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[DU2XXR]

I'm happy to report that I was able to achieve what I first wanted to do when I first got this FT1XDR around 2 years ago -- change the button battery that kept the radio's internal clock running even when the battery was dead or disconnected.

It's located on the RF board, right beside the digitizer dial.

Opening the radio is easy enough, which requires just the removal of the antenna, digitizer knob, and two screws at the back.

Accessing the button battery requires removal of the control board, however. It is spot welded. Perhaps Yaesu intended for the battery to last the lifetime of the radio. I have 3 FT1 (1 FT1 and 2 FT2XD) in all, and it's only this particular radio that has a dead clock battery for some reason.

After the housing swap, this FT1XD is like brand new.

The Japan-market FT1D I got the grey housing from is now inside my old FT1XD housing, which is missing the side bumpers. I am keeping it as a backup radio, mostly for analog repeater operations, since the older firmware does not support DG-ID access from the GM button--something I need for selective calling.