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Reviews For: Yaesu FT-991/991A

Category: Transceivers: HF Amateur HF+6M+VHF+UHF models - non QRP <5W

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Review Summary For : Yaesu FT-991/991A
Reviews: 186MSRP: 1699.95
Description:
The FT-991 is the next generation in all mode, all band MF/HF/VHF/UHF
transceiver with C4FM (System Fusion) Digital capability. The FT-991
includes multi-mode operation on CW, AM, FM, SSB, and Digital Modes
(Packet, PSK31, RTTY and C4FM), with 100 Watts of HF/50mhz Capability
(50 Watts VHF/UHF). High-resolution full color 3.5" TFT Touch panel for
superior operability and visibility, High Speed Spectrum scope with ASC
(Automatic Spectrum-scope control) built right in. Internal High Speed
Automatic Antenna Tuner included in the package.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.yaesu.com/indexVS.cfm?cmd=DisplayProducts&ProdCatID=102&encProdID=D24F60F33816ED8BE5568D7E2B5E2131&DivisionID=65&isArchived=0
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
63.31864
IZ1GCN Rating: 2016-09-26
Yaesu FT-991 Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The radio as a whole is a very good radio in both the VHF and UHF hf part. Meet some limitations, it can not be expanded in the VHF and UHF bands tx (this happens in the version for the European market).
Great analyzer frequency limitation / waterfall that is totally unnecessary and does not work continuously as the competition radio (ICOM).
Consider that soon will be marketed the updated version of the FT-991 hopefully yaesu demonstrates attention towards its customers by offering them, through its official distributors, a hardware upgrade at cost price or almost. We'll see if it will be the yaesu brave enough to show the market that the customer satisfaction prevails to simple economic laws of profit.
A result of chance of these design flaws I would not give ratings discretamenti high or high to the product though invalid as a whole but not up to the competition in the same segment.
iz1gcn Roberto
VK6TY Rating: 2016-09-26
6 Months old Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
The FT991 has come in for much criticism some justified and some questionable .

Since the latest firmware upgrade I have found the performance to be second to none and right up with the performance of the
FTDX 5000 and the Kenwood TS 990, it has a very quiet receiver with a range of noise reduction tools that really work and enhance the received audio on noisey bands.
On 2 meters and 70 cm the performance is excellent

With the optional upgrade coming with the release of the FT991A to the waterfall and FFT making these realtime with out the loss of audio,this will be the iceing
on the cake with a Spectrum analyser that will function all the way up to 469.999 megs realtime.
K6BRN Rating: 2016-09-25
AM Works Just Fine on Mine Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
This is my second review of the FT-991. I just had to see if all the bad press regarding AM performance is true (on my S/N rig). Here is what I found:

ON THE AIR: No problem whatsoever. AM audio quality reports on the air were "very good" with no audible distortion - RX was performed by an ICOM IC-7300. 80% or better modulation was easily reached as shown on my waveform monitor (RFView signal tap to 100 MHz scope), under a variety of scope sweep and mic drive conditions.

ON THE BENCH: In casual testing (i.e. no written procedure and notes, for the Gadflys), modulation was easily driven into the 90% range with very smooth AGC action coming on line as I attempted to push the rig into over-modulation. No signal distortion was visible in the time domain under normal conditions, did not bother to check the frequency domain with a spectrum analyzer since the audio reports were uniformly good.

AM USER SUGGESTIONS: 1. Suggest you ignore user manual instructions for AM mode use. 2. Mic gain should be set to between 85 and 100 when in AM mode for good modulation, vs. 25-35 when in SSB mode (MH-36 DTMF mic), 3. The AM output power setting on the FT991 should not be interpreted literally, as watts. My power meter indicated 20-30 watts carrier on the maximum FT-991 AM power setting (40), depending on band, and 40-60 watts peak power when fully modulated. 4. AM RX tone can be adjusted to be very high quality by turning off AM high and low cut RX filters (menu items 41-44), setting the analog RX filter to 9 KHz and setting the Contour control to about 2700 Hz (and +15 level, 10 width, on menu items 114-115), 5. I ran AM mostly at 25 watts carrier, as indicated by my power meter and as recommended by Yaesu, but also tried carrier powers between 5 watts and 30 watts ("40" on the FT-991 power setting), with no apparent distortion and just a warm (not hot) rig case on the higher power settings (after some rag-chewing).

COMMENTS: 1. User manual suggestions for mic gain setting and ALC level movement will result in very low % modulation and are useless. The ALC level hardly moves under most circumstances, anyway - its always at the top of the "OK" range. 2. Contrary to many on-line rumors, peak power output kicks upward, not downward when the carrier is modulated (as it should) - the FT-991 PO meter wiggles a little bit and does not accurately indicate this - but an external peak reading meter does.

I am very curious about how Yaesu is using the ALC to throttle AM output power under heavy modulation - its not exactly what I'd expect. But I can't argue with the results - the TX audio and RX audio (once the RX filters and contour are properly adjusted) sound very good - far better than my old TS-440S. If there ever was a problem with AM on the FT-991, other than crummy user instructions, they've clearly been solved. (described unit is S/N 6G280XXX).

