THE FOLLOWING  INFORMATION IS FROM YAESU.  
  REVIEW COMMENTS ARE IN RED
REVIEW RATINGS 1 LOWEST 10 HIGHEST. BY JIM, NØUQZ

FT-1500M
VHF FM Mobile Transceiver
Solid As A Rock
The Yaesu FT-1500M will go down in history as yet another landmark in radio engineering and further enhances Yaesu’s legendary reputation for tough durable construction and precedent setting design.

MY MIKE KEYPAD LIGHTS UP DEEP RED.  BUTTONS ARE SMALL. RATED 8.   THE RADIO HAS A VOLTAGE DISPLAY AND I FOUND IT VERY HANDY AS I USED THIS RIG ON A GEL CELL BATTERY FOR USE ON MY BICYCLE.  RATED 10. I HANG THE MIKE OVER MY BACK AND THE MIKE WORKS GREAT AS A RED WARNING LIGHT ON MY BIKE.
Yaesu’s FT-1500M, a masterpiece of RF and mechanical engineering, is a trend-setting blend of compactness and functionality. The Yaesu FT-1500M is the most quiet and efficient radio transceiver ever built. Excellent receiver performance, direct keypad frequency entry, Alpha-Numeric Memory System, and 50 Watts of output power, and Mini-DIN data port are just the start!

Greater Operating Efficiency
Yaesu’s FT-1500M represents a technological breakthrough in radio transceiver design! New advances in power amplifier technology combine to provide you with 50 Watts of clean transmit power with enhanced current consumption efficiency. Yaesu’s patent pending aluminum die-cast shell construction dissipates heat throughout the entire transceiver chassis and eliminates the need for an external thermally switched cooling fan. This allows the FT-1500M to fit in an incredibly small case size: less than 5 inches square X 1.4 inches high (weighing a mere 960 grams) and offer superior operating specifications as well!

Better Receiver Performance
The FT-1500M’s receiver section is as tough as its construction. It features Yaesu’s renowned RF ATT (Advanced Track Tuning), that allows for outstanding spurious image rejection. The automatic tracking bandpass filter used in the ATT system protects the RF receiver section from strong out-of-band signals that can result in intermodulation and adjacent band interference in lesser quality transceivers! The FT-1500M’s wide band receiver covers 137 to 174 MHz. The FT-1500M can monitor Amateur, Public Safety, and Weather Band stations with ease, RATE 10. keeping you in touch with all the action in your community.

Easy Data Interfacing
For packet operation at either 1200 bps or 9600 bps, The FT-1500M is conveniently equipped with a Mini DIN data jack located on the rear chassis for neat and organized data interfacing. The DATA jack provides connection points for transmit data, receiver audio, PTT, and ground. Signal levels, bandwidths, and impedance levels are all optimized for the user selected data rate for maximum throughput.  R 10

Extensive Memory System
The FT-1500M includes a total of 149 memory channels, including 130 “regular” memories, 9 pairs of subband-limit memories, and an instant-recall “Home" channel you can program with frequently-used repeater information. All memory channels will store CTCSS enc/dec, user selected power output level, scanning status (“Skip” or “Stop”), and user programmed Alpha-Numeric titles.

PRIORITY CHANNEL AND REVERT TO PRIORITY 
The FT-1500M includes THIS SPECIAL FEATURE THAT SCANS BETWEEN A MEMORY CHANNEL AND A PRIORITY CHANNEL. MAJOR ADVANTAGE OF THIS IS THAT WITH THE SHORT SCAN DELAY IF SOME ONE CALLS YOU WITH A LONG CALL IT AS IT SCANS TO THE PRIORITY CHANNEL YOU WILL NEVER MISS A CALL. RATE 10

REVERT TO PRIORITY: IF THE RADIO IS SCANNING AND THE RADIO HAS STOPPED ON A MEMORY CHANNEL AND YOU WANT TO TALK ON THE PRIORITY CHANNEL JUST PUSH THE MIKE AND MAKE YOUR CALL IT MAKES THE SWITCH FOR YOU TO THE PRESET PRIORITY FREQUENCY.  RATE A 10

Alpha-Numeric Channel Display
Memory channels may be displayed either with the channel frequency or a personalized Alpha-Numeric title for easy channel recognition. Up to six letters, numbers, or characters are conveniently programmed from the FT-1500M control panel or optional ADMS-2F PC software.

