[Yaesu] Preamp question

Fri Jun 16 13:16:09 EDT 2006

Hi John,
I agree that "Preamp" would be the simplest labeling--provided
it was clear which position means Inline and which means Bypass.
But I don't find the alternatives difficult to understand or work with.
And I think there is very little chance that Icom has copyrighted the
(electronic slang) term "preamp."
"IPO" is Yaesu's (arguably silly) buzzphrase for preamp bypass; and
from your description, it sounds like "AIP" is Kenwood's (arguably
silly) buzzphrase for the same thing.
"IPO" buzzphrase aside, I find the Yaesu FT-1000D implementation
to be extremely clear and useable; in fact, I can't think of how it could
be improved, ergonomically speaking.
There is one knob, labeled "Front End." (Everybody know what that is?)
The "Normal" position means preamp inline. The next position, "IPO,"
means preamp bypassed. The next three positions, "6," "12," and "18,"
mean that those attenuation values (in dB) are switched in ahead of the
first mixer (in addition to bypassing the preamp).
I might add that this degree of control is NOT the least bit frivolous.
The "Front End" control is my fifth most-used control (after power,
tuning, AF gain, and IF shift). It frequently improves sensitivity by
reducing signalXsignal, signalXnoise, and noiseXnoise intermods.
73, Ed, W6LOL
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Geiger" <w5td at lcisp.com>
To: <kenwood at mailman.qth.net>; <yaesu at mailman.qth.net>; "ICOM Reflector"
<icom at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Thursday, June 15, 2006 10:05 PM
Subject: [Yaesu] Preamp question
On Icom radios, there is a button labeled "preamp" which turns the preamp on
and off. This seems pretty logical, whereas on Kenwood radios you have to
turn on the AIP (advanced intercept point) to turn off the preamp, and on
Yaesu's it is the IPO (intercept point optimizer). This seems less logical.
Is this some sort of patent deal where Kenwood and Yaesu can't call it the
preamp, much like when Icom had to quit having passband tuning for awhile?
Although I do think the Kenwood TS2000 calls it the preamp.
73s John W5TD