On the way from Brunswick to Savannah yesterday morning, the Yaesu FTM-400XDR in my mobile station bit the dust. The display on the control head blinked off then came up with the boot screen and went no further. Apparently it didn’t key up the radio because I was able to hear some light audio from a QSO out of the speaker. Eventually I was able to pull over and investigate the problem, but I wasn’t able to get the radio to get past the boot screen. I pulled the power cord to shut it off and tried to restart it and now it won’t even restart. It’s just over two years old, so I wasn’t expecting any problems out of it. Unfortunately, it’s following in the tradition of my Yaesu FT-857, which has had multiple issues with the tuning knob, instead of the tradition of my FT-8800 and FT-897, neither of which have had the least bit of problem.

To say the least, it’s frustrating. I decided to replace the FTM-400 instead of trying to find a fix for it or get it fixed (maybe one of these days…) and ordered an Icom ID-4100A; we’ll see how it does. I also ordered the RT Systems software and programming cable so I can start working on a code plug for it before it arrives. I’ll just have to reacquaint myself with D-STAR because I haven’t been active on it in ages.

I’ll have more to say after the ID-4100 arrives and I get in installed.