Yaesu FT-60R Mars/Cap MOD Open TX FREE!

[@Brian424]

I just did this mod on my FT-60R and it worked perfectly. I opted not to use heat via a soldering iron, removing the resistor by careful use of a new utility knife blade. It took five attempts, by putting the very tip of the blade beside and slightly under the edge of the resistor and prying gently up and to the side. On the fifth try it popped right off with no damage to the circuit board or any surrounding components. All that remained were the resistor's two end posts and the solder that held them to the board. The resistor disappeared and is so tiny I couldn't find it. Unless you have very good eyesight, I recommend wearing a cheap pair of magnifying "cheater" glasses because that resistor is teeny-tiny, even smaller than it looks in the video. You will also need a very small phillips screwdriver to remove the four screws under the battery that hold the case together, particularly the top two tiny black screws. An inexpensive jeweler's screwdriver kit that contains a tiny phillips will do the trick. I put off doing this for a while, building up my confidence, but now that it's done I'll say that it was easy, and I'd do it again anytime. It took me about 25 minutes start to finish, just a little longer than the runtime of this video. Keep in mind that doing this mod does reset the radio and you will lose all the frequencies you have programmed, so before you begin, write them down or make a backup using programming software, depending on how many you have stored.

[@JLPicard440]

Awesome! Thank u for the great tip!🙂

[@coo463]

@@JLPicard440 --- Bizarre result-- The mod works with the battery in, but When I run it plugged in to the wall, every time I press the PTT, it reboots. Where it didn't do that before the mod. Did I do something wrong? Is it only me that noticed that this is something that happens because of this? Is there a work around this? I can do everything else while plugged in. I like to save battery by plugging it in at home or in the car. So this is a bit of a problem. But other than that, the mod seems to work well, can transmit where I couldn't before.

[@JLPicard440]

I haven't heard of this.. have you tried to google the problem to see if anything pops up?

[@coo463]

@@JLPicard440 I haven't found anything on a search, if it is there, It seems to me that this isn't a common thing in that not very many people would take their radios apart and unsolder a component and even less probably run it off an adapter. Then a rare person would post it. Especially if they thought that it was against their license agreement. But it could be there.

[@JLPicard440]

Yes you're probably right. I'd say 99% wouldn't try to run it from an adapter since it's made to be handheld... ☹️

[@tylermatthews6130]

Awesome video, thanks! Having the whole process laid out was helpful. I completed the mod free of hiccups.

[@JLPicard440]

That's awesome! Glad I was able to help.. 😀

[@systemfan8]

Many kudos to you for this video. Bought used FT-60 and disassembled it for a proper ‘hull’ cleaning🔥

[@JLPicard440]

Awesome! Thank you... 😀

[@dereklea1183]

I’ve used solder wick to mop up the small amount of solder. The component will sometimes stick to the wick if you do it right. It makes the pads look shiny and ready to restore the mod if ever wanted/needed.

[@JLPicard440]

Excellent! Thanks for the info... 🙂

[@smoejith9283]

always nervous to do these mars/cap mods, but always worth it.. need to do mine.. it's like new, just picked it up recently

[@JLPicard440]

Just be careful! Its good if you have some old broken board laying around to practice on that before you do the real one.. 😊

[@ictforallth]

Thank you very much for your valuable video clip that helps me to fix my FT-60R (replaced new speaker) by myself 👍👍👍👍👍

[@JLPicard440]

Excellent! You're welcome... 😊

[@tn_bob5740]

Can't do it. The nuts around the volume and squelch simply will not loosen up, and I have no idea what tool is needed for them. The method of loosening them shown in the video does not work. Trying to replace my keypad, which has become unreadable, and this is the only reference I could find on how to disassemble the radio.

[@JLPicard440]

Those nuts should come loose. If you use a small screwdriver that will fit in the groove, maybe you can use a small hammer and VERY LIGHTLY tap on the screwdriver to get them started. You might need someone to hold the radio still while you try this. Perhaps a pair of snap ring pliers that fit into the groove will work as well. Or you'll have to hand make a tool out of a piece of metal with a grinder to make something that'll work. If you go to one of my Icom HT videos, I had to make such a tool. P.S. don't try to take the nut off around the antenna port.

[@JohnUsp]

After this MOD, the radio becomes Tri-Band? What about the quality transmission/reception in 1.25m (219MHz - 225MHz)?

[@JLPicard440]

With any radio it's designed to work within a certain frequency range. By doing this mod you can go outside of this range by a little. If you're trying to cover the 220 band, I'd say that's to far outside of the intended TX range. I don't remember if it'll TX there or not? If it does, i'd be cautious about using it there. It'll cause a high internal SWR..

[@allanmccullough8550]

Get an antenna for the frequency you want to use.

