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The (In)Complete Guide to the Yaesu FT-50 Version 1.1 Disclaimer & Other Nonsense The information in this document is a guide to the FT-50 ONLY. Having had more than a few radios in my amateur experience, I understand how most hams wish to learn as much about their rigs as possible. I have compiled this guide to allow other people to learn more about the radio without having to search all over for information. I do not guarantee the validity of this information, as Yaesu may change programming or hardware so that some of the techniques in this document may cease to function. I am not responsible if these instructions damage your rig in some way. All I can say is that I have performed the following procedures to my unit, and I am quite pleased with the results. Your mileage may vary, etc. History Version 1.0 1st introduced. Version 1.1 Added: Game mode, Changed High Power Mod to "Internal System Alignment". In this section I also detail the squelch and S-meter adjustments. Also added info to the bug on the FTT-12 Keypad. Introduction The Yaesu FT-50 is perhaps the most unique VHF/UHF Handheld manufactured today. It's made to MIL-SPEC 810, for dust, splashproofness, and vibration. Out of the box, it has not only dual band 2m/440 capability, but wide FM receive and AM receive as well. In addition, it receives 76-200 MHz, 380-500 MHz, and 700-900 MHz (Cellular Blocked). It has one of the fastest scan speeds for an amateur HT. It also has the unique ability (w/ ADMS-1C software) to interface with an IBM PC running Windows and have memories and settings uploaded/downloaded. In addition, it has DCS (digital coded squelch), ARTS (auto-ranging transpond system), and Yaesu's excellent transmit and receive battery saver features. It also uses Yaesu's extremely efficent FET power module that allows for 5W+ of output power with a 9.6V battery pack. With the optional FTT-12 keypad, the unit also performs CTCSS decode, DTMF paging, and also incorporates a Digital Voice Recorder! All of this functionality in such a small package makes it my rig of choice. Problems (Bugs) Unfortunately, the FT-50 is plagued by a few bugs. None of them are very serious or life-threatening, just a bit annoying. First among them is its Wide-FM receive. Apparently Yaesu engineers didn't put a wide enough filter in the unit, and some of the bandwidth of broadcast FM signals gets "chopped off". This means that the rig is near useless for listening to music on the broadcast FM band. It works marginally with voice only on the same band. My opinion on this problem: If you want to listen to music, bring a small Walkman or other transistor radio with you. The '50 does an adequate job of bringing voice signals in on broadcast FM, so it's good for listening to emergency broadcasts. The second "bug" lies in the optional FTT-12 keypad. The manual for the radio states that you can set up a "voice mail" type of functionality that lets your radio operate unattended and record calls for you. This mode doesn't work correctly, although the built-in voice recorder works great. It seems that the unit will playback the wrong voice partition. The problem appears to be in the DTMF page-answer-back area. If you're buying the '50 and FTT-12 solely for this purpose, DON'T! It doesn't work and there's no current workaround. The third bug has been complained about a bit. It seems that some `50s suffer from a low Tx audio problem. This is due to a factory adjustment that is set a bit on the low side. It is easily fixed. (See Factory Adjustments below). The fourth "bug" is synergistic with the ADMS-1C software. If there is some kind of problem in downloading a file to the radio, the software aborts with an error, and the rig is left with it's memories cleared in a "limbo" state. This state is actually the European band plan, and if done properly, the rig can be modified to receive even more frequencies... which will be described later. (See modification section) However, if you want to return the rig to its natural state, simply download a blank frequency file (NONAME.RDF) to the unit. All should be well. Factory adjustments If your rig suffers from the low Tx audio problem, here's how to fix it. 1. Remove the battery and antenna. 