[Yaesu] Mk V and Mk V Field questions

[Rob Atkinson, K5UJ]

Hello everyone.

I am trying to make a purchase decision between the Mk V and Mk V Field.  
That was part of the reason I was asking about the p.s. in the Field 
yesterday.  I realize this topic has probably come up a zillion times over 
the past couple of years so I'm not asking for someone to tell me which one 
to buy.  Instead I'm asking for information to help me make a more informed 
decision.  Today I'm focusing on the 200 w. PA of the Mk V.  I have heard 
and read that there have been a number of failures of this PA since the rig 
was introduced.  Does anyone know if this has been resolved by the mfr.?  
Or, while there have been failures, I also realize many customers have run 
their Mk Vs regularly with no PA problems at all.  This leads me to suspect 
that perhaps the failures were due to txing with a power level and duty 
cycle that were in excess as I think the 200 w. rating is for SSB and CW and 
not psk31 or sstv, rtty and other data modes.  Can anyone confirm this or 
was something else the problem?  Have any owners of the Mk V had any 
problems relating to being tied to an unusual p.s. (30 v.)?  Has that 200 
watts really been a nice thing to have justifying the extra 300 bucks or so 
in cost?
Tnx agn & 73,

Rob Atkinson
K5UJ
k5uj at hotmail.com

_________________________________________________________________
Watch LIVE baseball games on your computer with MLB.TV, included with MSN 
Premium! 
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/mlb&pgmarket=en-us/go/onm00200439ave/direct/01/