The 2025 promises to be a better year. I am looking forward to being more radio-active. I am also looking forward to more blogging and more vlogging. I am hoping to undertake some long term reviews. I have two in mind. One is going to be a Maestro Evolve III laptop computer. I know a lot of hams use them so I thought I would give one a whirl. My other project is going to be another Yaesu FT710, this time the field version. I last owned one about a year and a half ago, I traded it off after a few months of use. The radio was going through some growing pains and was probably not ready for prime time. My general thoughts back then was the radio was a likable and fun radio and compared favorably to my IC-7300. I thought I would give it another look and a fair shake since it’s been through a few firmware updates since its release in 2022.
I am hoping this FT-710 is more polished than my first one. I can see at least two firmware updates since my last 710 and the manual has been updated. Hopefully Yaesu cured those early issues. I picked up the radio yesterday. I plan on using it as a field radio for POTA activations as well as for Winter Field Day and Field day with my club. In general the IC-7300 and the FT-710 are comparable, each with their pluses and minuses. Whichever brand you are married to, either radio will probably serve you equally well. One reason I got this radio is there are many members in my club that use Yaesu radios. Having familiarity with the Yaesu system allows me to help them with their radio problems.
My initial thoughts are similar to the ones I had a year and a half ago. It is a likable radio and it has a certain fun factor. I am going through my past blog posts and YouTube videos to make list of things I found with my first FT710 and see if they have been corrected. I will also post the settings I changed on the new radio to suit me.
I like big radios when I go camping or even on POTA day trips. I like having the controls I use handy and if band conditions get ugly, I can turn up the power. I normally run 20-25 watts for CW and digital. The rare times I am on SSB, I may go as high as 50 watts. Another plus with a big radio is I can run digital modes all day long and it will not overheat the radio. I do have a couple of QRP radios and I do take them out for a spin every now and again; but I can just as easily turn my big radio down to 5 watts. I am looking forward to using it in the upcoming Winter Field Day. 73 de Scott
KK4Z 