2. Remove the "NiCd" sticker on the heat sink. If you remove it very carefully, it's possible to re-install it later with the same stickum that's on it. 3. Look in the cavity where you removed the sticker. Proceeding from left to right, here's what you'll see... Phillips head Screw (Holds the keypad in) Small Silver Potentiometer (VR1001--VHF Deviation Adjustment) Small Silver Potentiometer (VR1002--UHF Deviation Adjustment) Small White Potentiometer (TC1001--DONT TOUCH! CTCSS Tone Adjustment!!!) Phillips head Screw (Holds the keypad in) 4. Take a small Phillips head Screwdriver and turn both VR1001 and VR1002 about 1/8 turn clockwise. This will increase the VHF and UHF deviation and fix the low Tx audio problem. If it's not enough Tx audio, simply turn both pots another 1/8 turn. Make sure to turn both pots the same amount! 5. Replace the NiCd sticker, battery, and antenna. 6. You're Done! Internal System Alignment (May not work on some radios) NOTE: This setting appears to work on radios that have NO MEMORIES programmed. You might want to try STEP 3 before clearing your memories. If step 3 doesn't work, you probably need to clear your memories. BE CAREFUL with these settings... it's possible to really mess the rig up by setting some funky squelch or something... you might want to write the default settings for your rig down. 1. Select 2m VFO frequency. 2. Turn the radio off. 3. Push LAMP, PTT, Knob, and PWR at the same time. The rig will turn on with the squelch open, so turn the volume down! 4. The '50 will display "BAND xxxxxx" where xxxx may differ depending on your radio and whatever mods you may have performed. 5. Turn the top knob. There are a variety of settings available. Here is a listing of them: · HSSQ: Squelch Hysteresis Adjustment, adjusted by the dial. · THSQ: Squelch Preset Threshold · TISQ: Squelch Preset Tight · S1LV: Low-Scale S-1 Adjustment. · S9LV: S-Meter Full Scale Adjustment. · HIPO: Hi Transmit Power Adjustment: Should be calibrated for 5W (Can be pushed higher with a 13.8V Supply) · L3PO: Level 3 Power Adjustment: Should be adjusted for 2.8W. · L2PO: Level 2 Power Adjustment: Should be adjusted for 1W. · L1PO: Level 1 Power Adjustment: Should be adjusted for .1W. 6. Select the adjustment you wish. 7. Push in the Top knob. There will be a "s" that appears next to the displayed number. 8. Rotate the knob to change the setting. 9. Change other settings, if desired. 10. Push the knob for more than 1 sec to save the profile. 11. Select 440 VFO frequency. 12. Repeat Steps 3-10 to adjust the UHF Settings. UHF Settings will have a "U" in front of them. Modifications The FT-50 is extremely easy to modify. The first modification is performed for you at the factory... but for those of you who accidently disabled it, or changed it... here it is. Extended U.S. Receive Mod (Expands receive from 144-148 & 430-450 to 76-200, 380-500, 800-999 `cell blocked') NOTE: All memories will be erased. 1. Turn the transceiver off. 2. Hold down the Knob and Lamp keys while powering the unit on. 3. The unit now has U.S. Extended Receive. MARS/CAP mod (Extended Transmit Mod: app. 144-159, 420-470) NOTE: All memories will be erased. Don't transmit on bands that you're not licensed for!! Besides being illegal, it creates problems for people using those frequencies. 1. Remove battery & antenna 2. Remove NiCd Sticker on Rear Heat Sink 3. Loosen (Don't Remove) Philips head screws on rear that hold keypad in. 4. Use screws as thumb holds to press keypad out. 5. Remove screws. 6. Remove Keypad. 7. Under Keypad on Left Side there is a series of Solder Jumpers. They are labeled in white from 1-3. Only #1 will have solder jumpering it. Remove the solder, being careful not to damage or touch any other components. WARNING: If you're not good at desoldering, or have shaky hands, you might want to have someone else do this for you. It's REAL easy to damage the rig. 8. Reinstall Keypad. Be careful of the O-ring around the keypad. Make sure it's not twisted or damaged, as the waterproofness of the unit could be compromised. 9. Install sticker, battery and antenna. 