so ive been going back and forth on this for like two months now and i just need someone who's actually used both to weigh in. i currently have an older FTM-100DR in the truck and its fine but the screen is pretty small and honestly i want something with a bit more to it — aprs, better scanning, maybe dual receive on separate antennas if i can swing it with a duplexer or whatever.

the D710G keeps coming up in conversations at the club and i know it has built in tnc which is a big deal for aprs without hauling extra gear around. but the FTM-400 touchscreen looks really nice and my buddy has one and loves it. main thing im worried about is the audio on the 400 because i do a lot of highway driving and my current radio is tough to hear over road noise unless i really crank it.

anyone daily drive either of these? mostly use for local repeaters, the odd simplex chat, and id like to get more into aprs tracking when i travel. dont need a desktop unit, just want something that lives in the dash and works reliably. appreciate any thoughts

ran the D710G for about three years in my F150 before switching to a different setup and honestly it was rock solid. the built in TNC is the big thing — you just plug into the GPS antenna port and youre beaconing in like ten minutes, no messing around with bluetooth tncs or cables running everywhere. scanning is solid too, and dual receive is genuinely useful on that radio not just a checkbox feature.

audio is loud enough for highway use, i had mine mounted in the dash with the speaker facing sort of upward and it was fine. only gripe is the remote head cable is kind of short and i had to get an extension to get the head unit where i wanted it on the dash. the 400 is nice but for aprs heavy use i'd still lean toward the 710 just because it's all self contained and the mapping stuff on the touch screen on the 400 always felt a little gimmicky to me personally. your mileage may vary obviously

i have the ftm-400xdr and the audio is actually pretty decent, louder than i expected. that said i do have an external speaker running off it which helps a ton in the car — like even a cheap five dollar speaker from a hamfest made a noticeable difference. if audio is a concern just factor in a ext speaker and youre probably fine with either radio.

the touchscreen on mine takes some getting used to while driving, not gonna lie. gloves are basically impossible with it in winter. just something to keep in mind if you live somewhere cold