Amateur FTM-400DR 144 User manual

Amateur Radio August 2016 23
The FTM-400DR 144/430 MHz
dual band mobile transceiver is
one of Yaesu’s latest in the System
Fusion range. Combined with the
HRI-200 WIRES-X internet linking
unit, this is a highly functional digital
communications system for the
modern amateur.
Features
• 144/430 MHz dual band
transceiver with automatic
detection of FM/C4FM digital
communication mode
• Wide band receiver in the 108
MHz to 999 MHz range
• Transmit power of 50/20/5 W
selectable with cooling fan
• LCD front panel complete
with 3 m separation cable and
mounting bracket
• Full colour 90 mm LCD high
luminance TFT touch panel
• 1000 memory channels split
between the A Band and B Band
• Supports micro-SD card for
programming, backup and
cloning to other transceivers
• VFO or memory scan functions
• Built in GPS receiver for display
of location and movement
information
• APRS function built in for
communication of location and
messages
• Group monitor function for
information exchange between
frequently communicating
groups
• Support for Yaesu’s WIRES-X
internet linking function
• Optional Bluetooth adaptor for
hands free operation
• Optional voice guidance unit
provides voice announcements
and recording of received audio
• Optional camera equipped
microphone
Product Review |FTM-400DR 144/430
MHz Dual Band Transceiver
Peter Hartfield VK3PH
In the box
The main unit and detached control
head
• DTMF microphone (MH-48A6JA)
• Fused power cable with bare
ends for connection to the
mobile power supply (the
connector at the transceiver end
is a standard 2 pin auto plug and
two spare fuses are supplied)
• Mounting brackets and screws
for both the transceiver and the
remote head
• Manual (which is also available
to download from the Yaesu web
site in PDF format)
• Programming cable (SCU-20) –
this is a huge addition to the box
as the programming software is
also available free for download
from the Yaesu web site
• Stereo to mono plug for
connection to the external
speaker jack
• 3 m controller cable (for remote
head)
Photo 1: The FTM-400DR transceiver.
Photo 2: The HRI-200 Internet Linking Unit.

24 Amateur Radio August 2016
Installation
The mounting brackets for most
of the Yaesu mobiles are identical
in size and the screws are
interchangeable if you are replacing
an existing unit. In this case I had
already installed the FTM-100DR in
place of the FT-7900 in the car, so
this unit was installed and reviewed
on the bench.
The antenna connector is a
UHF type socket unlike the FT-7900
which has an N socket. I am not
sure why Yaesu have changed these
connectors, although it wasn’t a big
problem for me as I have a coax
feed into the shack with a PL259
connector at the radio end. The
power cables are standard 2-pin,
so no problems running a short
lead from the radio to the Anderson
PowerPole distribution box.
The remote head mounting
bracket comes with a double sided
adhesive sheet that is designed
to stick to a flat panel on top of
the dash. In my case I used Velcro
strips to secure the remote head to
the top of the power supply unit.
This provided easy access to the
controls.
I plugged the control cable into
the back of the remote head and
the other end into the transceiver.
The microphone also plugs directly
into the transceiver. If you have the
transceiver mounted remotely, an
extension cable will be required.
Then I powered up the transceiver
and I am on air.
Operation
Programming software is not
required to configure the transceiver
although I would highly recommend
using it due to the many features
available and their complexity.
As already mentioned, the
programming cable is provided and
the software is downloadable for
free from the Yaesu web site. When
the transceiver is first powered
on, you will be asked to enter
your callsign. The LCD screen will
basically guide you through this
process using the touch screen to
select the required letters. Up to
10 alphanumeric characters can be
entered including a hyphen.
To turn the transceiver on, press
the power button for two seconds
and the LCD screen comes to life.
To turn the transceiver off, press
the power button again for over
two seconds or you can configure
the auto power off feature to turn
the transceiver off after an interval
of inactivity. I am not using this
function in the shack although it is
very useful for a mobile situation to
avoid draining the car battery if the
transceiver is accidentally left on.
The power button also doubles
as a lock key to stop any accidental
operation of the transceiver. Press
the key momentarily to lock and
again to unlock. The FTM-400XDR
has a true dual band receiver and
can therefore receive signals on
two frequencies at the same time
(either on the same band or on
different bands). The screen is split
in two showing the details of each
frequency being received. The
active or the current transmitting
frequency is shown in bright colour,
the other is greyed out. Changing
between transmit frequencies is as
easy as touching the required active
frequency on the screen.
There are two volume knobs
on the front panel, one for band
A (upper) and one for band B
(lower). There are two dials on the
right hand side, one for band A
(upper) and one for band B (lower).
These are used for adjusting the
frequency, selecting a memory
channel or selecting an item when
programming etc. The touch screen
is used for most other functions.
The other buttons on the
front panel provide the following
functions (in each case, select the
first function with a momentary
press and the second function
by pressing and hold for over 1
second):
• DX – switches the operating
band communication mode
(FM/C4FM etc.); activates the
WIRES-X function
• Power LOCK – locks/unlocks the
screen; switches the power on/
off
• DISP SETUP – switches the
information display between
your location, received station
location or GPS info screen;
enters the SETUP menu
• F MW – displays the function
menu; enters the memory writing
mode
• GM – activates the group
monitor function
In addition to the physical buttons,
there are four user programmable
soft function keys displayed on the
lower segment of the touch screen.
The supplied microphone
(MH-48A6JA) also supports most
of the above functions so that the
transceiver can be operated without
touching the front panel. In addition,
there are four function keys that can
be programed to perform your most
commonly used functions.
Built in GPS
The GPS reception antenna is
located in the detachable front
panel (top centre). For this reason,
it is recommended that the front
panel is mounted on the dash or at
the front side of the centre console
to gain a clear GPS signal. The icon
(looks like a satellite) in the top right
hand corner of the screen indicates
a GPS lock (flashing means finding
the GPS signal and stable means
GPS locked).
Available screen displays
Dual Band screen – shows band
A at the top and band B below. At
the bottom of the screen are the
soft programmable function keys.
By default, these are V/M (switch
between VFO and memory mode);
SQL (touch this to use the knob to
adjust the squelch level); MUTE (to
mute the sound); and SCOPE (to
select the band scope function).
Band Scope screen – displays the
band scope below the operating
frequency. The width of the band
scope can be set to wide or narrow
as desired.