10. Hold down Knob and Lamp keys while powering the unit on. (Extended Receive Mod as above.) 11. Completed! Super-Hyper Awesome Mod... The mother of all Mods!!! (Requires ADMS-1C software and MARS/CAP mod to be performed) Receive: 76-999 Mhz (No displayable holes!!!) Transmit: 120-221 Mhz, 320-499 Mhz (AGAIN, Don't transmit on frequencies where you're not licensed) NOTE: This mod will disable ARS (automatic repeater shift) and will set 2m and 440 repeater offset to weird numbers. Make sure you enter repeater offset and +- shift manually. Repeater offset needs be set once for the rig, then it should be able to be forgotten about. It will also clear memories. Remember above where I mentioned the ADMS-1C software having a bug? Here's where the enterprising and curious ham can take advantage of that. This mod will install the European band plan in your radio...so without the MARS/CAP mod you will lose the top portion of your 2m band. 1. Are there frequencies in your radio? Don't want to lose them? Simply get the data from your radio as it sits... you can "merge" the frequencies later. Save the file. 2. Perform the MARS/CAP mod as outlined above. Get the data from the mod and name it USA.RDF. 3. Attempt to send the same data to the radio. In the middle of the transfer (around 50%), pull the adapter cable to the PC out of the radio. 4. Thanks to the bug, your radio is now in European mode! Perform the Extended Receive Mod by holding the Knob and Lamp keys down while turning the unit on. 5. Now, the Automatic Repeater offset doesn't work. There's no workaround. Note that the 2m offset has been changed to 0.00. Go to the menu by holding down the knob. Go to SHFT, Option 7. Press the knob. Turn the knob so that it reads 0.60. Press PTT. 6. Now, turn off the radio. Put it back into clone mode. Read the data back from the radio to the PC and save the file as EURO.RDF. 7. If you want to enter frequencies manually or using ADMS as normal, go ahead. Everything should work. If you saved frequencies as above, open EURO.RDF and "merge" the frequencies from your USA.RDF file into it, and save it as another name. Then send the modified EURO.RDF (your filename) file back to the radio using the "template" file EURO.RDF. You're done! 8. To return the radio back to the U.S. band plan, send the USA.RDF file back to it. Note that I have no way of measuring the sensitivity of the frequencies or the output power of the rig outside of the ham bands. The 220 coverage seems to be very poor, however, the radio does display 220 frequencies. It won't transmit on our 220 bands, though. 800 Mhz receive is vastly improved. Game Mode The FT-50R includes an interesting "game" that's programmed into it. Here's how it works: 1. Power up the radio while holding down the MR key. (PWR + MR). 2. The display will show GAME on the left side, and Spd 1 on the right. You're in game mode! 3. By rotating the knob, you can change the speed of the game. Higher numbers are faster. 4. Press PTT to start the game. 5. Numbers will start to scroll across the screen from left-to-right. As they come, you are supposed to push the number on the keypad that makes a sum of ten, followed by F. Example: 6 appears, press 4, F. If 0 appears, enter 10 followed by F. 6. The game is over when the screen fills up with numbers. 7. To exit the game, simply cycle the power. ========== Subject: Re: YAESU FT-50R PTT Button came off The same thing happenned to my FT-51 after about 4 months of abuse. Don't risk losing it! Put it back in place and cover with black electrical tape. Mine still works fine 8 months later. dklaver@usa.net (Denny Klaver) writes: : Has anyone had a problem with the Push to Talk button on their FT-50R? : I looked down at my handheld this evening while scanning and noticed the : rubber PTT button was just dangling there. I have no idea how it : happened. I would expect the button to be tougher than this. I've : handled it with care the very few days I've had it. I'd sure be : interested to hear if anyone else has had this happen. : : Thanks, Denny WB0PYJ Tulsa ====================== ;Have you tried to use the pl decoder in your ft-50r ? I have noticed that ;the decoder falses quite regularly