Founded by a Japanese amateur radio operator, Yaesu initially produced transmitters for the amateur radio market. After the FRdx400 and FR-101 receivers, which only covered the amateur radio bands, Yaesu launched the FRG-7 in 1977. The fully transistorised triple conversion set was based on the Wadley-Loop technology and had an excellent accuracy of it's analog dial and covered the entire shortwave range up to 30 MHz, thanks to quite good filters and the preselector, the FRG-7 soon got a reputation as an all-round shortwave receiver.

After the FRG-7000, the successor model with a digital frequency counter, the FRG-7700 was once again a very popular receiver, also built in double conversion technology; an internal memory extension for 12 channels, an antenna tuner, an active antenna and a VHF converter were optionally available, a clock with timer functions was already part of the basic unit. The good price / performance ratio paired with simple operation remained the same in the subsequent models FRG-8800 and the more compact FRG-100. The fact that the company has its roots in the radio amateur sector is noticeable, e.g. in the fact that the receivers can be configured differently and the signal processing and IF filter selection can be adapted by the listener to the reception situation.