How to Program an FTM-150R — Step by Step

Yaesu's analog dual bander with a color screen, two receivers, two pairs of knobs and a 62-item setup menu sorted into twelve named categories. Everything is driven from the right-hand dial.

This page covers: Yaesu FTM-150R, Yaesu FTM-150E. They share the same firmware, so the steps below are identical on all of them whatever name is printed on the front.

What you can do on this radio

• Save a repeater to a memory channel
• Set the transmit tone (CTCSS / PL)
• Set the receive tone
• Set the offset direction and amount
• Set the squelch
• Change the transmit power
• Listen on the repeater's input
• Name a memory channel
• Delete a memory channel
• Turn off the roger beep
• Turn off the voice announcements
• Turn off dual watch
• Lock the keypad
• Factory reset

Save a repeater to a memory channel on an FTM-150R

Build the whole thing on the frequency first and write it into a channel last. What gets stored is the frequency, the step, the power level, the name tag, the repeater shift and the tone — so anything you have not set is not going in with it.

1. Press V/M MW until you are in VFO mode, then turn the DIAL knob to the repeater's output frequency.V/M MW›dial → the output frequencyThe screen should show: Your frequency in the large digits.Watch out. Use the DIAL knob on the side you want to program. The large digits are the main band and the small ones are the sub band, and pressing a DIAL knob swaps which side is which.
2. Hold F BACK, go to item 22 RPT SHIFT and set the direction.hold F BACK›22 RPT SHIFT›Right DIAL›dial → AUTO, -RPT or +RPTThe screen should show: AUTO, -RPT or +RPT.AUTO leaves it to the radio, which works out the direction from the frequency. That is what item 21 RPT ARS does, and it is on from the factory, so most people leave 22 on AUTO and never come back.
3. Press F BACK to step back to the item list, then item 23 sets the amount, if your repeater is unusual.F BACK›23 RPT SHIFT FREQ›Right DIAL›dial → the offset in MHzThe screen should show: A figure from 0.00 to 99.95 MHz.Watch out. The standard shift for your band is already in there. Change this only for a machine that does not use the normal spacing, and change it back afterwards.
4. Press F BACK to step back to the item list, then item 33 SQL TYPE, set to TONE ENC.F BACK›33 SQL TYPE›Right DIAL›dial → TONE ENCThe screen should show: SQL TYPE, showing TONE ENC.Watch out. TONE ENC sends the tone and leaves your receiver alone. TONE SQL sends it and also keeps your speaker shut until the same tone comes back — choose that by mistake on a repeater that sends no tone and you will hear nothing while getting out perfectly.
5. Press F BACK once to step back to the list, then item 34 for the tone itself.F BACK›34 TONE SQL FREQ›Right DIAL›dial → your repeater's tone›S-DXThe screen should show: A frequency in hertz, starting at 100.0.Fifty tones, 67.0 to 254.1 Hz. F BACK is how you get from one menu item to the next without leaving the menu and coming back in.
6. Hold V/M MW to bring up the memory channel list, turn the Right DIAL to the channel, hold V/M MW again to write it, then press V/M MW once to come back to the normal display.hold V/M MW›dial → a channel number›hold V/M MW›V/M MWThe screen should show: The channel list, with the lowest free number already selected.Watch out. If the channel is in use, OVER WRITE? appears and you hold V/M MW once more to go through with it. The Left DIAL knob jumps ten channels at a time, which saves a lot of turning.

There are 999 memory channels, four home channels and 50 pairs of scan limits. If the repeater will not come back to you, item 33 is the first thing to check — TONE ENC is the setting that opens repeaters and it sits next to three that do not.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Set the transmit tone (CTCSS / PL) on an FTM-150R

Two items do this between them: item 33 says which direction the tone applies to, and item 34 says what the tone is.

