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Reviews For: Yaesu FT-891

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

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Review Summary For : Yaesu FT-891
Reviews: 148MSRP: 889.95
Description:
The FT-891 HF All Mode Mobile Transceiver once again continues Yaesu's legacy for legendary receiver design in a compact package, providing uncompromised performance for both the mobile and stationary Amateur operator. High end 32-Bit floating point DSP enhances the operating experience providing a cleaner, clearer signal and reducing overall operator fatigue creating a more enjoyable environment for any Amateur operator.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.hamradio.com/documents/FT-891%20Brochure.pdf
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
154.51484.3
K1OYQ Rating: 2018-02-05
Lots of radio for the price! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I purchased this rig to replace my FT-817ND during the propagation downturn we are in. Five watts or less just won't cut it anymore. The FT-891 is a lot of radio for the price. It performs well on all band using portable antennas. It really rocks on SSB. I get excellent signal and audio reports from this rig. I use it for SSB, CW and digital and have no major issues with it. The only feature I don't like is the width control ... you have to reset it with every band change. I wish Yaesu would change that with the next firmware upgrade. Adjusting RF power out could be improved also. It picks out weak stations pretty good and I can work most of what I hear barefoot. It is a great rig for portable operations and you just can't beat the price ... $579. It is a bit menu intensive, but most radios today are that way. It serves its intended purpose and I really like it. I use an LDG Z-100+ antenna tuner with it, and a SignaLink USB sound-card with no difficulty what-so-ever. I would highly recommend it for those needing a full 100 watt portable rig. I haven't tried it with the Yaesu ATAS-120 so I can't comment on that. I used to have an FT-100D with the ATAS 100 and that was a great combo for mobile.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by K1OYQ on 2017-11-22

First of all this is not a base rig with all the controls readily accessible on the front of the radio. It is a very small rig meant for mobile/portable use ... so don’t compare apples to oranges. I purchased this rig for portable operations while on vacations and field day type operations. I have been using an FT-817ND, but the downturn in propagation has made that little gem a bit frustrating to use. I have used an FT-100D, an IC-718, and an IC-7000 in the past for portable operations. Here is my read on this rig after a week of extensive use:

1. It is easy to use once you learn the menu and the capabilities of the rig. It is essential to read the manual before you go too far playing with buttons and menus.

2. The rig performs outstanding on SSB. It has a lot of audio punch and received great reports from DX stations. I don't know why some of the other reviews are saying that it is too hard to change from LSB to USB, but if you read the manual it is quite easy. Again, this is not a full size rig! I would say that SSB is this rig's most outstanding feature.

3. Changing power levels is a bit of a pain, but I think Yeasu will fix this with a firmware upgrade. My FTdx-3000 had the same issue and they fixed it within six months.

4. Operating digital modes was a cinch using a USB SignaLink soundcard interface. I operated between 35 to 50 watts and the rig did not overheat. I put the fans on contest mode and they came on occasionally. Oh, BTW the fans are very quiet.

5. I used an LDG Z100+ auto tuner with the rig and it interfaced quite nice with it. One push of the tuner button and the antenna matched almost instantly.

6. I used the USB connection to control the rig using Logger32 and N1MM+ from a laptop with no problem. Very easy to setup and control was flawless.

7. I encountered a lot of QRN on the low bands at my portable location and the noise blanker and noise reduction features were very useful in cleaning most of the noise up without putting a lot of artifacts in the audio.

8. The ability to change the three front buttons to whatever you want is an excellent feature. When I wanted to work DX split I just assigned "SPLit" to one of the buttons and away I went. When I wanted to rag chew, I assigned one of the buttons to "SCoPe" and watched the band periodically on the sweep function to see where activity was on the band.

9. I found the band scope to be very useful on this little rig. The resolution isn't fantastic, but it does allow one to see where the activity is, and it allows some clue as to where the DX station may be listening when operating split. Again, this isn't a full size rig, so it isn't fair to compare this feature to something like the IC-7300 or FT-991A.

10. The receive audio was very pleasant using a 4 inch external mobile speaker. It brought out more of the low frequencies. I did not observe any unusual hiss mentioned in another review. All radios will hiss when the audio gain and RF gain are turned up all the way! The internal speaker emphasizes the highs a bit more, but it is still quite clear and crisp.

11. The transmit audio received great signal reports using the stock mic. I adjusted the parametric equalizers with a local ham before taking the rig on the road. Once we had it setup I left the setting alone. Keep an eye on the ALC and you won't have any problem. I have a friend that just purchased his FT-891 along with a Heil mic, and he sounds great also.

