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You can
write your own review of the Yaesu FT-950 (PEP-950 enhanced version). AKA Mark 2.
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K4PDM
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 1, 2010 11:32
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Excellent!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Most of my better experiences with HF rigs have been from Kenwoods and ICOMs. I love the transmit audio of old Kenwoods I've had (TS-850, TS-940) and the ergonomics of old ICOMs (IC-751As, IC-735s.) The receivers on all those radios were great, too (especially the TS-850.)
But those old rigs have found their match. The FT-950 has great transmit audio--it's tough to make it sound bad and easy to make it sound exactly like you want it. I get compliments no matter if I use the hand mic or my Sennheiser, with the right adjustment of the parametric EQ and processor. Only my Kenwoods have sounded this good with so little effort.
Yaesu has a close-to-perfect compromise between large numbers of knobs and buttons, and menu adjustments. Sure, you must push a button before adjusting Shift after Width, but how hard is that? Power output control is in the menu, but that's no problem for me as I seldom adjust it, and when I need to, it's not hard to find. I very seldom need the book after 10 days of using the 950.
The receive on this radio is spectacular. I am amazed at how well it can bring a weak CW signal up out of the noise. Although QST did not show it to be top-of-the-line in dynamic range, there is more to a receiver than numbers! Narrow that passband down to 100-200Hz, turn on the audio peak filter, AGC on fast, IPO to where you just barely hear band noise, and then listen for that weak CW signal and see what you think.
So far the Contour control has not impressed me, but maybe I have not played with it enough. I do find the noise reduction helpful in SSB. I notice that some people criticize the internal speaker, but I didn't realize anyone used internal speakers in these radios. My external speaker sounds great. The tuner performs as advertised, matching up to a 3:1 SWR and with all the tuner memories, you'll seldom have to retune it unless you switch antennas.
Older radios have their good points. You would have to spend several thousand dollars to match the dynamic range numbers of the best of the early 1990's rigs...but how often do you need 140dB at 5kHz? If your answer is, "Quite often," then judging by the numbers, this is not the transceiver for you. However, if you want something with a fantastic display, great transmit and receive audio, the latest DSP technology to pull the signals out, and with upgradeable firmware, $1300 will get it. That's $200 less than I gave for an IC-751A about twenty years ago!
I must admit to only owning this radio for about 10 days. Sometimes a "quirk" shows up weeks or months after buying a rig and totally changes the owner's mind about it. If that happens with the 950, I guess I'll have to write another, less shining review. For now, I'm not hesitating to give it a "5."
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KV4AN
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 29, 2009 04:38
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PLENTY OF CONTROLS
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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XYL got me an FT-950 for Christmas and it is a very nice rig. Plenty of knobs, buttons, and menus to keep even the most hard-core ham happy. I love to fiddle with the controls while I operate and this radio has them with excellent visual feedback on the display so you don't feel like you are in a sensory deprivation chamber.
The receive filters are SUPERB and the filters work on digital modes perfectly. I run packet on 30 meter APRS and I no longer hear the nearby Pactor robots (set menu 055 to 1700 for KAM 300 baud and use 500 Hz filter).
The only thing I don't like is the Digital Noise Reduction. It works fine on SSB, but attenuates a CW signal if you turn it up much past 4. I thought there was something wrong with the audio amplifier because I had the volume almost all the way up and was having trouble hearing the CW station. Keep the DNR down and the radio works fine on CW. The CW zero-beat meters is a wonderful visual aid. It's hard to tell from the manual, but you don't need the optional DVS-6 to use the CW contest keyer memories.
Here are my equalizer settings: 091:300 092:-4 093:3 094:1000 095:3 096:3 097:2700 098:8 099:3 (same for PE menus) 064:3-27 for stair-step general purpose communications quality audio as shown on the PCC-950 software equalizer graph.
Bottom line is a very nice good quality radio that lets you sample everything HF/6 has to offer and a great digital modes radio.
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OE4VIE
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 11, 2009 03:57
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Unbeatable for price
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Unbeatable for price Time owned: more than 12 months
I am using this rig more than 12 months now. Still works perfectly, and has been improved or updated with firmware updates when available. The receiver sensitivity and audio quality is outstanding.
CW functions are great. Also I use this rig together with an 2m transverter and they performed very well, it is nice to use the FT-950 functions on 2m too.....great stuff!
This rig has to be one of the best buys for the money.
