FTM-350R: The Fix Is In
David Coursey, N5FDL Tue, February 16, 2010 at 8:12AM It looks like at least one—and the most critical—of the problems facing owners of Yaesu’s new FTM-350R APRS-enabled mobile V/UHF transceiver can now be solved. After reproducing my complaints about “heading up” GPS navigation pointing in the wrong direction, Yaesu got its Japanese engineers on the case and supposedly have developed a fix.
My radio is now down at Yaesu in Orange County and is having the fix applied. This problem (described in the video posted below) appears to effect all FTM-350R’s now available.
Not being fixed—because it cannot be reliably reproduced—is the problem of the radio hanging, apparently while receiving an APRS packet. I have had this happen on five occasions, so it’s not a showstopper. But, the only way to restart the radio is to remove power from the base unit, which can be inconvenient and shouldn’t be necessary, in any case.
I have had other reports of this problem, but am aware of no specific cause or cure. Seems to be a software issue.
Finally, the Bluetooth VOX on my FTM-350R is useless, which makes Bluetooth hands-free impossible. I am not sure how common this problem is. I sent my Yaesu Bluetooth headset in with the radio for testing.
It is a shame that a radio that in many ways is such a breakthrough was not better tested (and fixed) before release.
Reader Comments (3)
Will the fix require that the radio be sent in for everyone? (if so, what a pain)
I was in HRO today and they mentioned that this has turned into a full blown recall, and he gave me a phone number to call on Monday. Evidently, they will send you shipping information, you box it up, and tell them where to return it too, and it's all on their dime. The ugly part.. Anticipated turn around times of approximately 1 month. (Your mileage may vary, just reporting what I was told today.)
I love the rig, but it's getting boxed up tonight to take that journey back to the mothership and my FT-7800 is going back in the truck for the long drive from California back to my home in Texas next weekend.
Hope this in some way helps.
Dave, W5DMT
How did you come out on your Bluetooth VOX issues on the ftm-350r? Where you able to get hands-free operation working? Can the bluetooth implementation in this radio be connected with a car bluetooth hands-free system for VOX operation?
Thanks for all of your good work in the reviews. They have been very helpful.