1. Hold F BACK, open item 33 and turn to TONE ENC.hold F BACK›33 SQL TYPE›Right DIAL›dial → TONE ENCThe screen should show: SQL TYPE, showing TONE ENC.Encode only: your transmissions carry the tone and your receiver keeps working normally. That is what a repeater asks for.
2. Press F BACK once to step back to the item list, turn to 34 TONE SQL FREQ, press the Right DIAL to go in, turn to the tone, then press S-DX to save and leave.F BACK›34 TONE SQL FREQ›Right DIAL›dial → your repeater's tone›S-DXThe screen should show: The frequency, from 67.0 to 254.1 Hz.F BACK is how you move from one menu item to the next WITHOUT leaving the menu — the manual's own tone procedure does exactly this. You only leave once, at the end.Watch out. Item 34 changes its own name depending on item 33 — TONE SQL FREQ on a tone setting, DCS CODE on a DCS one. Same item, two labels.

Leaving is the odd part on this radio and the books give two different rules for it. One says press any key or DIAL knob other than F BACK and POWER; the other says any key or DIAL knob other than the RIGHT DIAL and POWER. Take the overlap and S-DX is the gentlest thing left — it toggles the Super DX receive sensitivity and nothing else, so press it again afterwards if you would rather put that back. Two scope notes as well: the squelch type is stored per band, so setting it on one side has not set the other, and there is only one tone frequency in this radio, shared between transmitting and receiving. Item 35 SQL EXPANSION does not split it — it unlocks three more types, two that mix CTCSS one way with DCS the other and one that just sends a DCS code and receives normally.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Set the receive tone on an FTM-150R

Tone squelch keeps your speaker shut until the matching tone arrives. Same two items as the transmit tone, one setting further along.

1. Hold F BACK, open item 33 and choose TONE SQL.hold F BACK›33 SQL TYPE›Right DIAL›dial → TONE SQLThe screen should show: SQL TYPE, showing TONE SQL.TONE SQL is tone squelch — it sends the tone and it also listens for it. TONE ENC only sends.
2. Press F BACK to step back to the item list, open item 34, press the Right DIAL to go in, pick the tone, then press S-DX to save and leave.F BACK›34 TONE SQL FREQ›Right DIAL›dial → the tone to listen for›S-DXThe screen should show: The frequency you chose.Watch out. Set this on a repeater that does not send a tone back and it will sound completely dead while you are getting into it perfectly well.
3. For a digital code instead of a tone: open item 33, choose DCS, press F BACK, open item 34 — which now calls itself DCS CODE — pick the code and press S-DX to leave.hold F BACK›33 SQL TYPE›Right DIAL›dial → DCS›F BACK›34 DCS CODE›Right DIAL›dial → the code›S-DXThe screen should show: DCS, then a three-digit code.104 codes from 023 to 754, and 023 is where it starts. Like the tone, there is one code in the radio and both directions use it.

If you cannot remember what the other station is sending, the radio will find it. Get as far as item 34, then hold the microphone's UP or DWN key and it searches the list until the audio opens. Press PTT or UP or DWN to stop it there. One thing to watch while a tone squelch is set: scanning stops only on signals carrying the matching tone, so a scanner that has gone quiet may simply be doing what you told it.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Set the offset direction and amount on an FTM-150R

Three consecutive items, and in most of the country the first one means you never touch the other two.

