Is This Ham Radio from eBay a Deal or Dud!?

So I have been on the lookout for a portable/mobile 100 Watt HF/VHF/UHF shack in the box to add to my Parks on the Air kit, and with many hamfests just now starting to resume after being cancelled during much of 2020, and the chip shortage making it hard to even find new radios, I turned to the Internet. I purchased this Yaesu FT-100(d?) on eBay recently to see if it is possible to still get a deal on a useable HF radio. So let's take a look at this radio and see if I got a deal or a dud?
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Equipment Used In This Video:
Radio: Yaesu FT-100 HF/VHF/UHF Transceiver - www.universal-radio.com/catal...
Dummy Load: Vectronics DL-300 - www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?p...
Meter: MFJ-849 Digital HF/VHF/UHF SWR/Wattmeter - www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?p...
Recording Equipment: Canon 80D with Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 Lens and Comica Cold Shoe Microphone, and GoPro Hero7 Black

[@davetelling]

A couple of comments: TCXO - "Temperature Controlled Crystal Oscillator" - not "time controlled". The reference crystal oscillator is inside of an oven that keeps it at a constant temperature to prevent drift due to to environmental changes. Also - the FT-100 DOES have a CTCSS encoder, specifically to access repeaters that require these special tones. However, a CTCSS DE-coder was an option. This would allow the radio to not break squelch until it received a particular CTCSS tone.

[@derk-w9rdy887]

I can't comment on the whether it was a good buy or not, but wanted to say thank you for showing your evaluation process. It was neat to see the innards and your testing method.

[@RA4FOC]

Good radio and price on ebay! God luck for you and good DX!

[@MichaelJantzen42]

My FT-100 came with a power plug - it's a bit non standard but it did come with one. On my mic I ended up dissecting the micro switch inside as it's unobtainable - and cleaned off some black oxidation with a craft knife and a microscope - it's worked perfectly ever since.

[@randelstuckey5494]

Try hooking up to the vhf/uhf antenna port while on 6 meters since 6 is considered vhf and not hf. What you paid for it still seems to be a fair price compared to all the other prices that other radios are running, which are quite ridiculous to me.

[@adamjhuber]

FT-100 has a sticker clearly marked HF/6m on one of the pigtails. So he has it set up correctly.

[@BreakingPintMedia]

@@adamjhuber yup, if it's anything like the FT-897(D) HF and 6m are on the same antenna connector. This facilitates cabling to/from tuners (especially those limited to HF/6m).

[@Datzfunk]

It's the correct connector on the radio, but the wrong connector on the meter. There are connectors for HF and VHF/UHF on that meter. He didn't switch over, 6m is probably fine.

[@ampegor]

Love my FT100D never getting rid of it

[@subiesojourner777]

I have two of the FT100D's I bought new. One sits next to my FT-1000MP and one that I use mobile. They are great little radios with no issues at all.

[@WQ9FHamRadio]

It was a good radio, I ended up giving it away to a new Ham Radio operator who has been quite happy with it. 73 and Thanks for Watching! -Kevin

[@tpobrienjr]

I also have two of FT-100D. Bought one new, the other at an estate sale. Both included the ATAS-100 antenna and the correct mic. One is going to POTA kit, the other to a grandson who's working on his license....

[@enriquediaz7547]

Sounds like a great deal on an all band radio & 100 watts.

[@KO4VNX]

I just bought one of these at a local hamfest a month ago. Mine is the actual FT-100D though, so I didn't get robbed like you did, and sorry to see you have to go through that. Mine is very clean, doesn't smell like smoke, has no tool marks at all (appears to have never been opened) but didn't come with a microphone. I did buy a mic, the exact model you have here, which scares me because you are having problems with yours. Mine did have some power connectors, but they were not Anderson powerpoles and were proprietary and kind of big, so I replaced them. Mine also came with the cable that connects the detachable head, so I didn't need to buy that. I paid $300 for mine, got the FT-100D, and it works as advertised. This was from a local HAM, who knows that I know who he is, etc., and inherited the rig from a friend who is recently a silent key, so for many reasons, I expected a good, honest deal from him, which is a lot different than a blind internet-based transaction. Man, after seeing the tests you ran, it makes me want to find the person you bought yours from and force them to eat a PB&J sandwich, through their nose, while hanging upside-down. But alas, I won't do that. 73 my friend, good video, it helped me assess the value of mine!

[@WQ9FHamRadio]

Thanks for watching. It is not the first time I've been burned on eBay but I've also got lots of good deals on eBay as well. I ended up getting mine repaired from a reputable ham, cleaned it up and took it out to test and then I gave it away to a new ham so it wasn't all a waste. 73! -Kevin

[@SteveH-TN]

Considering the price point it was reasonable purchase but wasn’t as advertised. Definitely not worth the mismatch. 73 Steve AA4SH was born and raised in Chicago attended Lane Tech, graduated from Northeastern the joined the USAF retired after 38 years became N1LHW 1996. I subscribed to your channel today.

