YAESU FTM-400XD

UPDATED FTM-400 FIRMWARE

What's the first thing you do when you get a new piece of kit? Update it of course! The Yaesu FTM400XD (from 2E0FDF) was running V4.1 and 4.4 was available, so it needed to be done. Of course, nothing is straightforward is it?

The SCU-20 Cable (the shortest cable in the world) wasn't permitting a working connection between radio and PC despite the cable-driver being installed properly and showing up in Device Manager. I tried allsorts and eventually, out of sheer desperation, I unlugged all other USB leads from my powered hub and it then worked! Anyway, first job is to backup everything up, so back- your SDCARD before doing anything else.

Once you've backed up your SDCARD and made sure your SCU-20 Driver is up-to-date, download the latest Firmware Update file from Yaesu's website. Just go to the "Products" section, drill down to your product in the "Digital" section and click on the FILES tab to find the "FTM-400XD_Firmware_Update_0205".


Before you extract the files in the Update and run the executable, you need to put the FTM-400 into "UPDATE MODE" by flicking a switch on the PCB inside the base case. Modern FTM-400's have a rubber grommet which gives access to the switch, but if yours hasn't, just undo the 6 screws holding on the top cover and access it directly. DISCONNECT EVERYTHING before doing this!

 

When you're ready, connect the radio back up (including the SCU-20 cable), power it up and run the update software. When it's finished updating, power-off the radio and flick the internal switch back from UPDATE.

 Now reassemble the radio, connect everything up, switch on and do a FACTORY RESET!

When finished, go into the BACKUP menu and restore everything by choosing "Read From SD".

That's it! To check that you have V4.4, just go into the RESET/CLONE menu and you'll be able to see the Version Number at the top right of the screen...

In operation, I noticed that the radio can get quite hot, not least of all because the base unit is crammed in amongst a host of other apparatus, so I got one of these handy coolers which also makes the base unit more easy to place on a shelf and makes it less likely to move when you're tugging on the mic.

More soon.
M7MCQ