| K8TPH |
Rating:      |
2015-11-21 | |
| low output on 160/80/40 meters |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| I bought a FT991 in June and it has been great until I was receiving complaints of weak signal and when I put it on a dummy and meter found I only had 22watts out on 40 meters and 12 watts on 80 and less on 160. 20 through 440 outputs are as adjusted. The receiver is one of the best I have every used and have been in communications, Amateur, military, and commercial for over 60 years. The touch screen takes a while to get through the learning curve but once you become use to it appears to operate as advertised. Sent the rig back last week and waiting for it to be returned and find out what Yaesu says was wrong. Cost me $60 to send it back but that is what happens when the company is in CA and I am on the east coast. |
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| N3CMH |
Rating:     |
2015-11-16 | |
| Good radio |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
I have had my FT-991 for almost a year and have had virtually no problems with any of its features.
A lot of comments have been presented concerning the menu options. After the initial exposure to the long list of menu options, I have had little difficulty in selecting and using the options that I use continuously.
Some of the other negative concerns I have seen or heard about recently. The clock. Mine adjusted with no trouble. "AM" mode of operation. Yeah, the first time I tried using the radio in the AM mode of operation, I was over driving the rig and as you can imagine, it sounded bad. With a little assistance from other on-air hams, the levels were set for a good sounding output and the rig has worked beautifully on several "AM" nets on HF and VHF.
Hope these comments are useful?
Over-all, I enjoy this radio!!! |
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| KC0WEO |
Rating:   |
2015-10-06 | |
| Scared during setup |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I just bought this FT 991, spent almost 2 hours trying to set the clock. DO NOT BOTHER TRYING TO GET ZULU\UTC it will NOT WORK......PERIOD!
Japan used their own time zone not the USA for US sold radio's. Here 0000 is midnight, in Japan it is 12 noon. So thanks Japan, I hope this is NOT an indication of things to come!
CALL YAESU AND COMPLAIN, $1600 for a radio and the UTC TIME IS OFF. DEMAND A FIX, FIRMWARE OR SOFTWARE UPDATE. REDICULOUS ......WAY TO GO JAPAN! |
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| PA1EC |
Rating:      |
2015-10-01 | |
| Nice Transceiver |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I own my FT-991 since august 2015 and I am very happy with the rig. I heard a lot of complains and there where a few software updates in a short period, but it works fine. The receiver is very good ( I also own a FTDx-5000MP) so I did a little bit of comparing. Mainly I am using the rig for digimode and SSTV. VHF and UHF are working also good. I have the latest firmware and for so far, I don't have any problems. If you are using the rig where it is mentioned for, there will be no problem at all..... |
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| M0SAZ |
Rating:      |
2015-08-31 | |
| Pinnacle of shack in the box tech |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I held off buying initially as I was worried about all the problems being reported. I was torn between something top drawer like the FTDX-5000MP and an all things to all men like the FT-991.
The FT-991 should have been my choice of radio as soon as it came out. Its got all I want from a radio – decent receiver, battery capable, and one radio for all bands, all modes, both portable and base.
However, I was stuck in the “I like a traditional radio” mentality and kept buying and selling the FT-817ND/FT-857D/FT-897D but the receiver is just too noisy, even using an external speaker and DSP, they never stayed in the shack long. When the FTDX-5000MP went down to £3,600 including the station monitor, I snapped one up – my 3rd FTDX-5000 since becoming a ham back in 2008. Alas, I wasn't happy running on a uninterruptable power supply should there be a power cut and so I tried an FT-991. The FTDX-5000MP is going up for sale – as is the FT-7900 which becomes surplus to requirements.
I have only had it two weeks but my PA stage hasn't blown yet, even under some pretty tricky tuning cycles on the extremes of 160m using the YT-1200 ATU (which is excellent – used one on the FT-450D and FTDX-3000). My other fear was the longevity of the touch screen. That seems quite robust and I find myself saying “hey do you think anything lasts forever? Especially something costing only £1,150!”. OK the receiver isn't going to be hardcore like the K3 or the FTDX-5000 but remember the kind of pileups T32C DXpedition had to handle with just FT-450D rigs, well, I think following their achievements, anything is possible and the FT-991 is streets ahead of the FT-450D.
No, I am glad I didn't take the plunge on day one of sales of the FT-991 but now they seem to have sorted the bias issue on the finals and the firmware is a little more mature (I don’t use digital voice or APRS so not worried about those fixes being outstanding), I think this is the radio for me. And if it breaks? 2 year warranty and hey, after that I can just pay for a repair, its not like I have many hobbies.