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KT0DD
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 6, 2009 11:36
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Surprised me
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I sold a Ten Tec Orion II due to financial hardship and was looking for a bang-for-the-buck rig to replace it. I listened to the 950 at HRO in Denver and the receive audio caught my attention. It sounded alot like the old Kenwood audio which I like. So I decided to try one.
While this is NOT an Orion II class rig, I was mildly surprised at how many features & flexibility the FT950 offers. You can adjust everything from DC to daylight, and it has a TX equalizer that puts the OII TX tone control to shame. I was probably wasting a great CW rig with the Orion as I dont do CW. I think the FT950 will be in this house a long time as it meets all my basic needs. 73
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G3XOV
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Rating: 4/5
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Nov 30, 2009 06:16
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Good choice for me
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I use cw 100% and am quite pleased wih the 950
in this mode. Previously owned an Ft2000,Ft450,
Pro3,7400 and Ic7200 but like the 950 enough to
have added the DMU to the station primarily for
the bandscope function.The radio is easy to
operate and everything does what I expect it to
do apart from the noise reduction which is just
unusable. It will take out the noise but it also
takes out the wanted signal and no ammount of
tweaking will stop this happening.This is my
reason for the 4/5 rating.Otherwise very pleased
with it.
73
Ron G3XOV
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K4TB
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 18, 2009 17:04
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FT-950 or IC-756 Pro 3
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I bought the FT-950 about 2 weeks ago and am also fortunate to own the Icom 756 Pro 3, so I thought some hams might be interested in my comparisons of the two. I also purchased the MTU 80/40 and 30/20 microtuner units for the FT-950.
First, I can say both are super rigs. The FT-950 is every bit a match for the Pro 3 in many ways but each has something over the other. It’s sort of like comparing a PC to a Mac, or an Acura to a Lexus. Here are some detailed comparisons:
- FT-950 has more adjustable audio response for both TX and RX. You can enhance the RX audio to make it sound like (almost) studio quality, or tighten it up for good communications quality. The Icom has just plain solid communications quality audio which is optimum for digging out the weak ones. The FT-950 can do just as well but may require more adjustment, since there are more adjustments. I found I could make the two rigs sound about the same on any given signal, once I found the right adjustments.
- The audio contour control on the FT-950 is amazing and the Icom doesn't have anything that quite matches it. I found that setting the contour control level for peaking (+ gain) rather than leaving it at the default level (- gain) significantly enhanced received SSB voice, while the CW peaking mode greatly enhanced CW reception.
- The Icom DNR is definitely easier to adjust and perhaps more effective than the FT-950 DNR, although the FT-950 DNR works well too.
- The FT-950 can sound better than the Icom on moderate or strong SSB signals because of the ability to make more audio adjustments.
- The Icom may have a very, very slight edge over the FT-950 when listening to weak CW over a long period. You can hear weak CW just as well on each, but the Icom has a smoother background noise. Both receivers seem equally sensitive however.
- Icom does a better job of implementing both the manual and automatic notch filters. The FT-950 notches work well but it takes a little more adjustment with them than with the Icom.
- The NB is slightly better on the FT-950 but the Icom has a super NB too. The FT-950’s NB has two selectable widths - narrow or wide – each with its on level adjustment.
- The Icom has only a 15 KHz roofing filter while the FT-950 sports 15, 6 & 3 KHz. The more narrow filters do reduce band splatter noise a little better than the 15 KHz filters.
- The FT-950 has the optional outboard microtuning preselectors which provide an effect similar to the roofing filters, i.e. a slight reduction in band noise, especially from static crashes. They are an interesting reuse of technology seen back in earlier days of ham radio. Their effect is somewhat subtle so don’t expect these filters to perform miracles despite their cost. They should be very useful in providing immunity from interference by co-located stations at a multi-station site, like in Field Day.
- I found the FT-950’s implementation of the VFO B/Clarifier knob a little confusing, and wish the knob had a friction adjustment like the main tuning knob so it wasn’t too easy to turn. Nevertheless I could readily use it for split operation when desired. The Icom dual watch feature and clarifier implementation are definite benefits by comparison.
- I didn’t have a problem that the FT-950 has such an extensive menu selection. I like the fact that though the menu you can tailor so many things to suit your taste. Although some have complained about not having a power control on the front panel, I think that having it in a menu makes it less likely to change the power erroneously, as when using a transverter. Similarly I don’t use features like DNR or DNF so much that I need a knob. For knob lovers, there’s the higher-priced FT-2000 or FT-9000.
