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Reviews For: Yaesu FTdx-101MP

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

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Review Summary For : Yaesu FTdx-101MP
Reviews: 41MSRP: 5119.95
Description:
YAESU High-Class HF/50MHz/70MHz* 200W Transceiver
Full SDR Technology and Waterfall Display
Large Touch Panel precision Colour 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.
Product is in production
More Info: https://www.yaesu.com/indexVS.cfm?cmd=DisplayProducts&ProdCatID=102&encProdID=BA2F414449407A4D3D23461143F88429&DivisionID=65&isArchived=0
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
53.4414.2
W1SWL Rating: 2023-03-15
Has Met and Exceeded All Expectations Time Owned: more than 12 months.
As a long time SWL'er I have used many Ham rigs over the years (60+) primarily as receivers. So I do appreciate the "ears" that a receiver has and totally understand the tools that most receivers bring to the table.

The Yeasu FTdx101MP has joined my shack and the Icom IC-R8600 (which was my primary receiver) has left (at this time the best receiver ICOM makes). The Yaesu FTdx101MP is by far the most selective and sensitive receiver on the market that I have had the pleasure to use and throughly enjoy. The rig's DNR, digital noise reduction is utterly amazing. Signals "float" out of the QRN/QRM. The ability to Notch and Contour the signal interference is a wonderful set of tools. Of course shifting and narrowing are knob controlled and very handy. I tend to not use the Amplifier setting on receive so I cannot comment on their effectivity.

The 101MP can put out 1 to 200 watts PEP and I can tell you that I have done some experiments with the Reverse Beacon Network and CW which clearly shows me that 200 watts can make a huge difference to your signal's propagation.

I have the Electrovoice RE27ND Microphone which along with my audio settings, are constantly garnering unsolicited positive comments. Seasoned Hams have constantly asked..."What are you using for a Microphone?". That pretty much says it all.

I have not had any issues with firmware or any computer interface. In fact I use Windows 11 on a PC and WIN4YAESU software for control and Ham Radio Deluxe as my primary logging software.

When I was setting up my station this time the fact that the 101MP comes with a power supply and a few more front end filters made it a no brainer.

As Forrest Gump said..."Its Like a Box of Chocolates" and the 101MP just never ceases to amaze me. There is lots to learn and explore with the radio. Which after all is more than half the fun of a good rig.

I am using a FLEX Tuner Genius XL antenna tuner with the 101MP does matching chores for my big Horizontal SKYloop. A RFKITS RF2K-S amplifier is there if needed.

The fan on the MP is quiet... and not on too often I might add. The fan on the MP's power supply has to my knowledge never been heard. The manual is good and complete but Andrew Barron's book on the FTDX101D should be considered mandatory reading.

In summary, a great sounding transmitter that is joined at the hip with currently the world's best receiver. You cannot work what you cannot hear.
G4YVM Rating: 2023-03-15
Really very, very good Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is my 2nd week of ownership so it's an early report but even so...

Firstly, yes there are some niggles with this rig...why doesnt it do this, and that and the other...some ergonomics are a bit, well, alternative (why is the sub vfo above the main vfo in all areas of operation?? odd but not bad per se)[edit 15th March 2023. Ive just watched a Martin Lynch video and Steve says that the main AUDIO gain is below the sub audio gain because they had a lot of customer reports from the preproduction model they had on demo. On this model the main audio gain was ABOVE the sub audio gain but customers felt they were knocking the main VFO and losing signals as they played with the audio pots. Fare enough...now we know]. The main thing is that the rig operates like silk...its gorgeous. I am comparing this radio to my last rig, the Tentec Orion 2, which is the best radio I have met in 45 years, so thats my bench mark.

The radio is my 3rd reasonably high end Yaesu (ftdx 3000 and ftdx 5000MP ltd previously) and it is nicer than them by far. The radio has been run at full power now since I had it - not because i need to, but to test it. It runs cool all the time, fans silent if they're on at all. The screen is easy on the eye and easy to manipulate to a display I like.

Settings are intuitive, by and large, and the audio is nice. I am a cw operator, very rarely on ssb and have only had one ssb qso on this new rig so far and thats probably all I will have unless I get some 4m qso.

What dont I like? Well, the 60m band is a bit hidden which is a shame...I have a licence Yaesu...trust me to be a good boy please and give me full access.

The ATU is a trimmer not the hugely capable ATU of say the Orion 2 or LDG (or even my Elecraft KX2!), but thats the way it is.

The manual is rubbish...very much a 'manual lite'

I think for the price it could have come with a dust cover - thats something Ive had to buy now to protect my kids inheritance.

Erm...thats it.

