My new Yaesu FTM-100DR seems to be working well. One of my biggest concerns was whether or not I could hear the speaker and it is loud and clear where it is.

In the driveway at home, after installing the radio, I could not hit the 145.33 repeater. Now is seems that I may have been hitting the repeater, but not hearing it.

With the 35 watt HT/amp combo, I could hit the repeater, but reports were that I was noisy while still a few miles from home, with readability dropping to essentially unusable by the time I got home. Last night, reports were that it was still clear all the way to my neighborhood road. A little more power (50 watts) seems to have made a difference.

Receive-wise, however, the Yaesu did not seem to hear the repeater as well as I got closer to home, especially once I was off the main highway. However, we had also had a little rain and there could have been some propagation issues, particularly at the fringe. Receiver sensitivity, as measured by the ARRL labs in their reviews of both the FTM-100DR and the ID-51 (two years apart) indicates only a 0.01 microvolt difference in favor of the Icom. I’m not sure that figure alone is enough to account for the perceived difference between the two radios, particularly since the ID-51 in my truck had a coax jumper to the amplifier, the amplifier itself and a different coax to a magnetic mount for the same antenna, versus the Yaesu’s much simpler direct connection to a new coax to the same antenna. I will just have to see how it works over time; that was only the first day.

Thus far, however, I really like the radio. I can hear the audio, it reaches out and the display is large and clear enough to see. Well, when I can see it.

The steering wheel spoke is in the way.

So, as I was planning anyway, I will remote mount the head, but I can leave the main unit where it is, with the mic still plugged directly into it. There is no need to extend the mic as well.

Also, there are firmware updates for all pieces that can be updated, the control panel, the main radio and the DSP. Updating the radio and DSP requires flipping a switch on the main board, accessible from a rubber covered hole in the top of the case and the control panel has it’s own update switch, too. I may make a video of the process since I haven’t found where anyone else has.

BTW, I have not chased down a Fusion digital signal at this time, so no review on that yet…