Amateur Radio August 2016 25
Function Menu screen – displays
the available functions under the
operating frequency. The options
can be scrolled through using
the forward and back functions.
Pressing one of the functions
displays the next level of detail or
guides you though the settings. Any
of the functions displayed at the top
menu level can be associated with
one of the four dedicated function
keys.
Compass screen – The direction
of travel of your own station
and direction coordinates of the
received station are displayed on
the compass screen.
Altitude Display screen – The
altitude of the current location is
shown in the bar graph display.
Timer / Clock screen – The current
time is shown in analogue and
digital formats along with the date.
Other available screens include
Lap Timer screen, Count down
Timer screen, GPS Detail screen,
Numbers and Symbols input screen,
and Alphabet input screen.
Programming the transceiver
There are a few options available
for programming the transceiver.
The most basic option is via the
front panel. You will probably want
to load it with a large list of local
repeaters therefore I would highly
recommend using programming
software. After all, the transceiver
comes with a programming cable
and the Yaesu software can be
downloaded from their web site for
free.
I use RT Systems software for
programming all of my transceivers;
therefore I downloaded a copy of
the FTM-400XDR radio programmer
which cost me $25 USD (~$35
AUD). The RT Systems software
will work with the Yaesu supplied
cable or a micro-SD card. The
FTM-400DR is not yet listed on
the CHIRP web site, although I’m
sure it will appear soon given the
popularity of this software.
The best place to get the latest
repeater files is from the WIA web
site. There is a CSV file available
that can be massaged and imported
directly into the programmer. When
you run the programmer, you will
notice that there are two bands
available (Band A and Band B).
Yaesu has decided to remove the
memory bank functionality from
this transceiver to help reduce
its complexity. I personally think
this was a wrong move because
organising memories into banks is
great for travelling and grouping
favourite channels together.
I configured all of the 2 m
repeaters for VIC (50 of) in Band
A and 70 cm repeaters (65 of) in
Band B. The 500+500 available
memory channels will be more
than adequate for most users in
Australia. This was a simple copy
and paste from the FTM-100DR
repeater configuration file I setup
earlier in the year.
In addition to the Band A and
Band B memories, there are nine
pairs of limit memories that can be
programmed for each band; five
home channels and the initial VFO
frequencies can be set. All of the
other functions can be set via tabs
on the menu settings window. There
are too many functions to go through
here. Once you have saved the
transceiver configuration, you have
the option of communicating with it
via the supplied cable or saving the
configuration to a micro-SD card.
Micro-SD card
The micro-SD memory card slot
is located at the front of the main
body. The letters SD are displayed
on the front panel when a card is
detected in the transceiver. Note
that a micro-SD card is not supplied
with the transceiver. The micro-SD
card can be used for the following
functions:
• Backing up the information and
settings of the transceiver
• Saving GPS log data for use in a
personal computer
• Saving data downloaded using
the GM and WIRES-X functions
• Exchanging data with other
transceivers
The transceiver supports micro-
SD cards from 2 GB to 32 GB in
size. According to the manual, not
all commercial micro-SD cards
will work and the card must be
initialised in the transceiver to
ensure proper operation. I used
an 8 GB SanDisk Ultra without
a problem. The transceiver
supports the FAT32 file system.
Note that if you format the card in
the transceiver according to the
initialisation procedure, all data on
the card will be lost.
The micro-SD card is a very
convenient way to program or re-
program the transceiver after it has
been installed in a vehicle. It is a
much easier alternative to removing
the transceiver or having to take your
laptop and cable out to the vehicle.
Simply insert it in the transceiver,
select write to micro-SD card and
remove it. Insert the micro-SD
card into a personal computer. The
programming software allows you to
read from it, make whatever changes
you need and then write back to
it. Re-insert it into the transceiver,
perform a read from micro-SD card
and you are up and running with the
changes you just made.
C4FM digital mode
As you can see, this transceiver is
packed with features, but the main
attraction is the C4FM digital mode.
The FTM-400XDR transceiver
is equipped with an Automatic
Mode Select (AMS) function which
automatically selects one of four
transmission modes depending on
the signal received. If AMS is off,
the mode can be set manually.
• DN (voice / data simultaneous
transmission mode) – This is
the standard mode for C4FM
digital. Transmission is less
prone to interruptions due to
detection and correction of voice
signals. GPS data (if available)
is transmitted along with the
voice data and the transmitting
stations Callsign. The LCD
screen will display the Callsign
and distance to the received
station (if GPS data is available).

