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Reviews For: RS-998 Wolf

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

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Review Summary For : RS-998 Wolf
Reviews: 3MSRP: $1000.00
Description:
160 meter to 6 meter and down converted on VHF and UHF 100 watt tranceiver with built in antenna tuner and large detailed touch screen in a rugged enclosure .
Product is in production
More Info:
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
2231.7
N2DTS Rating: 2025-01-11
Very good! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
1-11-2025 update.
The radio is still working great, performance on AM is tops, I run it on 80 and 40 meters mostly and it will do 50 watts carrier output fine!
I never ran the power calibration tab in the menu so power output is high, but the radio handles it fine!

I have no need to do a software update so will not as there is little support for the radio other then Utube video's. It works fine for my use, so I will leave it alone.
Audio RX and TX is much better then my Icom 7610 and the screen is also much better. And so is the antenna tuner!
You are on your own with this radio so its not a safe buy but it does work fantastic, great software.

Update on 7-14-2024, the radio still works great, the clock battery is reported as dead but I do not care about that.
Otherwise heavy use has not caused any problems.
There are two or three versions of this radio so they might not all be the same quality, plus who knows who is actually building these things.
The design is GREAT, it would be nice if a major company could make something like this, but you are on your own with this radio.
Its not easy to get apart or work on and info is very limited.
Its my favorite radio for my use, selling the FTdx101d and keeping the Wolf!
The Wolf does many more things better then the 101, better fidelity RX and TX, stereo audio, sync detection on AM, pure signal pre distortion(cessb), great antenna tuner and mine seems to put out 130 watts pep.
But you are on your own...


I picked one of these up a week ago and have used it a lot on HF.
160 to 6 meters, vhf and UHF downconverted, built in antenna tuner that works very well, great audio.

The good parts:
Great big touch screen looks fantastic, sharp and fast.
Filters shown on screen and can be adjusted to anything you want in any mode RX and TX.
SAM works very well.
FM narrow and wide, stereo audio and SAM and FM broadcast!
Almost everything is adjustable in the well thought out menu's.
Over 120 watts out.
Very easy to navigate around bands and modes.
Great AM modulation, sounds very clean.
Great compression and some audio EQ built in.
Two antenna ports.
USB jack and micro SD card slot.
wifi, but I have not got that working yet.
Will do all sorts of things when the wifi works...
Decodes digi in the radio along with CW, I have not tested that yet.
CW sounds great, as does the sidetone.
Rugged metal case.
Nice tuning, nice knob feel.
In transmit the meter has two needles, one for power, one for swr, nice!
The radio does not run hot, even at full power, plus the auto fan speeds are adjustable as to temps on and off for the various speeds.
Its a somewhat small radio, it is not very deep, the back is almost all heat sink with fan on it.

Odd things:
If line input is selected, changing any option like band or gain reverts to the microphone input.
My radio came with the Euro band plan and the only change was to make it general coverage TX.
There is some trick to getting the wifi to work.

I have had the 7300, the 7610, the ftdx10, a flex 3000, 5000, 6400M and a few Anan's and for a radio with knobs this is one of the best and is the best for the money.
Its 16 bit direct sample so may not handle strong close signals as well as some radios but the audio and ability to do exactly what you want with the filters, and the good antenna tuner, and the good modulation/compression put it above the others in my book.
Its NOT like the Xiegu stuff, its MUCH better, its not a China design.
There is a lot to explore, the digi modes, the vhf and above, etc.
Its very fun to use.



WA9RHD Rating: 2024-10-15
THIS IS A WORK-IN-PROCESS (WIP) - DO NOT BUY! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This 100W radio looked very good on the videos circulating on the net. So I took a chance and bought it from Alibaba.com with payment through Paypal.

First off, when you buy a Japanese radio - if it says its a 100W radio, it is! Not this radio, see below:

Recent RS-998 Output by Band (in Watts)

Self Wattmeter
Calibration
Meter Band
160 100.4 60
80 101.1 75
40 100.8 75
30 68.3 60
20 92 50
17 71 60
15 67.8 20
12 46.9 40
10 43.9 25
2 91.1 80

In other words the radio says (in some cases) its putting out a certain amount of power - but that's NOT accurate!

I took it to my Elmer for him to look at and while the radio has many nice features he told me it was a WIP.

When I got home with it, I had to keep rebooting it for it to receive at all and then the PTT would not work (no XMIT), so that was it, I tried to return it.

No warranty - no help - run away!

Fed Ex only wanted $440 to return it, so I went to the USPS and they of course were a lot more reasonable BUT they don't track it beyond the US.

So I'm hoping it will get back to Aliaba and I can get most of my money back but I am also depending on Paypal's help.

Otherwise, as the previous reviewer said you are SOL for $900!
K9IKE Rating: 2024-07-13
Has Potential, But..... Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
ZERO support for this radio. My 100w radio failed after a few months. No manual, No schematic, No help from the seller. This radio is now a $1000 BRICK! Stay away!