I will never understamd why Yaesu discontinued the FT-857D and the VX8DR, or why nobody else has stepped in to fill those voids. The menus are a beast to learn, but the capabilities those radios offered to preppers was insane.
There is a huge void in the prepper radio arena. They prolonged the FT-817ND with the FT-818 but now even that is discontinued. A 50W FT-891 with a RX Draw of <.5amp with all energy saving items on (menu toggle) would be the perfect off-grid radio IMO. Adding VHF/UHF and internal tuner would be icing on the cake.
I too have had reliability issues with the G90 and the "big knob" has lost most of its functionality. I looked into a fix but with confidence in its quality gone it no longer sees field use. The use case for the Chinese radios is best kept to loaners.
I will never understamd why Yaesu discontinued the FT-857D and the VX8DR, or why nobody else has stepped in to fill those voids. The menus are a beast to learn, but the capabilities those radios offered to preppers was insane.
There is a huge void in the prepper radio arena. They prolonged the FT-817ND with the FT-818 but now even that is discontinued. A 50W FT-891 with a RX Draw of <.5amp with all energy saving items on (menu toggle) would be the perfect off-grid radio IMO. Adding VHF/UHF and internal tuner would be icing on the cake.
I too have had reliability issues with the G90 and the "big knob" has lost most of its functionality. I looked into a fix but with confidence in its quality gone it no longer sees field use. The use case for the Chinese radios is best kept to loaners.