I do like the split audio (Main vfo via PSU, sub via the internal speaker). 200 watts. 3 antenna outputs, lovely display, silky VFO knob. I also like the look of this rig and that matters to me.

Some folks have said the relays are noisy - but they really arent that bad. Yes one can hear them but then theyre relays! Why Yaesu didnt go for diodes or something I don't know but neither do I care much, as it is it's fine. The relay on my old beloved T1154 were noisy ha ha...this baby is quiet (not silent, but quiet). Some folks say the ZIN/SPOT doesnt work, and thats almost right...if you arent very close indeed then the ZIN just loses the signal so be careful, some folks say the decoder doesnt work well...well, few do! I use my brain the read cw instead. The decoder does work, but no, it's not amazingly good. Mind you, the SSB reader doesnt work at all so cant really moan. (joke...there is no SSB reader!)

I could probably have got as much satisfaction from the ftdx10 to be honest, except the satisfaction of owning this flagship and for that I made a choice. I REALLY like the twin meters and how they can be configured and I REALLY enjoy haveing two S meters and two waterfalls which enables me to easily compare different aerials on the same signal...it's a fantastic feature. I have no external displays and have no need or desire for one...the rig does it all.

The rig is not too big and certainly a lot smaller and MASSIVELY lighter than the 5k! The ftdx101mp does what Yaesu claim in a way I like. All in all, no regrets with splashing the huge cash for this radio.
M7XAT Rating: 2023-01-11
Lasted 2 weeks before it failed Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
To say I was gutted is an understatement.
I paid a lot of money for the 101MP and an additional speaker, so it had one either side. As i was on the spend, I also bought a Heil mic and associated boom etc. I figured I’d get all my ‘goal’ items in one go.
Here’s where Yaesu got it wrong…
The PSU/speaker doesn’t have an LED indicator to say it was on or off. So one day I walk in the shack, hit the ‘on’ button on the radio and nothing happens, I’d forgot to turn on the PSU… turn it on and the radio came on… no audio, no received signals…. So after a factory reset did nothing to fix it, I packed it in the box and returned it to the dealer.
I replaced it with a Kenwood TS-890s… it has less ‘glitter’ than the 101…. But I know it’s going to work.. every time!
I still have my FT-2000 and FT-707 ‘stack’.
IU0FEB Rating: 2023-01-11
Not the rig i hoped to buy Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I own an FTDX9000MP , a small FTDX1200 and I purchased an FTDX101MP, intrigued by all the good reviews i readed.

what i like : DNR , absolutely wonderful, if well used is astonishing how well it works
USB connection to the PC , no interface is needed
sensitive reciever.

what i dislike: Ergonomics.. is a nightmare if i compare it to the 9k, the coaxial ring used for all the funcions like clarifier, vctune etc ends up always to an unwanted rolling of the vfo
dnf... totally unusable in ssb , it puts a distortion in audio ( it works perfectly in 1200 and in 9k)
Audio.. too underpowered, lack of all the frequencies i hear with 9k and also 1200.
VC Tune... overrated and overstimated not effective like the three micro tuners i have installed in my 9k
lack of canon ( xlr) mic input, thing that i have in 9k
no class a... well if i have to say something 9000MP is still my favourite, this 101 hasn't touched my heart.

IZ1OSP Rating: 2022-12-04
Great Radio! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I waited before writing this review because I wanted to test my FT 101 MP in an international contest. I only practice SSB and I chose this year's CQ WW the king of the contests in the high power all bands category. The radio is superb, the receiver worked great on all bands with dedicated receiving antennas for the low bands. Even the weakest signal, amidst the interference, was clearly heard by me, I appreciated the DNF, the VC Tune and the Contour and I varied the bandwidth at will and used the SHIFT for adjacent strong signals. This is precisely the strong point of this new jewel produced by Yaesu, strong adjacent signals are attenuated at will, allowing you to also listen to the marker during a contest or an expedition. I have previously had radios like the Icom 7700, Kenwood 990, but the FT101MP is the radio that has impressed me the most. I use it with a Heil PR 781 microphone and an EQ PLUS and the modulation ratios are always flattering. It is not a radio for everyone, it must be known, understood and used; in its compactness it contains a huge set of useful functions and once you get used to it you can use it to the fullest. I am really satisfied with the purchase, it is worth every euro paid.
W4JDY Rating: 2022-08-29
FT-dx101MP - Not for the beginner Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is the best in class HF transceiver I have ever owned in my 509 years of military and amateur radio operations. One can set the power output as I do to 25w to tune the radio using the CW key while in any other mode, or the TUNE button (not programmable). Optionally, one could set the AM function (rarely used) to whatever CW tuning power output one desires.

Receiver-wise it digs them out of the noise.

Transmitter - clean and versatile.

With HRD, this is a killer transceiver for the seasoned amateur.

