Yaesu FT-950 - Contest Rig??? Opinions? Experience?

[N1PC]

Hi Folks...

I've doing quite a bit looking at the FT-950PEP and it seems to be quite a radio for the money.

Just wondering what opinions and experience you might have with the FT-950PEP as a Contest Rig (CW, SSB and Digi Modes)??  What about a pair of them in a SO2R configuration???

Your input is greatly appreciated!!

73,

Dave N1PC

[PD2R]

Hello Dave,

I guess the answer to your question depends on a couple of factors. How serious do you want to participate in contesting? What modes do you prefer? What antennas do you have?

Furthermore, what rig are you coming from? If you used a FT 817 as you main rig on HF up till now, you'd probably love the FT 950 since that is a big step up. If you used top of the line transceivers of yesteryear you'd might be disappointed.

Budget is also a important factor. You could also consider buying a used FT 1000 MP or Mark V field. Both are proven contest rigs and you will keep some money in your pocket. With the money you saved you can install some Inrad filters to improve selectivity. With the build in second receiver you may not need a second transceiver right away.

I've heard good and bad things about the FT 950 but i guess it's not a bad choice all things considered. Again, it all depends on what you want it to do and what you want to do with it.

Hope this helps...

73, Maarten
PD2R

[N4NYY]

Love the rig. If you contest, you might want to consider the 3KHz roofing filter from AC0C. Try it without, first. You cannot beat the rig for the money. I got a Christmas special for $1,244

[K0XY]

...I agree with N4NYY...the AC0C Roofing filter makes a significant difference for the 950 in a competitive environment...

[W6GF]

A "contest rig" is only as good as the operator.

George, W6GF

[N6TEA]

I cannot speak from the experience of having owned or even operated the Yaesu FT-950 but I can speak to the analysis of that radio vs. competitors when I bought my Icom IC-7410.  I relied heavily on more experienced hams who wrote reviews on eham.net.  One review still available on eham.net specifically mentioned the FT-950 vs. the Icom IC-7410 and the Kenwood TS-590S.  His review is under the Icom 7410 heading.  His review influenced my decision but I do not consider the IC-7410 to be contest rig, per se.  It's a good all around general HF radio for the money, precisely what I wanted but it probably does not meet your stated contest performance level.  I found too, that the price advantage that appeared to favor the FT-950 compared to the IC-7410 or Kenwoo TS-590S disappeared when the options of apparent Q-multipliers were added to improve selectivity on the FT-950.  Perhaps those are not necessary, I since learned.  I also considered the Kenwood TS-590S which has very good numbers on the Sherwood index.  Since nearly every radio is a compromise, I found the IC-7410 a good fit for my return to ham radio after a 50 year hiatus but I do not believe that many dedicated contest practioners consider it a contest rig.  I wanted state of the art DSP and a solid receiver.  As for contesting, if your budget allows it, the Yaesu 5000 series is a real power house but it also costs $5,000.  It tops the Sherwood index, at least for now.  Maybe two FT-950's would be a good compromise?  Even one, with the 3 kHz roofing filter seems to work quite well for others whose comments appear prior to mine.  As others, far more experienced than I have said, it all depends... I do not believe in pushing components just because I have one, either.  Good luck.  It sounds as if you are enjoying your analysis and as a result, I think you will come to a good conclusion through your efforts.

73 de N6TEA
Mike Slate

[AD6KA]

A "contest rig" is only as good as the operator.
George, W6GF

How true.
A good operator with mediocre equipment will run circles around
a mediocre operator with even the best equipment.
Ken  AD6KA

[ZENKI]

The FT950 is a very nice radio. It has got very good looks and its ergonomics are superb. I wish my K3 had a front panel and ergonomics like the FT950! Unfortunately its receiver is not really contest grade. Its would be great if Yaesu produced a down conversion version of the FT5000s receiver in the form of a FT950. Hopefully they wont have the lousy  hissy audio amplifier  that is in the FT950. Another nice thing about the FT950 is that its transmitter has got very good  transmitter IMD performance.  The new NS roofing filter mod gives the FT950 acceptable RX performance for SSB contesting, so if you like the radio this might be a good option.

If you like the radio and  its ergonomics  is right, and the radio is fun to use I would buy it. I can contest with IC706 if I have too, but thats no fun, its torture! You unlikely to notice the receiver folding in front of your eyes despite the FT950s poor RX numbers. I can tell you you that using a good ergonomic radio thats easy too use is much better than  a top range radio like the K3 that has the best receiver  and is so painful to use in a contest because its ergonomics and controls and so poorly designed and layed out.

Yaesu is on the right track with its big box radios like the FT950, FT2000 and FT5000 series of radios. These radios are very popular because they have big boxes and knobs. Having to pull out chopsticks and a user manual every time you want to change a option or do something does not make for a good contest radio. Its for this reason that I so hate my K3!  I just use  any of old big box radios for contesting despite the K3s advantages. I wish Elecraft would release a real mans radio with  a big box, big panel and more knobs!

Hi Folks...

I've doing quite a bit looking at the FT-950PEP and it seems to be quite a radio for the money.

Just wondering what opinions and experience you might have with the FT-950PEP as a Contest Rig (CW, SSB and Digi Modes)??  What about a pair of them in a SO2R configuration???

Your input is greatly appreciated!!

