The keys you will use
- VOL knob on top
- turns the radio on and sets the volume. Turn until it clicks, then about a third of the way.
- PTT
- the big button on the side. Push to talk, let go to listen.
- MONI
- the small button under PTT. Hold it to hear everything on the frequency, static included.
- F/MENU
- a short press is the F (function) shift for the words printed above the number keys; hold it for a second to open the settings.
- ▲ ▼
- move through the settings, change a value, or nudge the frequency.
- V/M
- switches between typing a frequency (the screen shows a frequency) and a saved channel (the screen shows a channel number).
- A/B
- the radio has two lines, A and B; A/B swaps which one the keys work on.
- Number keys
- type a frequency, or type a setting's number inside the menu. Hold ✱ to lock or unlock the keys.
How the menu works
The settings are one numbered list, and every change goes the same way:
- Hold F/MENU for a second. The screen shows a setting's name and number.
- Press ▲ ▼ until the one you want shows, or type its number.
- Press F/MENU once more to start changing it.
- Press ▲ ▼ to pick the value.
- Press PTT to save and leave the menu.
The FT-65 sets the repeater offset direction and size by itself from the band plan (automatic repeater shift), so a repeater usually needs only its frequency and its tone. If the screen shows a channel number where you expect a frequency, press V/M once. Written from the radio's menu list, not its printed manual: send the manual and this page gets the same per-key detail as the QRZ-1's.
Set it up, in this order
- Squelch
Hold F/MENU → 32 SQL LVL → 3.
- Frequency step
Hold F/MENU → 36 STEP → 5 kHz.
- VFO mode
Press V/M until a frequency shows.
- Simplex first
Enter 146.520. Hold F/MENU → 29 RPT SHIFT → SIMPLEX. 34 SQL TYPE → OFF.
- Offset for a repeater
29 RPT SHIFT → +RPT or −RPT as the record says; the FT-65 applies the standard 600 kHz or 5 MHz offset by band on its own.
- Tone
34 SQL TYPE → TONE (transmit tone only), then 35 TONE SET → the tone from the record.
- Power
Hold F/MENU → 41 TX POWER → HIGH.
CHIRP knows this radio as Yaesu FT-65R: you can load the repeaters from Near you into channels later; for the first contact the steps above are enough.