FTM510D ⁽²⁾

Since I got it the FTM510D has been mounted under the shelf above the monitors. While that was ok it meant the mic lead was always caught behind one of the monitors. Having tidied one bookshelf and moved things around moving the Portsdown left a space under one of the three screens. A space, I thought ideal for the FTM510D. But how to mount it neatly... A search for 3D prints for the radio resulted in mainly mobile solutions but I came across a comment on one aimed at an earlier model saying the dimensions should be the same. It seems the FTM150 has the same slidemount arrangement and dimensions. So, off to makerworld - https://makerworld.com/en/models/1181052-desktop-stand-for-ftm-150rasp-may-fit-others - and off to order more PLA because I had hardly any of any sort of black filament. Twenty eight and a bit hours later... my biggest and longest print to date. Anyway, it worked just fine. After trimming the bits the radio slots straight in. The model even has a slot to hang the mic, and it sits just right under the monitor. Four sticky feet to stop it sliding finished it off. Surprisingly all the cables were of sufficient length for the radio's…

A couple of new arrivals, a (new) Yaesu FTM510D and an (old) Yaesu FRG9600. On the FTM510D it is unheard of for me to actually get something so new. New, yes, but usually at least a year after launch. But this is new new. I was actually about to order a FTM500D when, fortunately the advert for this poped up. And it is way ahead of my FTM100D that this is replacing. First off, I like the display. it's big but not too big, colourful and gives all the right information. Not shown here is the information you see from a memory chanel which includes the callsign (or whatever you program in), frequence, mode and tone. It seems to find the GPS a lot faster than the FTM100D or my FT5D. There are, of course a lot of variables, for example cold start times, or the fact that somehow the shack finds GPS hard despite the perfect sky view from SE to SW. (Mobile phones never seem to have an issue). But the FTM100D would sometimes not find a GPS signal in hours. The FT2D was even worse. I like the controls too, with volume top left and press for…