Product Review; Basic Operation - Yaesu FTM-6000R Manual

Pascal Villeneuve, VA2PV, va2pv@arrl.org

Product Review

Yaesu FTM-6000R VHF/UHF Mobile
Transceiver
Reviewed by Rick Palm, K1CE
k1ce@arrl.net
The Yaesu FTM-6000R is a compact, dual-band, one
band at a time, analog (FM) mobile transceiver. The
maximum RF output power is 50 W on both the
2-meter and 70-centimeter bands, but it also
has a significant extended range on receive,
from 108 MHz to 999.995 MHz (with cellular
blocked; see Table 1). The control head is
detachable and can be connected to the main unit
remotely using the included 10-foot cable. Yaesu also
includes a control head mounting bracket, a radio main
unit mounting bracket, a USB cable, a dc power cable,
and a DTMF microphone (SSM-85D). The radio can
support Bluetooth wireless with the optional BU-4 unit.
There are 1,100 programmable memory channels.
Programmable scanning functions include the VFO
scan, memory scan, and Primary Memory Group
(PMG) scan. A 3 W audio power speaker provides
good, loud audio output. The unit features a Funnel
Air-Convection Conductor (Wind Tunnel) that gathers
cool air from the front and side intakes and directs it to
the radio final amplifier, and out of the unit through the
fan located on the rear panel (see Figure 1).
A new Easy to Operate – III (E2O-III) system imple-
ments a three-tier list that calls up the function settings
in order of the frequency of priority and use. The PMG
allows calling up a group of registered frequencies
regardless of the band. A Memory Auto Grouping
(MAG) calls up memory channels that are automati-
cally categorized in each band for quick and easy
recall.

Basic Operation

The radio turns on by pressing and holding the
switch located in the upper left-hand por-
POWER/LOCK
tion of the controller. Press and hold it again to turn off
the radio. Adjust the volume by rotating the
just below the
POWER/LOCK
squelch level, push the
SQL/BACK
right-hand corner of the control head, and turn the
knob
VOL
switch. To adjust the
key in the upper
knob below it to mute the background noise.
DIAL
Pushing the key again (or waiting 2 sec-
SQL/BACK
onds) will return the
SQL
operating screen.
To select a frequency band, press the
repeatedly to cycle through five band choices.
Unwanted frequency bands can be set so they are not
displayed on the rotation of bands. To tune to a specific
frequency, the knob on the right-hand side of the
DIAL
controller changes the frequency. To change the fre-
quency in 1 MHz steps, press the
rotate it to the desired frequency. To change the fre-
quency in 5 MHz steps, press the
down while rotating the knob. You can also press the
numeric keys on the microphone to select a frequency.
For transmission, press the standard microphone
button. If it is pressed when a non-amateur band is
selected, an alarm sounds,
on the screen, and transmission is disabled. According
Bottom Line
The FTM-6000R may look like a basic dual-
band mobile radio, but it's not. The new
operating features were implemented with
the operators in mind, and that's where the
technical advancements reside.
www.arrl.org QST
level screen to the normal
BAND GRP
knob first, then
DIAL
knob and hold
DIAL
(inhibit) is displayed
INHBT
August 2022
key
PTT
39