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Reviews For: Yaesu FTdx-101D

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

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Review Summary For : Yaesu FTdx-101D
Reviews: 50MSRP: 4000
Description:
The FTdx-101D is utilizing the latest SDR Technology and classified as our High-End HF line, the FTDX series, which amateurs have come to know represents quality, A Few Of The Remarkable Features Of The New FTdx-101D Are: YAESU High-Class HF/ 50MHz 100W Transceiver SDR Technology and Waterfall Display Large Touch Panel precision color display Active Band Monitor enables rapid band changes with LED illumination of the operating band Independent control of the Main and Sub Bands allows effortless operation for the serious contester needing to move quickly between the amateur bands High-Q VC Tuning Front-End Main tuning dial for Main and Sub Band frequency control includes an Outer Dial for clarifier, VC tuning, fine tuning or custom settings Hybrid SDRs (Narrow Band SDR & Direct Sampling SDR) 2kHz RMDR 123dB+ 2kHz BDR 150dB+ 2kHz 3rd IMDR 110dB+ 400MHz HRDDS (High Resolution Direct Digital Synthesizer) 2kHz Phase Noise -150dBc/Hz VC-TUNE (Variable Capacitor Tune) signal peaking 3DSS (3-Dimensional Spectrum Stream) visual display Narrow band SDR & Direct Sampling SDR Emphasizes Basic Performance and Hybrid SDR Functionality Includes Digital Processing Generated Real-Time Spectrum Scope In addition to the Narrow band SDR receiver, that boasts overwhelming Basic Performance, the Hybrid Configuration Digital Processing with Direct Sampling SDR permits inclusion of the superb Real-Time Spectrum Scope. *300Hz and 1.2kHz roofing filters (Optional) PC control software performed remote operation of the transceiver from a remote location via the LAN or the Internet is available.
Product is in production
More Info: http://yaesu.com/indexVS.cfm?cmd=DisplayProducts&ProdCatID=102&encProdID=959169DE998192AB87295E90077D740D&DivisionID=65&isArchived=0
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
54.4504.1
W3DS Rating: 2019-09-14
Top Tier Radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is one fine transceiver. I have owned a number of high end rigs over the years and this is among the best. The build quality is superb and it looks even better in person. The 3D band scope I really like and is enjoyable to watch. Ergonomically, the radio feels great and is fun to operate. Yes, lots of menus, but most are one time set and forget. An RF power output control can be left configured with the front multi knob. A reported RF overshoot problem was corrected at the factory. My late serial number has the fix. Some have complained of a noisy relay in this model on CW. I operate semi break in and it's not an issue. In full QSK mode the relay clicking is evident which I find annoying. I've never liked full QSK mode so for me it's not an issue. The CW decoder on this radio is the best I've ever used. Large white text with great accuracy. The NR is very good, not the conventional adjustment from zero to max, but adjustable algorithm anywhere from 1-15 for the best solution. The noise blanker works well. Being old school, I've never been a big fan of touch screens and finger printing up a radio. An inexpensive stylus works great in this regard.
My other rig is a Kenwood TS-890s which is very impressive. I've compared both radios on weak signals, strong adjacent QRM, etc, both radios are superb. Just different models of sports cars, to each his own. I take the #1 Sherwood rating with a grain of salt. I don't think we can notice the performance edge the lab instruments measure. In all honesty, my previous rig, IC-7610 was impressive and on par. I really doubt I could pick a winner of these in a blindfolded test. I am very happy with this Yaesu and give it definite thumbs up. Yaesu has a 3 year factory warranty as standard. Nice!
K4FX Rating: 2019-08-27
Excellent Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have only owned this radio for a couple of months. It is a lot of radio. Beautiful receiver. Clean transmitter. Controls are well laid out, I had ran it for a few weeks before I dug out the manual and started reading it. It had been a while since I was able to operate a new radio like that. The display is huge compared to what I am used to. A lot of information. A very user friendly radio. Using it with the Quadra amp and it is like a 1000 watt transceiver.
M1EOP Rating: 2019-08-22
Great Transceiver Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I’ve had the radio now for 10 days and it has replaced my trusty Icom IC7600.
I bought the radio blind so to speak, my research being limited to QRZ.com and You Tube reviews. The final decider however was the fact it has 2 receivers, 4 metres, ( 70Mhz) 3 antenna sockets , one of which is now configured to 70Mhz, and finally, it was £350 cheaper than the Icom IC7610 and had a SP101 matching speaker thrown in as part of the deal. (more about that later)
Day one was a real headache of a learning curve, but most controls and menus are intuitive so very little need to refer to the manual.
My initial impression is that I’m taken by it. I like it. The receiver is quiet compared to my old Icom 7600 and the touch screen and real time scope are far better that I had expect them to be. You can see a signal, tap the screen where you see the signal and then use the main dial to fine tune it. I thought I would really miss the Icom way of doing things where the tuning speed increases as the dial speed increases, but in reality, the touch screen is easier and quicker to work with.
So far, I have received many unsolicited complimentary audio reports with pretty much out of the box settings and the MD100 desk mike. I haven’t touched the parametric TX audio controls as I find them confusing, and I don’t find the manual any help. An audio engineer may find them easy to use, but for me they are too complicated. I prefer the simpler Icom method of constantly variable bass and treble controls.
I’m not convinced by the 3D display, which while looking impressive, doesn’t to me at least, serve any practical function. I prefer the standard 2D scope and waterfall. I would have liked to have seen a wider colour palette for the display, but that’s a minor thing.
The SP-101 speaker to my ears is awful. I use a BHI desktop noise reduction speaker on the main receiver and an old Kenwood SP820 speaker on the sub receiver, both of which sound far better.
Although in the set up procedure there is the facility to set time and date, I have as yet to find the time display function. There’s no obvious reference to one, so I guess there isn’t one. In my opinion, a really serious omission on such a high end radio. I expect to see UTC and local time display options on the screen. I emailed Yaesu UK with a query about this some 7 days ago, but they haven’t bothered to reply.
In conclusion so far, this is a fine radio, easy to use and easy to listen to. A keeper.
W0VX Rating: 2019-07-28
Outstanding Radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have owned the FTdx101D for about 6 weeks now and it is a superb radio. It works seamlessly with my Quadra amplifier. I like the radio so well that I sold my FTdx5000 that I have been using for the past 8+ years.

