Yaesu FT-DX10

26 March 2023 | by Richard AA4OO  |  Leave a Comment (7)

Shiny new Rig -- Yaesu FT-DX10

I ordered my FT-DX10 from R&L Electronics this week, along with a 300Hz Yaesu Crystal filter from Ham Radio Outlet, because R&L didn't have the crystal filter in stock.  This is my first order from R&L and I'm happy with their communication and slightly lower prices than the major equipment providers.  They also included an R&L Electronics branded 30A 12v supply for only $40, and I always seem to need a separate power supply.

FT-DX10 next to the KX3


Initial Impressions

It has been over 12 years since I used a Japanese brand transceiver.  Compared to the Elecraft KX3 and Ten-Tec Eagle the FT-DX10 has a higher level of fit and finish.  The case, buttons and switches have a high grade feel.  

I had previously not been able to physically see one of these radios and if I had I may have passed due to the way you physically interact with the radio. The button placement is decidely cramped.  Even though the KX3 and Eagle have significantly smaller front pannels, they both have good spacing between their buttons and knobs compared to the FT-DX10.  All the front panel space used by the FT-DX10's large display definitely reduces the space for physical controls.  

I probably touch the AF/RF knob more than any part of the radio.  It is small.  It is slightly smaller even than the AF/RF knob on the compact KX3, and much smaller than the control knobs on the Eagle.  It's proximity to the VFO has resulted in me accidently moving the VFO off-frequency multiple times.  I would have preferred Yaesu have a smaller VFO knob to make more room for the physical control surface.

Related to the "cramped" controls, I find myself regularly locking the VFO on this radio.  I've never needed to do that on another radio and it's a bit frustrating.  I'm assuming I will become more familiar with the placement and reduce my incidental presses with practice.

In Use

Audio

The audio from the built-in speaker sounds okay on SSB but is very muddy on CW.  I tried playing with some of the EQ controls but I think the large cabinet space under the speaker is just creating a bit of a CW echo chamber at the 450Hz frequency that I like to listen to code at.  CW output at a higher frequency doesn't have the muddy problem but I've developed a painful sensitivity listening CW at higher frequency.  I'm now using an old Vertex mobile speaker on top of the radio and that has cleaned up the CW audio.

Similarly, when using headphones I hear a lot of high frequency hiss even when the audio is turned completely down.  It requires an in-line resistance (outboard volume) or use of higher impedance headphones to eliminate the hiss.  I know a lot of older hams have lost much of their higher frequency hearing but I'm not there yet.

The "sound" of CW from the radio when gain levels are properly managed and the digital noise reduction is employed is quite nice.  It is MUCH better than the audio of the Elecraft KX3 but still not quite as good as the audio from the Ten-Tec Eagle.  The only thing I can say about it is that it sounds less musical than the Eagle.  At some point I will hook up an audio scope to both and compare the audio waveforms.  For now I don't mind listening to it but I haven't had the chance to spend hours listening.

Button mashing

I was concerned about how many times I would have to enter the menu during operation and so far I'm fairly pleased.  There are physical buttons for most of the functions I want to perform during a QSO.   I had considered buying the less expensive FT-710 rather than the DX10; but the MPVD (Multi-Purpose-VFO-Outer-Dial) on the DX10 provide a lot of value by having an additional control ring.  By having both a function knob tied to one of a dozen different functions, as well as being able to assign a function to the MPVD I find that I don't often have to go into the menu.  

Compared to my Ten-Tec Eagle it is easier to operate because the dual-use buttons on the Eagle are perpetually in the wrong mode for me.  Compared to the Elecraft KX3 it is about on-par usability wise.

I wish it had a dedicated knob for power but I understand that I am likely in the minority of people who start nearly every QSO at QRP levels then raise power if needed. Speaking of QRP, 5 watts is as low as the RF power can be set.  The Eagle will go down to one watt and the KX3 will go down to 1/10 watt.  

I am still a little confused about the APF (Audio Peaking Filter) functionality.  The button goes through 2 presses in CW mode and the second press seems to do something different but I'm unsure what that is.  The manual doesn't mention a second press.

The APF is not as effective as the APF on the KX3 at pulling out a weak signal, but the KX3's APF is very strong and makes the signal sound weird.  I don't normally leave it on.  The FT-DX10 APF doesn't negatively impact the sound of the signal but doesn't pull it out as much either.  Mabye there's something else in the menus I haven't seen yet.  

