Yaesu FT 5000.
Having owned this radio for about a year, I had written a small review of it when I first received it. However, I do feel a more detailed review is now necessary and hopefully these comments are helpful to you as a fellow radio amateur.
If you are a serious minded Dxer or a casual operator the 5k will appeal to everyone because it is a joy to operate, yet an effective Dx ers radio.
We have to ask our selves some questions prior to our purchase as we did with the 2000, the 5k comes in three models. The standard 5k the 5kd and 5KMP, so what is the difference between the models and which one suits your needs the best?
You recall in my rating of the 2k, I mentioned about the 100 watt and 200 watt final it is pointless to have a 200 watt final when you are planning to run the rig with a linear amp that requires 100 watts to drive it to full power. Also, take in to consideration that the difference with 100 watts and 200 watts is 1/2 s unit on the receive end.
If you must have the 200-watt unit and plan to run a linear amp and it requires only 100 watts for full legal limit, then you may want to go into the menu and set the limit of power to 100 watts.
You can make your decision which of the two models you want, all other features are the same with the exception of the choice of your roofing filter. A word on this, it makes very little sense if you are not a cw op, hate the sound of it and have no plans to ever make a cw contact to have the expense of a 300 hz, or 600 hz filter installed.
Go with the 1.8 or 3 khz filter for ssb, and be happy, if you are a cw man and the model I have has the 600 hz filter installed and we love it, then by all means have your choice installed prior to purchase.
The standard 5k and 5k D have a drift factor of .5 PPM that is point 5 PPM now the 5kMp has a drift factor of .05 PPM. So how is this achieved? Well the first two models have a TCXO instead of an OCXO. The OCXO is an oven controlled Crystal Oscillator, however, if your rig is left in an unheated garage, out building, or you have been banished to the cold dank basement by your wife, you will need the OCXO. If you are operating at room temperature for the most part, then the TCXO will suffice nicely. Nice feature, but decide if you really need it and the environment your rig is placed necessitates a TCXO or OCXO.
Broadcast transmitters have crystal ovens, the drift for A.M. stations is plus, or minus 20hz, FM broadcast transmitters have a drift factor of plus, or minus 1 KHz. Quite frankly less then 20 Hz drift is not noticeable, an even tighter tolerance on the MP would not even raise an eyebrow.
I have the 5KD my rig is always at room temperature, I tuned in WWV and with zero beat carrier left the rig on over night. I verified I was zero beat with a scope, left both on for twenty four hours and the next day I could not detect any drift at all. Again, ask your self if you really need an extra expense for something that is not really needed?
Of course it is your money and if you just must have the MP model then go for it and smile all the way home.
All three units have the SM 5000 scope, some comments to share on this feature. I have read comments from Super to worthless, I take the worthless comments with a grain of salt, my guess is those claiming worthless do not know how to read a spectrum monitor.
I have mine set up to scan 12.5 kHz up and same amount down from my frequency, there is also a DB scale on the SM 5k, it will read the signal as double the analog s meter. So, if the SM 5K reads a signal as 50DB it will read 25 DB on the analog meter.
Each vertical line on the face of SM 5000 will represent 2.5khz and in the middle of those vertical lines, well gee a little math 1.25khz how hard is that? The speakers in this unit are good for their size and have excellent quality, however I use headphones and rarely use a speaker.
I have found that viewing the scope in a straight head on view produces the best results, plus the advantage for a Dxer I can tell where the other stations are calling a dx station and make a good determination of where I will call. In addition you can also tell if you have the split button depressed, or your Transmit offset. Your transmit frequency will show up to the left, or right of the center frequency heavier line in the center of the scope. This is dependent on if you are up, or down from your frequency, at a glace you can tell where your transmit frequency is and move in to the pile up no problem.
If you do not have a split engaged then your signal shows up on the center heavier line, at a glance you know where your transmitted signal is and this to me is helpful.
Take it for what it is and learn to read the information it is telling you, you cannot check your modulation for peak clipping distortion, it does not show key clicks, or a trapezoid pattern. For this I have the Kenwood SM220 scope and use it frequently to check my own signal.
I love the feature of transmitter watch, this button allows a quick listen on your transmit frequency if you have the radio in split mode. Very helpful in pile-ups, you can determine where the dx station is listening for certain and move to the frequency and make your call.
As I mentioned the 5k comes in three models, however with the exception of the transmitter power levels and the choice of TCXO or OCXO plus the choice of roofing filters they are identical in specs of the receiver and transmitter.
So, what does the 5k do and do well? I love the idea of two independent receivers in the past many rigs had a sub receiver, but no means to eliminate interference. It was run wide open with a bandwidth of at least 10 kHz or wider. They did function well, but we as radio amateurs demanded more and we got it.
The sub receiver in the 5k has all the features of the main receiver and I mean all, you can adjust the bandwidth of the second receiver and have a different setting on the main receiver. You can move the sub receiver to another band while you are having a contact on a different band.
A comment on this feature, if you have a tri-band beam and are an avid DX hound you will love being able to check a second band with your extra receiver while working say twenty and you want to maintain a monitor on 15. However, do not expect great results by using a tri-band beam and trying to listen on 160 meters at noon. My past rig a Kenwood 950SDX actually prevented you from doing this unless you knew the secret menu code to override the internal programming.
