Here's a review of the HT that I use more than any other. By the end of the video it should be pretty clear what I think the answer to the question in the title is. Product Links: Yaesu FT-60R - www.gigaparts....
My FT-60R was my only radio for 11 years. Over time the rubber cover for the power and hand mic fell off. Once I spilled my cup of water on it with the ports exposed. Let it dry out naturally and it still works well to this day. LOVE this radio. Also. As I finally purchased a few more radios, I ask myself why the squelch knob is eliminated and hidden inside the menu on newer yaesu HT radios. WHY Yaesu! Amongst the shiny new radios, my FT60 is still my favorite for its ruggedness and easy of use with its exposed knobs.
I just ordered a second FT 60R just because it has a squelch knob. Having to go into a menu or press a couple buttons to change the squelch is a royal pain. I removed the volume knob and replaced it with a fatter taller knob that I 3D printed. It's impossible to turn the radio on with the factory tiny volume knob with large fingers. I'm getting rid of my 2, VX-6r radios.
I've converted mine to run on 18650s that are USB rechargeable and 3500mAh via a simple print from Thinkiverse. Definitely brings this radio to the next level in that aspect.
I am a newbie in amateur radio. This radio is the best for ANYONE getting into the hobby. I am a 60 year guy taking my first steps into the hobby. I am so pleased with mine. The Baofeng radios are very good for the price. The ease of programming and the continuous squelch knob. along with a volume knob on the top make it an excellent radio! I am happy to have this as my first amateur radio.
I started with a UV-5R, and a buddy let me borrow his FT-60r for a week. That's all it took to convince me. The UV5r is great for the price!! However, it's still a $25 radio. I recently put up a dual band JPole and it made my FT-60 a beast at just 5w. There's a reason Yaesu has made this thing for 20 years.
You can't beat the FT-60 for it's excellent front end. It really pulls in the weak signals and rejects close in RF. They are solid as a rock. You will get respect from the guys who know.
modern masterpiece. started in ham radio with one of these. ended up selling and bought a yaesu ft3dr which is a great radio in its own right, but a couple of years later and i bought another ft60. its rugged, simple and just plain works. i now have two of these as part of my preparedness kit. you cant go wrong with one of these.
Have had one since it came out. It still works. Ordered a second one a few years ago. Just ordered my third a couple days ago. Probably will keep that one in the box for a rainy day. Thinking about a fourth! When you find something that works you want to have a few lying around.
I'm a GEN HAM the FT-60 was my first radio, my theory is you can breach muzzle load an FT-60 into a cannon, knock down a big tree. And it well still be there for you when you screw the antenna back on. I'm proud to own a 450D, 857D, and have owned an 818ND. There is a lot of new bells and fouder with Yaesu's new line ups. The FT-60 is the essence of an EDC no gimmick SHTF Ham radio Handi Talk. Thank you for producing this. Not mention you can get a big whip and beat the snot out of an assailant per weight as a make shift billy club. 😛🤣
After keeping a watch on ebay for the best part of a year, I finally got hold of a mint & boxed FT-60 for a good price. Thanks for this review, which prompted me to obtain one!
Very relevant and much needed review. I like the no-nonsense delivery - well done! I agree with every point, having owned one for years. The HT would always tip over on the kitchen table, my only complaint…The name of the game for me is the hot receiver and durability which is the primary reasons to own. I like the simplicity of the menu and OS in this generation of Yaesu HTs. This is a no frills performer that you’ll have forever. Surely a testament when they are still being manufactured. 73’s, Brian, K3LX
The Baufeng is a cheap radio that works, I own a few. The FT-60 has a far better receiver (among a ton of other things) that makes it more sensitive, more selective, more robust. It will not be plagued by internod when around other radios. AJA is an amazing album. I used to tweak my stuff into million watt house PA systems at large venues in LA and I loved playing AJA and Gaucho. The sax and tightness and crispness of the musicians and the engineering is second to none. Throw your Baufeng in your war bag, in fact throw in a few they're cheap.....but trust that the FT-60 is designed and built to be a far superior radio when it counts most...