1. Item 21 RPT ARS is Automatic Repeater Shift.hold F BACK›21 RPT ARS›Right DIAL›dial → AUTOThe screen should show: RPT ARS, OFF or AUTO. It arrives on AUTO.It sets the direction from the frequency you are sitting on, and the minus or plus icon appearing at the top of the display is how you know it has. ARS is also on the Function list from the factory, which is where you will actually reach for it — one tap of F BACK.
2. Press F BACK to step back to the item list, then item 22 sets the direction by hand.F BACK›22 RPT SHIFT›Right DIAL›dial → AUTO, -RPT or +RPTThe screen should show: AUTO, -RPT or +RPT.Watch out. There is no OFF here, only AUTO, minus and plus. Simplex is what you get by leaving it on AUTO on a simplex frequency.
3. Press F BACK to step back to the item list, then item 23 is the amount, from 0.00 to 99.95 MHz.F BACK›23 RPT SHIFT FREQ›Right DIAL›dial → the offset in MHz›S-DXThe screen should show: RPT SHIFT FREQ, in megahertz.The factory value matches your band and suits nearly every repeater. This is also the figure ARS applies when it picks a direction for you, so changing it changes both.
4. Back at normal operation, tap F BACK for the Function list and check your work with RPT REV.F BACK›dial → RPT REV›Right DIALThe screen should show: The frequency swaps and the minus or plus starts blinking.Reverse shows you where you will actually transmit. If that is not where the repeater listens, one of the three settings above is wrong, and this is a much better place to find that out than on the air.Watch out. Reverse is a toggle, so do the same three keystrokes again to turn it off before you go on the air. Left on, it puts your transmitter on the repeater's output and your receiver on its input — everything looks normal and nothing works.

One warning about the book rather than the radio. The Operating Manual's band skip page tells you to open item 24, which is repeater reverse, not band skip. Band skip is item 20. It is a reminder to read the name on the screen as well as the number, because on this radio the numbers around 20 are all repeater settings and a wrong turn there is a wrong transmit frequency.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Set the squelch on an FTM-150R

Squelch is not a menu item here. It is the same knob as the volume, pressed first.

1. Set squelch with no signal present.Wait until nothing is coming inSet it while somebody is talking and you will be too tight to hear them next time.
2. Press the VOL/SQL knob for the side you want, then turn the same knob.VOL/SQL›dial → VOL/SQLThe screen should show: A squelch level.Watch out. Left knob for the left side band, right knob for the right side band. Turning the wrong one adjusts a band you were not listening to and looks like nothing happening.
3. Bring it up until the background noise is just gone, and leave it there.dial → until the noise stopsThe screen should show: The level you chose.Taking it higher than that starts silencing real signals as well as noise.

Two shortcuts. The microphone's C key adjusts squelch without reaching for the panel. And a microphone P key set to SQL OFF opens the squelch completely so that everything gets through — including signals whose tone does not match, which is the quickest way to find out whether a tone setting is what has silenced your radio. Yaesu does not say whether it holds only while pressed or latches, so try it before you rely on it.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Change the transmit power on an FTM-150R

Three levels, reachable two ways, and stored separately for every band and every channel.

1. Tap F BACK for the Function list and select TX PWR.F BACK›dial → TX PWR›Right DIALThe screen should show: The current level.Transmit power is one of the four items registered to the Function list from the factory, so this is the short way in. Item 7 TX POWER in the Setup Menu is the same setting.
2. Turn the Right DIAL to the level you want, then press S-DX to save and leave.dial → HIGH, MID or LOW›S-DXThe screen should show: HIGH, MID or LOW.Watch out. High is 55 watts on 144 MHz and 50 on 430; mid is 25 and low is 5. The two books print the cycle in opposite orders — the Operating Manual says high, then low, then mid, and the Advance Manual says low, then mid, then high — so count the presses on your own radio rather than trusting either.
3. The microphone's P3 key does the same thing from the factory.P3The screen should show: The level steps round.Much the easier route while driving, and it is what P3 arrives set to.

Because the level is stored per band and per memory channel, and separately again for the main and sub band, a channel you saved on low power will come back on low power no matter what the VFO was doing. If you keep finding yourself back on high, that is a stored channel reasserting itself rather than the radio forgetting.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Listen on the repeater's input on an FTM-150R

Reverse swaps your transmit and receive frequencies so you can hear the other station directly rather than through the repeater. It is on the Function list, one tap away.