I normally operate in the cw band, but my sub receiver is on USB, bandwidth of 2.7khz and listening on 14,195 just in case an expedition shows up and using the standard DX expedition channel.
For a Dxer the advantages of this feature are numerous and I have used it many times in the last few months.
The 5 K has a built in audio equalizer for SSB transmit audio, you have to experiment with these adjustments to hear the difference in your transmitted signal. Once set, leave them alone and be satisfied, unless you change microphones be satisfied with the settings you make. However, the hand microphone supplied by Yaesu will suffice, but to me it sounds flat, with little high frequency response. I use the Kenwood Microphone with my 5k the MC 60. Yes, I had to reconfigure the connector only one connection and this works fine.
The 5k has transmitter band width adjustments that allow you to tailor your signal to the bandwidth you desire. I have found the standard bandwidth for ssb to be 2.7khz and that is where mine is set. There is a WB, or wide band selection that extends the bandwidth of your transmitted ssb signal to well over four to five Khz.
Personally, I see little reason to ever use this feature, it takes up far too much spectrum on crowded bands, you may want to experiment on six meters with the various selections where activity is sparse and openings are few. If you can operate on 75 in the Extra section you may want to see how it sounds for general rag chewing, in this section of the band activity is sparse and you will not make enemies with a wider signal. If you are in a crowded band then stick with 2.7khz and not make others mad at you.
Another note on filters, you can if you wish buy more cw filters, with the 5k they are not included, only an option item. . My question is why? If you are not a cw operator you will have no use for them. In addition to the fact you already have a 300 or 600 Hz roofing filter and the ability to reduce your bandwidth of the receiver to 50hz width, a cw filter for 300 Hz will not do much more to enhance the signal you are receiving.
I use my bandwidth adjustment and 600 Hz roofing filter during contests, I have heard DX stations standing out in between very strong contest stations close to the frequency I selected. The interference for the most part has gone, I have found this to work very effectively for contest operation and times of heavy activity and great band openings.
One more great feature is the selection of Class A operation, since Class A amplifiers have the lowest amount of distortion, yet reduced overall output in comparison to Class B, the output of the final if set to 100 watts will be 75 watts in Class A.
This is still enough power to drive an Ameritron AL 1500 to maximum legal power with out straining to make this level of output.
On my SM 220 monitor scope I saw only minute differences in audio and the Trapezoid pattern, the big difference is the IMD and Yaesu claims a –40DB at 14mhz using 200 watts. Compare this with –31DB in the normal mode, same band and same power.
There are 172 menu functions, most of them are set and forget, some you will not use at all, they are grouped to receiver functions, transmit functions, audio transmit, RTTY plus Packet and FM.
There is a built in keyer and memory keyer for we cw buffs, it does take a little time to program it, but once done you may never have to do it again unless you wish to change the messages. For contesting this is great and I have mine set at the 30 WPM speed sending my call, or a contest exchange. In ssb mode the rig switches to voice DRU and again a great feature for pile-ups, or contests, saves the old vocal chords.
Noise blanker normal and wide are very effective in eliminating those nasty noises, the DNR drops the overall white noise, while the DNF provides a tighter reduction of unwanted noise. However, on cw the same effect with DNR and DNF on at the same time, a cw signal will flatten out in audio response and make copy difficult. Use only the DNR on cw and have a good copy out of the noise, leave the DNF off. My preference, but you might find it works for you, if it does go for it.
The 5k features a large numerical readout for the main dial, however the second VFO frequency readout, bandwidth adjustments, notch, APF, contour, shift, are all on smaller windows. If you are sight challenged this may present a problem, I am 72 years old wear tri-focals and have no problem reading any icon.
Check this out for your requirements, if this is a problem for you; consider the 2k instead, so you will not strain to read the smaller icons. There are a few more features I have not mentioned, but I will be glad to comment on them if you have questions. My best advice to you when you receive this rig, is read the manual, know what you are doing with all these knobs and dials.
If you are not sure, then ask someone who has this radio and may be acquainted with the feature you wish to know about its function.
As a last mention, Yaesu has an extra tuning unit for 40, to ten meters available for about $400 each. I have yet to find any one that has one. This is a separate box that plugs into the rear of the 5k. The objective of the unit is to increase the Q factor on the band selected. Thing is, if you are changing bands and have three, or four of these boxes sitting around then you must unplug and plug in the box designed for that band. If you have the twenty-meter tuning unit and you move to 15, the radio by passes the box. If you want to have 15 with a tuning unit, this will require you unplug the twenty-meter unit and plug in the 15-meter unit.
Quite frankly, I think this option is an exercise in mental futility and until I actually see the results of one of these units, or hear of someone who has one, I cannot pass judgment on it. Sort of reminds me of the old Heathkit QF1 Q multiplier, except it worked on all bands, not very stable, but it did work…
With that said, we bring to an end my comments, this is a very good radio and if you read the manual, understand what you are doing, your rewards will be numerous.
Any questions drop me e-mail, be glad to reply.
