I had a decision between the 7300 and this 991a - I chose this one - I like my "Shack in a Box" - been on the air for a few months now - and still really happy with it. 73 de KI5DLS
so U R lucky. My one (as a lot of other) failed very quickly. End transistors died just like that... I did maybe 40QSOs... then ATU started increase SWR instead of decrease. On top a lot of FT897 functions was cut, menu becames unconfortable, touch screen is not well used as at IC7300. On top they cut memories to 100 which for HF, VHF, UHF TRX is a joke... even my small FT1D has 1000 memories! So finaly I sold it and go back to old 897 and 857.
You made the right decision! I got rid of my *7300* due to a silly *CB Radio style RF Gain* and a loosie-goosie receiver. My Ham neighbor wiped out my 7300 receiver on 160m *_when he was on 80m!_*
Finally made up my mind on which radio I want, it'll be the 991A; the IC 9700 has just too much with the SHF, on board processor, etc. All I want to be able to do is 2 meter sideband and maybe AM. Also want to get into 6 meters. W Rusty Lane K9POW in eastern Tennessee
Owned this radio since March this year. I've got a Portable Zero rail and battery case on it with 184WHrs of LiFePO4 batteries installed. Used it traditional analog modes, and a lot more on digital modes. Integrated sound card and CAT control over the same wire is very nice. Filters and DSP can really help bring out voice, or isolate the digital signal you're after. Very easy to perform a MARS mod if needed. I'll continue using this rig for many years. A big improvement Yaesu could make would be a better screen, similar to the 7300. It's only kind-of useful right now. Would require more processing power to improve the video quality, but it would take the 991a to a whole new level when hunting. KE0SBF
I would be too worried about parasites to put a monitor that close to my radio. Does anyone have issues with flat screens and Rx? The 911A is nice but it really needs to be rebuilt once you get one. Board varnish blocks important grounding points and needs removing. Many issues close to the pre amp / att relay. Resistors and pin diodes such as D1113 tend to go bad. I'm wondering if it could have something to do with rf surges due to bad grounding points.
Icom has a better 100/50 watt ham shack in a box? (I.e. ICOM IC-7100)? I agree it would be nice to see a Yaesu Answer to the IC-7300 (something less expensive than a FT DX 3000), but the former is not a ham radio in a box and the IC-7100 is arguably not as fully featured. Certainly the FT-991A and IC-7300 are in a similar price range, but the FT-991A and IC-7300 aren't competing directly in the all-in-one solution (though there is admittedly some overlap).
How many college credits will I get for taking a course on how to use the damn thing? Seriously I would buy one but what is the point of owning a very fine radio to only use a fraction of the features......,over 900 menu options???....Wow!
I got a 991a recently for use portable, because of the band scope, touch screen, uhf/vhf in addition to HF and as a fan of digital modes ,OST importantly the USB port and internal sound card. Very very happy with it so far :-)
Just sent mine back had 11 months never had good output audio. Also flat tops on the s ops at a mic gain of 17. Need to make audio settings simple like the icom 7300 make the menus simple bass treble adjustments these 18 adjustments are not user friendly at all.
I think this is the 2 or 3 Time i have watched this video Before Buying my radio I just got my tech back at the first part of April & I Wanted this radio A Year or more before I Even Got my Ticket & i said If/When i got my license I Was Going to try my Damnedest to get a New Yaesu Ft-991A or non A I Did not Care After I Saw This Video So Thanks To This Video for helping me to save some Cash & So I Started Doing my home work & Looking for a Deal on a Radio & i Finally Found a New Open Box Yaesu Ft-991 with the Plastic Still on the Face An all For About 500$ Less Than a New 991a And So I Said for 500$ Ish Less i will Just Get The Non A Model & So I DId Because To Me 500$ Is 500$..lol. & I Still Got My Dream Radio..after 2 years of saving & Eating Roman Noodles ..lol
Tim Factor is a fabulous resource from Yaesu for the ham community. He explains things well and is patient with all of the questions. Thanks for interviewing him!