1. Tap F BACK, turn the Right DIAL to RPT REV and press it.F BACK›dial → RPT REV›Right DIALThe screen should show: The frequencies swap and the minus or plus sign starts blinking.The blinking sign is the whole indication. Steady means normal; blinking means reversed.
2. The same steps again turn it back off.F BACK›dial → RPT REV›Right DIALThe screen should show: The sign stops blinking.Watch out. Leave it on by accident and you are transmitting on the repeater's output and listening on its input. Nothing looks wrong and nothing works.
3. If you use it often, item 25 puts it on a microphone key: open the item, choose which of P1 to P4 you want, then choose REVERSE.hold F BACK›25 MIC PROGRAM KEY›Right DIAL›dial → P1 to P4›Right DIAL›dial → REVERSE›Right DIAL›S-DXThe screen should show: The P key you picked, now set to REVERSE.Reverse is a good candidate for a microphone key because it is the kind of thing you want to try without looking down at the panel.Watch out. Choose the key first and the function second — the item has both levels. All four P keys arrive with something on them already, so whichever you take, you are giving something up.

The same setting is item 24 RPT REVERSE in the Setup Menu, where it is spelled out in full. One warning about the name: the Function list pictures in the manual show it as RPT REV, and one page calls it RPT-R instead. Same setting, and the shorter spelling is the one the book uses least — go by the position in the list rather than the exact letters.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Name a memory channel on an FTM-150R

Eight characters, which is generous, and a proper on-screen keyboard rather than one character at a time in a window.

1. Hold V/M MW for the memory channel list, turn the Right DIAL to the channel and press it.hold V/M MW›dial → the channel to name›Right DIALThe screen should show: The channel list, then a pop-up.Watch out. The Left DIAL knob moves ten channels at a time here, and the microphone's number keys jump straight to a channel — pressing 1 goes to channel 100.
2. Choose EDIT from the pop-up, then TAG.dial → EDIT›Right DIAL›dial → TAG›Right DIALThe screen should show: A character input keyboard.EDIT is also where the other stored details of the channel live, so it is worth a look while you are there.
3. Turn the Right DIAL to a character and press it to enter it.dial → a character›Right DIALThe screen should show: Your tag building up, eight characters at most.Upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols, on three keyboard screens you switch between with the buttons along the edge. There are cursor keys and a backspace on the keyboard too.
4. Hold the Right DIAL to save the characters, hold it again to finish, then turn to OK and press the Right DIAL to confirm.hold Right DIAL›hold Right DIAL›dial → OK›Right DIALThe screen should show: A confirmation pop-up, then back to the channel.Watch out. Two holds, not one — the manual has them as separate steps and the confirmation pop-up only appears after the second. A press enters a character; a hold is what finishes.

Once a channel has a tag, a brief press of the DIAL knob flips the display between the tag and the frequency, which is how you check what is behind a name. Home channels can be tagged the same way.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Delete a memory channel on an FTM-150R

Same route as naming a channel, one entry along in the pop-up. Some channels on this radio cannot be cleared at all.

1. Hold V/M MW for the channel list, turn the Right DIAL to the channel and press it.hold V/M MW›dial → the channel to clear›Right DIALThe screen should show: The list, then a pop-up.
2. Choose DELETE and press the Right DIAL.dial → DELETE›Right DIALThe screen should show: DELETE?Watch out. Nothing has gone yet. DELETE? is the confirmation.
3. Turn to OK and press the Right DIAL to clear it.dial → OK›Right DIALThe screen should show: The channel is empty.Watch out. Channel 001 and the home channel cannot be cleared, and Yaesu says so plainly. The home channel here means the one for the band you are on — this radio has four, one per band. Any other channel deletes normally; if one of those two will not, that is the reason, and storing something else over the top is the way round it.

Clearing a channel takes its tag with it. If you want to empty a lot of channels at once, item 61 MEMORY CH RESET erases all of them together and leaves your settings alone, which is a different and much bigger thing than deleting one — see the factory reset page before you go near it.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Turn off the roger beep on an FTM-150R

This radio does not have this feature. What follows is what it does have, and why the thing you were looking for is not here.

