I recently obtained my ham license and purchased a Yaesu FT-60R "handie talkie".  It's a durable and very popular unit that many people have for recreational use, as well as part of their go-bags for participation in local community emergency response teams.

I come from the web 2.0/iPhone side of the fence where easy to use and compelling user interfaces are what determines the life or death of your startup.  This great dynamic has created many of the wonderful sites you use on the web today.  So you can imagine my reaction to the FT-60R's cryptic interface - it's horrible, really really horrible and borderline unusable.  It's laughable that most operators carry crib sheets to operate the device; it simply shouldn't be this hard.

But, I'm told the FT-60R is the best of the bunch, and it is a truly rugged device, so I'm determined to learn its ropes.  Thus I'm crafting this short tutorial to help wrap my head around the radio, as well as hopefully helping a few more of you do the same.

Just 3 short lessons

1. Radio Overview
2. Common Operations
3. Useful Accessories