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73 Review by MichaelJ. Geier KBI UM
Number 5 on your Feedback card
Yaesu FT·41 1 FM HT
Ever smaller and fuller featured . . .
Yaesu USA
17210 Edwards Ad.
Cerritos, CA 90701
(213) 404-2700
Price Class: $350
Yaasu has a long tradition of innovation in
HTs. From the first digital-display, microprocessor-conlrolled
walkie (the FT-207R)
to the first dualbander (the FT·727R), they've
led the way, defining the new frontier. This
tradition continues with the introduction of the
FT-411.
The 411 is part evolution, part revolution. It
packs into a shirt-pocket-sized radio all the
features of the larger rigs and adds some terrific
abilities never before seen.
BasIcs
Receive frequency coverage is from 130­
174MHz, and transmit is from 140-150. There
are 49 memories (actually 50, if you count the
second VFO), and each one can hold everything
from CTCSS tone and status to separate
AX and TX frequencies, lor odd split operation,
By the way, the CTCSS encode/decode
unit is a standard feature, included in the price
and factory installed. (I hope other manufacturers
follow suit.) The 16·button keypad controls
almost all functions, including HIGH/LOW
power selection. There are no hidden switches
on the back. In fact , the only other controls
are the volume, squelch, tuning knob, and
" call" memory button on top, and the PIT,
lamp, and monitor on the side, where you'd
expect them.
The radio is small and light. The back is
metal alloy and the front is plastic. It fits into
my hand very well and feels quite solid. The
antenna is fat and substantial but is also very
rigid. A more flexible duck would be welcome.
The keypad buttons are soft rubber, as are the
PIT, lamp, and monitor buttons. There is a
rubber grommet around the antenna [ack, and
the rig seems fairly weatherproof.
Included is a 600 mAh NiCd battery, as with
most new rigs. The wall charger connects
through a small jack on the back, and you can
operate the rig while the battery charges. Of
course, with a very depleted battery, it may not
operate too well , especially on transmit. For
receiving, it works line, as long as the battery
has some charge on it. The FT-411 uses the
same batteries as the FT·23A series, and optional
batteries for higher power or longer operating
time, as well as AA and AAA packs, are
available.
Features Galore
Where do I begin? This rig has every feature
14 73AmateurRadio. June, 1989
I've ever seen, and a few new ones. Frequencies
may be entered in several ways. You may
use the tuning knob, the UPIDOWN arrow keys,
or you may key in the frequency directly from
the keypad (my favorite method). When using
the knob or arrow keys, a press of the FUNCTION
key makes them step the VFO in 1 MHz steps.
I should say VFOs, because there are two of
them! Emu lating modern HF rigs, VFOs A and
B are identical in function and can be toggled
between with a press of the VFO button.
Operating data is displayed on a frontmounted
LCD , showing frequency, memory
channel number, VFO A or B, and a host of
other things. The display can be backlit by
pressing the lamp button. above the PTT
switch. The keypad lights up at the same time,
making night operation very convenient.
LEOs are used for the keypad, but the LCD is
lit with an incandescent lamp, something I'd
hoped we'd seen the last of. It is very bright,
though, and makes the LCD easy to read. The
lamp has no timer; you must keep the button
pressed as long as you need it, so two hands
are required.
Band and memory scan are provided, along
with two special-purpose memories used to
set upper- and lower-band scanning limits.
You can set the scanner to pause lor five
seconds on each busy channel (great for public
service band scanning) or to wait until the
carrier drops, which I prefer for ham repeater
use. The scan is very fast , about 14 VFO steps
or memory channels per second. 11 really zips
through the band.
There are 48 general-purpose memories,
and one "call" memory. It behaves like all the
other ones but is selected via a top-mounted
button. It's very handy for hamfests and simplex
use or can be programmed with your
favorite repeater frequency, for quick access.
Memories may be locked out in two ways.
SKIP hides the memory channel from the scan,
but it's still there for manual selection (Yay!).
It's great for the NOAA weather channel, or a
very busy repeater. HIOE erases a memory
completely, except that you can " unhide" it
later and get it back. I find this feature to be
especially useful for travel. I often commute
between three cities, so I put the repeaters for
each into banks of ten. I lock out Boston and
Miami (using HIDE) when I'm home in Vermont,
and then unhide them when I go. Each memory
channel must be hid and retrieved separately.
It would have been nice if there were
some way to man ipulate whole ranges (such
as 10-19) at a time, but it still beats having to
re-enter all those frequencies.
The memories normally act as fixed frequencies,
but a press of the MA button makes
any memory into a tunable VFO! It will even
scan up or down the band from the memory.
After arriving at a new frequency, you can
store it in any memory channel or a VFO, or
simply return to your original memory channel,
disturbing nothing.
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