Comparing the 2 radios is difficult since they are similar in some ways but very different in others. The Dynamic Noise Reduction (DNR) is implemented differently but much is much more effective on the 101, especially on SSB. The ability to listen to 2 different bands at once on the 101 is a big plus when watching for openings on 6 or 10 meters while operating on 20.

The ergonomics of the 101 are excellent. Controls for main and sub are grouped together and clearly marked in white and blue lettering. The "MULTI" knob can be set to control one of 11 radio functions, including RF Power, or one of 5 screen functions. The menu system is greatly improved over the 5000 with a touch screen and grouped menu items with understandable names. The ability to save the menu and memory settings to an SD card and reload them later if/when you mess something up is a big plus.

Firmware updates on the 101 are a breeze compared to the 5000. You download the firmware from Yaesu, copy it to the SD card, and select Firmware Update from the radio SD card menu. No hidden program switch to change or combination of buttons to hold when turning the radio on like the 5000. It only takes a total of a couple of minutes to do.

On CW the transmitted waveform is very clean in QSK and semi-break-in. On SSB I am getting unsolicited reports of excellent audio. Adjusting the new AMC correctly (Automatic Mic Gain Control) is a bit confusing at first but following the instructions gives good results.

Using the radio on FT8/FT4 requires a minor adjustment in thinking. In the Data Mode the VFO and on screen filter display show the frequency in the middle of the 3 KHz passband, not the SSB suppressed carrier frequency. Setting the VFO dial 1.5 KHz higher than the traditional FT8/FT4 frequency results in the 3KHz passband being in the right place and everything working as expected.

The spectrum display is real time. It shows what is happening on the band as it happens. I like it much better than the soft smoothed display found on many radios. There are multiple choices for what is displayed including one that shows the band spectrum plus an oscilloscope and an AF FFT.

Getting familiar with some of the new and changed features has been both fun and frustrating. It is necessary to actually read the manual to get the most out of the radio and understand the function and flexibility of the menu settings and front panel controls.

Overall the FTdx101D is a keeper. It is easier to use and a better performer than the FTdx5000. It's the best radio I have used in my 57 years as an active ham.
K3OX Rating: 2019-07-19
FT8 issue Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The radio is great, but here's a significant issue if you operate FT8.

I am trying to use Data-U mode for WSJT-x (FT8) but there is a problem. The maximum Bandwidth in Data-U mode is 3 khz. But if you look at the Filter Display, the bandwidth is centered on the phantom carrier (I assume this is the yellow line with "C" at the top) so that the effective Upper SB bandwidth is 1.5 Khz which means anyone above the 1500khz FT8 channel are not demodulated (and if there are any signals on what would be Data-L they can interfere since they are in the passband). And these undemodulatable (?) signals can be seen to be outside the Red filter lines on the Filter Display. This is with the Roofing Filter wide open.

The phantom carrier line (yellow line) should be on the edge of the red passband indictor (LEFT for DATA-U, RIGHT for DATA-L) rather than the middle so that the DATA-U is actually USB only.

Using the SSB mode for computer data modes would mean having to reset in the SSB menu from MIC to Rear USB port when changing from SSB to FT8 and back, not an acceptable solution, IMO.