even if no pl is present. Here are the ;two conditions that make it false and how to duplicate it....... ; ;1. during simplex operation when the other radio(s) first key up or as the ;carrier drops. (even if other radio is not using pl) ; ;2. during repeater operation (even when no one is using pl) when any of ;the following items occur ; ; A. repeater first transmits. ; B. repeater drops. ; C. person on repeater: ; I. during first transmit. ; II. carrier drops. ; III. is noisy into the system. ; D. In our case when there is is a link crash on the system. ; ;I have tried a wide range of pl's from low to high and they all do it. ; ;How to duplicate or test for condition: ;press (t.s.) twice to put radio in [T SQ] ;press (F) ; (t.s.) and select a tone that will not be in use. ;select menu item [BELL -18-] and turn on (mine is set to rPT). ;---- then key another radio up and down or listen to an active channel. ; ;Let me know, I have tried to contact Yaesu and have gotten no response !! ; Subject: Yaesu's Position on FT-50 Problems Date: Wed, 26 Jun 1996 01:15:30 GMT I spoke to Yaesu today regarding the following problems with the FT-50R. 1. Wide FM receive does not work. 2. Voice message paging system with FTT-12 does not work. 3. Paging answer-back does not work IF the merson paging talks for more than about 2 seconds. Note that all of these features are described in their manual and their sales literature. Also, Yaesu tech. support has verified each problem and agrees they exist. Now the bad part: Yaesu in Japan has said they do not intend to fix ANY of these problems. In fact, they say, these are not defects in the radio, but in the manual and the sales literature. (I never really expected them to fix the wide FM thing, but I did expect a corrected FTT-12). I asked customer service if they would be refunding the money, and the response was " not us, call your dealer". This will be tough for those who bought the radio a few months ago in anticipation of the FTT-12 being available. Future Yaesu buyers, beware. Once a reputation is lost, what is left? ======== Subject: FT-50 Noisy TX I had a problem with my FT-50R with a crackling noise during tx. I took the radio apart (pretty easy) and found two possible culprits. One, the screws holding the two PC boards together were loose, possibly causing a poor connection between the boards. Second, and probably the real problem. They use a spring loaded pin on the center of the chassis mounted SMA connector that contacts a metal tab sticking out of the RF board. The SMA connector is does not flex as it does on the FT-40. I soldered the pin to the tab. The radio now works without the noise on Tx. -- ======== Subject: FT-50R software? ;I made the basic MARS/CAP mod as detailed by Bill Childers but lost ;the capability to download from the ADMS-1C software Ver 1.04 is ;this a bug in my radio or in the software? Also has anyone heard of ;a way to enable transmission/reception on the 222-225 Amateur band. ;I have heard that the reason this capability is not here is because ;of Public Safety frequencies in Japan are in this range. I don't have the 50r but have the 51r and had to start out by uploading from the radio into the computer to tell the program the equipment in the radio. If you bade any changes in the radio this will have to be reuploaded to the computer. Ken ======== ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is a copy of the explanation from my dealer, Hi Alan, After further discussions with Yaesu it seems that the FT50 should not receive signals between 200-300 MHz although the display will show these frequencies. Generally the IF goes out of lock above 200 MHz. At the end of the day Yaesu say that they do not claim that this is within the scope of the receiver, so cannot offer any further advice. