I have been using my FT60R for quite some time now and find it to be a very solid HT. It may not have all the extras which are offered on many HT’s but this is still a serious contender. Some of those (missing?) extras include but are not limited to (extended (HF) receive, FM radio, on board clock and battery charge indicator). My opinion of these items are; If you want an HF receiver go purchase one. An HT as a clock? No, I don’t think so… FM radio? Those cost about a buck or two nowadays. However, I do have to agree that a battery charge indicator would have been a nice touch. I believe some of the other, recent Yaesu HT’s include a charge indicator.

The FT60R form factor feels fairly comfortable in the hand and unlike other HT’s I have owned, it does have a very solid (milspec?) feel to it. Programming the radio is fairly straight forward with a rather intuitive menu system. To compare, have you ever attempted programming an ICOM IC91A? Lets just say that you may want to shoot yourself before the programming phase is complete. I ran into some minor hiccups trying to set up my CWID under ARTS, but it was just a matter of going through the programming sequence a few times to get my head around it.

The F60R’s display is an adequate size. I do like the amber lighting and the optional ways that lighting can be configured. All of the buttons are placed in logical positions and are clearly labeled. As far as knobs go, the power / AF gain knob is a bit kludgy ( A kludgy system is one that features clunky, cobbled-together and poorly designed rules. …) unless you have very small hands. Yaesu engineering squeezed it in between the antenna and the squelch knob. A logical placement but a bit difficult to turn off.

I am not going into specifications since you can get them anywhere. The final word is that you can get yourself a solid performer that is well built for around $190.00.