As quoted from a comment on here... "The only limit with this rig is your imagination".... plus the terrible memory setup which still has several bugs which Yaesu don't seem to want to fix even after highlighting it to them, just a good ignoring, also the display button layout and constant back and forth between menus for simple tasks....radio operation wise it is fine, I'm fortunate enough to also have the 7300, you can't compare the memory operation and function layout, the 7300 is intuitive and easy... but there really isn't much between them radio operation wise, obviously HF comparing only however as mentioned by many the waterfall display on the Icom is a lot better also the tuning knob capability, Icom have this down to a fine art, the faster you turn the faster it flashes through the band whereas the Yaesu has a Fast slow button which is a pain... but of course on the 7300 you have no VHF / UHF to play with or C4FM / Wires X which hasn't been mentioned here, very good, almost as good as DMR... the choice is yours, or buy both like I did.... you will be pretty happy with either...
I was a very proud long time owner of an 897D and recently upgraded to a 991A. I will say one massive difference between the two- and for me, it is massive, is that the 897D had an optional power supply that fit up into the unit, saving desk space. We all know that ham radio requires real estate on the desk, and it was really nice to only have ONE THING on a desk instead of two. I really wish Yaesu would have kept that elegant design feature- it was very much appreciated.
I can see your point for you but probably would have drove price point up and not a preference for most. With completely separate PS it allows total freedom of choice which most like. We now have choices of very small switch mode PSs for those who like that as well as brute force old school for those who like a power supply they could probably fix upon breakdown if they so chose. At the time of my purchase I was forced to make a very quick PS choice and chose an Astron big boy ole school as I at least knew it was unlikely to produce RF noise and probably repairable if it ever died.
@@2wrdr Yes but i would recommend cutting the power cable down or beefing it up to a point closer to the radio, it's a bit long considering the power draw at full radio power.
I have the 991 and love it! Why oh WHY didn't they make the 891 a mobile version of this?!?!?! 6M C4FM would be fantastic mobile!!! Or even upgrade the 8900 to Fusion! Please Yaesu, read this! Thanks for this video!
THAT IS MY EVERYDAY RIG.... I HAVE IT AND UU IT EVERY DAY. IT SITS ON TOP OF MY ICOM IC-7300... LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT...........STILL LEARNING HOW TO US IT...........12-20-2019.............
What a sweet little rig! Like so many I owned 3, FT-897D's and regret selling every one of them. I was torn between the IC-7300 and the FT-991A. I bought the IC-7300. Then I decided to sell it and get the FT-991A. Then I sold the FT-991A and got another IC-7300...lol! I think the IC-7300 is a better performer, but the FT-991A does it all and pretty darn well. I wish I had it back. I guess I need both the Yaesu and the Icom.
Mr. Tim Factor, the 991A is repeatedly compared to the Icom 7300. I think that the big difference is the size of the screen. Yeasu could become more competitive in this regard by adding a plug in adapter to duplicate the video out. This adapter would allow a user to plug in their own monitor or TV though a HDMI plug. Seems like a reasonable solution to a minor problem. Everyone enjoys the waterfall on their radios now. This would allow you to stay on top without changing models.
Tim, I own this radio and would be perfect for POTA’s except it’s as large as a kitchen sink in an RV and therefore not a radio for traveling state to state for POTA’s. It can’t be used for SOTA’s either due to its massive size. POTA activations has been around for years now and Yaesu still has not come out with a POTA compact size rig that works like the 991A that can be thrown into a carry on bag on an aircraft like I can with my Xiegu G90. The closest rig that comes to mind is the 891, which doesn’t have a built in tuner and no waterfall screen on it. So Tim, how many decades do Hams need to wait before your R & D department finishes their long coffee break? 😢
Hello Eric KJ4YZI and Tim KT7F. Thank you for taking the time to made this video, Much appreciated! Also thanks to this video, i decided to purchase the FT-991A. I coul'd have chosen the icom IC-7100 but i didn't because to me that thing is f'n uggglyyy. So purchased it last friday and tomorrow it will arive, entering the house of an exited and impatient amateur. Haha. Thanks again! Greetings from PD1VCC
I bought the 991A as my first HF radio. It is fairly easy to use as a beginner. The BEST part about this radio has been the customer service I have received, I have even spoke with this guy Tim Factor on the telephone. Twice I thought I was going to have to send in my radio for service. But during my telephone conversations I was talked through the process to understand my issue and resolved it. I understand Yaesu has other outstanding radios I want to try. I am not a paid advertisement. KN4SMO
I have a hunch The scope/waterfall on this was limited originally because this is not an SDR radio. To make it “live” they had to have a separate receive circuit just for the scope portion?