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Anybody know anything different i wonder?. Anybody know of any 'hidden key' functions?. Are there any Mod's yet?. Regard's Alan G6LTN Alan Wanford ======== Subject: Yaesu FT-50R and ADMS-1c Software Down Loading To Radio IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON USING ADMS-1C SOFTWARE (NOT DOCUMENTED) When using software to send information to your radio pay close attention to the following: I will try to keep it as simple as possible. A. When the program makes a template of your radio keep basic at first. Name it noname.rdf to start. You can change it later. B. After you have made your freq. and etc. enteries in the program and are ready to transfer them to the radio follow my instructions and I hope you will not have the trouble I ran into. 1. First click on memory. 2. Click on merge from. 3. Radio file for merge select noname.rdf. 4. Click on Radio. 5. Click on Send Data To. 6. Follow instructions on starting FT-50R. Make sure the following steps take place: i. Template File_Box Does not have a X in it. ii. You are using noname.rdf template. iii. You must understand that while the word WAIT is on your radios display you can not remove the link cable. If something goes wrong retry until you see CERR then turn the radio off. You can then safely remove the link cable and try again. 7. Now click on OK. Lots of luck I hope you have a successful transfer. But remember not to remove the link cable while the radio is on. 73 John Stinson VE6BOS ============ Another thing I have noticed about the FT50 that doesn't work is the DTMF decoder memory 9, which reads/stores DTMF codes off air. The manual says that holding the knob in for 1/2 a second clears memory 9- well it don't on mine. ======== Regarding the bug with the FTT-12 keypad and clearing the memory in autodialer 9. I discovered that it's a bug in the MANUAL, not the radio. To clear the memory, simply turn on Function (ie: tap F once), and then hold the top button in for .5 second. It works fine. I discovered this by accident, as I too was frustrated with the inability to clear the DTMF memory. Kirk J. Smith, KD6RCT, EMT-P | Biological Sciences Dept, Microbiology kjsmith@oboe.aix.calpoly.edu | California Polytechnic State University http://www.calpoly.edu/~kjsmith | San Luis Obispo, California, USA ========= Subject: FT-50r ADMS Cables Does anyone know if the ADMS 1-b cable (for FT-10/40) is the same cable used for the FT-50 as the 1C cable? a guy at the ham store told me they are different electrically?????????? IT would be nice if they are the same and I would only have to try and find someone to get a copy of the 1C software. duane park wa6eik ======== Subject: FT50 huge birdy and more Netlanders, Last week I asked if anyone else was having trouble scanning between 590 and 650 MHz. Two of four responses were positive. Since then I have discovered that the problem is actually larger. I am unable to scan any frequency within the Wide FM arena. Further, reception of signals in the 590-650+ region is nil. My Icom 2SRA receives signals full scale while the ft50 receives nothing. AM and NFM scanning appear to be OK. I'm pretty sure that I've found birdies in the 155MHz region also. Yaesu did not know of any problems in the 590 region, but did admit there was a repair of a known birdy @ 146MHz. they also state that there is an error in the manual regarding the FTT12 DVR. New manuals are being printed. There is currently no word from Japan on a fix for the known to narrow WFM problem. I'd like to hear from anyone else with regards to how their unit works. Thanks.... -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Troy T. Pummill, N6XMV | trop@fore.com | | Fore QA Department | LAN Switching Division | | (408) 467-4684 | 2115 O'Nel Drive, Silicon Gulch | | San Jose, CA 95131 | Fax: (408) 441-0272 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ======== Subject: FT-50R MOD differances I have tried some of the mods for the FT-50R that I have seen posted on this newsgroups and I'm seeing differant results than those listed. First of all the "Internal Systems Alignment" MOD: After pushing LAMP, PTT, KnoB, and PWR at the same time I do not get the "BAND xxxxxx" display. I get "ALRST Pr 5", if I turn the Knob the radio goes back to the VFO that I turned it off on. I'm going to assume that the Pr 5 is telling me that the max watts are 5. Also, if you push the Knob with the ALRST displayed it goes back to the VFO. Second, the "Extended U.S. Receive" MOD: If I do as instructed and hold down the Knob and