[@raimundoedilsonpinheiro6375]

Friend, is it the same way to open the box of the YAESU FT-270R that you did with the FT-60R? Thanks!

[@JLPicard440]

To open the box? Did you mean the shipping box?

[@raimundoedilsonpinheiro6375]

@@JLPicard440 No, I wanted to say: opening the radio itself that had a battery leak and is not working. Thanks! Brazilian greetings.

[@JLPicard440]

@@raimundoedilsonpinheiro6375 Oh! Sorry about that... I looked back and I never actually did a video on the FT-270. I did one on the Icom IC-T70. The thing I can say is to look over the video on the FT-60 and see if your FT-270 is similar enough so that you can see how to take it apart. As far as if you wanted to do a TX mod while it's open, I would verify what the procedure is on the FT-270. Its probably different. Greetings from FL!

[@407-z5f]

is there a mod to open up airband tx for aviation like the vxa-150 i have? thanks for great video!

[@JLPicard440]

I don't think so.... I suspect because they didn't build the transmitter wide enough... usually when you get close to the edges (136 and 174)of the radio when you do this mod.. the power drops off a lot. But it could just be they don't want this radio to have that capability since it's cheaper than a aviation HT! Thanks...

[@Sparks68]

Aviation uses AM for safety reasons, not FM which has a "capture" phenomenon that prevents weaker signals from being heard, only the strongest. You want ALL aircraft to be heard, not just the one with the strongest signal.

[@usaisnojoke]

And the 21 thumbs down are from the Ham Radio Sissy Police! Telling you this is ILLEGAL!Listen Rats, if you don't like the video, go put on your BenGay and rest your neck.

[@JLPicard440]

The practical use for this is to TX on MURS band. Not really legal, but on low power, I doubt it would raise to many eyebrows!...

[@tl3305]

will this mod make it possible to Tx up to 175 mhz in VHF band? What the resulting full frequency ranges when complete?

[@JLPicard440]

T Lex I believe it's 136-174... I sold the rig so I can't check... but I believe so

[@lagof2008]

after modifying my TX does only up to 174 MHZ in the VHF band

[@sgtgrantham]

What about up to 465

[@YouTubeMaster1611]

I just did this mod and it opened TX on GMRS but I can’t send memories to the HT with RT Systems now. It says “information in the radio doesn’t match that of the file”. Do you think I need to uninstall the software and reinstall?

[@JLPicard440]

I think I answered your other comment..

[@YouTubeMaster1611]

I found the solution to my problem. I did this mod to my Yaesu FTM400 also and I had a similar issue and resolution. I think after doing this mod it changed the data on the radio someway that it didn’t match the file on RT Systems for my radio. I downloaded the data from the radio to the software first. I made sure to hold down the PTT button until the transfer of data started. After this I was able to successfully transfer data from the software to the radio. I guess this mod changes the radio enough that the software doesn’t recognize it. Thanks for everything!

[@JLPicard440]

Oh excellent! I hope this solution helps someone if they have the same problem.. Thanks for posting this.. 😀

[@PrepareToLiveCa]

THis didn't open up ALL the channels. Was it supposed to? Still can't access gmrs freqs, but I can on my Baofeng. Any thoguhts?

[@JLPicard440]

It should have. I don't have that FT60 anymore, but I have the icom IC-T70a and it does TX on those Freq's.. I know the guy I sold it to, I can ask him and see if he can check it for me.

[@PrepareToLiveCa]

@@JLPicard440 Update: thanks a ton for replying. After more scrutiny, I don't think I was on the GMRS, because I've added them and they're all working. Tested them with my Midlands. Not sure what the hell I was on about. Thanks a ton for the video. Was hugely helpful and allowed me to make the model, which was really cool. Again, thank you.

[@JLPicard440]

@@PrepareToLiveCa Excellent! Thanks for the update... :-)

[@lagof2008]

Hello, does your radio make TX at 410 MHz?

[@JLPicard440]

I don't have that radio anymore, but my Icom ic-t70 does on 410

[@DonRadiosv]

I did ir but not transmit

[@JLPicard440]

On any frequency? Did you remove the wrong component?

[@PedroGarcia-oo3rd]

By the way, I just bought a used handheld one, and is gives the error in tx I openned to try the mod but seems that somebody has already tried it before, may be with a kind of strengh... So everything seems to be working fine but also the error tx. Don't want to ask so much, but any idea with it?

[@JLPicard440]

You could try a full factory reset? See if the manual covers this procedure...

[@PedroGarcia-oo3rd]

Take a Bath Productions thanks for your answer I tried it but nothing happen. May be because is the e version

[@JLPicard440]

Pedro Garcia without seeing it, it’s going to be hard to tell what’s going on.... I wish I had a better answer

[@jaimieboy999]

@@PedroGarcia-oo3rd did you find a reason? Mine is an e version and it's doing the same! Cheers.

