Review: Yaesu FT-60R vs BaoFeng BF-F8HP for new ham radio operators

Jonnie PekelnyContributor - July 14, 2021

Ham radio can be overwhelming, especially when you’re new and trying to pick your first (and maybe only) radio. I recently earned my Technician licens
[See the full post at: Review: Yaesu FT-60R vs BaoFeng BF-F8HP for new ham radio operators]

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Good review Jonnie! One of the things that stood out to me about this is that the cheaper Baofeng seemed to do fine. It’s easy to think “cheap and Chinese = not worth it”, especially with how the core ham community shits on Baofeng. But for the price difference, I might’ve expected a bigger jump in value with the Yaesu — especially since the Baofeng you reviewed was normally closer to $60 than $80 during non-covid times.

 

I guess so. But for me, the fact that I can’t reliably connect to my local repeater from my house on the BaoFeng is a bit of a deal breaker.

 

Oh, and thanks, John!

 

Thoroughly enjoyed this article Jonnie. I’ve only owned Baofeng radios since becoming a ham because the appealing price point, but am now considering a Yaesu because of the many points that you make where that radio just is more user friendly. 

 

Thanks, Robert. Yes, definitely the Yaesu is more user friendly!

 

Good morning Jonnie,

A great review !

All my thoughts are positive except in re weather station monitoring.

Frequently enough, direct NOAA / NWS adverse weather alerts involve information overload.

Basically, any and all (a few exceptions) FCC licensed radio stations must have arrangements to broadcase emergency weather reports. For a private citizen prepper this usually meets requirements. Most prepper do not need to learn about area weather and also maritime conditions in the nearby water areas.

If a prepper won’t have one of the 2 reviewed radios, a basic AM-FM radio will provide emergency weather info as to what is needed.

Again, a great review !

 

Thanks, Bob. That’s an interesting point about weather. I have always read on various TP pages that we preppers want a radio that has a dedicated weather channel and that, if we’re not hams we should have a NOAA radio. I haven’t actually had an emergency where I needed to test monitoring the weather channel. But I’ll say this much. When I listen to the “regular” — broadcast — radio, I hardly ever hear much relevant weather data, except for daily weather reports, of course. I would imagine that if you live in an area where the weather can be complex and problematic — e.g. hurricanes — that you would want to have a more fine-grained and frequent report. But here I’m being an armchair prepper, since I don’t live in hurricane or tornado country.

 

Good afternoon Jonnie,

The distillate is asking a private citizen prepper to purchase another radio. Hopefully they already have a small battery-powered AM-FM.

Actually, the hurricane weather needed information is broader … there are many needed variables outside the purview of NOAA/NWS   … think beyond wind direction, wind speed, flooding, …

In case of a required evacuation – across the street, across a field, a long haul attempt, …… a dependable, lightweight radio like a Grundif (2 AAA batteries) AM-FM-SW radio exceeds requirements.

An area prepper here needs hospital info, shelter info, road closures, … this is outside thre scope of NOAA/NWS.

Time is of the essence.

 

That’s why when I was tasked with writing a guide to weather radios, I didn’t include any radios that only pick up weather stations. I like quick access to the NOAA stations for general weather information because you get weather and nothing else. But in real emergencies, broadcast FM usually provides a fuller picture. And the ham hurricane nets are useful for people who live in those areas.

 

Good afternoon Josh,

It’s been over a year since reading the blog section and learning about how the TP website is set up. If any apologies will help, I’ve got them ready.

There are a couple of actual physical radios called “weather radios”. There are NOAA radios and of course the Red Cross also sells emergency radios.

If someone does need the “alert” features, yes indeed, an evaluation is needed in detail … I’m thinking of fault line territory. Related to this is whether one will be sheltering in place at the dwelling or work site / school.

Now NOAA does push weather events to the max. I’ve taken their courses and the material is real good – with cost being even better: zero.

Must avoid commenting on Red Cross.

