[50mhz] FT100D

[Stanley Wernick]

Hi All: Since I had so many of you step in and help me when I inquired
about the FT100D, I want to share where it all ended up. I went ahead and
purchased the radio and it should arrive here tomorrow from Phoenix.
I have had many E Mails, some of which warned me of problems, and some
which said they were happy as can be and never had any problems. I have
saved all those for reference. I called Yaesu service dept. in Cypress,
California (714)827-7600, and spoke to a technician named Jerry. He let
me know that serial numbers beginning with the number (1) were 
manufactured in 2001 and serial numbers beginning with a (0) were
made in 2000. The ones made in 2000 had the most problems. He admitted
that "Many Hams out there are MAD at us" but they want to fix that.
The main two problems he named were two that I already was told about.
One was the FAN problem where on two meters and 440, the fan ran only
on transmit and not on receive and he said that on these two bands,
the radio gets pretty warm, so if the fan does not run in the receive
mode, it must be fixed, or modified. The second was a Grounding problem
that seemed to show itself when operating on ten and twelve meters.
There is a spurious oscillation that causes the radio to transmit on
high power all the time on those two bands. Re-grounding the boards
will fix this. He told me to check the radio and after that, if I have 
any problem, send it to them immediately and they will modify it at
no cost and send it back to me ASAP. Also, if there any other problems
other than the ones I named, they will re modify the radio for those.
He says he does not expect anything to be wrong if the radio serial
number starts with a (1), but we will see. I really believe that they
will stand behind it and if there are no problems, all the better.
He says the latest ones were shipped out of Japan trouble free. I have
my fingers crossed because I want to get the radio, test it, and install
in my mobile and head for DM53 in the contest.
73's to all and thanks for all the kind help. You are a great bunch
of folks here on the reflector.
Stan W5ZF DM65
Albuquerque, NM