What radio would you buy if you had $1,500? I recently had to make that hard decision. I will go over the 7 reasons why I chose the Yaesu FT-991A in this video. I just bought my very first HF Radio! You would think it would be an easy and stress free decision, BUT, there is some tough competition. My budget was around $1,000 +/- a few hundred. The Icom IC-7300 is a beautiful radio and that was my runner up.
I have and use both these radio's side by side, i am very satisfied with the performance of both radio's
Good question, only time will tell. But, the receive capability is really impressive compared to my Ten-Tec Omni VI Plus. I've been switching back and forth and can't pull the stations out of the noise on the older rig.
Interesting.... my own Omni-VI and even my SB-301 receivers hear EVERYTHING that my IC-7300 hears. Sure it lacks lots and lots of modern digital features the 7300 has but sensitivity and ability to pull signals out is NOT an issue. I'm wondering of your Ten-Tec is out of alignment Dave W7UUU
You bring up a great point, it might be out of alignment. My Omni VI is pretty old and has been used a lot, as it came from my Elmer and someone before him. I live in the middle of the suburbs with an average of S5 noise and the Ten-Tec can hear that great. But, the two features on the new Yaesu that just makes the noise and even a very loud birdy go away are the Digital Notch Filter and the Digital Noise Reduction. For me, that really has made a difference on whether I can work a station or not.
Did the FT-991A fix the blown PA problems of it's predecessor? (FT-991) and how can you tell the difference between the 991 and the 991A??!!
I would believe so. The radio comes with 3 years warranty from Yaesu too. The body is the same as the A and non-A but they added a bunch of new digital stuff, such as filters and a active waterfall display and a handful of other things.
The blown finals issue has been resolved. On the top right side of the radio, it'll have the model number. The 'A' is prominently highlighted.
I have both of these radios. The 991 (non-A model) replaces my 7300 and a Kenwood 2 meter mobile. I thought I would miss the large waterfall of the 7300, but I do not.
Hey there Jason, A FT-991A owner here. It was fun to see in your video the RF gain button a bit back and injecting non-existent S-units in your S-Meter when using SSB, heh. Did the same here and took me a while to figure it out. FWIW, WTF that, Yaesu. Well, I have mine since late November (bought in Black Friday) and these are my perceptions so far: https://www.eham.net/reviews/review/156096 I'm hacking mine a bit (link here) and I ought to say that I'm happy with the equipment. When comparing with my ol' FT-840, I did a side-by-side test and I definitely could hear better faint signals (without DSP) with the 991A than the 840. When the DSP comes into action, then it becomes just unfair comparison. There's this annoying water'ish characteristic of the DSP, I'd love if Yaesu could make it any better. There's a visible "A" in the front panel silk screen. 73s!!! - Rodrigo.
Thanks Rodrigo!, That is a lot of great information. You are doing some awesome things with the 991A! I will be bookmarking the links you have shared. 73! Jason
I live in a high QRM environment, and the IC-7300 was absolutely a disaster on receive. It went back, and I could not be happier with the FT-991A.
