The Yaesu FTM-3100R goes under the knife
Just a year ago, in the July 2022 issue of CQ, I detailed what it takes to convert the Kenwood TK-762G to run 9600 baud packet. Since then, I’ve found the performance to be somewhat less than ideal. Oh, it works, but you need a stronger-than-average signal for reasonable performance. My conclusion is that even the ‘wide’ IF filtering is just a bit too narrow. I’ve since relegated these radios to run 2400 baud IL2P which really delivers excellent performance, especially for the price.
Continuing my search for radios to run 9k6, I found the Yaesu FTM-3100R, the little sister of the (now discontinued) FTM-3200DR C4FM digital voice transceiver, minus the digital voice capabilities. Built on what appears to be the exact same main circuit board, this 2-meter radio features true FM, 65 watts of RF>. Released back in 2016, the FTM-3100R is not on Yaesu’s list of models to be discontinued any time soon.