I sent a message to Yaesu on this DESIGN ERROR (I mean, there's another reason that their DATA implementation makes no sense, why have distinct DATA-U and DATA-L if both sidebands always come through the filter???). Here was their reply:

"Kevin:
What you are experiencing is correct for the Data -U bandpass. You will find this on all of our radios. This is why, traditionally FT-8, and all other AFSK modes were set to SSB not Data U-"

Which makes Data-U essentially useless. Whatever Yaesu's tradition regarding what DATA mode is, it really needs to change. So I would say that Yaesu needs to be flooded with Tech Support questions asking why DATA-U was implemented in a way that makes it useless for computer data modes. Just to get their attention. If you don't operate FT8 now, you may in the future.

Best, Kevin

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Earlier 5-star review posted by K3OX on 2019-06-08

Until early 2016, my main xcvr was usually an Icom IC-781 chosen for it's reasonable used market price and high RX performance. There was a brief flirtation with the Elecraft K3, but ultimately I decided against it, mostly due to its a la carte pricing. The 781 was finally replaced by an Icom 7300 in early 2016, despite being outdone by the 781 in a few areas, its combination of low price, size and weight, excellent bandscope and DSP RX features carried the day. But eventually, I wanted a rig that offered enhanced capabilities along the lines that the 781 offered back in its day.

My first foray was into a Flex 6400. It was a good performing radio, but ticked me off in ways probably more descriptive of me than it. I bought a Maestro panel since I (still) believe that a radio should be a radio with knobs and buttons. Now I liked the Flex in many ways, but ultimately I must say it was kind of a kluge. Just getting the rig "booted" and fully functional could be a frustrating experience, at best taking a few minutes, at worst requiring IT skills beyond what I thought should be necessary to merely turn on a radio. With the IC-7300, you push the button and presto, in a few seconds you had a functional radio! Conclusion; Flex was not for me.

So the Flex was sold and the 7300 put back in place, but still...

I wanted something better. However, nothing jumped out at me in the Marketplace until the FTDX-101D was announced. This looked promising, but around a year later promising was still all Yaesu was doing. But finally, the rig jumped off the drawing board and became a reality. My first inclination was to wait and see, but a trip to HRO Delaware would be fatal. So one warm spring day found me driving home with a new rig and thousands of dollars lighter. Would this be Flex 6400 redux?

Nope. I hooked up the 101 to my (so called) antennas and my power supply then pushed the Power button. The rig beeped and came to life! Excelsior!

The RX sounded good, but the bandscope experience was different from what my IC-7300's was. The scope actually works fine, but could use a bit of averaging in its response. The rapid response made me (more) neurotic at first, but after a bit of time at least I calmed down (if not the display). Actually, this is sort of the way the 7300 scope looked before I found the adjustment to mellow it out, it would be nice if Yaesu would offer this adjustment in a software update at some point.

The receiver sounds good to me and even crowded bands during contests can be largely tamed. The infamous Sherwood Engineering Receiver Test Data chart lists the 101D at the top, but the top 7 slots are so close that there would not be much practical difference. The Noise Blanker works well and the Digital Noise Reduction works better than any of the others I have used. So far, I haven't much to complain about regarding the receiver. The only slight problem is strong impulse noise (such as light switches, motors starting etc.) can "capture" the AGC momentarily. The 7300 did the same thing and this is apparently a common issue with many of the modern DSP Radios.

Now, my inclination is to be somewhat forgiving on operational stuff since that tends to be more a matter of preference and what you are familiar with rather than absolute. So far, I have found the rig works more or less like I would expect with a few things I had to get used to. One was setting up the radio to operate split frequency, it was different from what I was used to but I actually ended up preferring the way the Yaesu implemented the function. I also really like the concentric to the main tuning knob sub-receiver tuning knob. It looks and feels really good and in operation is convenient to use. Overall, the radio feels well built and as attractive as a Ham Radio needs to be.

To get N1MM and WSJT-X running required this key bit of information, the Ham Lib analogue of the 101D is the FT-991. So I was able to work the current 3D2CR DxPedition on FT8 on 7 bands. Can't be bad!

One important thing when operating FT8 is to check the ALC level. I had to back off the Audio om my computer to around 25% on the "Speakers USB AUDIO CODEC" adjustment to keep from overdriving the radio and causing spurious signals. This is actually just part of proper setup, just sayin' check it.

One other issue I had is that, when using the DATA-U mode for FT8, sometimes the computer didn't fully modulate the radio or indicate any ALC level at all. Switching the rig to SSB, whistling for a second and switching back to DATA fixes this until the radio is powered down. I can't make much of this since I don't know why this happens, it could be a setting in the radio or in WSJT-X or involved with the lack of dedicated Ham Lib setting for WSJT-X or...