Features

FT-DX10 DNR (Digital Noise Reduction / as opposed to 'Do Not Resuscitate') works very well on CW.  It works much better than the NR (Noise Reduction) on the Eagle or KX3 for CW.  You have to play with the different DNR levels on any particular QSO to find the right match, but once you do it works very well.  I don't think it works as well on SSB as the NR on the Eagle, but blows away the NR on the KX3 on SSB.

The display, ah yes the display.  The display is large and colorful.  I tried using the 3DS (Three Dimension Waterfal) for about 30 minutes and while it is mesmerizing I don't find it as useful as the standard veritical waterfall.  In particular, when there are static crashes the historical 3D waterfall image creates a tall "wall" that makes it very hard to see the signals before and after the static crash.  Since we've had a lot of thunderstorms in the surrounding states (on Thursday evening one storm was producing 443 strikes a minute) it makes that 3D waterful useless.  

The standard waterfall is quite useful although precisely selecting the signal with you finger is very hard, so the mouse needs to be used.  

The internal tuner is matching all the bands on my 80m Windom including 30m which, according to my Elecraft W1 meter is 5:1.  It shouldn't be able to perform a match on that since it's advertised as a 3:1 tuner yet it's working.  YMMV.

The CLAR RX/TX (Clarifier) is what everyone else calls a RIT and it works very well.  When pressed the MPVD ring makes adjustment quick and easy and it both lights up the button as well as has an indication in the display so you don't forget it is engaged.

The ZIN (Zero In) is essentially the same feature as the SPOT function on the KX3 and it works very well to automatically zero beat a CW station.  I think it actually works better than the KX3's SPOT.

I haven't had need to work Split operation with it yet, but it has a button labled TXW which is a momentary button allowing you to listen to the transmit frequency which I think is nicer than having to swap the VFO's back and forth like I do on the Eagle.  However, it's not quite as spiffy as the KX3 allowing you to hear VFO A in one ear of your headphones and VFO B in the other.

As far as standard memories, its operation is a bit disappointing.  My Eagle and KX3 store both VFOA and VFOB frequencies when I save a memory, but the DX10 is only saving the VFOA frequency.  On the other radios I like to quickly jump up to SSB by simply pressing the VFO A/B swap but here I have to store that as a different memory.  That seems like an oversight, so I'm probably doing something wrong.

Nits

My biggest dislikes so far are related to how noisy it is in CW operation.  The T/R (transmit/receive) relay is very noisy.  Not in the same clacky league as the Heathkit HW-101 but still very noisy.  In full QSK it sounds like an old school typewriter in the radio.  My KX3 has silent PIN-Diode switching and the Eagle has a very quiet relay, nearly silent, so to hear the clacking doesn't put me in a happy place.  I've sinced changed my normal full break-in use to semi-break in and lengthened the timeout to 500ms.  I really, don't like that.  I do very conversational CW and like to hear the other station wanting to break-in or hear if I've accidentally infringed on someone.  I feel like I'm keying a repeater.

The other noisy thing is the fan.  The fan comes on even when not transmitting and it's quite noisy.  Compared to the Eagle which has internally baffled fans that you never hear and the KX3 has no fans at all; it creates a much noisier environment.  I wish they'd placed the fan inside the chasis like the Eagle so that it wasn't so loud.  I understand that again I'm in the minority.  Most operators are used to nosiy relays and noisy fans or have an amplifier running that sounds like a Window Air Conditioner, but I'm used to a very quite operating environment.

Headphone use would mitigate both the noisy relay and fan noise but many times I'm just doing casual operating and listening through the external speaker.

It has an "external display" connector to go to an external monitor but the resolution is 800x640.  That's like early 1990s monitor resolution.  Anything bigger than a 15" external monitor results in a great deal of pixelization on the display.  They could have upscaled the display to eliminate the pixelization which would make the external display looks less cheesy.

