I have been using my new FT-60R for the last couple of days now and find it to be a very solid HT (hand held transceiver). It may not have all the extras which are offered on many HT’s but this is still a serious contender. I do think that a battery charge indicator would have been a nice touch.

The FT-60R feels fairly comfortable in the hand and unlike other HT’s I have owned, it does have a very solid feel to it. Programming the radio is fairly straight forward with a rather intuitive menu system. I also purchased a 2m/70cm Diamond Antenna; which showed an immediate improvement on reception.

My main motivation for getting this dual band radio was so that I could to some satellite work. Most Amateur satellites have a 2m up link and a 70cm down link. Using the radio’s odd split feature I can program in frequency pairs for all satellites. Not too shabby!

Next on my list is a dual band Arrow antenna that will allow me to direct my radio signal anywhere I want (including satellites).

Overall the FT-60R a solid performer that is well built for around $180.00

The video above visualizes my ultimate goal with this HT.