Short answer: there isn't one. Nothing in this radio sends a tone at the end of your transmission. The menu runs to 62 items and none of them is a roger beep. If something is beeping at you, it is one of these.

1. Item 19 BEEP is the click on every key press.hold F BACK›19 BEEP›Right DIAL›dial → OFFThe screen should show: OFF, LOW or HIGH.This is the one people mean nine times out of ten.Watch out. Go by the number and the name together. The Advance Manual's own page for this item tells you to open [23 BEEP], and item 23 is RPT SHIFT FREQ — the repeater transmit offset. Item 19 is the beep.
2. Press F BACK to step back to the item list, then item 38 BELL RINGER rings when somebody calls you with a matching tone or pager code.F BACK›38 BELL RINGER›Right DIAL›dial → OFFThe screen should show: OFF, or one, three, five, eight times, or continuous.Watch out. It only fires on something coming in, never at the end of your own transmission. If it is going off unexpectedly, the tone and pager settings are what to look at.
3. Press F BACK to step back to the item list, then item 11 TOT is the time-out timer, which ends your transmission for you.F BACK›11 TOT›Right DIAL›dial → a longer time, or OFF›S-DXThe screen should show: OFF, or from one minute to thirty. USA radios arrive on three minutes.Watch out. Three minutes is short. If people keep telling you that you get cut off mid-sentence, this is why, and it is doing exactly what it was set to do.

If somebody on the air says they hear a beep at the end of your overs, it is not coming from this radio. A courtesy tone from the repeater itself is much the likeliest answer, and a hotspot or a linked system is the next.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Turn off the voice announcements on an FTM-150R

This radio can speak, but only with the optional FVS-2 voice guide unit fitted inside the main body. Without it, items 51 to 57 are there in the list and do nothing. That is the first thing to establish before you go hunting for a setting that will not work.

1. Hold F BACK, open item 51 VOICE MEMORY, go into ANNOUNCE, set it and press the Right DIAL.hold F BACK›51 VOICE MEMORY›Right DIAL›dial → ANNOUNCE›Right DIAL›dial → AUTO›Right DIALThe screen should show: ANNOUNCE, with OFF, MANUAL and AUTO. It ships on AUTO.AUTO speaks the frequency when you change bands or switch between VFO and memory. MANUAL speaks only when you ask. That press of the Right DIAL at the end is what takes you back to the list of sub-items so you can do the next one — it does not leave the menu.
2. Turn to LANGUAGE, press the Right DIAL to go in, and pick the language.dial → LANGUAGE›Right DIAL›dial → ENGLISHThe screen should show: ENGLISH or JAPANESE. It arrives on English.Watch out. Yaesu's numbered steps put a press of the Right DIAL after the ANNOUNCE value and after the VOLUME value, and none after the language. Follow the sequence rather than assuming it is the same every time.
3. Then VOLUME, the same way.dial → VOLUME›Right DIAL›dial → HIGH, MID or LOW›Right DIALThe screen should show: HIGH, MID or LOW. It arrives on HIGH.Watch out. There is no off setting here. To silence it you set ANNOUNCE to OFF rather than winding the volume down.
4. Last one is RX MUTE. Set it, then press S-DX to save and come out of the menu.dial → RX MUTE›Right DIAL›dial → ON or OFF›S-DXThe screen should show: ON or OFF. On from the factory.RX MUTE decides whether received audio is silenced while the radio is talking. Leaving it on is usually right — an announcement and a station talking over each other is worse than either alone.

To hear the frequency on demand, hold F BACK and select item 57 VOICE GUIDE, then press the Right DIAL. That works on either AUTO or MANUAL. The same FVS-2 unit also gives you the recorder at items 52 through 56, which will keep five minutes of received audio or the last thirty seconds, depending on how you set it — useful for catching a callsign you missed.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Turn off dual watch on an FTM-150R

This radio already listens to two frequencies at once — that is what the main and sub bands are — so it is worth being clear about what dual receive adds. Dual receive is a third thing on top: while you are on a VFO or memory channel, the radio dips over to the home channel every five seconds to see whether anything is happening there.