- Some of the other things I love on the FT-950 are the CW tuning and CW spot features, and the instant audio mute functions. Additionally the ability to do software upgrades is a plus for the FT-950 in my book. Yaesu’s new free PC control software for the FT-950 provides some nice extra tools also.
- Of course the Icom has the invaluable spectrum scope which I love. Coupling that with its dual-watch function, and the fact it is the only rig currently hooked up to my amplifier, it is still my contest go-getter. Those things notwithstanding, I find the FT-950 really fun to operate and will probably use it more than the Icom for the indefinite future. The FT-950 cannot be beaten for the price, and even if you add the DMU-2000 and a computer monitor for the band scope function like the Icom, the FT-950 still costs less.
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OE5BFM
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 14, 2009 02:36
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Smply satisfied after one year
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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After owning my FT-950 now for one year, I write my neutral impressions. That means I am not a fan of one brand. My other rigs are the famous Kenwood TS-930 and the Kenwood TS-830, both with all CW-Filters in it.
I used the rig on the big antennas of our Club-station, also on fieldday-antennas, did SSB, CW and PSK and in summary there were no problems.
First, this rig seems to be very durable. I never heard or read in the net about frequently occuring problems. Also mine works fine without any troubles.
Normally I like radios which are simple to use, because I want make contacts and not "play" with radios, hi. But the menues of the FT-950 are really no problem to use, only one knob to reach them, choosing for the right one and adjusting it. I think, that couldn´t be easier.
Hint:
This radio has a lot of possibilities to adjust the modulation.
The free software from the yaesu site PCC-950 has the facility to show the frequency-curve of your modulation-response. Really a great help! I adujsted it to the same curve as e.g. the famous astatic or shure microfones have and I get very fine reports!
One thing I noticed in CW-Mode. If using the narrow filters, eg. 400Hz or less, the hiss sounds a bit "harder" in comparison to my analog rigs. Maybe this will be a bit tiring for some hams when listening for hours. But on the other hand, the possiblilty to dig out weak CW-signals and bring them into the understandable range is really great and just as well as on my TS-930 /TS-830.
Of course it´s alway a question of your demands, and there are enough rigs available for more money which possible meet them, but I think my demands are not so little and even after one year I am satisfied. And don´t forget the price!
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W5JLF
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 13, 2009 20:47
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Great Radio
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have had mine almost 2 years. I liked it when I got it and have liked it even better with each software upgrade. I don’t understand why you would need to spend any more money and not get that much more radio.
Joe, W5JLF
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K1FT
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 13, 2009 07:47
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Not to be confused with a FT-950
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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This is a review about the FT-950 with the PEP upgrades. The PEP version does not require one to turn off the contour, or width, or notch to make other adjustments to those same functions, it only requires one to press the appropriate function key to enable their adjustment. I do agree that the 10 pin DIN is an extremely poor choice as an interface connector. Agreed the menu system could have been more intuitive and there should be more than one panel key to perform a quick menu function access. But these are nits in a radio that Yaesu is supporting through irregular but feature enhancing upgrades.
As commented by others, it is absurd to compare this radio with an Orion, 7700, K3 or any of the radios of that class. Equally absurd to compare it to a FT-450 which is a great performer (for its price), but like the K2 - for me ergonomic nightmares and I have owned and used both. The FT-950 is a great radio for its class and I believe it is a good bang for the buck today. Semi-professional contesters, and extreme DX’ers, should look elsewhere – they wouldn’t be reading this review anyway.
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G0CVL
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Rating: 3/5
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Nov 13, 2009 00:57
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Be realistic
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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Please read the SHERWOOD ENGINEERING figures for a TRUER rating. How can the QST figures for the FT2000 / FT950 put them equal to the K2 or just level with the IC7700 ????
One reason was the way the figures were arrived at. Notice that IMD and all the other figures were at 5khz. I think you'll find they now test radios at 2khz (like everyone else), and the figures are much more realistic.
Radcom's test here in the UK, rated them much lower than those figures.
Having owned the FT950, I kinda liked it, but it was obvious, that in a SIDE by SIDE comparison, it WAS lacking in close in blocking performance.
It's not a BAD radio. it's not a STANDOUT radio. It's just a middle of the road,run of the mill performer, just like, a lot of them out there.
It wasn't for me, with my requirements, but for the money, it's "OK"
73
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