Thank you so much for this review! Ordered the FT-60 on Friday, expecting it any day, You’re right, hard to find anything on it, your review back all my research, can’t wait for it to arrive. Please do some tutorial videos for us! We need then!
Thank you for your video. I have watched/listened to this video several times and this convinced me to get this FT-60. I just received my call sign 29MAR2022, and a fellow ham at the local club lent me a... Yeasu FT-60! I wanted to concentrate and learn on analog, and I feel good seeing and hearing so much praise for this HT. I answered the key quest you had: "How much are you willing/able to spend?" For me it was a couple hundred. This fits right in, and I will go over that with accessories I saw in your OTHER video. Last note, I am 55 and NEVER heard that Steely Dan album, but I am listening to it NOW on this fine Friday afternoon as I work. I am surprised, what a great album! THANK YOU, I am excited to buy the FT-60 this weekend! 73, KN6TMF (Gerry) Update: Holy smokes, I recognized some of the songs in the album! You are right, this does have the sounds that would be a standard for speaker quality, and plus this is a great album, wow...
This is one of THE coolest radio reviews Ive ever viewed. You are so passionate about this radio, and I respect anyone who spreads their passion for a topic. I just got my GMRS license (looking for a radio for that) and taking my technicians license at the end of this month. This looks like a solid purchase. I was looking at Wouxun KG-UV9D but you really got me thinking. Might be the best starter radio besides this Baofeng which got me into the ham bug.
One note about charging cradles. Yes, you can buy a charging cradle for the older FT-60s, but it requires the use of a different wall wart charger. I have found that, although the stock charger (NC-88B) will plug into the SBH-13 cradle, it doesn't do a complete job of charging the radio. And the SBH-13 calls for an SAD-24B charger.
I wish that I'd bought one of these FT-60s instead of an FT-70D... I got my license in Dec, so being new, I relied on the wisdom of others when they said that the big 3 Yaesu, Icom, Kenwood are solid radios. In general that was likely good advice, but I hadn't done enough research on the different model of Yaesu radios and ended up buying an FT-70D based on the recommendations of an HRO sales guy at the Dayton Hamvention.... I've spent the past 10 weeks regretting my FT-70D purchase, and trying to figure out a way to sell my FT-70D and get an FT-60. Here in Canada, the FT-60s sell for $250 Canadian.. It's tough to swallow having spent cash recently on a Yaesu unit to drop more cash on another HT. (It'll be tough to explain to the wife why I need to replace an HT that I just bought....) I wish I'd done more research and picked up an FT-60...
The FT-60Rs sold in the Philippines (for $152,88 at current currency conversion rates, Php 8500) only come with a wall wart for charging, the desktop cradle's an accessory. Disadvantage: the included charger takes 9 hours to charge the battery and doesn't have a "charged" indicator so you have to time the charge time on your phone or something. Advantage: the wall wart's less bulky if you're carrying it in your go bag.
It's the first Radio that I ever used even before I got my licence as we had these at the Air Cadet Squadron that I was a Cadet at and we used them for our comms training. They are great radios and I have just ordered myself one.
Thanks for the review - I own 2 of these myself and was interested all the same to see what you thought of them. One correction though - the 12VDC input *does* charge the battery - in fact if you don't own the drop-in fast charger, that is the only option.
I have all of the yaesu flagship models. Mobiles and HTs. Over the last 2 years, I’ve found myself using my Baofeng more than my FTs. I just enjoy the simplicity. The feel of a radio in the hand means a lot to me too. This radio looks like it has a good feel. It looks like a piece of equipment you can trust. I can pack it on motorcycle trips, in the truck, at work in the shop, wherever and it will be ready to go. Im returning to more simple radios. They’re more enjoyable for me to use. I’ve wanted to buy one of these for over a year now. I guess I need to just pull the trigger. Thanks for the video!
Great video! ( I subscribed to your channel) I love my YAESU FT-60R!!! I BOUGHT IT BACK IN 2005 AND IT'S BEEN MY FAVORITE TOY. ONLY THING I'VE DONE IS REPLACING THE BATTERY AND THE ANTENNA. 73S FROM KJ4BGW !!!
After listening to you talking about this radio and another youtuber saying that this is his goto radio I purchased mine... Now I wait for the radio... LOL. thank you! and great video.