CW Decode works, sorta.  The radio was advertised as supporting CW decode.  The decoder covers up the waterfall and you have to exit decode to see the waterfall.  I do use CW decode on the KX3 if I'm trying to get a DX station that is sending his call at over 30wpm, and the KX3 displays about 12 characters of information while leaving everything except the VFOB frequency visible.  It's very useful on the KX3 and quite accurate.  The decoder on the FT-DX10 shows paragraphs of decoded CW.  I just want it for a quick assist, not to read 30 minutes of ragchew content from two ops.  The other issue with the DX10 CW decode is that you have to set the CW speed in the menu to match the speed or the accuracy is really poor.  Most decoders just figure it out.  Even the ardruino decoder I built works better. I just wish it displayed a single line in the bottom of the screen.

While we're on CW, it has a CW "memory keyer" function but you have to display the menu and touch the screen to send a CW memory during the QSO.  The memory keyer menu covers up most of the waterfall and going into any other menu function makes the "contest keyer" disappear.  There is a FH-2 keypad that I believe operates without having the menu displayed.  It's a very pricey $100 for a box with buttons connected to different resistance values, so I'll probably build one.  For now I'm using my external memory keyer, which also allowed me to have my manual keys in series with the external keyer output so I can use both mechanical keys and my paddle at the same time.

My KX3 has two key inputs and so does the Eagle, so while I knew the DX10 didn't have two key inputs it is still something I'd miss if I didn't use an external keyer.

Lastly, this is a NIT for me but I can't find anything on the interwebs that says other people have this issue.  I cannot get the radio to reliably interface with OmniRig.  I use OmniRig to interface my radio with Log4OM and other software.  I have searched and searched and others are not having this issue.  I am using the most recent FTDX10.ini configuration file for OmniRig and have it configured with the same serial port settings that work with N1MM (38400, N, 8, 2, Handshake, Low).  It is perplexing.  OmniRig continuously loses connection to the radio.  So this is likely some local PC / software problem I have that I shouldn't blame the radio for.  I even performed a full reset to no avail.

Conclusion

This is the first new HF radio I've ever purchased.  I've been licensed to use HF bands for about 16 years at this point, but I've only owned 6 other HF rigs in that time; all purchased used.  I've owned a number of Yaesu VHF mobile and handheld radios but only one HF and that was the FT-857D.  The FT-857 was a good, portable HF/VHF/UHF radio but due to the limited front panel space and very early DSP implementation was really on the struggle bus when used for HF.

For me this was a very expensive purchase.  So expectations are high.  I knew it was missing some features my other radios already had but I'd hoped the shiny display would make up for it.  At this point it's a mixed bag.  I do like the DNR very much and I can get clean sounding audio out of it using a external speaker, but that's about the only positive.  The clacky T/R relay and noisy fan are a major Debbie Downer at this point.

I know that since I'm primarily a CW operator most of the issues are unique to CW.  If I used Digital modes or did a lot of SSB I'd probably be thrilled with this radio.  If I can figure out the rig interface problems I may try some digitial modes again and maybe it would seem more shiny.   (I know I use the word "Shiny", a lot... It's because there was a Sci-Fi Series on a decade ago called Firefly. The chief engineer used that word for anything she thought was cool or nice... I have sort of adopted it)

I'll give it some more time and see how it works with weak signals.  So far, I've only made a few dozen contacts and less than a dozen extended ragchews due to lots of lightning in my area.  It's really a toss-up at this point as to whether the shiny stuff outweighs the musical audio, and slent operation of my Eagle.



That's all for now.

Lower your power and raise your expectations
73s Richard AA4OO

Richard Carpenter, AA4OO, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from North Carolina, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

ICQ Podcast Episode 399 – Hamzilla 2023

26 March 2023 | by Colin M6BOY  |  Leave a Comment (0)

In this episode, we join Martin Butler M1MRB, Dan Romanchik KB6NU, Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT and Edmund Spicer M0MNG to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin Butler (M6BOY) rounds up the news in brief and in the episode's feature is Hamzilla 2023.

We would like to thank  ICQPodcast 400 Club Member Winston Lawrence, KD2WLL, one-off donors Michael Rosenberg (N9YB), Gary Bridges (WA0VMV) and our monthly and annual subscription donors for keeping the podcast advert free. To donate, please visit - http://www.icqpodcast.com/donate

  • Echo of BBC’s first broadcast in Scotland 100 years ago is heard from centenary event at Pacific Quay
  • Steubenville-Weirton Amateur Radio Club Donates Books to Library System
  • Is there a Better Way to Safeguard Vital Repeaters?
  • In the Car, Podcasts and Online Audio Continue to Grow
  • FreeDV Aims to Bring Open-Source HF Digital Voice Into the Mainstream
  • Astronauts from UAE Taking on Space Education
  • Getting Serious About Sat-Phone Service
  • Essex Ham Annual Survey
  • Connecticut Governor Proclaims Amateur Radio Recognition Week

Colin Butler, M6BOY, is the host of the ICQ Podcast, a weekly radio show about Amateur Radio. Contact him at [email protected].

Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 279

25 March 2023 | by Cale K4HCK  |  Leave a Comment (0)

Amateur Radio Weekly

Austria restricts 23cm band operation
Austria has become the latest country to impose restrictions on Amateur Radio operation in the 23 cm band.
AMSAT UK

Amateur Radio Direction Finding
The sport of finding radio transmitters on foot. ARDF competitors use only topographic maps and compasses for navigation.
ARDF Region 2

Dodging the CME Apocalypse
What happened on March 12 was similar to the 1859 outburst – only worse.
American Thinker

WSJT-X and the Q65 mode for 6 meters and up
It works over long distances when nothing else is happening.
K5ND

Homebrew AM from Cuba
It used combined Soviet and American tubes in the RF sections.
SolderSmoke Daily News

Enormous metal sculpture becomes an antenna
It’s over 70 feet tall and made out of bronze and steel.
Hackaday

Hams catch Russians talking about recovering downed US drone
Hams obtained audio recordings of the Russian military trying to retrieve a US spy drone.
MSN

The ultimate 80 meter Ham Radio antenna
The 80 meter skyloop is still a top performing HF antenna.
OH8STN

Series and parallel battery connection techniques
All the batteries in your system should be the same voltage, amp-hour rating, and type.
Off Grid Ham

An overview of Beverage receiving antennas
What makes them so special?
OnAllBands

Video

Go Kit Challenge 2023 show and tell
We swing by many different go kit, boxes, and vehicles.
Tank Radio

The USA’s Worldwide Listening Ear
Could locate HF transmissions anywhere on the planet.
Ringway Manchester

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Amateur Radio Weekly is curated by Cale Mooth K4HCK. Sign up free to receive ham radio's most relevant news, projects, technology and events by e-mail each week at http://www.hamweekly.com.

LHS Episode #501: FreeDV Deep Dive 2

24 March 2023 | by Russ K5TUX  |  Leave a Comment (0)

Hello and welcome to the 501st episode of Linux in the Ham Shack. In this episode, we talk with Mooneer Salem, K6AQ, primary developer on the FreeDV team. After a signficant grant from the ARDC, LHS was curious what's new, what's been developed lately, the direction of the project and what the grant money will be used for. This episode covers everything about FreeDV: installation, operation, hardware options, features, upgrades, development and more. Thanks for listening and have a great week.

73 de The LHS Crew


Russ Woodman, K5TUX, co-hosts the Linux in the Ham Shack podcast which is available for download in both MP3 and OGG audio format. Contact him at [email protected].

Excellent reading

23 March 2023 | by Mike VE9KK  |  Leave a Comment (6)

There is a lot of rumble out in the CW community regarding a new book on the market. The CW way of life written by Chris Rutkowski NW6V. I am only a quarter of the way into it but this book is for anyone who is anywhere in their CW journey. In the few pages, I have learned about Samual Morse what he did and did not do for morse code and others named Alfred Vail and Friedrich Gerke who moved code along its journey. 


Once past a short history lesson you read and learn about how code is linked to harmonics, and rhythm and step back and see the method. Other topics are moving from counting dits and Dahs, code speed blocks, habits for code learning and so on.
This book is worth a look and can be done here for your kindle the book is also available as a good old page-turning book on Amazon as well.


Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

Hard work reaps rewards………

21 March 2023 | by Mike VE9KK  |  Leave a Comment (6)

 I was always told from a young age "something worthwhile ALWAYS requires hard work" That has stuck with me and at times when I was about to throw in the towel a voice inside said, "it requires hard work". I am so thankful that I had an amazing job that gave me benefits and a pension for life BUT I worked my ass off for it.


 For me CW is worthwhile and at this point in my ham radio adventure CW contesting has attracted me. Each day I practice my code on a few contest simulators and pileup simulators. Today for the first time I had a perfect score! Now that may not happen again tomorrow, this week or this month BUT today the score was perfect.