All this is why I am a strong proponent of new preppers joining a group of some sort. The 20 something couple with kid can’t spend much time nor a fortune to have commo access.

The economical radio Eton can be ideal for SIP but it is big and not appropriate for any sort of evac.

Just for a bit of comprehensiveness, there’s a weather products store somewhere in California “named “Anything Weather . com”. It’s good for familiarization.

Now, the meteologists are focused on … well … the weather and forecasts coupled to alert programs. Again, can’t discuss Red Cross here.

TP.com I’ve found to be ideal, if not the best, program for new comers to start learning this stuff.

“If you believe the doctors, nothing is wholesome;  if you believe the theologians, nothing is innocent; if you believe the soldiers, nothing is safe.”

Lord Salisbury

 

In my experience with Baofeng and BTech (made by Baofeng, and cloned a lot) radios, their receive sensitivity on the fringes of a repeater acts really funny, like they are in sleep mode (even though sleep is disabled).  Even with the squelch completely open, a distant repeater will often not be received properly, but will eventually come in strong, until the carrier drops, and then it’s insensitive again.  So you miss the first few seconds of every transmission.  OK with strong nearby signals, so it’s probably some intrinsic property of the radios (PLL lock range, sensitivity, selectivity, adjacent channel rejection, sleep mode active even when turned off (see firmware bugs), or something else).  Doesn’t really matter, but it does make them unsuitable for some uses.

 

Very nice review.

I would like to add that if you get the 3800mh extended battery for the Baofeng it has a receptacle for a USB charging cable Sold here on Amazon.

 

This is a good report, but the Yaesu 60R is an old radio, and you would be lucky to find one anywhere! 

 

If you mean the Yaesu FT-60R, it is still very much in use and easily available as far as I can tell.

 

None on ebay or Amazon, but those are the UK sites.. 

 

The FT-60R is the North American version, so it makes sense that it’s not available in the UK. Look for the FT-60E and see if you have better luck.

 

Nope

 I understand that the radio was released in 2004. No sign of it an “E” or an “R” on ebay and Amazon. None of our biggest suppliers have it. I have several HTs including Fusion Digital, never even seen the radio you reviewed here!

I have just seen a couple of used FT-60 radios.. 

 

Yes, it’s an old radio, but it’s held up well. In the US it still seems to be one of the preferred HTs and is definitely still available. But I’m still a new and inexperienced ham. I am barely getting the lay of the land of how things are in the States. Definitely not up on what’s available in Europe or elsewhere. This is probably a question for someone who’s been around longer.

 

Looks like Radioworld carries the Yaesu FT-60E.

 

Thanks. At that price it must be used! 

 

Johnny, you made a great effort for a very thorough review. Preppers bristle when hams knock Baofeng, but there are a couple good reasons, and few reviewers address them. The reason their receivers act squirrely or don’t work at all sometimes is because they’re very easily overloaded by non-ham signals. Transmit modulation is often low, which is a real issue if you need to be heard in an emergency. And third, several I’ve had on a spectrum analyzer did not achieve their claimed level of suppression of spurious emissions, or even the legal minimum, potentially interfering with users on other bands. Some of the 8 watts the Baofeng may show on a wattmeter is likely going out on the 288 MHz band, used by military aviation here in the US, or on 70 cm, where it may be strong enough to bring up repeaters there while you operate on 2m. That’s wasted power, and a potentially serious interference issue. The established Japanese brands (Yaesu, Icom, Kenwood, Alinco) simply don’t have this issue, even on the radios they manufacture in China.

I’d consider an FT-60R, if my 25-year-old FT-50R wasn’t still performing like new. When you own and use a radio this long, you can do anything needed in an emergency from memory, and I like that. I don’t know if there will ever be any 25-year-old Baofengs! 73 – AE4KR

 

Thank you for the excellent review. If and when I get my Technician license I will get the Yaesu FT-60R!  Your review helped confirm my decision that the Yaesu is the best for my needs.  Everyone is different, that’s why there are good different choices.