Not for the QRP operator - but then who would pay the expense for lower power operations when those radios can be hand cheaply.

With three antennas full programable, the flexibility of this radio to even do ALE is remarkable.

If there is one fault with this radio that process frustrating at time, it is having the time to completely digest the manual and play with its fully capabilities.

Great radio with great service from Yaesu and Tim Factor in CA USA.

K4KRW Rating: 2022-07-04
A Stradivarius accompanied by kazoos Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I would recommend that you not buy this radio until you have tried it in a setup similar to yours and operating the way you normally operate. I think this is a love it or hate it radio. If you operate mostly phone and digital modes and use resonant antennas, you may really like this radio. If you operate mostly CW or use antennas that require matching, you may find this radio frustrating.

I will say that this radio did have the best receiver I’ve ever owned. The tweaking you could do to capture a signal was truly impressive. The digital signal processing was outstanding. But I found the omissions in the user interface thoroughly frustrating. In the end, for me, the great receiver wasn’t worth putting up with the problems in the user interface.

When making the FTDX101, Yaesu forgot a lot about how it normally makes HF rigs. Behavior that previous Yaesu rigs have is just not there. Past Yaesu rigs have been able to remember tuner settings by band and antenna port. This rig does not. Past Yaesu rigs have had an adjustable transmit power setting for tuning. This rig does not. You are stuck with 10 Watts. Past Yaesu rigs have been able to automatically select the correct roofing filter when you adjusted the receive bandwidth. This rig does not. There are many more areas where institutional knowledge was just not carried forward.

Then there are features like ZIN/Spot that just don’t work well. Then there is AMC that actually works well but is so poorly documented hams can’t understand what it does nor how to use it.

When I first hooked up the rig, I couldn’t believe how bad the audio sounded through the external speaker in the power supply. It was very muddy. There is a 47uF non-polarized electrolytic capacitor across the speaker leads in the external speakers. It does cut off the hiss. But it also destroys the sound quality of everything below. Why not leave the sound tailoring to the rig itself?

Then I started using the rig. I found myself asking “did they ever put this rig in front of a ham before marketing it?”

I had my FTDX101MP for over a year. I really tried to like it. Many of this rig’s problems could be solved with improvements in the firmware. I would have hoped this would have happened by now. But it has not. This is supposed to be a flagship transceiver. I expected better.
K4JK Rating: 2022-05-17
Outstanding in Most Areas, but a Few Issues Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Not much to say that hasn't been said. This is an outstanding rig, one of the best ever especially on RX but it has a few issues and misses the mark a bit. If you find a perfect amateur rig, let me know. I’ve been looking for many years.

The good:

Pretty much everything about the receiver. NB has worked fine the few times I have needed it (I’m in a rural area). NR isn’t superb but works OK. APF is not the best I’ve used but I would rate it as “Good”. Dynamic range speaks for itself, not that I would ever need that much here. VC Tune isn’t magic but I have found it useful several times.

The bad:

1) The panadapter leaves a bit to be desired. No averaging added to FW after all this time? Come on, man. 3DSS is cool for 5 minutes until you realize it’s not very helpful. Icom 7300/7610 definitely has the better waterfall.
2) FW Updates are slow. I saw a comparison of FW releases and dates for these rigs compared to the FTDX-5000, I believe. FTDX-101 is way behind, relatively speaking. This comparison is kind of apples/oranges, but still. It’s a major gripe with many owners.
3) The TX audio chain has been a Charlie foxtrot. YES, you can get these rigs sounding GREAT on the air. But everything we know about how AMC/Mic Gain, Processing and Equalization work together has been figured out through trial-and-error by owners sharing information online. OK fine, but Yaesu released a FW update that greatly changed how this functionality operated without giving us many details about it. So, we all had to go back to the drawing board and set our audio up again. It’s a black box. But here’s what we know:
a. Keep AMC below 55 (probably under 50 really). Mine has to be set closer to 40 with a SM58 clone to keep things in check. If you’re running QRO with your AMC wide open, you’re most likely splattering IMD 3kc up.
b. Keep your gain reasonable
c. Don’t over process. Comp should never hit 10db IIRC.
d. Use a Kiwi SDR or something to look at your signal. Also get others to look at their panadapters and let you know if they see whiskers/splatter.
These rigs are getting a bad rap on the air because of wide signals, it’s due to folks not taking the time to setup the TX audio beyond “you sound excellent here OM.” These rigs are FINICKY. If you’re driving an amp with this rig (especially a Solid State amp) to max smoke WITHOUT setting up your TX audio chain reasonably you’re probably QRMing everyone above and below.

