Yaesu are a bit of a late comer to digital modes but they seem quite determined to make a mark, they appear to have fully committed to the Fusion digital format. Yaesu initially sold their dual band digital repeater (DR-1X) with a hefty cash back offer, trying to tempt repeater keepers to upgrade, and there are now two hand held units available (FT1D and FT2D), along with two mobile units (FTM 100D and FTM-400D), as well as at least one multi-band multi-mode base station radio (FT-991).
The Yaesu Fusion digital system doesn't appear to have quite the impetus that the MotoTRBO 'DMR' system, or the Icom D-Star system has in the UK. The take up of Yaesu Fusion digital repeaters by repeater keepers seems to be pretty slow, here's a list of the current UK Fusion Repeaters, hopefully the addition of Wires X Internet linking to the mix will increase overall interest.
The main selling point Yaesu seem to be pushing is their Automatic Mode Selection (AMS) feature. This is the ability for the radio to automatically switch between Digital and Analogue, depending on the signal it receives. In all honesty, I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. On one hand it enables analogue and digital to coexist, but on the other hand it means people buying digital radios will just end up having to use them in analogue all the time, and, there's very little obvious impetus for existing slow-to-upgrade analogue users to purchase digital kit.
However, I think the positives outweigh the negatives.
Positives
- Compatibility between existing analogue users and new digital users
- Two digital voice modes (narrow and wide), with wide offering enhanced audio quality and narrow allowing data along with voice
- Integrated GPS/APRS functionality (Yaesu seem to have really embraced APRS)
- Internet Gateway linking (Integrated Digital and Analogue into Wires)
- Yet another digital system...
- Analogue users will potentially force digital users back to analogue operation, thereby negating the whole point of purchasing digital radios in the first place
When you start to compare the different manufacturers digital systems with one another, the one thing that stands out for me is that MotoTRBO 'DMR' is (currently) a closed PMR system. It has a ton of functionality, but very little of that functionality is controlled by the actual operator of the radio. Everything has to be pre-programmed into the radio via software. What's worse, the options you can choose to pre-program (talk groups and contacts) are effectively legislated by the repeater keepers and network controllers. Those Talk Groups aren't user selectable, they are Talk Groups the repeater keeper has pre-selected for you.
Now I do appreciate that I make use of programming software on the vast majority of my amateur kit, but at least I have the option to manually make adjustments and changes on the fly - if needed. This is just not currently the case with existing 'DMR' radios. They are designed to be commercial 'PMR' radios.
This is where D-Star and Fusion win out for me (currently). With both systems you have control of all of the radios functionality and options from the front panel. Also, who you connect to via an Internet gateway is selected by you.
The FT1DE hand held and the FTM100DE mobile both have integrated GPS receivers and APRS functionality built in. This means that even if I were to never use Fusion digital, I would still have two perfectly usable APRS capable analogue radios. This is something that Icom failed to do on the D-Star radios. Sure, D-Star radios with GPS receivers can do D-PRS, but they can't do APRS on 144.800MHz.
As a final note, it's a real shame that Icom and Yaesu decided to proceed with different digital formats, especially as Icom opted for a digital format that was created by the JARL over ten years ago, but that is where we are, and these are the systems we have to choose from. On the bright side, at least we have analogue in common. ;)
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