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

GARBAGE. Does not transmit. Sending back for refund.

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.

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!

Buy this literally ANYWHERE ELSE!!! DXengineering , Ham Radio Outlet, or from Yaesu themselves. The Amazon listing is 40-50$ above the actual cost of this radio. Also, for those comparing this to the Baofengs, you clearly dont understand the feature or capability difference. The FT65 can do a lot more than the Baofeng and do it much better, but most casual HAMs will never use or need those features. Also this is NOT a CB radio. Not sure why its in that category. CB is 11 meters and requires no license, this is 2 Meters and 70 CM and requires an FCC license to transmit on.

Easy to use, good life on the battery and the quality is great!

High quality radio!

Booklet directions are hard to follow. Radio is stuck in tune mode and cannot change out to default. Directions not clear as how to proceed.

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

Great value for the money. A little complicated to use. Seems extremely well made. Very light.

It seems like Yaesu didn’t want to be left in the dust by all the other “Chinese” radios. To be competitive, this radio is similar to many other Chinese radios. Examples: antenna, single dial knob, flashlight, FM radio, program layout. However, this is still a Yaesu radio. There are also a lot of familiarity that reside with Yaesu. This is a better built radio than any “Chinese” radio. It still has the easy “full front” easy programming. It puts out a true 5 watts. I feel this is a great radio especially if you are a first HAM operator. Incase anyone is wondering, the so called “MARS/CAP” mod is extremely easy to do. No pulling of diodes or resistors. It’s simply a code that you enter on startup. One thing I want to mention is there is not a lot of after market items for this radio. Has weird spacing for a mic jack, meaning normal mics will not work. It’s specific to this radio. Overall, I am extremely please with this radio as I use it for normal HAM operations. If you’re considering this radio versus the yaesu FT60R, I’d say the FT60R is a staple for the HAM industry for handheld radios. More options and aftermarket accessories. I’ve had the FT60R for over 10 years. It is more expensive but remember, you get what you pay for. As I mentioned before, I feel the FT65R was built to keep up with the other “Chinese” radios in the market. This is not a step up to the FT60R. It’s more of a lateral move for Yaesu. With that being said, still an excellent radio. Hope this helps with your decision.