[@WQ9FHamRadio]

Yeah I definetly had regrets about that purchase, after I got it cleaned up and repaired and tested it on the air, I ended up giving it to a new ham so all was not lost. 73! -Kevin

[@Blue-Collar-Radio]

Good deep dive. Were you testing 6m on the HF jack and setting with the meter?

[@WQ9FHamRadio]

Yeah, I did use the HF jack and setting on the meter, had to double check because the antenna jacks aren’t marked on the radio what they are, they just say antenna 1 and antenna 2.

[@Blue-Collar-Radio]

@@WQ9FHamRadio shouldn't it be on VHF for 6M?

[@WQ9FHamRadio]

@@Blue-Collar-Radio the meter is has 6 meters as HF, there are 2 ports on the back, 1 for 1-60 MHz and the other is for 125-525 MHz.

[@Blue-Collar-Radio]

@@WQ9FHamRadio right on.

[@Stenn333]

The FT100 and FT100D MUST use the "S" version microphone (P/N ends in "S")....the PTT circuit must have a 27K resistor in that circuit, which ONLY THE S version mic had...and, of course, you can't buy it anymore. The P/N you read off is the typical generic Yaesu mic still available, but will not trigger PTT reliably because it doesn't have that 27K resistor. I bought some 1% 27K resistors on Amazon, opened up the "generic" MH-36 mic I was able to find everywhere, and soldered a 27K resistor in-line with the switch....and now TX is perfect on my 2002 FT100D.

[@roxleyldc]

Hi. My FT-100D has a MH-48 mic for the DTMF tones. Does this one need the 27K resistor also? Thanks!

[@Stenn333]

@@roxleyldc Sorry for the delay Rox...I replied about a week ago and somehow that has disappeared...didn't post. All these generic mics have those DTMF tone buttons, but, if I remember right, I believe the FT-100D does not support them. As for the 27K resistor, the schematic in the manual shows the 27K needs to be in the mic key circuit, no matter what mic you use...so I'd say YES, yours needs that 27k In-line with the mic switch too. I just opened my mic up, traced the switch contacts, desoldered one end and soldered the 1% 27k resister in line...and it worked.

[@Godhumbledme]

blinking red olight could mean bad swr and it wont transmit good video thanks for doing this. I own a ft-100 always found it a good rig would like to sell it but transmit doesnt work on 2/440 ($200 to fix) anyway good job thanks.

[@WQ9FHamRadio]

That's good to know! Thanks for watching. I ended up sending it out for a repair and it cost me $200, but I got the VFO trim pot fixed, and the no transmit on 6m as we as it aligned. It is working much better now. 73, Kevin

[@Godhumbledme]

@@WQ9FHamRadio Thanks Kevin awesome stuff there thanks for telling me. 73 de Gary K8JCR

[@Stenn333]

Where did you send out your FT100D for repair ?

[@w1klmster]

Shows the importance of closely inspecting all photos in the Ebay auction.

[@ae1tpa92gwtom2]

Serial number check with Yaesu?

[@WQ9FHamRadio]

I did contact Yaesu regarding a repair and gave them the serial number, they told me they no longer service them at a their factory service center sadly, but gave me a list of 3rd party repair places to contact.

[@ae1tpa92gwtom2]

@@WQ9FHamRadio interesting, the for the reply, was just curious about the real age of the unit, like the British say, u pays ur money n takes ur chances, cheers n 73

[@WQ9FHamRadio]

@@ae1tpa92gwtom2 Thanks for watching. I was not able to get the actual age of the unit, but they made the FT100 from 1999 to like 2002 so somewhere around there. 73!

[@douglamont2370]

Hi my ft100 does not go above 146.000 why 2m

[@WQ9FHamRadio]

Thanks for watching, you may have an non-North America market FT-100. In ITU region 1 and some other countries in Region 3 access to the 2 meter band is only from 144-146 MHz. 73, Kevin

[@robertrockwell7581]

not a good deal. as soon as you found out it was not the radio you ordered out of the box you should have sent it back and get your money back. I thought of ordering one off E-bay I just do not trust buying this kind of stuff off these sites.

[@WQ9FHamRadio]

Yeah, I ended up contacting the seller right away about it. I wanted to keep it because it fit the bill of what I wanted for a portable radio. I ended up getting $100 back from the seller. I've sold a lot of gear on eBay and always stand behind what I sell, so I know there are good sellers out there. Thanks for watching, 73! -Kevin