Railfan Technology > Help!!! Yaesu FT-250

First let's get this out of the way - I am not considered "technologically advanced" and simply turning the radio on is at times pushing my limits. I have not used this radio a lot but I can at least turn it on and off and get it to scan. As a note, I program the frequencies using RT System's software and cable in case that might be part of the issue (am I disabling something by accident).

​OK, here goes. The screen shows the radio in "MR" mode. I had a frequency that was causing interference at my location so I wanted to lock it out rather then reprogram the radio to eliminate it. The book says to select enter "Memory Mode", which it's already in, and then select the channel to be skipped - this is where things go wrong. According to the manual at this point I am supposed to press the [F/L] key, which I do, and then press the [MR/MW(Skip)] key. I do this, and have tried it repeatedly, but nothing changes - the channel isn't locked out / skipped. The ability to lock out an over-active channel is pretty important if it's causing other issues. So tell me what I'm doing wrong.

​As a note, in the RT Systems programmer I can select channels to be skipped during the programming process but obviously this isn't practical in the field. Help!!!

​Also the manual basically says to use the [F/L] key to enter the set up modes for everything but other than having the keypad light up when I press it I never get any menus for anything with it.

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/13/17 13:39 by Railbaron.

With my FT-60r and FT-270 the last step in a keyboard sequence is to press the Transmit button. I haven't read the FT-250 manual though. It doesn't actually transmit, indeed it can not transmit outside the HAM band without modifications.

The FT-60r is kinda small and my fingers are kinda big, I wind up getting it into these screwy modes where all the right buttons due some very odd things. I usually turn it off or use a single channel and head for home. Even tried bringing a small laptop with the RT s/w in it. Finally spent quite a while on Google and found this keyboard confusion happens to other people and Yeasu has a keyboard reset feature, which cleared it right up. It appears to be the buffer for the keyboard only, possibly because they use that stack method.

There are other resets that wipe all the memory clean, I made sure I didn't do that. I had the RT s/w that time but could not load it onto the Company Laptop. I did load the pdf manuals onto the Company Laptop and that helped a great deal.

 

I have a FT-250R and a while ago i managed to get it into a weird mode which stopped me using it at all. I couldn't find a solution in the manual so eventually decided to give the company a call after visiting their website.  
After literally two minutes talking to a technical advisor the issue was solved and my scanner back in action. Just an idea but if you're struggling, you could try giving them a call.

Going through the manual that's a nice radio. Curious how it works out. It looks a little top heavy but somebody put a lot of thought into the case design.

'Set Mode reset'.

Thank you everybody for your input, and in advance for any additional input that might come in.

​I did the full reset taking it back to "factory" settings including eliminating the frequencies I stored. Once reset I installed the channels I want but it still will not allow me to lock out channels from the keypad. I guess a phone call to Yaesu will be in order unless somebody else has had this issue and knows a fix.

​Update: To hopefully help others, evidently the inability to temporarily lock out a channel is due to something in the RT Systems program. I talked to Yaesu today and he had me do a reset, then manually​ enter a few frequencies, and then try to lock one out - it worked. I then reset the radio again, reloaded the frequencies I wanted through the RT Systems program, and the ability to lockout frequencies no longer works so evidently there is a flaw in the RT Systems software. It has now been reported to RT Systems and this is evidently a new issue they haven't heard of.
 



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/13/17 18:25 by Railbaron.