Oh, how I want one of these so bad! I was just talking about how I was annoyed at there being no manpack radios that aren't DoD. Then I found out about this radio. Now the fun of trying to find one ahaha. Until then I'll have to settle for dragging along my battery!
In some part of the world it was used by military as manpack. On the front panel there is a hole (covered by black plastic) for attaching an ATU. On the ATJ, a whip out
I bought one way back, I also hold the call G6JVS. If I remember correctly it was the F version originally, but I also got the G modification panel so now it looks like yours. I still have mine and it has the speaker mic too. I only used it a few times on transmit but I used it a lot for receive of data signals as a SWL. I only recently put mine into mothballs I currently have an Icom 7300 and a Yeasu FT-991A as my main radios in my shack, with a TenTec Jupiter and a JRC 100 as backups. Those thumb wheel switches were a pain in the butt to find stations but quick to go to a specific frequency. Nice to see other ones are still around. 73.
Hi Steve - long time, and hope you are doing well - on the FT70G - we field tested these in a couple of Cold and Hot expeditions from SMC 0- and though it did have some limitations outshone the Spillsbury SBX11 which was the main stay in those days for very simple lightweight HF comms - the freq flexibility and unambiguous display, similar to some of the more weighty military counterparts were a plus - and I didn't manage to blow it up! One of the reasons it made into that RGS doc I helped with - though HF has nearly disappeared from the explorers/travelers list nowadays - I stopped using the Military and 70G et al when we developed and built, with Hands electronics - our own lightweight xtal controlled SSB unit which was even lighter and simpler still - Cheers mate - Laurence DMA
Bloody hell Laurence,,I was only talking about you this week !. I have pics of us in Amsterdam in the mid 70s and showed my long suffering partner Jane. Drop me an email through QRZ and Ill send you the link to them. Hope your doing OK, I'm a guitar playing grandad these days !. FT70 was just a bit of fun that a local ham sold me during covid. ZPS
I had one of these in the past. Interesting collector's item for sure. I let it go because it turned out to be a bit primitive compared to genuine military man-pack radios of the era. For example, it uses a very primitive single-loop synthesizer, that therefore will have horrible phase-noise characteristics. Another drawback: there are multiple frequency-determining crystal oscillators , it is not like a real military radio where everything is derived from a single high-stability crystal source (TXCO). Also the build is like a ham radio, not military quality. But that is not to say it is a very interesting collector's item indeed. Thanks for the video, cheers.
Can we hear it in operation? It helps one make an informed decision when buying one. Listening to the RF gain up and down, weak signals being copied, etc. I believe you should film that. 73
I will post a video of me having a contact in it. Its a military backpack SSB radio..no RF gain, useless AM, fast AGC, narrow SSB only, 10W. You will be lucky to find one - they are quite rare. There is one in on ebay in Japan for $1399. 73' Steve G3ZPS
@@telecastersteve That's very kind thank you! It's truly a rare gem. Something I'd like to aspire to. And this video, with your brilliant explanation and quality piqued my interest.
Oh, how I want one of these so bad! I was just talking about how I was annoyed at there being no manpack radios that aren't DoD. Then I found out about this radio. Now the fun of trying to find one ahaha. Until then I'll have to settle for dragging along my battery!
In some part of the world it was used by military as manpack. On the front panel there is a hole (covered by black plastic) for attaching an ATU. On the ATJ, a whip out
I bought one way back, I also hold the call G6JVS. If I remember correctly it was the F version originally, but I also got the G modification panel so now it looks like yours.
I still have mine and it has the speaker mic too. I only used it a few times on transmit but I used it a lot for receive of data signals as a SWL.
I only recently put mine into mothballs I currently have an Icom 7300 and a Yeasu FT-991A as my main radios in my shack, with a TenTec Jupiter and a JRC 100 as backups.
Those thumb wheel switches were a pain in the butt to find stations but quick to go to a specific frequency. Nice to see other ones are still around. 73.
DE W4EMB, wud like to see some CW from that rig. thanks for sharing.
Hi Steve - long time, and hope you are doing well - on the FT70G - we field tested these in a couple of Cold and Hot expeditions from SMC 0- and though it did have some limitations outshone the Spillsbury SBX11 which was the main stay in those days for very simple lightweight HF comms - the freq flexibility and unambiguous display, similar to some of the more weighty military counterparts were a plus - and I didn't manage to blow it up! One of the reasons it made into that RGS doc I helped with - though HF has nearly disappeared from the explorers/travelers list nowadays - I stopped using the Military and 70G et al when we developed and built, with Hands electronics - our own lightweight xtal controlled SSB unit which was even lighter and simpler still - Cheers mate - Laurence DMA
Bloody hell Laurence,,I was only talking about you this week !. I have pics of us in Amsterdam in the mid 70s and showed my long suffering partner Jane. Drop me an email through QRZ and Ill send you the link to them. Hope your doing OK, I'm a guitar playing grandad these days !. FT70 was just a bit of fun that a local ham sold me during covid. ZPS
I had one of these in the past. Interesting collector's item for sure. I let it go because it turned out to be a bit primitive compared to genuine military man-pack radios of the era. For example, it uses a very primitive single-loop synthesizer, that therefore will have horrible phase-noise characteristics. Another drawback: there are multiple frequency-determining crystal oscillators , it is not like a real military radio where everything is derived from a single high-stability crystal source (TXCO). Also the build is like a ham radio, not military quality. But that is not to say it is a very interesting collector's item indeed. Thanks for the video, cheers.
I have one Yeasu FT70GH. It has higher outputm
I think your antenna connector is tight enough ! LOL
Can we hear it in operation? It helps one make an informed decision when buying one. Listening to the RF gain up and down, weak signals being copied, etc. I believe you should film that. 73
I will post a video of me having a contact in it. Its a military backpack SSB radio..no RF gain, useless AM, fast AGC, narrow SSB only, 10W. You will be lucky to find one - they are quite rare. There is one in on ebay in Japan for $1399. 73' Steve G3ZPS
@@telecastersteve That's very kind thank you! It's truly a rare gem. Something I'd like to aspire to. And this video, with your brilliant explanation and quality piqued my interest.
I have a FT70GH.
@@sudiptaghose5247 Then make a video of one in operation making contacts. Not difficult to do. I've been hoping to see a video for 2 years lol ...
Sure! Let me repair it. Apparently, it is serviceable. Please wait for some time.