You have Sold Me on it. Just bought a VM6 today w. mars mod & fhe access you suggested in that video. Will get one of these rolling to me shortly. THA L YOU for your time & expertise on thses. REALLY REALLY REALLY Helps me.
I just ordered one of these the other day, I hope I like it . . . I had gotten a few baofengs for the family and i and a few nagoya antennas for them, and when I put the nagoya antenna on the uv-5r it would go dead near the town or city I commute to. Apparently it overloads the front end and it cant handle it, so that sucked. The squelch is kind of crappy also, the smallest signal will break in even with the squelch at 9 on the uv-5r and it made it unusable for scanning unless you can put up with deleting the channels that break in or skipping them every 15 seconds and I couldn't do it. This review sold me on the FT-60, thanks man. Having different banks you can set up was a selling point as well. I'm excited to get it in the mail. Also is there any reason why the mod would be needed ? Great video !
I have had the opposite experience with this radio. I'm new to the hobby and I have found it to be the most unintuitive piece of equipment I've ever used. C++ makes more sense than that radio. That and I have yet to hear anyone on it. My nearest repeater is 2.1 miles away and I can hear nothing, not even a ping back from the repeater. I'm glad it works for someone if not lots of folks.
Great video; I pretty much followed the same trail on my HT path. I have 2 FT-60s (and am thinking of getting a 3rd just to keep in the box (2 is one, one is not, and a third isn't a bad idea). I'm still tempted to pull the trigger on the VX-6... I also love my waterproof FT-270. It's 2m only, but a really good and well built radio. I keep it with my EMCOMM bag (Specter 10-99 bag). Please keep up the great videos and I look forward to your VX-6R review. 73, Stuart W1SLC
That VX-6 video that I've been promising is dropping in the next day or two. I kind of needed to work things in that direction and establish some context first. But my notes are done and I'm going to film it today or tomorrow. Thanks again for the kind comments.
@@KS6DAY Would you be willing to show video of how you separate and program your bands in your radios? I'd really enjoy seeing something like that. It would definitely help me in how I set my own radios up for travel (I travel weekly up and down the valley). What programming software do you use? Thanks again.
That is exactly how I feel about my FT3DR. Started with the Baofeng UV5R, but the Yaesu makes things more pleasurable. Some times using a Cadillac makes more sense. Not to bash the Baofeng, but try them side by side and you will understand.
Super review of this radio. I have a couple of them, and you covered the pros and cons really well. One error... the case is not aluminum. There is a cast aluminum frame, but the case is some type of plastic, and that's actually a better design.
Thanks for the comments, I address that mistake in this video right here - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Cnic6Vmy9ng.htmlsi=Y_rwrOjqPbkb8zDX
@@KS6DAY You know what's funny? Some time ago, I saw that video. I didn't make the connection with you here. Another solid video. If you are inclined, you should be able to add a caption on this video, correcting that at the time you said it, and referencing this second video. That'll drive some views there as well. Anyway, solid work on both videos.
I hear you on that little rubber cover that goes over the speaker/mic and AC jacks. The AC jack portion is fine, but the little rubber nub that's supposed to fit into the speaker/mic jack is possibly the most fiddly and annoying thing I've dealt with on any handheld radio. Sometimes it seems like you're never going to get it to pop back in. 🤪😄 A minor complaint as I rarely use a speaker/mic with this one, but still....sheesh.
Great review. The FT60 was my first radio when I got licensed. Built like a tank, I always say. As for the memory banks, I’ve heard you talk about them in other videos. I think what you are saying is you can put any channel into any bank, any number of times. Example: local police fire and EMS for a given town PLUS county dispatch in a bank. Local police, fire, EMS for a different town in another bank PLUS the same county dispatch. Right? If I read you right on your plan for the county repeaters as you travel, county A and B in bank 1, county B and C in bank 2, county C and D in bank 3, and so on. Is this what you mean? In any case yes, lots of flexibility on programming memory banks. Great radio. Now I’m thinking of buying another one just to have. BTW there is a 12-volt adapter and charging cradle. I keep one in the car. Different cradle from the AC unit. 73, WA2JOE
Question: Does the FT-60R (or any Yaesu HTs for that matter) receive AM in the military aircraft band (~225 - 400 MHz)? Yeasu advertises that the FT-60R (and several of their radios) has reception from 108MHz to 520MHz and advertises AM capability in civil air band, but it is not specific about military.