26 Amateur Radio August 2016
• VW (voice full rate mode) –
digital voice data is transmitted
using the full 12.5 kHz
bandwidth which enables high
quality voice communication.
• DW (high speed data
communication mode) – data is
transmitted using the full 12.5
kHz bandwidth for image and
message transmission.
• FM (analogue FM mode)
– standard FM mode of
transmission which supports
communications with stations
not able to transmit using a
digital mode.
Compared to other digital
modulations within FDMA, C4FM
has excellent communication
quality, Bit Error Rate (BER)
characteristics. Presently, C4FM
is the standard method for
professional communication devices
in FDMA, and is therefore expected
to continue to be the main stream
digital communication in the future.
On air, the number of repeaters
and users of C4FM devices is
starting to grow. I have had many
contacts while testing this transceiver
and I can say that the audio quality
certainly lives up to expectation
both through the local repeaters and
via simplex communications. The
ability of the transceiver to drop back
to conventional FM mode when it
hears one of these signals is simply
amazing.
Unfortunately, I can’t tell you
where to find all the repeaters here,
although I know there are several in
VIC, NSW, QLD and WA. I hope to
have a full list available for the 2017
Callbook.
APRS feature
Setting up the APRS feature on this
radio was fairly straightforward after
having done it before for the FTM-
100DR using the right frequency
(145.175 MHz) and band rate (1200
baud). Turning on the APRS modem
suddenly brought the transceiver
to life displaying station information
as far away as VK5, VK7 and VK2.
Turing on the auto beacon feature
enabled me to contribute my
position.
The configuration options for
APRS are quite extensive therefore I
won’t go through them here. Suffice
to say Yaesu provides a separate
instruction manual for APRS that is
available for download from their
web site.
WIRES-X feature (HRI-200)
The WIRES-X feature is a
system that links to other users
via the internet which enables
communication world-wide
regardless of the distance between
Photo 3: The transceiver and associated equipment set up to operate as a WIRES-X radio node.

Amateur Radio August 2016 27
stations. To establish a WIRES-X
node, the WIRES-X connection kit
(HRI-200) and an internet connected
PC is required. Yaesu provide
separate instruction manuals
for WIRES-X setup (HRI-200)
and operation (for each model
transceiver).
To establish a node, you first
need to register with Yaesu. You
will need to complete a web form
and have the serial number of your
HRI-200 internet linking unit handy.
The process was very easy and was
completed within 24 hours. You can
find out more about WIRES-X and
where to find nodes at the following
web site: https://www.yaesu.com/
jp/en/wires-x/index.php (click on the
WIRES-X ID list button). If you also
click on Asia, Oceania then sort by
country, all of the Australia nodes
will be at the head of the list. My
DTMF node ID is 14090. I count 39
nodes currently listed in Australia at
the time of writing.
If the node is active, you can
find its frequency on the WIRES-X
Active ID List. When operational,
I put my node on 439.125 MHz
as this frequency shows up as an
internet linking frequency in the
current WIA band plan. With the
current location of the antenna, my
node can be heard throughout the
Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne.
There don’t appear to be any other
nodes on this frequency within
range.
The HRI-200 comes with a
standard USB cable for connection
to the PC. The unit is powered by
this connection. It also comes with
a 10 pin to 10 pin mini-DIN cable
for connection to a digital radio and
a 10 pin to 6 pin mini-DIN cable
for connection to an analogue
(FM) radio. The HRI-200 supports
connection to up to 2 radios. I’m
using the FTM-400XDR as the
digital radio and the FT-7900 as an
FM radio node (for those that don’t
have C4FM).
Connect the HRI-200 to the PC
using the standard USB cable and
then install the WIRES-X software.
The PC must have a connection
to the internet and the router must
be capable of port forwarding. My
router is connected via ADSL and
has the automatic UPnP setting
enabled. This is a much simpler way
of setting up the required ports to
forward as the software takes care
of that for you.
The next step is to run the
software and register your node.
Photo 4: A functional diagram of the WIRES-X communications system.
Photo 5: A screenshot of the WIRES-X Activation screen.