1. Hold F BACK, open item 41, press the Right DIAL to go in, set it to PRIORITY SCAN and press the Right DIAL. Stay in the menu.hold F BACK›41 DUAL RECEIVE MODE›Right DIAL›dial → PRIORITY SCAN›Right DIALThe screen should show: DUAL RECEIVE MOD, showing OFF or PRIORITY SCAN.Watch out. This item is the one plain setting the manual gives a confirming press of its own — most items on this radio take none. The name is cut off on screen because it is longer than the field; the manual prints it that way too.
2. Press F BACK to step back to the list, open item 42 and set how often it checks.F BACK›42 DUAL RX INTERVAL›Right DIAL›dial → 0.5 to 10 secondsThe screen should show: From half a second up to ten.Watch out. This item only does anything while item 41 is set to PRIORITY SCAN. Set on its own it looks like it has no effect, because it has not.
3. Press F BACK again, open item 43 and set it, then press S-DX to save and leave.F BACK›43 PRIORITY REVERT›Right DIAL›dial → OFF›S-DXThe screen should show: OFF or ON.Watch out. With this ON, pressing PTT during dual receive always transmits on the home channel, whatever you happen to be listening to at that moment. That is a reliable way to transmit somewhere you did not intend. OFF is the setting where PTT goes out on what you are actually hearing.

The home channel is what dual receive watches, so put the frequency you care about there first — item 15 HOME CH recalls it, and holding V/M MW with HOM selected in the channel list overwrites it. If you want dual receive on a microphone key instead, item 25 has a DW function you can assign.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Lock the keypad on an FTM-150R

The lock lives on the power button, which takes one try to get used to. A brief press locks; holding it switches the radio off.

1. With the radio on, press the power key briefly.PowerThe screen should show: LOCK, in words, and a lock icon.Watch out. Briefly. Hold it and the radio goes off instead, which is a memorable way to learn the difference between the two.
2. Press it briefly again to unlock.PowerThe screen should show: UNLOCK, and the icon goes.The screen says which way it went in words as well as showing the icon, so you are never guessing.

Two controls stay live while it is locked: the PTT switch and the VOL/SQL knobs. Everything else — the keys and both DIAL knobs — stops responding, which is exactly what you want from a radio mounted somewhere a knee can reach.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Factory reset on an FTM-150R

Two resets, sitting next to each other at the bottom of the menu, and they do very different things. Read which is which before you pick one — 62 takes your channels with it and 61 takes only the channels.

1. Item 62 FACTORY RESET puts every setting and every memory back to the factory. Item 61 MEMORY CH RESET erases the memory channels and leaves your settings alone.Decide which reset you wantThe screen should show: Nothing yet — this one is a decision.Watch out. Neither of these leaves your channels intact. If you want to fix settings somebody has fiddled with while keeping your channels, back them up to a memory card first with item 47 BACKUP, run the reset, and read them back.
2. Hold F BACK, turn the Right DIAL to item 62 and press it.hold F BACK›62 FACTORY RESET›Right DIALThe screen should show: FACTORY RESET.The category headings help here — the Left DIAL knob jumps you straight to CLONE/RESET rather than scrolling through 62 items.
3. Turn the Right DIAL to OK and press it to go through with it.dial → OK›Right DIALThe screen should show: The radio resets.Watch out. CANCEL is sitting right there next to OK and is the way out if you got here by mistake.

Yaesu's own caution on this page is worth repeating: an all reset deletes every memory channel. Back up to a microSD card first with item 47, which will write your settings, your memory channels, or both. That backup also makes item 47 the easiest way to set up a second radio — or to get your own back if a reset turns out to have been the wrong answer.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.