[Yaesu] FT902DM

[Rick Blank]

Jeff, the 902DM was once considered a "SuperRig" or "Contester 
Quality", the exact memory of what was stated in the ads of the time 
escape me now.

As far as a comparison to the 530 and 830, I have never had one of 
these rigs, although I do have a lot of Collins, Hallicrafters, 
Hammarlund, Swan, Drake, Yaesu, TenTec and National rigs, I have 
never owned a Kenwood HF transceiver.

I do have a couple of friends that have 830's and they both have had 
"cold solder" joint problems over the years and from talking to a 
former tech, this can be a problem in the Kenwood radios.  
Neither he nor I have heard of this problem in the 902DM's.

The Kenwood "twins" were pretty good radios, I had a set of the first 
variant, but they just didn't do anything for me, they weren't bad 
radios, but a buddy wanted them more then me, so I sold them to him 
after owning them for about a year.

That's about all I can answer comparing the 902DM to the 530, 830, 
and 599 series of Kenwoods.

I do know that the 902 (after I experimented with FET's in the mixer 
and RF amp sections) received nearly as well as my FT990 and OMNI-V, 
but as far as IMD, blocking, or any of the other measured performance 
parameters of the modified vs. the stock 902DM, I can't say...I never 
measured, only listened.

The 902DM was a great rig and never messed up on me, even though I 
got it from a guy who wasn't a ham in a trade deal, and one I 
wouldn't hesitate to recommend to anyone looking for a rig of this 
class.


Rick Blank, KI5SL                     
rblank@txdirect.net
AMSAT NA# 26195
San Antonio, Texas 

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