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

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

I am very happy with my Yaesu ft-65r! I Have tried and returned multiple cheap Chinese radios before stepping up and getting a Yaesu. Simple to use right out of the box, easy to understand manual, good reception with stock antenna, and with an MFJ 1717sf quarter wave antenna I get great reception. It’s a perfect first radio for a new ham!! 73’s KC1JLL

Easy to add channels from the key pad. Like the duel display that shows the name and the frequency at the same time.

Perfect! A rugged little transceiver.

easy to program and set up

I expected more from a name brand company than a slightly worse Baofeng UV-5R. Dont waste your money with this radio. It is garbage. ::edit:: Okay, here is why I call it garbage. I own a Baofeng UV-5R and it has moderately good reception, but poor output. 5 watts just isnt enough. I have had it for 3 months. I tested the Yaesu FT-65R the exact same way as I did the UV-5R. Put on the stock antenna ran some tests on known good repeaters, and nothing. No one could hear my screams. I moved outside to the same spot my UV-5R gets out and nada. Switched antennas, to the NA-771 still nothing. I know there are at least 5 hams within a 2 mile radius and none of them could hear me. Keyed up the Baofeng, got a verbal confirmation of weak scratchy output Just like always. Switched back to the Yaesu and nothing. Over the coarse of 5 days owning the radio, I noticed that my receiving function slowly deteriorated to nothing but static. That right there is why I called it garbage.

High quality radio!

Great product and fast shipping

Excellent craftmanship. Easy handling. Top quality materials and very customizable.

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.