Yaesu memory programming - skip vs. select vs. off/blank? FTM-100/400 series

Question

I have a Yaesu FTM-400XDR, but this applies equally to at least the FTM-100 series and probably other radios.

When you program memory channels/frequencies, you can select one of three options: Select, Skip and Off(blank).

Select is obvious - in memory scan mode, the radio scans these program settings and ignores all others.

Skip vs. Off/Blank is eluding me however. What is the functional difference between them? Is there some mode in the radio where they act differently?

Answer 1

It seems on at least the FTM-400 series, there is a use for this. You can set the scan mode to "all mem" or "select mem":

• in "all mem" mode, the radio will scan all of the programmed channels, unless they are set to "skip". In other words, this gets "select" channels plus "off/blank" channels.
• in "select mem" mode, which seems to be the default, the radio will only scan "select" channels. All others are skipped.

So in practice, this gives you three sets of programs:

• "Select" will always be scanned, in either mode; these are frequencies you always want to scan
• "Off/Blank" will only be scanned in "all mem" mode; these are frequencies you sometimes want to scan, but sometimes don't
• "Skip" will never be scanned; these are frequencies you never want to scan.

I just figured this out today and thought I'd share, in case it benefits others.