LAMP while turning on the radio, I get the same thing as above "ALRST Pr 5 F". Now my serial number begins 6F04...., did they make some unknown modifications to later models? Ted KC8ENM ======== Subject: FT50 ADMS bug There must be a bug in the ADMS-1C software. If You chose Wide FM or AM for receive mode in memory programming will it be changed to Narrow FM when You click OK. So fare I can see is there no way to program a memory position to anything else than Narrow FM using the ADMS-1C ver 1.01 or is there ? My way is to program all memory frec offsets etc from the softw and after sending it to the FT50 manually select recv mode for each memory positon and resave each position that needs anything else than Narrow FM. If You then reload the memory from FT50 to the PC will the new receive mode be there BUT !!!!! Dont click OK after viewing the memory. Then will it be back to Narrow FM !!!! Is RT system Inc and/or Yaesu aware of this bug? 73 de SM7LOQ Joakim Gustafsson Sweden ======== Subject: Yaesu FT-50R and ADMS Software Can anyone tell me about the format or the layout of the debug table that comes up after executing WFT50.exe /DEBUG. The additional commands are located under the FILE pull down. I called RT Systems but they either couldn't or wouldn't tell me anything about the layout. I suspect that it is the band plan and that modification can alter the characteristics of the radio. Perhaps even make it a tri or quad bander. I will continue hacking away at this and if anyone else has any success please let me know. Bill Anderson KE4VOP ============================ ======== Subject: FT50 peformance measurement Having put my Yaesu FT-50R through some transmit and receive measurements, I thought I'd post the results here. I only did power and sensitivity measurements, no selectivity tests. If I get a chance to do those, I'll post an update. I did all of the rx measurements in the NFM mode as the wide filter isn't wide enough for U.S. broadcast stations anyway, as previously posted by others. John, N2BFJ Yaesu FT50R Measured Performance Specs Notes: 1. If your newsreader uses a font other than Courier, the charts below may appear out of alignment. Save this article as a text file and view with a text reader or editor. 2. No mods or adjustments were made to the test radio. 3. All measurements were performed using an IFR FM/AM-1600S service monitor 4. All transmit power measurements are in watts, except L1, which is in milliwatts. 5. All receive sensitivity measurements were done in the narrow band fm mode and are in microvolts for 12db SINAD. Transmit Power Output - FNB-41 battery Freq Hi L1 L2 L3 144 5.7 103 1.13 3.35 146 5.7 109 1.13 3.32 148 5.6 107 1.11 3.29 430 4.9 78 .97 2.71 440 4.9 81 .93 2.68 450 4.9 85 .95 2.64 Transmit Power Output - FNB-40 battery Freq Hi L1 L2 L3 144 3.52 86 1.05 3.11 146 3.53 92 1.06 3.08 148 3.49 92 1.05 3.06 430 2.21 57 .90 2.10 440 2.56 63 .90 2.23 450 2.84 71 .90 2.36 Receiver Sensitivity VHF UHF 800 Freq Sens Freq Sens Freq Sens 140 .14 400 .22 800 .43 145 .14 410 .21 820 .37 150 .14 420 .18 850 .27 155 .14 430 .14 860 .27 160 .14 440 .12 868 .31 165 .15 450 .13 895 .32 170 .15 460 .15 900 .35 175 .15 470 .16 920 .35 180 .18 480 .18 940 .37 185 .20 490 .21 960 .59 190 .42 500 .25 980 .75 195 1.2 999 1.2 200 1.3 ======== Got some info for ya.... Yaesu has the new commercial versions of the ft-10 and 40. they are the vx series... for all intents and purposes they are all basically the same radio. People have complained about the antenna size of the 50 10 and 40 well the commercial antenna the vhf and uhf are MUCH shorter and have the 'hood' that completely covers the connector. They will be available in august for distribution. Also they clip that comes with the radio sucks, the commercial clip is MUCH heavier and is spring loaded almost like a pager clip but real nice. Kinda like the clip on the HT1000. I got this clip and it fits on the amateur packs. Yaesu didn't know this....I filled em in !! And they call themselves the parts dept (g). Also supposedly....the new vx series can do 8 alpha characters as opposed to the 50's 4. Well they might upgrade the 50 display to 8. 