Yaesu has given us plenty ways to manage the TX audio and modulation, the tradeoff is that we have all the rope we need to hang ourselves with. Until manufacturers start making rigs with better IMD specs (and we and the ARRL start demanding it) we have to be very cognizant of how our signals are.

4) The speaker in the PS cabinet is complete junk, I replaced it with the recommended Diatone ($14) and it’s 20 times better.


That’s about it, still a great rig but has some warts.

W9SN Rating: 2022-01-20
Bullet proof front end Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have a pair of these and use in contest modes. I can put these both on the same band at the same time with 1500 watts. Here's my video of them both doing that in the ARRL 10M contest - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y11MqMEZ36c&t=144s
Antennas are about 300' apart and using 1500 watts. They really don't bother each other much till you get with in 15kc's of each other. Very sensitive and you can hear the very weak ones on all bands. There is a learning curve to get the best out of these rigs. Plan on spending some hours learning the rigs. The MP models come factory with the 300Hz roofing filter. If you're a CW guy, then this is a must if you get on crowded bands (contests). The selectivity is amazing. I can roll off a 35+db signal and just not hear his side skirts.
N4EEB Rating: 2021-12-08
Meh Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I operated this rig heavy for 11 months. I used it in both CW and phone contesting, SSB and CW ragchewing.

I tried my hardest to like this radio, but it's just not for me.

PROS
As stated many times, the receiver is world class, the best I've ever heard in 42 years of hamming. You'd think that this alone would make it a keeper.

The main tuning knob and outside ring are a thing of beauty and a pleasure to fondle. The radio seems well built.

CONS
Ergonomically, the radio is a hot mess. This includes the actual front panel and the bizarre menu system.

There is hardly any "situational awareness" of important operating settings. For example, you can't simply look at the display and tell what your bandwidth is. It will only display the roofing filter setting, and since the roofing filters don't adjust by DSP bandwidth setting, the display is useless.

The band scope is so bad that it feels like an afterthought. First, the 3DSS feature serves no useful purpose that I can see. I've spoken other owners, and they have never found a use for it either, except for turning it on when a visitor enters the shack, because it looks "cool". The regular band scope is lacking many features, has no averaging option, and adjusting the base level threshold is a huge pain.

The "CW Spot" ZIN feature is practically worthless. Sometime it works, most of the time it doesn't.

The VCT (Variable Capacitor Tuning), which is just a simple pre-selector, is overrated. You'll find hams raving about this "feature" on various forums, because "it reduces the noise" - Yes, it will reduce the noise, because these people are using it to detune their receivers, when the purpose of the feature is to "peak" a target signal. I have not found any situations on the air where the use of this control has assisted in the copying of a weak signal.

There is no way to turn off the amplifier keying relays. So, if you want to QSK, you'll have to put up with CLACKITY CLACK CLACK. If you decide to use a separate RX antenna, you'll have to put with CLACKITY CLAK and BANG BANG BANG.

The firmware has been a disaster. In May 2021, they issued an update that broke the rig's RS232 compatibility with external devices. This wreaked havoc with those who use RS232 for automation, anyone with a microHam device, and others. To add insult to injury, Yaesu US tech support denied this issue. All the while, Yaesu was scrambling to push out a patch. The patch came within a few weeks, and RS232 functionality was restored.

With this "patch", Yaesu added an 8ms rise time to CW menu. This should mean that an 8ms rise time should be cleaner than a 6ms rise time. When the rig is set to 8ms, CW (between 15-40 wpm) it generates key clicks that are up to 3 KHz above the dial frequency and 1.5 KHz below. Returning to the 6ms setting seems to have corrected the issue.

The RIT (clarifier) is counter intuitive. Once you adjust to the way they do things, you're left wishing for more control over the selectable steps. The control is the outer ring of the tuning dial, and it's easy to accidentally move it.

There is no bias for a mic that requires one.

The latest issue is that the radio is pushing out a huge power spike at the start of a transmission. This could mean serious trouble for your amplifier. Again Yaesu is denying the problem despite it being very well documented.

Yaesu introduced a new "compressor/limiter" type feature in the transmit audio chain that makes the radio unlike anything else on the market, in a bad way. It is extremely difficult to figure out intuitively. Once you find the "magic settings" (in my case from another ham's website), the radio actually sounds very good on SSB.

The DSP NR control, since the latest firmware update, does not play well with the volume control. You can turn on NR, and it will assist with the noise, but you can then turn the volume up to full output and not see much of a difference. Speaking of audio ouput, this radio is underpowered with not much headroom into an external speaker or headphones. And the external mat hung speaker is simply awful.

My new radio is a TS-890S, and I've been deep diving into it for a few weeks now. The only thing I miss is the improved receiver performance noticeable on 80/160m with the MP. Overall, I am extremely happy with the swap.