12. CW operations were also very easy, and I think this is one of the better sounding rigs I ever heard on CW. I used the RF gain and filter widths to isolate the station I wanted and the receive audio on CW was nothing short of excellent.

13. I operated mostly on 20 and 40M using a Buddipole dipole 20 feet up, and worked just about every station that I attempted to using SSB or CW or Digital.

Summary: This little rig is a keeper for me. I am very impressed with its performance so far. It did everything I wanted it to, and it was a pleasure to use. It's not my FTdx3000, but it is a great little portable rig for the money. This is the most inexpensive HF rig from a reputable manufacturer on the market. It has a couple of shortcomings (Power changes, memorizing settings) that will most likely be fixed down the road with a firmware update or two. Yeasu turned my FTdx3000 into a great rig with several firmware updates, so don't fret if this rig doesn't do everything perfectly right now. I would highly recommend this rig for those who like portable operations in a very small package. If you want a better base rig I would recommend the FT-991A or IC-7300, but they will be more than double the price. In my opinion this rig is the best value for the dollar on the market today. Oh, BTW I've been a ham since 1959, so I've had a few rigs in my day.
DH4SC Rating: 2018-02-03
Great little box5 Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
As I saw the first FT-891 advertisement in a ham radio magazine I fell in Love with it......on the visual side.
A couple of months ago I ordered my FT-891.
I am very very pleased with it. It gives full power 100W without any modification, the receiver is excellent, quiet, selective. GREAT! Transmit audio is really broadcast-like after a good modification of the MH31 hand mike.
Over the last 20 years I had about 2 dozends of different radios for testing or long term use on my desk and I have to say that the FT-891 is one of the few radios to stay here in my shack.
I did 't like the Yaesu radios of the last decade but this little radio kicks a**.
I use one 891 in my shack as 2nd radio and i use another one in my car with 7-feet-hamsticks. No complaints at all.....I think there's no better mobile radio on the market these days and at all no better radio in the low and mid priced range.

You are looking for a TOP radio without bells, whistles and "TV screen"? Go and get your FT-891!!!!
AA8XR Rating: 2018-02-02
Fantastic Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Purchased in January 2018. Been wanting a radio for HF mobile again for some time. Upon fixing the vehicle it rides, the 891 seemed the best choice. Fits in with a minimum of space taken. Along with my Hustler Super Resonators from many years back and an MO-2 tilt over atop a home brew quad magnet mount, the radio shines, as has every radio I’ve had in this set up since December 1988.
On to the radio. All I do with it is talk. All signal reports received were of the best compliments on its audio. This is my first Yaesu HF. It won’t be my last. It’s a solid performer, taking up a minimum of space.
This is my seventh HF rig. Hope it lasts many years. I’m extremely happy with it!
W1PJE Rating: 2018-01-21
Nice RX and TX; fatally compromised for CAT control modes Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
(Youtube video here: https://youtu.be/Gbwzu8G3UqE)

This radio has extremely severe "clicking" problems in its audio whenever any CAT control is used through its USB port. This can clearly be seen by viewing the Youtube video above. It is conclusively not due to anything other than digital "noise" getting into the audio chain whenever anything queries the radio over the USB port.

My radio is now on its way back from Yaesu Repair in California after nearly 2 months. My radio "meets factory specifications" according to repair. Yaesu HQ in Japan told me they are aware of the clicking problem. Yaesu told me they have no fix for the problem. Worse yet, Yaesu has no technical bulletin officially admitting there is a problem. Japan HQ was completely non-responsive to my requests for discussion or a fix (these were passed along multiple times to HQ by Yaesu repair). So I have completely failed to fix the problem by sending it to the official repair facility.

Based on my 30+ years of RF experience, this is a hardware problem and will not be fixed by any firmware updates. Their engineers created a poor mixed signal environment and the digital lines are crossing over into either the audio amplifier stage or worse yet into the RF stage (perhaps more unlikely). I am convinced that the only way to fix it is to redesign the PCB inside the radio, but Yaesu HQ seems unwilling to do this, or to publically admit there is a problem. There is no way to avoid it as it is not possible to control the radio any other way than using the USB port. As a result, I am definitely planning to sell the radio as the clicking noise is so bad that it is useless for any control application (e.g. digital) and contesting is impossible since the noise covers up stations in situations where you ride the RF gain (normal practice for any receiver in crowded bands). This is obvious from the video.

