FT-950 Hidden Menu

NOTE; WARNING! this is a technicians "Alignment Menu" or "Service Menu". The term Hidden Menu is not the correct term. This menu is used by the technicians on the factory assembly line to correctly align the radio to meet all the manufacturers specifications. The making of precion adjustments noted in this menu are carried out with the aid of very expensive and accurate test bench equipment. Adjustments must be made in a particular order - not always the order they are listed in this menu. There are in some cases physical adjustments to components on the circuit boards that are made in conjunction with items on this menu. Adjustment of one menu item may have an affect on the alignment of another in the same or another menu group.

The Service Manual (Technical Supplement) gives the alignment equipment, procedures and objectives in detail. A sound knowledge of the principals of the circuit operation is also required.

Many radio owners have been interested in the Hidden Menu because they wish to increase the power output of the transceiver in order to be able to transmit their signal further, stronger or louder. This line of thinking is in error - it is faulted. I have not made any alteration to the settings on my transceiver, they are as it came to me from the factory assembly line. I do not want to make adjustments to the items of the Hidden Menu as Yaesu Engineers have put a lot of effort into designing an extremely nice radio that transmits a top class signal - why would I want to mess that up by making random adjustments. The FT-950 comes from the factory adjusted to transmit 100 watts, I believe that tweaking may raise that to as much as 130 watts but at what cost? Trying to exceed the factory 100 watt setting may be overloading the final power output transistors causing distortion of signal, radiation of spurious signals that interfere with other radio operators and television reception, overheating of the transistors and stressing other components in your transceiver, shortening its life. The end result may be a transmitted signal so adversely affected that it is harder to copy than the signal at the factory set 100watt. The difference between the factory 100 watts and 130 watts is barely noticeable in the transmitted signal strength but the deterioration in the transmitted signal quality may be very noticeable. Far better results will be obtained by using a linear amplifier which will increase the strength of the clean clear 100 watt.