Firmware Upgrades; Keypad Frequency Entry; Manual Revisions - Yaesu FT-100 Undocumented

range and don't use the CAT control with the radio, then the FC-20 is reported to operate
very smoothly and is well integrated with the radio. If these limitations are important to
you should consider the LDG AT-11 autotuner.

Firmware Upgrades

A common question asked regarding the FT100 is whether or not its firmware can be
upgraded to add some missing feature in the future such as memory management via a
PC or keypad frequency entry. Unfortunately, the design of the FT100 does not allow for
this kind of feature since the microcontrollers are not flash-based, but rather OTP (one-
time programmable) devices or even mask-based in later production runs. They can be
removed and replaced, but this takes special SMT (surface mount technology) soldering
equipment.
There are three microcontrollers in the FT100:
• The FT100's main processor, mounted on the controller unit, is a 32MHz, 80-pin,
16-bit CPU from NEC (P/N UPD78P4038).
• There is also an 8 MHz, 48-pin, 8-bit microprocessor on the controller unit made
by Fujitsu (P/N MB89P133PFM) that appears to be the one that does the
electronic CW keying since it only has a few inputs and they connect to the 'key1
and key2' on the back of the unit. It uses a few of its serial pins to communicate
with the main CPU. FMI see: the Fujitsu MB89P133PFM datasheet.
• The display board has a 5 Mhz, 80-pin, 8-bit NEC microprocessor (P/N
UPD78P054) and that communicates with the main CPU via a serial link.

Keypad Frequency Entry

There is no way to key frequencies into the FT100 via the microphone's numeric keypad
(standard on US models). That numeric keypad is only used for touch tone encoding
when the PTT is held. However, John Hansen, W2FS, has designed an auxiliary keypad
called the Millenium QSYer that can be used to enter frequencies from an external
keypad. The cost is US$70 for the kit or US$95 for the assembled and tested unit. It can
also be used with the Yaesu FT817 and Icom IC706 mobile radios.
For details and ordering see http://www.john.hansen.net/keypad.htm

Manual Revisions

The manual revision can be determined by the part number of the manual. This number is
located directly below the barcode on the back cover of the manual and will have a
format like 'E08981003'. The number on the lower left-hand corner of the back cover
with the format such as 9907V-EY is the printing lot number and does not contain
information relevant to the revision of the manual.
Another common question asked is where one can get a copy of the owner's manual,
preferably on line. You can find it on http://k0lee.com/images/FT-100D%20Manual.pdf.
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