For volume,try going to menu 2-tx/rx, then 3 audio, then 4 vol mode, then select auto back. You can then tap the vol button and release, then adjust vol with one hand. It works on my FT-1xdr and I think they have basically the same menu.
Hello great video one side note if the charging cradle is like the cradle for the ft-65 it runs off of 12 volts taking the Cradle still sucks but the wall plug puts out 12 volts in 1 amp so you can still run the Cradle off of a battery
it's a great radio, it's not obsolete but needs to be updated. not being able to charge from the DC barrel connector, no USB-C port for programming are big drawbacks. but i have one and it's a great radio.
In regards to the antenna, there are two types of SMA female antennas. The length of the threaded fitting is the only difference between them. I only learned this after purchasing an Anytone d878uv. The instructions warn against replacing the antenna with one that has the shorter fitting. If you could find one with the shorter fitting you would not have the gap between the antenna and radio. 73
I have to say if you want a radio that can stand up to a congested Mountain Top lots of RF the Yaesu FT-60 holds up better than any other radio ...Built like a tank and its made out of Polycarbonate over a cast aluminum frame ... Once there gone there gone ...Better buy one before Yaesu stops making them ...Has a real front end ...Not a Baofeng type radio....Real discrete components 2ppm freq error This is a Awesome radio.... No wonder Motorola bought the parent Vertex commercial division.... I was a repair depot for Vertex radio I can tell you first hand this radio is built very close to Commercial specs sometimes it exceeds commercial specs... Has a real Squelch knob and has a real On Off Power Switch No vampire battery loss when its shut down. Get one, they are not going to produce these forever.... N6VOA
I have had my first FT60 since 2004. Shortly after I got my tech. I have gotten a second one. I love that radio. I just got a FT70d. And I found myself comparing it to my ft60. And the ft70 falls a little short in some places. I like that the ft70 has 24 banks. But only 100 memories per bank. I would recommend getting the 2200 mah lion made by Cameron sino. You will need to get a drop in charger that will charge them. But it’s a perfect battery for the 60. It lasts and lasts with long TX with that battery
@@KS6DAY the other thing that disappointed me is that there’s no shortcut to get into the WX frequencies like there is on the ft 60. On the 70 you have to have the WX alert on. Then put the radio in scan mode. Then press the PTT when it gets to the WX frequencies to be able to listen to them. Unless there’s another way I haven’t found yet?
My first radio was an ft60. The audio was amazing. I sold it and found a vx5r which had almost an equal quality..but much smaller..6m capable and a better screen. I really miss the vx5..may have to re visit the ft 60 one of these days.
I’ve been a ham since 86 but have not been that active and have an Yaesu VX-7r but it, to me anyway has so many bells on it I can’t remember how to maneuver through the radio to get where I want on it and find I need the manual all the time. Maybe it’s just me but this FT-60 seems a little more user friendly. Could you use double AA lithium batteries with this radio?
Nice video! I am a Vintage Yaesu HT collector, with 30 different units, my last acquisition is an FT60R. Though there are a lot of tutorials for Mars/Cap openings, I have not found a mod for airband transmission. Since I am an Aircraft pilot, I'd like to have the chance of using the FT60 as a backup on the fly. Do you know anything about this mod? Thank you!
bigger case so knobs and keypad are farther apart for people with normal sized (for American males) hands. Tighter knobs..they turn too easily. Lower center of gravity.
I'm going to be getting into that with the VX-6 video coming up. I don't know why they make these things so small. If the cases were a bit larger not only could they fit a bigger battery but they would then have room for better knob spacing and more front panel options.
Excellent!!! If anyone reading this could do me a favor and check the voltage on the back of the radio where the 3 gold tabs are I would be most grateful. I am getting 3.75v on the two with my vom. starting with one probe on the far left & then checking the voltage on the two other tabs next to each other. TNX
