(Image from RadioWorld) I've had my FT-102 for a while, and it gets used occasionally. One of the things that makes it difficult for me to use in day-to-day activities is the fact that it is an old school HF rig, so it has a single VFO built into it. To operate split, you need an external VFO. Of course, an external VFO was sold as part of the FT-102 line. That external VFO is the FV-102DM. It's actually a digital synthesizer with battery-backed memories and stuff like that. They come up for sale on eBay every once in a while. Before now, I've not had the money when they came up for sale, but last weekend not one but two FV-102DM's came up for sale, and the price was right so I bought it. It should be here Saturday. I'll get to see if it works, then.
I'll be especially interested to see how clean the battery contacts are. One of the main problems that are seen with the FV-102DM's is the batteries get left in there too long and they corrode, so I might have to replace the battery contacts. I'll let you know how mine looks.