But your assuming that what we saw in North America was their earliest
product. I'm not sure, but it's likely there was equipment that only
appeared in the Japanese market (or in other parts of the world) that
we never saw. Or, it may have appeared on North American shores, but
under a different name.


Actually, I was on Okinawa at the time. The first 2M rig Yaesu exported
didn't come out until 1968, the IC-2F, and their very first exported HF
rig was the FT-100, I believe, which came out only a couple years earlier.
Their very first ham rig probably came out around 1960, the FL-10, a single
bander 40M Xtal controled TX. The Yaesu Musen Co. was apparently founded
in 1959, though some sources site much later.

Do a Google search on Yaesu history. It can be interesting.


Ed WB6SAT