FT50 Radio Guide

The DoC is proud to present a resource for radio hacking and experimentation.

This reference is for the Yaesu FT-50, it is advised that people use their radio responsibly and legally.

The FT50 is the radio of choice for those that need small, powerful and rugged Handheld Tranciver (HT). This radio is one of the first wide-band HTs that was rugged enough to earn a MIL-STD 810 rating.

Designed for amateur Ham radio dual band use in the 2m and 70cm bands (144MHz and 440MHz), this radio features wide band receive up to 999MHz and can be modified to provide exceptional wide band transmission range.

It is also one of the first wide-band handhelds that supported CTCSS and DCS (Digital Coded Squelch).

A scanned copy of the manufacturers manual is available at http://www.dis.org/radio/radios/ft50/ft50_manual.pdf.
For a printed copy please contact the manufacturer.

Reset: Hold the Knob and Lamp key while turning the radio on then press the red [F W] key.

The FT50 is highly modifiable allowing for wide band receive and extended transmission ranges.

To expand reception beyond the 2m and 70cm bands simply hold down the knob and lamp button simultaneously while powering on.

For expanded transmission ranged (144-159, 420-470) a simple hardware modification is required. Here are step by step instructions for modifying a Yaesu FT50.

Manufacturer's WWW page: http://www.yaesu.com/amateur/ft50r.html
Product review on StrongSignals: http://www.strongsignals.net/access/reviews/reviews.cgi?type=display&rtype=rev&class=recv&num=026
Product review on EHam: http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/205
QRZ's modification reference: http://qrz.com/download/mods-e-h/ft50r_1.txt
Yahoo Egroup List: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ft-50
FCCID: K66 FT-50R

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