Yaesu FT-201

Not to be confused with the FT-102 (1982). The 1973 FT-201 resembles the FL-101 / FR-101 Yaesu Twins — hybrid, mostly solid state, with a 12BY7A driver and two 6JS6C finals like the FT-101.

~30 lb (14 kg) by modern standards is heavy, but it was sold as portable. Very popular in Europe; few reached the United States.

• Built-in AC/DC supplies — 260 W PEP SSB, 180 W CW, 80 W AM
• 1 kHz readout, noise blanker, VOX, break-in CW, ±5 kHz clarifier, WWV/JJY
• Options: FV-201 external VFO, SP-101PB speaker patch, MMB-1 mobile bracket

Sold as an economical mobile/base station. Yaesu cut corners versus the FT-101 — let’s look inside.

Striking resemblance to the Twins, but the Twins used FT-101–quality board connectors.

The FT-101 uses computer-grade sockets; the FT-201 uses inexpensive plastic push-on connectors. Boards do not plug out without removing screws. Brittle wiring can break — check every connector wire before reassembly. Same style found in FT-620 and FT-220.

If you don’t touch them, they work great. If you do, solder carefully.

Mic amp under the speaker; premix holds crystal oscillator and trimmers. No crystal sockets — crystals are soldered in unlike the FT-101. PB-1383 sits over a band switch; RF unit removal may be needed for service.

PA resembles FT-101 / FL-101 — two 6JS6C tubes, 50 mA idle current. Concentric shaft controls plate and loading capacitors (similar concept to Heathkit SB-101 / HW-101, but with gears instead of a rubber grommet).

Alignment uses inductors more than trimmer capacitors (FT-101 style).

No FT-101 preselector — replaced by a three-gang tuning capacitor. Many circuits consolidated on large boards (AF PB-1385, IF PB-1382).

9 MHz IF on PB-1382 — TX/RX IF, crystal filters, AGC, noise blanker, AM/SSB detectors. XF-92A SSB filter installed; XF-90B AM and XF-90C CW are optional (shared with FT-620B, FT-301D). Boards can be serviced outside the chassis without extender boards.

• XF-90A — SSB 2.6 kHz
• XF-90B — AM 6 kHz
• XF-90C — CW 600 Hz

PB-1385: AN-214 audio IC, MFC6034 6 V VFO supply, VOX, PA bias, 100/25 kHz marker. PB-1388 mic amp under the speaker.

Use an external speaker — the internal speaker is convenient but thin-sounding.

USB 8998.5 kHz, LSB 9001.5 kHz, AM/CW 8999.3 kHz. ALC, AM modulator, SSB balanced modulator feeding 9 MHz TX IF — similar role to FT-101 carrier board.

Dual 3SK40 FET front end and mixer — not on a removable sub-board like FT-101. 16 V fuse lamp in series with antenna (FT-101B and later had this protection).

Two rigs on the bench — power slightly below a good FT-101; receive can be wide without optional filters. Rear panel shares FT-101 accessory fan, DC-DC inverter, and FTV-250/650 transverter sockets. Never as service-friendly as the FT-101, but owners who love them often forgive that until the first repair.

A note from Harry Leeming G3LLL

“Never had many pass through my hands. Over here it was priced as though the importer really did not want to sell it… The receiver I think was better than the 101E as it was only a single conversion as per 101ZD. I got the impression that it was some kind of experiment that did not work out commercially.”

73’s Carol L. Maher W4CLM