I can't blame eBay for making me something of an impulsive buyer. I'm that way at a hamfest if I see a bargain.
And that's what I saw staring at me recently as I cruised the just posted eBay listing.
A fellow had a 4-day-old Yaesu FT-450AT he had listed with a very attractive Buy It Now price. He had just gotten the rig and had a chance to buy a Kenwood TS-2000 for a good price, and he needed to sell the FT-450 to finance the other purchase. He was truly a motivated seller.
What, me buy an FT-450?? I thought it was a great idea of a rig when it was introduced last year — great price, compact size, feature rich. But the funky front panel controls put me off. Rubber buttons with red lettering on them. Not the typical lettering you would expect, and to me, it looked like it would be difficult to read. If I recall correctly, I think last year I nominated the FT-450 for the Ugliest New Transceiver Award for 2007.
It's kind of grown on me in the months since then, and I've been watching the resale prices of the rigs on eBay. When the opportunity arose, I jumped.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS. The FT-450 is compact, but not as small as the IC-706MkIIG or similar rigs. My initial conclusion that the buttons and labels — printed in a reddish-orange color — would be hard to read was incorrect. With the rig on the operating desk, and even with less than optimal lighting the buttons and labels were very easy to read. The contrast was good, and the fonts clear and crisp.
The front panel really doesn't come to life until you power the rig on — then you see just how much of the front panel is consumed by the LCD display.
I wasn't sure I would appreciate the “reversed” colors of the LCD display (black background, white letters), but its amazingly crisp and easy to read. I can look across the room and easy see the settings, right down to the DSP and filter settings. The frequency display is huge. Overall the display is very effective. My only gripe about it is that you can see “ghosts” from the unlit LCD settings that are part of the display. They aren't that unattractive, but it takes away from the appeal of the nice big display to see all the unselected options floating there. I adjusted the brightness and contrast a bit, which minimized the “ghostly” effect.
The display also has a nice graphcial way of showing the settings for the AGC, Attenuator and IPO, and other rig functions. Again, its a very legible and a very nice layout for the front panel — with the exception of the main tuning knob.
As QST's review noted, the tuning knob just doesn't feel large enough. The knob has a finger dimple, which is a joke. My 12-year-old son sat down at the rig and knows what the finger dimple is for. Even his nimble, smaller fingers quickly abandoned the dimple and began rolling the knob by rotating his index finger around the knob's exterior rubber grip.
The multi-function DSP/SEL knob also serves as a control that can jump you around the dial in steps (set via a menu) for quick QSYs. This gets you around much more quickly, though it doesn't replace a keypad. I found myself more than once reaching to punch in a frequency change; no can do on this rig. It's bigger brother, the FT-950, has that option.
RECEIVER? I HARDLY KNEW HER! Bad jokes aside, I have found in the time I've been using the FT-450 that it is no slacker in the receiving department. The DSP is easy to use and the graphical interface in the display gives you a very quick snapshot of what filters/settings you are using. Again, my initial thoughts were that this was a crappy way to handle DSP settings, but I'm a happy convert.
The DNR (Digital Noise Reduction) actually works better on phone signals than the same feature on my IC-756PROIII. The noise blanker works fine, but I've been spoiled by having an adjustable one on my Icom rigs.
The DSP offers various filter bandwidths for the various modes AM, FM SSB and CW. The narrowest setting for CW is 500 Hz, and to my ears, the filter sounds better than the DSP setting on the IC-746PRO. There are 3 filter widths per mode, and unlike the Icoms I own, you can't tweak them. You can employ the other DSP options and that adds a great deal of flexibility. If you add the DNR or the CONTOUR to the filter bandwidth of your choice you can find more than one way to tackled QRM/QRN.
The manual notch works well and again, the display shows a graphical representation of it as you adjust it. A few cents to add auto notch would have been a good investment on this rig, its a feature I miss.
The RX audio generated by the little built-in speaker is respectable. Again, I've become spoiled by my external Icom speaker which I use on the Icom rigs. I haven't patched in the FT-450, but I'm sure it would benefit from the external speaker as well.
Every ham rig of recent vintage (i.e., non-boatanchor) I've owned that could be computer controlled required a seperate (and often pricey) interface box. Yaesu finally got it right! To connect the FT-450 to your computer, you only need to connect a 9-pin serial cable from the rig to the serial port on your computer. Load the free software and you are done. No interface, no special cable required. I've not tried this yet, but hope to soon.
IDIOT TEST. One of my personal tests of a radio's user-friendliness is to sit down in front of it as you would at Field Day — no manual, no experience, just you and the radio. I know the QST review stated otherwise, but I have to give the FT-450 high marks for being intuitive enough for me to operate most functions without the manual.
The yardstick for this test I always refer to is the Kenwood TS-2000. At Field Day a couple of years ago I sat in front of one without any clue as to its operation, and I couldn't figure out how to change bands without asking someone. In the time it took to figure out basic operation on the Kenwood I was already exploring the menu options on the Yaesu.
TX TESTING. I've only made a couple of quick contacts on the Yaesu, so I don't have any real data on how well the transmitter works. The antenna tuner works efficiently and quickly, I can attest to that. I don't like the 3.5 mm headphone and CW key jacks on the front panel. I don't have a stereo plug that size to hook up a key, and you can't plug in a mono plug in the key jack and make it work. I plan on using it on both phone and CW in the near future.
MIC MATTERS. I consider myself an easy-going guy when it comes to the stock mics that radio manufacturers send out with their transceivers. With that said, the FT-450 has one of the worst hand mics I've ever used. My beef isn't with the audio; its the ergonomics of the mic itself.
The hand mic that ships with the FT-450 feels like it is about 20 percent too large for my hand. It has a very clumsy feel to it, though it looks nice and the fit and finish is fine. I don't recall the last time that a hand mic ever stood out as being so clunky to use. Most of the time when you operate a rig, you seldom really pay attention to the hand mic, its just a communications tool. Not with the Yaesu mic; the minute I picked it up the mic stood out as uncomfortable and just plain “clunky” (pardon my engineering jargon). I'm going to wind up ordering a Heil headset adapter for the thing anyway, so I won't have to suffer with the hand mic forever.
FINAL THOUGHTS. A lot of hams appear to be trying the FT-450, and from the number of them that appear on eBay, a lot of them are moving on. I think this rig is something of a sleeper; its a great back-up rig, and a great rig for the bedroom, library or second shack.
There's no denying that it is a lot of rig for the money; in my book, its a bargain — much along the same vein as the Alinco HF rigs, the DX-70TH and the DX-77. Those entry level rigs were two of the most competitive rigs on price out there. I think the FT-450 covers that market very well.
The size makes it a bit too big for mobile use in subcompact cars, and the rig is a little small for a lot of hams who want a big “base” radio for home use. I'm going to try to find the mobile mounting bracket and the carrying handle (neither of which comes with the radio) and I think the FT-450 will hang around a while.
I have some more stuff to sell on eBay, maybe I'll be eyeing the FT-450's siblings … after all, Christmas is coming.