Over the years I've gradually throttled back my AR activities. I'm still an avid 6m op but on other bands I'm not really interested in chasing awards or playing contests etc.....did that years ago!
I made an odd (for me) decision to consider updating my venerable 590S for one of Yaesu's latest offerings. Hence the FT710 is now currently residing in my shack. Purchased around 6 months ago.
It's a neat little rig and has lots of bells and whistles and one of the reasons I bought it was to see what the screen/waterfall/etc was all about. In over 40 years I've never had a rig with a touch or any screen hence the purchase to see what's what!
Well I have to say I still prefer the buttons/knobs rather than touch screen menus...I find the old school stuff easier to change than going through on-screen menus (sometimes embedded 2 or 3 deep!).
In terms of rx performance I can't find any outstanding improvement of the 710 over the 590.
I hardly use voice any more so I can't comment there but do know that in the past I always had good rpts from the Kenwood.
I've probably talked myself into keeping the TS590 so I guess I'll have the 710 up for sale shortly!
Cheers VK6OX
Hey Andy,
while you have the two sitting side by side, would be interested in some opinions on the ergonomics of the 710 vs the 590. I will be up front here, I am an Icom fan boy as I have always found the operator ergonomics to be a good fit for me, the knobs are where my hands expect them to be and each of the buttons is in a logical grouping and the buttons have always had consistent naming across the generations. Only had brief contact with the modern Yaesu HF's and always struggled to make sense of the layout. Does it work for you?
(01-10-2023, 09:00 AM)VK5PJ Wrote: [ -> ]Hey Andy,
while you have the two sitting side by side, would be interested in some opinions on the ergonomics of the 710 vs the 590. I will be up front here, I am an Icom fan boy as I have always found the operator ergonomics to be a good fit for me, the knobs are where my hands expect them to be and each of the buttons is in a logical grouping and the buttons have always had consistent naming across the generations. Only had brief contact with the modern Yaesu HF's and always struggled to make sense of the layout. Does it work for you?
Hi Pete,
Short answer....touch screens, embedded menus suck!
I've always been a Kenwood ham. Lots of Knobs and tactile buttons work for me, touch screens don't!
I had Yaesus and Icoms in the analogue days way back when. Back then there wasn't a lot of difference in OP ergonomics so all of the rigs were easy to use. Last Icom I had was a 551D.
The 710 WILL be up for sale!
Well, how embarrassment!
After stating categorically that I
would sell the FT-710, I've had a change of heart!
I've decided to live with the modern style of rig (touch screen, embedded menus, buggerall knobs etc.) and force my 70+ year self into the 21st Century!
So the FT-710 stays, and so does the venerable TS590S. The transition from Kenwood to Yaesu will take a few weeks but I'll eventually have the 710 as the primary rig with the 590 as b/up.
Hey Andy,
will be interested in a review from you on how you get to live with the Yaesu user interface. I should ask some of the locals if I can get some time in front of a modern Yaesu to confirm or dispel my belief's.
(01-11-2023, 08:19 AM)VK5PJ Wrote: [ -> ]Hey Andy,
will be interested in a review from you on how you get to live with the Yaesu user interface. I should ask some of the locals if I can get some time in front of a modern Yaesu to confirm or dispel my belief's.
OK so it's been roughly a year since I last posted....and I still have both rigs! The 590S is still my go-to rig for 6m but in recent months I've been getting up "close and personal" with the 710 and must say that after biting down and accepting the new way of rig ergonomics
I'm kinda liking this little guy more and more. After making the effort to undersand/play with the menus, this FT710 does a very nice job for an old fart like me! After initially backing away from too many embedded menu items, I found that the 710 is pretty easy to get around.
I currently use it for 10m (mainly digital) and it does the job without drama. I've also rearranged my shack switching so I can swap between the 590 and 710 for 6m. Both rigs do a fine job for me! It's hard to determine whether the 710 is demonstrably better on small sigs on 6m than the 590 but as time goes by I'll try to provide a sensible comparison.
So, meantime, both rigs will happily reside in the VK6OX shack!!
Nested menus are a pain and trying to remember where the relevant item is really taxes my brain.
There is some nice 3rd party software WIN4YAESU and WIN4ICOM which make things easier than hunching over the radio and pecking at the screen.
It also has the advantage of dispalying the panadapter on the monitor.
Well worth trying - it works great with the FT991 on the remote and with the IC-9700 at home and on the remote.
Hi Andy,
thanks for the update, it is interesting that you have been able to acclimatise of the FT-710 ergonomics. I just recently saw a FT101DX in person for the 1st time but did not get to try it out, still happy in my little corner with the Icom gear, maybe one day I will stray LOL.