but I'm sure I can figure it out). Then I'd just set my APRS frequency on my HT to the same 70cm frequency and I'd be in business, right? Nothing else to consider? (And yeah, you were right, moleculo...I'm fine with turning APRS off on the mobile for this since it'll just be parked and it's ME I need to track. Of course if someone steals my truck with the mobile in it I'll have a tougher time finding it. :) )

So assuming I'm not transmitting my beacon more than once every five minutes from the HT through the mobile repeater, any idea how long I could expect the mobile to last on the car battery? Assuming a good condition battery? Like is it "oh, well over a day" or "4 hours might be pushing it" or what? Just a general idea here. I'm thinking I'm going to want to do a dual battery setup in the vehicle with a switchover so I always have a starting battery I *can't* drain with the mobile. But I could always carry a charged jump box just in case, too. Since the vehicle may be parked out in the woods with no jumpstart help nearby.


--Donnie
 
Anyone experience the radio lockup described on eHam? Required a hard reset. Also, how about an update on the suction cup mount. Is it viable or problematic?

Thanks again!
 
So just so I'm straight, to cross band repeat APRS, I'd simply follow your instructions above and set one side to 144.390 and set the other side so some reasonable 70cm frequency (would need to research that, but I'm sure I can figure it out). Then I'd just set my APRS frequency on my HT to the same 70cm frequency and I'd be in business, right? Nothing else to consider?
Click to expand...

Yep, that's pretty much it. I tested it last night with Happy_Hamer and he was able to track me on my HT, as well as send and receive APRS messages from the VX-8.

So assuming I'm not transmitting my beacon more than once every five minutes from the HT through the mobile repeater, any idea how long I could expect the mobile to last on the car battery?
Click to expand...

There are really too many variables to answer that question. What type of battery? How much other APRS traffic is present? What power level are you going to use? I would test it in your driveway first to see, and I would also get a serious battery like an Optima YellowTop or something similar. I also doubt that you need to run 50 watts from the radio to do this, but that might depend on the terrain you're in. You certainly don't want to try this for the first time in the sticks and then come back to a dead battery!
 

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