Yaesu Original FT-65 FT-65R 144/440 Dual-Band Rugged & Compact Handheld Transceiver, 5W - 3 Year Warranty

The Yaesu FT-65 is pretty top notch. The build quality is great and feels very solid in your hands. I swapped the antenna out to a Nagoya NA-701 and it gives me excellent signal, plus the speaker is very loud, even with barely turning it up. I dont have a programming cable but programming manually wasnt too difficult. It took maybe 30min to get used to where things were in the menu. The only thing I dont like is the high pitched sound it makes when receiving with the volume turned all the way down. I would have preferred if it was silent with only a status light on.

Like any similar device I had to read the manual twice to fully understand how to manually program repeaters, etc. Otherwise the memory and VFO modes are intuitive to set up and operate. The speaker sound quality is very good and plenty loud for my purposes. Lastly I had no problem hitting a repeater three towns away using 5W and the rubber ducky antenna. I do plan on getting a longer antenna that is better suited for 2 meter operation.

Great radio. So much so I bought one for each of my sons and they love it. Inspired them to get licensed. Also, I was doing a dumb thing with programming. Very frustrating. Good, excellent, patient and wonderful help from Rodger at Yaesu in CA. Great ham, great company.

I really love this little radio!...it is VERY rugged (believe me, I have REALLY put it to the test) I have always been a Yaesu guy, and will always be...Great raidios at an affordable cost. Lots of features...like all radios, it can be hard to program by hand, so I recommend getting the programming software ( RT systems ADMS-65-USB) which makes it REALLY easy to do...battery charge lasts a couple of days after medium use, but get a long life spare battery...I highly recommend this little radio

Does not pick up the frequencies very well VERY disappointed in Yaesu FT-65 THE Yaesu FT-60 is a better value

This radio rocks. Reception is fantastic compared to other bands and especially a baofeng. Charge time is super fast, and battery lasts all day. Definitely worth the money.

Great radio, but $40 lower at popular ham store…

Instruction manual is bad. Very difficult to read, especially for a beginner. Want to use as an out of band programmable scanner… no! I would recommend buyers purchase programming software to save time and reduced levels of frustration.

I saw some reviews saying it was cheaply made or not of the best quality, but when I unboxed this radio, I was pleasantly surprised. It feels sturdy and has a nice weight and feel to it. My only complaint would be the programming. It’s honestly not terrible once I figured it out, but the included manual falls short, and I had to research online and use some trial-and-error testing to figure it all out. Over all, this is a HUGE upgrade from my Baofeng, and the audio and signal quality are excellent. As a meteorologist and storm chaser on a budget, this radio will make my adventures much more productive!

Great radio, but bought at HRO for 89.00 usd