MH-48B6J DTMF Direct Access Microphone  THIS IS GREAT RATED A 10
The backlit MH-48B6J Microphone allows direct keypad frequency entry and memory channel recall. With the PTT button keyed the MH-48B6J allows manual entry of DTMF tones for autopatch use. The FT-1500M also includes an 8-memory, 16-digit DTMF autodialer. Four user-programmable keys on the microphone may be configured for easy control of user selectable operating functions.

50-Tone CTCSS Encode and Decode Built In
For easy repeater access or silent monitoring of busy channels, CTCSS Encoder and Decoder circuits are built into the FT-1500M. CTCSS data may be stored independently in each memory channel. The FT-1500M includes a CTCSS “Tone Search Scan” feature which lets you search for the CTCSS tone on an incoming signal.

Selectable Power Output
Power output levels are user selectable in four steps: 50/25/10/5 Watts. The power selection can be stored into memory, allowing you to conserve power while operating on strong local repeaters. Current drain at full (50 W) power output is 8 Amps maximum, much less than ant other radio transceiver. THIS IS FANTASTIC AS I USE MY WITH GEL BATTERY AND SOLAR CELL CHARGER. RATED A 10.  PLEASE NOTE ALSO THAT SQUELCHED POWER CONSUMPTION IS ONLY .3 AMP RATED A 10.

Weather Band Memory Bank  RATED 10
The FT-1500M includes a separate 10-channel Weather Band Memory Bank for quick and east access to NOAA weather broadcast information in your area without having to scan through your regular memories! Alpha-Numeric titles may be programmed for Weather Band channels, as well!

Versatile Scanning Capability
The FT-1500M’s high-speed scanning function includes a choice of scanning modes: carrier drop or time delay. Scanning is provided in the memories, the Weather Band, the VFO, or a limited VFO sub-band. You can program any memory to be skipped during scanning, too.

Smart Search™
The Smart Search™ feature may be use to automatically program a special bank of up to 31 memory channels, based on radio activity. Smart Search™ will sweep either the entire band or the portion of the band within the programmable band-scan limits, and will load frequencies on which activity is found. Smart Search™ is very helpful when visiting an area for the first time, allowing you to identify and automatically program channels where the action is!

Wide/Narrow Deviation Selection
For operation in areas of extreme channel congestion, the FT-1500M may be set to a “Narrow Deviation” mode which will set the transmitter deviation at ±2.5 kHz.

Convenient Programming Menu
The Menu system includes 35 transceiver settings, alphabetically arranged, allowing the operator to “Set and Forget” many operating parameters of the FT-1500M. The Menu may be accessed either via the top-panel’s [SET] key or the microphone’s [A] key or programmed with the optional ADMS-2F software kit.

ADMS-2F Windows™ PC Programming Software
Memory channel programming is a breeze with the optional ADMS-2F Windows™ PC Programming Software. The handy kit includes a 3.5" diskette and a programming interface cable. Use your computer to create and store frequency files for each city you visit, or for cloning groups of transceivers for public-service events!   I DO NOT HAVE THE SOFTWARE

And Much More. . .
• Additional features include:
• Supply Voltage Display
• Transmit Time-Out Timer (TOT)
• Automatic Power-Off (APO)
• Automatic Repeater Shift
• S-Meter RF Squelch
• Bell Alert CTCSS Paging
• Priority Channel Revert during Scan