[@Cavely]

@@jaimieboy999 The mod page on hampedia says it's only verified on the r (USA) version. www.hampedia.net/yaesu/ft-60r-modifications-extended-transmit.php

[@californiakayaker]

seen anything on the mars/cap mod for the ft65 ?

[@JLPicard440]

I just did a search on this.. and no I don't see any info on it... It looks like a newer radio, so it might take a little while for the mod to come out. I usually check mods.dk but they have no listing for the ft-65..

[@robhowe8353]

It’s a code you input after holding down the 2 buttons on the left and powering on.

[@MrKeys57]

i will do this, but with a small thin knife, tnx, 73, Levi in Sweden

[@JLPicard440]

Yes that should work... 😊

[@garyzimmerman8679]

I did this and it didn’t work for me on the uhf Banda to open for gmrs

[@JLPicard440]

I can't explain that... it worked on this one..

[@huallacanes100]

if i bought an FT-60 that they said it was already Mod/Cap Mod open, how could i know it is true?

[@JLPicard440]

Huallacanes Mambo just put it on a frequency outside the ham bands... I recommend one of the murs frequencies...151.880 and try it there on low power... if it transmits ... its opened up

[@a1xavier]

i did this mod and I can break squelch however my voice does not carry. any ideas as what I did wrong?

[@JLPicard440]

I don't understand the question? Your voice does not carry and you can break squelch doesn't make a lot of sense....

[@a1xavier]

exactly, i can key the ft 60 and on a frs radio it receives the transmission however if i talk or tap the mic nothing can be heard on the frs or any of my other radios for that matter. i can key up and hit the local repeater and open it up but when i give my call i cant be heard. its like the ptt button works but the mic does not.. i think i might have hit something else by mistake. i cant find a schematic for it.

[@JLPicard440]

a1xavier ouch... yea sounds like the microphone isn’t working.... does it plug in? I don’t remember if it was soldered to the board or had a plug.... check to make sure u didn’t leave any solder bridges around the component u removed to do the mod....

[@jo31b]

Any update?

[@a1xavier]

no, im starting to think the problem was already there before the mod. cant find any solid schematics to follow to try and trace down. any suggestions?

[@katylee2319]

How would I do this for an FT-25?

[@JLPicard440]

I did a search on this, and to my surprise, couldn't find any info on that...

[@Nightshft42]

Can anyone confirm if this works on the FT-60E version also, or not? (I'm considering this mod.)

[@JLPicard440]

I haven't heard any feedback on that...

[@Psysam8202]

@@JLPicard440 Yes.

[@JLPicard440]

@@Psysam8202 Thanks for the info.

[@coo463]

It wort of worked. if I run off the battery, everything is good. But if I plug in and run off of an adapter, then every time I press the ptt, the radio reboots. Where it ran fine like that before, well without the extra frequencies. I know the comment is a year old but it might be new to somebody.

[@JLPicard440]

Huh... I never tried to run the radio off the adapter. I always ran it off the battery and never had any trouble ... Thanks for the info.. 😀

[@XSevenSonata]

I wanted a more professional handheld from the usual baofeng and tyt, was thinking of the ft 65r. But, I'm not going with that until / if there's a mod. =/ Manufactures are able to make radios with restricted power on specific bands to comply. and, some operators are licensed (unless no license necessary such as murs) outside amateur bands. I think locking out other bands is a shame. I understand frs, but, it technically complies with gmrs if the operator is licensed, and, lock the power of murs. Unless I can somehow find the asia model which has the extended transmit.

[@JLPicard440]

Interesting,.. I didn't notice a power restriction on the FT-60,.. can't say on the 65... but Your right that's a shame if they did that on out of ham bands.. if there's a emergency You might need all the power that you can get, so there's no valid reason for that in my book...

[@XSevenSonata]

Yeah. That mostly the biggest reason I'm holding out from purchasing a 65. There's a couple other things I didn't like about it, but, I would gladly purchase it and put my dislikes aside if I could transmit on gmrs and murs. I'm licensed with gmrs and amateur, and, although I could carry multiple radios, It's nice having one radio for multiple needs.

[@walterbaer3558]

Ok. The video almost showed how to do the mod. But can someone please tell me what is accomplished by this mod?

[@JLPicard440]

Opens the TX

[@idahogunslinger263]

Buy a baofang UV-5R for 22.00 instead of tearing apart your 200.00 radio... 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@JLPicard440]

I actually don't like Baofeng... Just me ..

[@idahogunslinger263]

@@JLPicard440 neither do I

[@tedundercarriage8183]

agreed

[@cjtaylor5917]

I didn't see what happened.

[@Vidar.m]

Tiny stuff

[@JLPicard440]

Very tiny!