Interfacing with my Acom 1010 amp and my Receive K9AY array was simplicity itself, plug and play and did not require the DX Engineering RTR-1A external box as the IC-7300 did. This for only $2500 more! Seriously, the FT101D is a significantly better radio in many ways that (to me) justifies its greater cost. So no buyers remorse here (yet, hi hi).

Regarding amplifiers, there have been some reports that there were RF overshoots that have caused problems with certain amplifiers (I have had no problems with my Acom). It appears that Yaesu has figured a fix for this, said to be implemented in current (as of now) production. Good on Yaesu for working this out and it looks like anyone affected by this will be taken care of.

Overall, I think this is a great radio, not perfect but neither are any of the circa $10k radios. It's not cheap, but I believe it is fine value for the money if you need (or want) this level of features and performance. It will be interesting to see what Elecraft comes up with in their K4, but to be "better" than the FTDX-101D it will have to be one fabulous radio.


K7ERQ Rating: 2019-06-13
OUTSTANDING! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Yaesu has really "Hit one out of the park".
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I highly recommend you have the ALL Narrow CW and SSB Filters installed by Yaesu before you take delivery. The VCT 101 for second receiver also.
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A vast improvement over the FTdx9000D, FTdx5000!
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Top Quality Construction. Built like a tank.
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Receive Audio is outstanding. Same for Transmit.
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I keep wondering, how will Amateur gear keep getting better, well it has with the FTdx101D.
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Thanks Yaesu.
N3RTD Rating: 2019-05-25
Best radio I ever used Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I own one, Love it!!!! Get unsolicited audio reports every-time I use it. Its features are amazing. The receiver is absolutely excellent. The Noise reduction is excellent which isn't a surprise to Yaesu owners. It is easy to control operate and the menu system is amazingly simple. It is a completely new menu setup and is easy enough even for people who do not want it to be(sarcasm is abvious), a lot of people detract and post reviews just because it is a Yaesu and they do not like the brand. I may start doing bad reviews on Icom for the same reason( not!!!! I am honest) well enough of a rant. Great radio, best I ever used and I have used some of the best. Including and not limited to an Orion II, Omni 7, FTDX3000, FTDX5000 (used one, don't own one) The following I used in store but do not own, TS890, TS590SG , IC7300,IC7610, now I know using one in store isn't the same as owning and operating it for a good period of time, but right out of the box the FTDX101D was impressive and impressed me more than all of those. I have used it for a few days now and intentionally placed it in high QRM environments and also been listening in on the CW contest going on right now, it is amazing. I am now selling off some of my gear because I don't need them anylonger, only keeping one back up rig. Firmware will take care of any bugs that people may report, I haven't had real cause to complain about anything yet, except the Auto Notch is programed a little too aggressive, which causes a very slight distortion on ssb reception, not that noticeable but it is there. Firmware will fix this really quick. So far that is the only thing.
The Noise Blanker actually gets rid of power line noise , it has a great many settings and when setup properly will mitigate most noise issues. The VC tuning is amazing also. Too many things really to comment on. All I can say is , as always Yaesu gives you a whole lot more for far less money than all others. For 3699.89 brand new on the market is 900 dollars cheaper than the IC7610 was when it first came out. And before the lie propagates from some of the icom reviewers on youtube, there are 28 outputs of different types on the yaesu and 25 on the IC7610, so when they say there are less outputs on the 101d they are mistaken. Yaesu has for both receivers a rx out and an IF out , The icom doesn't work well for outputting to a secondary receiver , Rate my Radio did a video on youtube complaining about it. So for those of is who like to hear facts and performance opinions based on facts here you go. And yes it is only my opinion expressed here.
N5YY Rating: 2019-05-14
I LIKE IT !!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I started writing this review and found myself getting unnecessarily wordy. Suffice it to say this radio is replacing my FTdx 5000. This new radio surpasses every radio I have ever used. I love it!
The displays are highly functional and entertaining, the controls are laid out well, and the radio is very easy to set up.
AA6VB Rating: 2019-05-05
Works Fine When Adjusted Properly Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
A local ham just acquired an FTDX101D.

He spent some time reading the manual and adjusting all settings properly. His amplifier is properly tuned. As a result, his SSB and CW signals were perfect. No sign of splatter or key clicks.

I would be interested in hearing reports from other amateurs who have adjusted their rigs properly.
W1BG Rating: 2019-05-04
Prone to cause splatter Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
One of our locals recently purchased this rig. While it is indeed very nice looking, with his initial on-air use the first couple of days his signal was splattering more than 8 kHz wide. Obviously he was overdriving the audio, but my point is that no matter how hard you drive it, it should not transmit (or splatter) outside of the defined TX passband of the rig. Once proper EQ'ing was performed the splatter problem is greatly improved, though still there to some degree if he crowds the mic or gets excited and begins talking loud. I look forward to other *listeners* reports.