 


Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

GAS is Rearing its Ugly Head

21 March 2023 | by Richard AA4OO  |  Leave a Comment (5)

 GAS - Gear Aquisition Syndrome

I have some excellent radios.  I have a KX3 that does everything including ironing my pants (well almost) and a Ten-Tec Eagle that has the smoothest CW anyone could ever want.  I also have old crumugeonly radios that require the patience of Job to operate.  I've been well pleased with my collection of RF generating and receiving gear for quite a while.  However, my Eagle is showing its age.  I had to recently replace its T/R relay and the encoders need some cleaning, but it still sounds beautiful.

The problem is these newfangled rigs with their dang, pretty front panels providing information overload with aluring displays of 3D waterfalls and teleporter controls (maybe I mis-read that last one in the specs).  Many of my QSOs now are with operators that have shiny new rigs.  It's just not fair that I'm staring at a segmented LCD display... or in the case of my GRC/9, the front panel equivalent of a Slide Ruler.

The GRC/9 has the operating interface of a Slide Ruler
but wow it's fun to operate... slowly and noisily

The KX3 interfaces wonderfully to my Computer
but it looks dated

Surely ham life must be better when I can gaze at the equivalent of a smart phone on the front panel when using the oldest operating mode known to man?

The Genesis of "Want More"...

In preparation for the upcoming camping season in our RV, I wired a spare 12v 25A circuit in the camper's inverter to bring 12v rig power to the dining table, and co-opted the 75ohm cable running to the cable TV output outside the camper for watching TV (why would anyone watch TV outside the camper).  That cable TV output now takes my antenna connection out of the camper without drilling any holes.  I bought a stellar thing called a "flagpole buddy" to hold my 30 foot telescoping mast on the ladder and wallah, I have a portable Ham shack.  I was using my Ten-Tec Eagle on the dining table, and my wife was not-enthused with having half of the dining table consumed by my bleeping radio. I assured her I'd set it on the seat when not in operation, but I still received "the look".

The magnetic in the Palm Radio Paddle attaches to the side of the Eagle
when operating portable

Flagpole buddy holds the mast extending up to 35 feet

My KX3 would take up less space than the Eagle but it's a pricey little thing to leave in the camper, and I primarily use it now as my primary station in my home shack now because it's wired up to the computer using HDSDR to provide a panadapter display. 

I convinced myself that the KX3 should stay in the Shack. Sometimes I do raise my power beyond QRP if the other station is struggling to copy me and as I'd be operting from a compromised antenna I wanted a rig capable of QRO, when necessary.

So being the wise and kind husband that I am; I started looking for a small, portable, inexpensive radio capable of QRO. All this was to please my wife of course.  

I used to own a Yaesu FT-857 that I kept in my truck, but it was terrible at CW (IMO) and that rig seems to be pretty rare now... After considerable searching I settled on a Yaesu FT-891.  They had good reports and I could separate the face and it would take up very little room on the table.  Plus it had a band-scope of sorts (ah shiny).  But alas, I couldn't find used ones that didn't look like they'd lived under the seat of an off-road vehicle racing in the Baja, and the new ones are out of stock everywhere.  All that web searching kept popping up the rigs with the pretty front panels.  Google decided it needed to serve me advertisements of pretty radios everytime I opened any web site.

GAS

So, I convinced myself that I needed to replace the KX3 in the shack with a shiny, teleporter control rig and permanently install the KX3 in the camper.  I could mount the KXPA100 QRP amp out of the way in the camper and leave the radio in my corner of the table.  I'd also easily be able to take it outside to the picnic table and run off battery.  My mind was made up, I needed the KX3 in the camper and a new shiny toy for the shack.

Reality Strikes

Here's the problem... my KX3 with its 10:1 auto-tuner, silent QSK relay, dual antenna ports (thanks to the KXPA100), built-in IF/IQ output, and dual key inputs (one for paddle and one for manual keys) just can't be found in a shiny, smart-phone panel radio without breaking my bank account.  So I'd have to settle for a "new rig" with fewer features than I've grown accustomed to.  Surely that would disuade me from this folly... but Google keeps serving me advertisements.

I will be soon be writing about my KX3 in the camper and my new, shiny, less-featured shack rig.

Blast you GAS ! 



Richard Carpenter, AA4OO, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from North Carolina, USA. Contact him at [email protected].
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