73 nick ========== Subject: Re: FT-50r, Know how to play game? >Has anyone else found the game function of the FT-50r? I can't figure out >how to play, keep getting a zero score... >I wonder what else is hidden in the innards (small as they are) of this >thing?!?! Whenever you see a digit come across the display press the digit for which when summed together to two equal ten. If you see a "3" coming across press the "7" key and so forth. You'll see your score add up. Hey, I didn't come up with this game... cheers! jim martin, wk1v/lowell, mass ========= Subject: FT-50r Antenna Upgrade? Does anyone have an experience using the FT-50 with an SMA ducky other than the stock Yaesu? I saw a post a few weeks back about an ICOM that was "half the size" that was somehow "better" but there was no explanation given as to why it would be any more effective... So, can anyone tell me if any other SMA ducky can add to the performance of the rig? HRO suggested the new Comet SMA-3 ($40!!) at 10 inches. Then they added the disclaimer that it might not be any better than the stock antenna!? Cheers! Rob ========== Subject: FT-50R Serial Numbers? I just exchanged a Yaesu FT-50R that I bought last week, for another one. The problem was the light switch button, was like a belly button, sunk in, and not working. The new unit works fine! This is my question...the serial number on the first one was: 6F****** (newer?) The serial number on the replacement unit is: 6E****** (older?) When programming the channels with the software kit, the "F" series started with: CH-00, while the "E" series starts with: CH-01 Anyone know why the difference? Are there other differences? Thanks, Bill Crocker ======== To fix the rig: You must upload the USA file while having the template box checked. Specify the European Template in the browse template window. This tells the software that you are uploading a file to the European version radio. This should fix it. Bill Childers KE6VVW In article <4s4h9u$g1h@frazier.uoknor.edu>, jed@tiber.uoknor.edu (James Deaton) wrote: >Uh...my radio is also in Euro mode and I have the original US rdf but it >can not be uploaded to the radio. I can download and upload a Euro file >with no difficulty, however, the US file simply errors out. I've tried an >empty one and two different saved files with no success. Any suggestions >to get it back to ordinary operation? > >Thanks... James KC5PRQ ======== Subject: Yaesu FT-50R MAHA Battery and FNB-41 versus FNB-40 I discovered that MAHA, Inc. has a Nickel Metal Hydride NiMH replacement battery for the Yaesu FT-50R dual band handheld. Does anyone have experience with MAHA? The batteries are supposed to work with the Yaesu drop in charger or the trickle charger. I'm interested in the NiMH battery due to its "no memory" characteristics. I am told the NiMH battery is all around better than a NiCad. I'd appreciate any feedback-especially regarding MAHA. Denny Klaver WB0PYJ Tulsa, OK ======== Doing a fair comparison (being a Motorola Visar to an FT50), the FT50 is not quite as loud (maybe down 6db), distorts a little more at high levels, and has equivalent (pretty decent) frequency response. For the most part, it is about as good as a Motorola Visar for audio. Howard Paul Moller
YAESU FT-50R Expanded Transmit 140-174, 420-470 MHz MARS & CAP MODIFICATION The use of this information is for individuals who are members of the US Military Affiliate Radio System, Civil Air Patrol, or other government services specifically permitted, by the FCC, to use non-Type-Accepted equipment such as that utilized in the Amateur Radio Service. 1. Remove battery 2. Remove the Ni-Cd sticker 3. Slowly lift off the keypad and carefully locate the jumper pads 4. Locate and unsolder jumper number 1 (see picture below) 5. Reinstall the keypad with the two screws 6. Turn radio off 7. Press down and hold the tuning knob and lamp button while turning on the radio. VIEW: looking down with keypad removed *** ***** *** ******************* * --------------- * * | | * * | _____________ | * * YAESU * * =============== * * =============== * * =============== * * =========== * * * * --------------- * * | | * * | 1 | * * | : : : | * * | | * * --------------- * *******************