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Railfan Technology > Bought A Yaesu FT-270RDate: 08/09/14 17:04 Bought A Yaesu FT-270R Author: Amtrak288 After reading several threads here on TO and determining that this must be the gold standard in railfanning scanning, I got an FT-270R today along with the PC kit, the Alkaline Battery Adaptor and an antenna designed for railroad frequencies. So far, the PC kit was easy to enter the 97 AAR channels into but trying to work this radio has been quite a PITA (don't get hungry, I'm not talking about the flatbread). Someone mentioned there was a "manual" on how to set up this radio somewhere on TO. If anyone can point me in that direction, that would be appreciated, I wasn't able to find it. I see I can set separate banks of channels and I did set up one bank of stuff that's just used in Western NY outside of another bank with all 97 channels. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated as the manual that came with the radio for whatever reason is not the easiest to follow!!!
Date: 08/09/14 19:10 Re: Bought A Yaesu FT-270R Author: TCnR Here's the Yaesu Manual in pdf, still kinda chunky though:
http://www.yaesu.ru/files/info/yaesu/FT-270R_man_eng.pdf There's a Yahoo group for the Yaesu models, maybe check with them. Many of the settings are simply not used for monitoring the RR band. A lot of that stuff is specific to Ham repeaters and such. There was a website with the simple essentials on it, sounds like you've passed that level already. Maybe YouTube has something specific. *I might add that I have not mastered all the functions of the radio. Many folks like to put all 100 RR channels into their radio and then enable and disable the channel as they travel. I'm not comfortable with the keyboard and memory functions. I stick to a handful of channels, try to do my homework, when I travel I use the software to load the frequencies and settings. I already carry a small laptop for travel, essential for checking out camera performance, weather updates, TO activity, E-mail and research, it's not an addition just another use for it. *I also carry a Bearcat with a much more simple keypad entry system and also reception outside of the RR band to experiment with. This also gives me a back-up radio in case of a problem. These are so much easier to travel with than the older style radios. Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/10/14 08:34 by TCnR. Date: 08/09/14 20:36 Re: Bought A Yaesu FT-270R Author: va3cp I have the VX-170 which appears to be very similar to the FT-270. Operation is a little confusing for the first while but I found that I learned the basic operation pretty quickly.
My VX-170 is a tough radio and has proven that it passes the drop test more than once. I found that a Diamond SRH-77A antenna enhanced the receive over the supplied antenna. The supplied antenna is designed for 144-148mhz. To make programming easier, I purchased some programming software which makes things a lot easier to put frequencies into banks. It is also easy to modify the memory channels in the banks from time to time. Here is a link to the site where I downloaded my software. http://www.g4hfq.co.uk/ftb270.htm You will also need a programming cable interface. I purchased a USB programming cable off eBay for a very reasonable price. It works for my FT-60r and the VX-170. Have fun! Dave Burroughs Hamilton, ON Date: 08/13/14 08:47 Re: Bought A Yaesu FT-270R Author: csx950 Which antenna for railroad frequencies did you get for use
with the FT-270? Would just like to know. Thanks. Doug Date: 08/13/14 11:11 Re: Bought A Yaesu FT-270R Author: grahamline I have two antennae for my scanner, a Diamond RH77CA (14.5 inch) made for 2M band, and a 10-inch Smiley slim duck cut for 160mHz. The Diamond overloads in busy areas but works well out in more open country. Both antennae are available in a variety of mounts.
Date: 08/13/14 12:02 Re: Bought A Yaesu FT-270R Author: TCnR I posted a model number and Vendor for a Gain antenna within the past 12 months or so. I'm very happy with the range that it provides and have had a few other folks mention it as well. I'll try to dig it out later today.
Date: 08/13/14 20:57 Re: Bought A Yaesu FT-270R Author: Amtrak288 Thanks for the info everyone! I bought the Diamond SRH77CA Antenna with the radio, and now I've finally got the programming software working right and the radio programmed the way I want it. It's now set to run in Memory Scan mode with the channels I want to listen to depending on where I'm traveling, having only programmed the 97 AAR channels into it. I have one bank that also will just scan all 97 channels as well. The software to program it from the computer is phenomenal!
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