FRG-100 : Is mine an "A" or a "B" and other questions

[Dave]

Howdy,

I just bought a nice used Yaesu FRG-100. I understand that the first
number of the serial no. indicates the year made.

Mine is "2N030239" which might indicate that this radio was made in
1992 but it sure doesn't look 15 years old.

Maybe they changed the serial number format as of year 2000.

Does anyone know? Also, has it ever been determined when exactly the
model was changed from A to B? I've seen old postings indicating
anything from 1994 to 1998.

I guess what I'm really trying to figure out is if this radio has the
"upgraded" filters supposedly installed in the "B".

Are the KIWA replacement filters still better than the stock ones in
the "B"?

Is the KIWA $15.00 audio upgrade kit worth doing?

Anyway, it's a swell radio.

Thanks,

Dave dal...@comcast.net

[Peter]

Check this site out it might help
http://www.rigpix.com/yaesu/frg100.htm

"Dave" <da...@somewhere.net> wrote in message
news:7kmk8v8hek9sqodmb...@4ax.com...

[Pete KE9OA]

I do have the B model, but there was a time when I had both the A and B
models. I didn't hear any difference between the two of them. Both of the
units used the Murata CFJ455K filter for SSB reception, and both of the used
the CFWS455H and CFWS455I. Now, the later model could be using the 455HT
and 455IT filters, which have slightly steeper skirt selectivity. Take a
look at your I.F. filters, and see if you have the aforementioned filters,
or the CFWS455HT and CFWS455IT filters. These filters are about 3 dollars
each vs. 2 and a half dollars each. If you are using the better filters, it
could be that Yaesu matched the termination impedances a little better in
the later model, because I didn't see any difference in the board layouts.
I had both units apart, because I removed the MW attenuator from both of
them. If there is enough interest on that mod, I will post it up on my
website.

Pete

Peter <pierre...@rogers.com> wrote in message
news:egtia.4091$7Im....@news04.bloor.is.net.cable.rogers.com...

[Andy Bown]

Hi

I bought my FRG-100 brand new at the beginning of 2002, so mine is
obviously an improved one. The 'B' denomination didn't come from
Yaesu, apparently. The filters in mine were labelled as LF-H2S for the
AM narrow filter, and LF-H6S for the AM wide filter but I don't know
when Yaesu started using these particular filters. I replaced both of
them with Kiwa filter modules, and don't regret the decision.

I have swapped the filters in and out a few times to compare
performance and so can hopefully give you a good idea of the
difference. According to the Passport White Paper and Kiwa's specs,
the ultimate rejection of both the stock and Kiwa filters is almost
identical at just over 70 dB, so no real difference there. Both sets
have good shape factors: the Kiwas have a -6dB /-60 dB shape factor of
1.65, and the stock LF-H6S and LF-H2S have a shape factor of 1.7, so
again no real difference. The stock filters have an insertion loss of
about -6 dB, whereas the Kiwas have no insertion loss, but I couldn't
really detect much difference, if any. The main difference is in the
bandwidths of the filters. The stock filters have bandwidths of 4.5
Khz @ -6dB, and the wide measures 9.1 KHz, again according to the RDI
White Paper, which gives a very thorough review. The Kiwa set I
ordered measure 3.7 KHz and 6 KHz respectively.

The improvement offered by the Kiwa narrow filter is noticeable in
crowded conditions, and I would say it is a slight improvement over
the stock narrow. It sounds good if you detune about 1 KHz from the
actual transmission frequency, but is a bit muffled to my ears if you
stay on centre. The Kiwa wide is much better than the stock wide,
however. I found the stock wide great for MW listening, but too broad
for SW. It sounds great if the signal is in the clear, but for
bandscanning it allows in too much interference, and there were always
problems with hets. The 6KHz Kiwa is great though.

If you are into DXing, I'd go for both a narrow and a wide Kiwa filter
module. If you are more of a broadcast listener, I would just replace
the wide filter with either a 6 KHz Kiwa filter module, or with an
LF-H4S, which Kiwa also offer. This is cheaper than the module, and
offers similar performance. It is also a pin-for-pin replacement of
the stock wide filter. I have one of these in my Icom R71E, and it
works well. If you discover that you have the original or older
version of the FRG-100, I'd swap both filters, as the AM narrow in the
B version is supposedly a big improvement on the one in the original
version.

I have also installed the Kiwa audio upgrade and definitely recommend
it. It really cleans the audio up and improves intelligibility. You
could also perform Frank Cathell's audio mod (search for that in the
newsgroup archives in Google, as he's posted it a few times), which
improves things further. I found that the two mods complemented each
other.

The FRG-100 is an excellent radio. I have put it alongside my R71,
which has the Kiwa audio upgrade and the Kiwa LF-H4S AM wide filter,
and it hears everything the Icom does, especially with the Kiwa filter
modules installed. The Icom is better on SSB, as it has passband
tuning, RF gain and a notch filter, plus the AGC can be switched off,
but the difference is small.

Hope this has been of some help.

Cheers

Andy

[Pete KE9OA]

I used to know who made those series of filters..............I cannot
remember if TDK or Panasonic made those devices. My unit has the Murata
filters.

Pete

Andy Bown <a_b...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:46c8915.03040...@posting.google.com...

[rezeiwer]

Hi,
I have two of them A made in 1992 and B made in 1997, the only
difference is the filters, not much difference between the two
models.

But the easiest and greatest improvement for the selectivity of the AM
signals is by changing receiver selectivity (user manual page 20) and
set the 2.7 kHz SSB filter also for AM narrow, again the 4 kHz one
for the AM wide. You can change either LSB or USB filter to wider than
the original if you want to enjoy AM signals using SSB.

Also select broadcast band mode (page 15) for quick jump between the
bands.
Another nice one is to select the fast tuning steps e.g. for LSB 9 kHz
(in Europe) and for USB 10 kHz. This way you seldom miss the keypad.

Happy tuning!

rez

"Pete KE9OA" <n.giana...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message news:<0taja.44836$ja4.2...@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net>...

[N8KDV]

rezeiwer wrote:

Apparently there is no such thing as a FRG-100B. Does it say FRG-100B on the front of the receiver?

[Pete KE9OA]

No difference in the model number....................the only folks who tell
you it's a "B" are the ones selling it. Marketing hype? Who know? They
always seem to use that "we reserve the right to make improvements without
any prior notice" disclaimer. It would be interesting to compare schematics
of early and late models, to see if the filters are terminated any
differently. When I had both of my units apart, the board layouts looked
the same.

Pete

N8KDV <n8...@nospam.iserv.net> wrote in message
news:3E8DA10A...@nospam.iserv.net...

[rezeiwer]

Maybe more like rumour. Just to correct my words, you cannot select
the tuning step both different on USB and LSB, just set the SSB fast
step to 10 and AM fast step to 10 kHz.

73 rez

N8KDV <n8...@nospam.iserv.net> wrote in message news:<3E8DA10A...@nospam.iserv.net>...