Using the Yaesu FTM100 for APRS in The Digital Truck !!

Hi all !!

Well....regarding the cons and pros  of the Yaesu FTM100 I have to add my experience with it...

In order to replace my old and faithfull for years Kenwood 710 adding C4FM I had the known options FTM100 and FTM400...So a good friend borrowed to me his FTM100 to test it...As a totally NEW and Just purchased !!! (Rare  phenomenon!!! Thanks George SV2BRA)..

I installed it in my truck (18 wheeler as you say) the exact way the Kenwood was the same antenna and power cables etc...Anyway...No serious technical problems...GPS on board with VERY GOOD reception AND THE WAY WE GO...

From Greece through Bulgaria -Romania-Hungary to Austria and back, from Italy with a ferryboat to Greece...

Many fellow radioamateurs ''followed'' my trip from theaprs.fi to see  themselves how the FTM100 performs in the truck's environment...But...Let;s get to the roast !!as we say in Greece...

First of all it performed exellent as an aprs beacon..Worked all the time at 144800 the European 2m frequency and the maximum output of 50 watts...Absolutelly problemless...My APRS beacon was received from the digis all the way (by the way I was impressed about the EFFORTS the fellowamateurs do in Bulgaria to extend their NEW APRS digi net and also the PERFORMANCE of the Hungarian digis !!!)...But up to here!!!

 First af all,you have NO POSSIBILITY to send back messages (ONLY the predefined ones in the list!!!) IF YOU RECEIVE THEM ...So from this side this feature is...useless!!!

Second is that being a monoreceiver the FTM100 can ONLY (for the time being...) do ONE of the ...two jobs and NOT the two of them simultaneously as we were used up to now with the Kenwoods !!!

 I tried to ''trick'' the rig, programming the APRS side as a ''Home'' frequency so that could do a dual wach giving me back the lost posiibility BUT...I couldn't ''trick'' the time ''slot'' it does the DW so that to beacon this EXACT moment...

Anyway THIS rig ,with THIS configuration...You CANNOT do some more things,more than it is DESIGNED to do....From the C4FM ...point of view,is VERY GOOD !!It does more than it is supposed to do for a 300 Euros rig EXELLENT voice modulation and overall performance in C4FM...

Shure it could do some more things but it is up to YAESU to MAKE this do it !!!

 

The attached photos are from George SV2AGW !!!

73 de SV2LLJ