Brian - K6BRN
IK6IOQ Rating: 2016-09-01
Buono per il prezzo Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Ho colto l'occasione del ribasso del prezzo del 991 a seguito della notizia della prossima uscita del 991A pagando 999 euro comprese spese di spedizione meno i cento euro del rimborso Yaesu UK sono 899 euro netti.
Devo dire che per questo prezzo la radio merita un punteggio di 4/5 in quanto è piccola maneggievole, l'accordatore interno a me funziona, sono presenti tatissime funzioni interessanti nel menu (oltre 150 voci) e l'ottimo visore sensibile a tatto ed a colori funziona senza esitazioni di sorta.
Il ricevitore è molto sensibile e funziona discretamente (certo il mio TS590SG va un tantino meglio) ma qui stiamo parlando di un quadribanda e con radio dello stesso tipo deve essere confrontata.
Sorprendente il DNR soprattutto in CW ma anche in fonia senza esagerare ripulisce di molto i segnali.
La potenza erogata è senza compromessi, la radio resta tiepida anche dopo ore di funzionamento in TX.
Insomma forse 1400 euro appena uscita erano troppi ma ora con 899 euro è tutta altra musica mi sento di dire UNA PICCOLA GRANDE RADIO grazie Yaesu per la sorpresa e la spesa !!
DJ3MQ Rating: 2016-08-30
ok , but not a hammer Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This thing will do what i want , but not more.
Receiver is good ,new colored Waterfall is
only cosmetic for a joke . The menue is a surprise , but over all them ,Yaesu brings the new FT-991A next month after 16 month FT-991 production to the market . I losst 40% of my money . Price goes rapidly down from the FT-991.
Is this a serios faktory ? Thank You Yaesu .
Hope Ten Tec came back .
WB5LFV Rating: 2016-08-26
perfect beats them all hands down!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
wow wow wow!!! this is it a perfect radio that has it all, all band all mode! and is super duper cool with color touch screen and is not too big or small. it has super strong receive and has a nice dsp filter and the notch works great! so if you want it all shack in the box rig this is it!! and costs less and you get two more bands all mode over the icom ic-7300...
K7RFI Rating: 2016-08-22
Great radio!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I am a yaesu fan, but thought the 991 might be a little small!! but after getting used to the memorys
it is one of the best i have owned. I have a yaesu ft 950 kenwood ts 940 and the ft 991 this radio has the best receiver that i have used in 40 years!
I do use 2 external speakers with upgraded 5 in.
speakers. the dnf and dnr work great. I get good audio reports with heil hc-5 headet.
WX3K Rating: 2016-07-30
Disappointed with timeliness of repair from YAESU Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I am posting this here because my FT991 is still under warranty and Yaesu is struggling with the poor AM modulation issues.

The "supposed" AM TX carrier level fix that everyone claims is the fix is also lame as this does not address proper power output calibration and AM issues on the higher(50MHz and above) bands. Try your rig on 6 meter AM on 50.400, without audio EQ and verify that the power output metering tracks correctly on the meter when tinkering with the AM TX carrier level.

Yaesu is struggling with this issue. I sent my FT991 back in January of this year. They performed an alignment and the rig still had AM ALC issues on 6 meters and above.

A properly modulated AM rig will display upwards power peaks on your power output meter. The FT991 in AM mode has DOWNWARD power output on modulation peaks. You should be able to accomplish a fully modulated AM signal WITHOUT audio EQ with a carrier level of 25 watts(160-6meters). Other manufacturers such as KENWOOD and ICOM easily demonstrate this.

Why is Yaesu struggling with such a basic form of modulation ?

In early June I sent my FT991 back to YAESU service in Cypress, CA after extensive conversation with Wes Grey (Service Manager) and Tim Factor (Service Tech) at the Dayton Hamvention. I had emailed Wes numerous times and did not receive any responses from him about this issue. They finally acknowledged that my statement that the FT991 has an issue with poor AM on the higher bands was verified. They agree with me. They still have my FT991 as of today(7/30). So far this year since I bought the FT991, the RIG has back in the CYPRESS service center for a cumulative total 10 weeks excluding shipment time of 1 week each way from the east coast. If you include shipment time, I have been without my FT991 for 3 months total now.

I have been calling Wes Grey on a regular basis and I have yet to hear feedback from him about when Yaesu is going to address this issue properly.

The AM issue has existed since 2015. Why is Yaesu struggling with this issue ? It seems all related to ALC. I understand there are extensive PA issues on this rig. What is up with the design of this rig ?

I think the FT991 is a good rig otherwise. It functioned well while I had it in the shack. Now it is probably sitting on a shelf in the service center collecting dust at this point. $1200 of my hard earned money just sitting there waiting for someone at YAESU to resolve this. I also got the $100 rebate when I bought it which was immediately burned up when I shipped the unit back to the CYPRESS service center.

Will Yaesu come through on resolving this issue soon ? We all need to be more vocal about this issue with YAESU. We need to let them know we need a proper resolution on this issue. Call YAESU and push the issue. I am certainly pushing the issue with them but I need support from the rest of the FT991 owner community.

Stephanie WX3K
KB0VVK Rating: 2016-07-29
dose a lot Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
IM very happy
but instructions to upgrade are to overdone example upgrad firmwere press
txw and split while you turn in power supply
why cant you have the power supply on then press txw and split got to mske it a pain
jonkb0vvk@gmail.com if there is a easey some one show me that's the only thing I don't like
M0KZX Rating: 2016-07-24
Brilliant radio, wipes the floor with my FT-2000 Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I've had my FT991 for 4 months now. Since it arrived in the shack I've not used the FT2000. The DSP/DNR on this radio is stunning. I can pull stations out of the noise that the FT2000 cant even come close to.

OK, the menu driven controls are a pain in the neck, but like anything you soon get used to it. It's easy to program and all reports have been first class.

VHF and UHF / digital are also a dream to use with great reports received.

For the money this radio is a no-brainer.