The FT-897D boasted the perfect size and abilities for my needs, but the receiver was just too tiresome to use in anger. Now I have a compact radio that does everything I want. And I have to say, touch screen menu navigation instead of going into menus with physical buttons is so much faster. Last night 3 40m SSB state-side QSOs, barefoot 100w with an end-fed wire, one after the other, one in a pileup and I was like “yeah this radio breaks through”, all thanks to the microphone EQ used on the FT-950/FT-2000/FTDX-3000/FTDX-1200/FTDX-5000/FTDX-9000).
Other “shack in the box” options other than the limited FT-817/857/897 are TS-2000 – never liked the receiver on that (we have one at the local club), IC-7000 – heat issues prevented me daring to buy one and I am not a big fan of Icom’s look and feel and the limited microphone options. IC-7100 – want to like it, from videos, receiver doesn’t blow me away. IC-9100 – looks impressive but very expensive and its an Icom, which am not so keen on compared with Kenwood and Yaesu – perhaps unfairly. FT-847/FT-100/IC-706 MKIIG – old and often requires mods and options to get them up to spec.
Another excellent looking compact HF/6m radio (and 4m for those countries with 70MHz allocation) is the upcoming IC-7300, which I love the idea of but only would consider if the FT-991 became problematic. That said, I would miss having 2m & 70cm in the same radio.
If you check out my YouTube channel (search M0SAZ or Google a120068020), you will see I have owned a ton of radios, bought new then sold – I have “wasted” thousands of pounds with nothing to show for it except a lot of radio hardware experience. If the FT-991 behaves as it has the past two weeks I can finally start saving money once again and my search for my perfect radio would be over. |
|
| K5WLR |
Rating:      |
2015-07-27 | |
| An update on my FT-991 |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
Overall, I am very pleased with my FT-991. Perhaps there are a few things with the digital side of the rig that could be resolved with a firmware update. The problem I was having with the digital mode turned out to be a Group that apparently was created when the firmware was installed. Once the group was cleared, the random transmissions were cleared. One thing this rig won't do that the FTM-400 does is it will not switch between analog and digital while the FTM-400 does. So I just created a separate memory for the digital frequency.
I am also running an Icom IC-2KL amp with this rig. I had some problems with the ALC hookup which turned out to be a problem with the manual describing the REM/ALC jack as a monaural 3.5 mm socket. Turns out that ALC is NOT available on the ring connection. The FT-991 runs ALC all the time; this was what I was seeing. When connected to the FT-991, I read around 4 volts on the ring connection and it does not change with microphone input. The ALC display on the FT-991 does show variations in voltage with microphone input without this cable connected. What I have done is to set menu item 143 to OFF, connect the amp T/R port to pins 2 and 3 of the TUN/LIN port, adjust the FT-991 to 40 watts out (checking linearity on my SB-614 scope), and I get between 400 and 500 watts out.
I really like the built-in sound card in this rig. It works really well and the audio is second to none! I run a couple of Information Nets each week using this rig and it is flawless.
For the price point, this one is a keeper for me. I have not had any of the problems others have noted here. I did wait a bit before pulling the trigger on this one. Perhaps Yaesu got the bugs worked out before I bought mine. YMMV.
I apologize if my previous review mislead anyone regarding the ALC port on the rig; when I make mistakes, I 'fess up! Other than this hiccup, I really enjoy this rig!
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|
| M0FHN |
Rating:      |
2015-07-24 | |
| Great Shack In A Box |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Hi
Only bought the radio this week but i'm very impressed by it, I owned the ft847 , ft857D & the ft897D but this radio is by far the better radio of the three . I find it the best yet shack in a box from Yaesu this is a batch four radio so some of the teething issues have gone away ( pa issue & vhf & uhf switching issue ) the menu system is easy to use the 3.5 inch touch screen works brilliantly the recieve is equally on par with my ft2000 if not better .
The receiver is very nice sounding, very sharp filtering. as well as great sensitivity on 2m and 440. the Dnr is a great improvement from the ft 2000 and the Nb is better as well.
Audio quality is superb, both RX and TX. It lacks a rear mounted mic socket (like the 706 / 7100 / Ft2000 has) so stacked gear has to have the mic lead draping over gear underneath.