It is possible that you might get a radio that does not have the problem under CAT control, but I would say the odds are not good as more than one person has written me with exactly the same symptoms. The engineering on the radio's digital lines is obviously very poor, and I was really disappointed by Yaesu HQ's unwillingness to work with me at all to address the issue. It's a sad situation and the company should not be very proud of its work or its non-response.

It's a sensitive receiver and a fine radio if you don't use any CAT control at all - this is true of course for many applications - but as I mentioned above, it's unusable if you want to use any kind of computer control. This same conclusion has been noted by Derek Fichtner more than once here.

I would like to thank Tim Factor and Dale "Scotty" Scott of Yaesu Repair in Cypress CA for their assistance - they did an excellent job with customer service and faithfully ran my requests up the chain. The problem is entirely with Yaesu HQ in Japan, its engineers, and their regrettable unwillingness to work with me to effect a solution.
KX4RC Rating: 2018-01-21
Use it before you review it Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Having owned Kenwood, Icom, Ten Tec and Yaesu, this radio performs as well or better than radios costing three times as much. The receiver on this radio is exceptional. I can honestly say it hears better than the radio I am currently using.

Pair this radio with a software control program and you will be hard pressed to find something that will outperform this little jewel. The radio becomes very easy to navigate with computer control. Most menu items are a one and done set deal.

Is it a $2k rig, by no means...will it hold its own with other sub $2k contenders? Most definitely! This is 20 years of hands on experience using many different radios coming to this conclusion.

Would I buy it again? I did! I now own two of these little jewels..One will become the main radio for my daily use.
Did I mention a three year warranty......




KD7WPJ Rating: 2018-01-18
It is not legacy Yaesu radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I owned FT-857D and FT-817ND. I considered to replace those radios with FT-891, but after reading ARRL review and comparing this radio with different radios at HRO, and decided not to move forward with FT-891. My main concern is PA. I reviewed PA design, and it uses two RD100HHF1C transistors. Those transistors have significant gain reduction when frequency increases. It makes them a poor selection for multi band HF/VHF PA. In comparison, IC7300 uses transistors RD70HVF1, that have about the same gain on HF and VHF frequencies, and make possible to make good linear PA. I already contacted Yaesu and expressed my concerns, but Yaesu did not provide any response or comments.
KN4EMY Rating: 2018-01-01
I Like it! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I think this radio has great receive and does the job well. I am limited on desktop real-estate so the 891 does extremely well for those of us who cannot get a "base" radio. Only issue I have is trying to get Signalink USB to work, not much info on this radio and the Signalink so I troubleshoot when I have a chance to play radio operator.
AD0OO Rating: 2017-11-23
Sweet Little Rig Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have recently decided to replace my FT-857 with the FT-891. My eyes aren't what they used to be so I wanted the larger display.
This unit works very well and removes noise created by my hybrid car much better! I too took about 30 seconds to realize that I needed to look in the book to find the USB/LSB switching, but it was super easy once I swallowed my pride and opened up the book!! I have talked to everyone I've attempted to contact with Great reports.
This will be my HF rig for quite a while or until Yaesu puts this type of display in a future 857D replacement....LOL
Done Rating: 2017-10-30
Outstanding Mobile Rig Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Great value, thank you Yaesu. As a mobile rig as designed I am having a ball with it. Teamed up with the Atas-120a a very stealthy hf multiband antenna and what you have 6 to 40 meters on the fly. I have been given unsolicited good audio reports with the stock dynamic hand microphone supplied.
Updating the firmware was fairly challenging, you will need excellent computer skills. First installing the USB drivers, reboot - then find the EXE installer for your operating system- install, reboot- connect rig- power on while holding three different buttons- you get the idea..
Anyhow it has great audio on receive. The DSP is a little aggressive with 1 tbrough 10 settings. I use setting level 1 and has quite a bit watery digital distortion, but cuts the noise very well.
Untill ICOM comes out with the IC-7010 this will be my mobile rig.

73

Earl
AB9TX
F6DFY Rating: 2017-10-27
Nice little Rig Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
For 650 Euros, he does the job.
Good sensitivity, good DSP, excellent talk power.
Too bad that Yaesu always delivers the microphone MH31 which is the worst hand microphone
Replaced by an electret (HM 219 ICOM modified for YAESU), after a few adjustments, you will get an excellent punchy modulation.
Yaesu should update to memorize the bandwidth used and other settings for each band.
After that, you have the best quality / price ratio of the market

https://qrz.com/db/f6dfy