Yaesu FT-818 radio discontinued - Dec 2022

 
In a statement on the 28th of December 2022, Yaesu USA announced that their FT-818 radio is going to be discontinued. The reason given is the 'worldwide parts shortage'.

This radio is essentially a 'shack in a box' as it covers nearly all of the amateur radio bands including all of the HF bands (160-10m), 6m, 2m and 70cms. The power output is 6-watts.

The FT-818 model was released in March of 2018 and was the replacement for the venerable F-817 which was released way back in 2001. The FT-817 was a hugely popular radio especially with QRP and portable enthusiasts in its day. The FT-818 was supposed to be its more modern iteration but it was widely seen the FT-817 with a few improvements and it left a lot of people disappointed.

A quick check of the prices show the FT-818 selling for about $650. That's about half the price of the hugely popular ICOM IC-705 which sells for $1350. As a radio, it would have been under pressure from Chinese radios like Xiegu which sell for the same or less or from the IC-705 which created a huge buzz when it was released.

Maybe it was discontinued because of the 'parts shortage' but I suspect a lot of people will think it was because of poor sales. Whatever the reason, it's sad to see this popular FT-817/818 line come to an end.

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Yaesu also announced that they would be also discontinuing their FTM-400XDR radio. This is a dual band 2m/70cms radio with FM and C4FM. It was released in 2015 as far as I can tell.

Again, the 'parts shortage' is the reason given for its demise.

Yaesu USA ANNOUNCEMENT - Dec.28th, 2022... "Please be informed that the production of the FT-818ND and FTM-400XDR will be discontinued. We are forced to make this unfortunate decision due to difficulty we are having with the availability of some components. We appreciate your long-term patronage of the FT-818ND and FTM-400XDR."

EI2PMD - New Digital Gateway on 2m in Dublin

Update 14th March 2021: The new digital gateway in Dublin can now cater for DMR and D-Star modes.

IRTS News... New Multi-mode Digital Gateway, EI2PMD, Portmarnock, North Dublin

Ger, EI4HOB is pleased to report that the new Multi-Mode Digital Gateway, EI2PMD, located in Portmarnock, North Dublin, is now fully operational. The Gateway operates DMR, C4FM and D-Star on 144.825 MHz with a wide coverage of Dublin from the Northside down to the Tallaght and Dún Laoghaire areas. The DMR operates on Time Slot 2 and Colour Code 2. DMR Defaults to TG 2724, C4FM to IE-YSF-Ireland and D-Star to DCS 049 I. The Gateway operates 25 watts of power into a vertical colinear antenna. This gateway will provide a much needed digital service for the Dublin area. Good coverage reports have been received to date as borne out by the coverage maps.

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Original post 22nd Jan 2021...In the last few days, a new Yaesu C4FM Digital Gateway for the Dublin area went on air.

Steve EI5DD writes..."A new C4FM Wires-X Gateway, EI2PMD, located in Portmarnock, Dublin, became active today (19th Jan 2021). The Gateway is operating on 144.825MHz and is linked to the CQ-IRELAND Room along with systems from Galway, Limerick, and Northern Ireland. YSF-Ireland, DMR TG 2724, and the Peanut App. We congratulate Ger EI4HOB for placing the first Digital system on air in the Dublin area."

As amateur radio digital repeaters and gateways have popped up around Ireland over the last few years, the one obvious omission was a digital repeater/gateway near the capital Dublin. This is in marked contrast to what usually happens with any new technology in that it usually starts near the capital or main city of a country and then spread outwards.

The new digital gateway is located in Portmarnock in the north side of Dublin City and it uses the 2m frequency of 144.825 MHz.

The approximate coverage is shown below...

From what I understand, the RF part of the gateway is confined to those using YAESU C4FM digital radios at present. It is hoped that in time, it will become a multimode gateway allowing DMR operation.

The gateway runs 20 watts into a Diamond omni-directional antenna.

Well done to EI4HOB and the North Dublin Radio Club for getting project up and running.

Digital Modes on the VHF bands in EI

Over the last few weeks, I have been reading up on the various digital radios on the VHF bands. It would seem as if there are three potential modes which could be a replacement for analogue FM.

1) Icom D-Star, 2) DPMR and 3) Yaesu System Fusion

While the digital radio network in the UK seems to be pretty well developed, it is still in its infancy in EI.

A recent news item from the IRTS outlined how the the Yaesu System Fusion was being introduced in Donegal and Limerick.

A key fact is that the Yaesu DR-1X repeater controller will work on both analogue FM and on the Yaesu C4FM digital system. This means that at worst, it will work away as an FM repeater even if no-one uses the digital system. It will receive digital signals and convert them to FM on the o/p so that everyone can hear them. e.g. Digital in, FM out. It can also relay whatever is on the input...i.e. FM in, FM out OR digital in, digital out.

It was mentioned in the news item that some people in the Limerick region have bought the following Yaesu radios...

There are some obvious issues with introducing this new system in EI...

1) As you can see, they're not cheap. Someone can buy an ordinary analogue FM rig for a lot less. A cheap Chinese FM handheld can be purchased for less than €50.

2) The level of activity on the existing FM network is pretty low. The Limerick repeater has very little traffic on it as it is so it's hard to justify buying an expensive radio.

It will be interesting to see how things develop. I suspect though that in Ireland, DPMR may well become the system of choice for those that want to experiment with digital as cheaper radios come on the market.

This video explains what the Yaesu Fusion System is all about....


This is a video of the new repeater in Donegal...