My Settings for the Yaesu MD-100 are
Menu: 112: 200 - 2800/100 - 3000 Hz
121: 300 Hz
122: 12 mius
123: 7
124: 900 Hz
125: minus 5
126: 6
127: 2600 Hz
128: 8 - 10
129: 5
for P-EQ PRMTRC I used the same values but I use the Proc.
One item missing is the Tx/Ground Jack, the simple RCA style female connector used on the 2000 for opening and closing to ground for switching an external generic linear amplifier relay or relay box, or whatever...instead, the 991 makes you configure, purchase or materialize an 8 pin mini cable/connector to provide this very simple function .
The Spectrum is faster then the 3000 but as useless, yes you can "SEE" activity on the band but it will shut off the audio because there is only 1 reveiver.
On the whole i find the radio great value for money & have really enjoyed using it this has to be the best shack in a box to date .
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|
| WB6PWD |
Rating:      |
2015-07-21 | |
| Great portable rig |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
I've had my FT-991 just over 3 months. The receiver is very capable and pleasant to listen to. I am still learning how to combine the receiver's features optimizing for my purpose. The quality continues to increase as I use the available choices. My first experience with sw radio was with my dad's NC-183D and matching speaker in 1951, so I'm drawn to quality sound. The FT-991 is getting there. My principle use is portable operation.
I hope that the reviewers who submitted their views in March have found satisfaction. Later reviews have averaged 4+ compared with March's 2.7.
I'm anticipating an in depth analysis by the usual testing facilities.
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|
| M0AFJ |
Rating:      |
2015-07-16 | |
| Nice performer |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Had my 991 for around 8 weeks now, I have it switched between my K3 and IC9100 so can carry out comparisons, there is very little difference in performance between the IC9100 and the 991, possibly on CW the 991 is better, it seems to handle QSK better. I found the AGC action on the 991 a little harsh so tend to run it in the mid position.
I've used it /P with my Buddipole system and the internal ATU tuned it fine, even on 5MHz. It seems to give a lot of bang for the buck, certainly a step up from other shack in a box Yaesu offerings |
|
| W7VP |
Rating:      |
2015-07-15 | |
| EXCELLENT RADIO |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
I have now had this radio for several months. I have so far not suffered the failures reported by others.
My initial experience with the rig was with the tuner. In order for the rig to properly use the tuner the A and B VFOs must be tuned near the same frequency. Once that is accomplished the rig will tune a significant split and I have also set it up to tune cross band. I have used it on numerous antennas including a 5 element monobander on 20, a TH6DXX, a 40-80 meter Super Loop, a 7BV vertical dipole and a CrankIR. It has been able to tune each of these antennas. Note that virtually all my antennas are set up to be below 1.3:1 except the Super Loop on 80 meter and yet the rig will tune 80 anyway.
The rig is very similar to my FTdx 1200 in many ways. The VFO A and VFO B arrangement is very similar and operating split is easy if not as easy as the 5000. I do not use it much for DX though since it is primarily intended for portable operations. It is also very similar in the use of the Parametric Equalizer. I have set it up to use the same configuration I use on my FTdx 5000MP and my FTdx 3000D. Without the EQ the unit is very bassy.
The rig is very simple to set up. I use it in my fifth wheel trailer for portable operations. I have used it on shore power as well as on battery. I used it for several hours for Field day using solar power in the QRP mode. All Field Day operations were battery and it did not appreciably draw down the RV batteries.
I can set up the radio in the trailer in less than 10 minutes. It is kept in a Go-Box with all the cables. The components include the power supply, the laptop and an external keyer. The keyer has open collector circuits built in for CW, PTT and FSK. The keyer has been modified for RS232 to the open collectors and a mini-DIN 6 for connection the DATA/RTTY port on the rig. CAT and Soundcard are via a USB A/B cable to the laptop. The RS232 from the keyer is connected to the laptop through a USB to serial converter.
On HF I have used this rig in many modes including CW, SSB, FSK PSK, and JT65 with no problems. I have not used it on VHF or AM.
Contrary to other observations I find the menu system very user friendly and easy to use. In addition the spectrum was very useful in on Field Day. By using the Sweep button I was able to locate strong signals when operating QRP allowing for more contacts. It is not continuous as the panadapters on my FTdx 5000MP and FTdx 3000D but is was still very helpful.
All in all this rig deserves more than the average listed from the reviews IMHO. If there are continuing problems with reliability I will be watching for them. My former FTdx 1200 went to the shop twice with blown finals but in both cases it was pilot error in a complex SO2R setup. |
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