= NOW 40 WPM = BETWEEN THE RADIO AND YOUR COMPUTER AND THE COMPUTER WOULD NEED A MICROSD READER. SINCE I HAVE THE SCU 19 CABLE, I FIND IT SIMPLER TO JUST CONNECT DIRECTLY TO THE PC. WHEN I TURN THE FT5DR ON, IT COMMUNICATES WITH THE COMPUTER AND ESTABLISHES A SPECIFIC COM PORT. AFTER THE COMPUTER RECOGNIZES THE FT5DR AS A VALID DEVICE, I NOTE THE COM PORT NUMBER SO I CAN ENTER IT INTO THE ADMS 14 SOFTWARE. IF YOUD PREFER A MORE FULL FEATURED SOFTWARE APPLICATION, CONSIDER THE YPS 5 AGAIN AND THE FT5DR WILL DISPLAY ACTIVITY ON ALL THREE FREQUENCIES IN THE FORM OF VERTICAL BARS LABELED P1, P2, AND P3 YOU CAN REGISTER UP TO FIVE FREQUENCIES. WHENEVER ACTIVITY TAKES PLACE, THE BARS CHANGE COLOR AND EXPAND IN HEIGHT. TAP ON ANY OF THE BARS AND YOURE INSTANTLY TRANSPORTED TO THAT FREQUENCY. LIKE MANY HIGHER END HANDHELD MODELS, THE FT5DR OFFERS A BAND SCOPE. IVE USUALLY BEEN UNDERWHELMED WITH BAND SCOPES ON HANDHELD RIGS, BUT THE FT5DR IS AN EXCEPTION SEE FIGURE 1. THANKS TO THE SHARP, COLORFUL DISPLAY, THE SCOPE IS EASY TO SEE. WITH THE TOUCH SCREEN FUNCTION, THE BAND SCOPE IS EVEN EASIER TO USE. IF YOU SEE A SPIKE OF ACTIVITY, A QUICK TAP ON THE SCREEN WILL PUT YOU ON FREQUENCY. OF COURSE, THE FT5DR INCLUDES FLEXIBLE SCANNING FUNCTIONS. MY FAVORITE WAS THE MEMORY SCAN. I COULD CHOOSE WHICH MEMORY GROUPS I WANTED TO BROWSE AND THEN ACTIVATE THE SCAN. THERE IS ALSO A PROGRAMMABLE VFO SCAN, WHICH IS HANDY WHEN YOU WANT TO EXPLORE WITHIN A CERTAIN FREQUENCY RANGE. WHEN YOURE EAVESDROPPING WITH THE FT5DR, YOU CAN MAKE AUDIO RECORDINGS OF ANYTHING YOU HAPPEN TO STUMBLE ACROSS. NOT ONLY THAT YOU CAN ALSO RECORD YOUR OWN TRANSMISSIONS. TO USE THE RECORDING FEATURE, YOULL NEED A MICROSD MEMORY CARD THE FT5DR CAN SUPPORT CARDS WITH CAPACITIES AS GREAT AS 32 GB AND INSERT IT INTO THE SLOT ON THE SIDE OF THE RADIO. YOU MUST ENTER THE MENU SYSTEM TO START OR STOP RECORDING, AND THE RESULTING WAV AUDIO FILES WILL THEN BE STORED DIRECTLY ONTO THE CARD. YOU CAN PLAY THE FILES THROUGH THE FT5DR OR REMOVE THE MICROSD CARD AND PLAY THE FILES ON YOUR COMPUTER INSTEAD. ON THE AIR ANALOG FM OPERATING WAS A PLEASURE WITH THE FT5DR. RECEIVE AUDIO DIDNT SEEM AS PINCHED OR TINNY AS WHAT I ENCOUNTERED WHEN USING THE FT3DR. ON THE CONTRARY, IT SEEMED CLEAR AND FULL BODIED. THIS IS NO DOUBT DUE TO THE LARGER SPEAKER AND THE ADDITIONAL AUDIO OUTPUT POWER 1 W. THE FT5DR OFFERS VOICE OPERATED TRANSMIT/RECEIVE SWITCHING VOX, WHICH IS PARTICULARLY CONVENIENT DURING MOBILE OPERATIONS. THE TRANSCEIVER TAKES THIS IDEA A STEP FURTHER, HOWEVER, BY INCLUDING WIRELESS BLUETOOTH FUNCTIONALITY AS STANDARD EQUIPMENT. YAESU SELLS A BLUETOOTH HEADSET, BUT I OPTED TO TRY ANOTHER MODEL THAT I USE AROUND MY OFFICE. IT PAIRED EASILY WITH THE FT5DR AND, WITH THE VOX ACTIVE, I ONLY HAD TO SPEAK TO BEGIN TRANSMITTING. NEEDLESS TO SAY, YOU HAVE TO BE CAREFUL ABOUT WHAT YOU SAY WHEN THE VOX IS ON. STRONGLY WORDED CRITICISMS OF YOUR FELLOW DRIVERS COME TO MIND. AND THEN THERE IS DIGITAL WITH YAESUS IMPLEMENTATION OF C4FM = END OF 40 WPM TEXT = QST DE W1AW <