Yaesu FT-450D reviews

While studying for my General 8 years ago, I got bored with VHF and decided to try the Tech SSB portion of the 10 meter band. I bought my 450D, built a simple 2 element 10 meter yagi, and installed it on an old 40 foot TV tower I bought on Craig's List.
At the time 10 meter propagation was fantastic and, as a Tech, I was working the world with my little 450D. About 50 DX countries in about 3 months. I routinely got very good signal reports running 100 watts. The built filters and DSP got me through a lot of tough QRM and QRN.

A great first HF radio for the new General on a budget.

Bought new, on sale for 650 USD. Worked well out of box. What attracted me to it was it has a built in tuner, and filters. I had a Kenwood 480HX, had to add filters and a tuner for extra dollars. and that radio cost me 1400 USD. Yes it was a 200 watt radio vs 100, but realistically that is negligible. DSP and filters work well. A lot of the controls are on the front panel, rather than in hidden menus. Have used it mobile with ham sticks, and works well, has good "ears" for that use. Overall, am very pleased with it. Written June 17, 2018

It's small, but it can and does well all that is needed