73,

Dave N1PC

[ND1X]

In my Humble opinion, it depends if you are a CW op or SSb op or if you do both when it comes to contesting. Having done both with so many radios over the years, its at times when one radio would seem best for the moment. I have to agree, a good radio is only as good a good operator. So many things come into play here, from antenna/s, filters, mics, power etc, its become truly an art form of sorts. The best way to look at it is, if you like the radio and it has good reveiws and alot of people are using it with good results and the cost is reasonable. Then I say purchase it, or better yet, maybe you know someone or he/she knows someone that has one. There is nothing better than a hands on demonstration.  IMHO.

[ZENKI]

What  use is a good operator if the radios receiver is blocking  the signals you trying to hear? That is unfortunately what you get when you have a sub standard receiver with poor dynamic range. Being the best contest operator is not going to help you much if you cant hear through your receiver problems.

These days I could not use a receiver with sub standard dynamic range, unfortunately the FT950s receiver performance is not much better than low performing radios like the FT857 and IC706.  It is however  a very nice looking radio with good ergonomics. 2 of these FT950s would make a nice SO2R setup. Maybe Yaesu will put  the FT5000s down conversion receiver in a future version of the FT950, it certainly would be a top selling radio if it did not have a noisy audio chain like the FT950.

In my Humble opinion, it depends if you are a CW op or SSb op or if you do both when it comes to contesting. Having done both with so many radios over the years, its at times when one radio would seem best for the moment. I have to agree, a good radio is only as good a good operator. So many things come into play here, from antenna/s, filters, mics, power etc, its become truly an art form of sorts. The best way to look at it is, if you like the radio and it has good reveiws and alot of people are using it with good results and the cost is reasonable. Then I say purchase it, or better yet, maybe you know someone or he/she knows someone that has one. There is nothing better than a hands on demonstration.  IMHO.

[K4FX]

Where is some good info on comparing contest radios receivers from Sherwood Engineering.

http://www.sherweng.com/table.html

I was really surprised just how low the Yaesus placed on this table with the exception of the FT-5000, which leads the pack.

It is also interesting to see just how high some of the older radios placed. For instance the TS-830s was ahead of a $10K IC-7800...

[K2OWR]

:::: I have plenty to say about the FT950. Let me preface my comments on the fact that when I began to take contesting seriously, many years ago, my station was all Yaesu, all the way. Had several FT1000's equipped with all the filters. Several of us operated these radios and although every one of them eventually developed problems, until that happened, we ran them very hard. They were a pleasure to use and very few QRM situations could not be dealt with. Eventually I broke down my contest station, got rid of everything, and moved away. After a few short years of no hamming at all, and prior to this I had been very active for over 50 years continuously, I decided to take the plunge and get all new stuff at the new location.
Naturally I wanted the latest Yaesu I could afford, and settled right in on the FT950. I also got he DM2000 thingy to really make it "special" with all the bells and whistles. After struggling to get the DM2000 working for a month, with little or no help from Yaesu, it was discovered the installtion section of the manual had a mistake, which Yaesu agreed was wrong, and I finally got it working.To this day the error still exists in the manual. A total waste of money, especially since the band scope was useless, and the other "features" just plain silly....it did look terrific though!

 The radio itself was terrible in the typical contest QRM. No matter how I twisted the knobs and applied the so called roofing filters, I could not sort out stations on a crowded band. It was awful.
Then came the next problem, the radio stopped talking to the computer leaving me with no interfaced contest software. I finally sent it back, and after 3 weeks they returned it having replaced a UUART in the circuit involving the CAT port. Hooked up the radio and it still would not connect to the computer, so back it went again. Called them after 3 more weeks and it turns out they had "lost" the radio somewhere in their facility. They finally found it, then took another two weeks to confirm it had indeed blown out the same part again. They apologized, said they would return it, but wanted me to pay the shipping again. They finally relented and paid for it themselves. I got the radio back and it worked; but it still was useless in a serious contest. I also bought the audio memory board for contesting, but it souned so bad I could not put it on the air in good conscience.

I wound up selling it and buying a used Icom 756-Pro2. The Icom runs rings around the 950, and has all the bells and whistles already built in. The band scope, the voice memory stuff, the cw memory stuff and on and on. The Twin PBT filters are far superior to even the old FT1000 I was so fond of. Save yourself the aggravation and buy a used 756Pro2 instead....I love this radio!

[K4FX]

I also use a Pro 2, it is a pretty nice radio. Outstanding on RTTY too.

There is a lot of difference in day-to-day operations versus serious contest conditions. If you look at the Sherwood Engineering numbers, a lot of radios that are normally very well thought of, are way down in the ratings when it comes to contesting. Other than the FT-5000 (which is number 1 at this time) there are few Yaesu's in the top half of the listing.

Like I told a friend of mine, if you don't contest, you will never need or use the extra receiver performance in the higher end radios most of the time. If you do contest, you will miss it sorely most of the time.

I have had the ProII for almost 4 years, I want to get something a little nicer, maybe an Orion 1, or a bare-bones K3 and build it up over time. Then the Pro 2 could be the second rig in my fledgling SO2R setup. Right now it's a FT-857D, which when I get another rig, the 857 will go to dedicated mobile operation.

See you all next weekend in the CQWW RTTY

K4FX

[VE3FMC]

A "contest rig" is only as good as the operator.

George, W6GF

I agree, a good operator could use an old FT-101E in a contest and do well. Other than the time it takes to tune the rig when changing bands you could still make a lot of contacts.

Plus a radio is only as good as the antennas feeding it. Buy a $10,000 rig and hook it up to a bad antenna and you are not going to fair too well in any contest, let alone general rag chewing.

I own a FT-950 and although I do not contest it serves me well for my day in day out amateur use.

[K4FX]

I agree, key words "contest rig" which a FT-101E ain't

K4FX