I was another guy deciding between this and the Icom, a lot of my friends went for Icom, but no matter how much I tried I just could not complete the purchase of the Icom, something in my finger stopped me from clicking the mouse. I bought this, here I am 12 months later and I still love this radio. It has great performance on all the bands. I’ve used it for HF, VHF, UHF, System Fusion, PI Star, SSTV, FT8, CW and RTTY. It just works, even on my really crappy half G5RV, it’s worked the world, including the US and Australia even with my 50w license. So glad I stayed true to Yaesu, that makes nearly 30 years since I bought my first FT-51r, which was the only Yaesu I have ever sold, and yes 20 years later I am still angry that I sold it!!!
bought one of these earlier this year along with a wolf river coil to go along with my MFJ telescoping antenna. it replaced my FT100D and i couldnt be happier with it. all i need to do now is get a better antenna so i can use it during the winter. little cold here in Va to be operating outside. LOL
@Simon Deards I have i believe the 12ft whip and it works pretty good with the WRC and 6 radials i have cut at 33ft each. i have mostly used it on 20m but it will tune pretty decent on 40 as well. with the longer whip it should work even better since you'll have more adjust ability for lowest SWR. i built a custom stand for the antenna using PVC pipe, a panel mount SO239 and a couple of pig tails with anderson power pole connectors on them. i can deploy the antenna in about 5 mins with this set up and i have rough measurements for the whip to get to a decent SWR that is repeatable. the stand is pretty stable even in 16-20mph winds without any sort of guy ropes but i drilled some extra holes in it so i could use tent stakes if need be to provide more stability.
Nice radio, when I sent my icom IC-746pro in to fix the display backlight, I bought one of the 991a radios, mainly to play with C4FM from home (I have a ft-400dr in my truck) and I do enjoy this radio quite a bit.
When I get my advanced license (Australian) which was equivalent to the US beginner license for a very long time, I will buy one of these as a present to myself. The great thing is it's easily portable as my neighbour won't allow me to have an antenna so I will need to take it down the road.
Great video as always. Like others, for me it came down to the 7300 and this. I admit the 7300 is probably the better radio, but I love vhf/uhf and combined with wires x, it had to be the 991a for me. 73 KC1LUX ✔
Darn I want one of these!! Everyone I talked to loves theirs. Once I pass my General this looks like it will be my first HF rig. What I'd like to know from anyone, can you get the radio display out a monitor and if so how?
This is a good radio. I bought one right after I got my General. I'm super happy with it. As far as your question goes, I sometimes use www.hamradiodeluxe.com/ software to control it. There is no direct video out of the 991 but HRD software is a nice user interface worth purchasing.
I have the 7300 as at the time there was only the FT-991, not the A version, but looking to swap out my 897D which I also have for the 991A. I usually have 2 radios operating at the same time.
I want one! Maybe later. I did just purchase an Anytone AT-D578 from Gigaparts a few days ago. I went with free shipping; it's due to be delivered on Monday.
@@brianjenkins5092Hahaha, yes I wondered where they all came from as well, I am pleased to report that it does come with the Map, also Sydney store is giving a cap as well but not sure how long the illusive cap is available for. 73
I bt the 991a bk in May works a treat , use it at about 80Watts portable allot, great rig and would have another, i have used the icom 7300 and 7610, thry are great as well, but im sticking with my Yaesu Radios 😎👍thx Eric AE1TP A92GW
Have they figured out the mars mod yet for VHF and UHF ? The newer ones will not mars mod on vhf uhf. Tim worked with me on that when I got mine. I ended up finding a older firmware new unit.
RIGHT! A radio that blows finals out of the box! Regarding my FT-891..... Why I will never own another Yaesu product: A few Months ago, I sent my FT-891 in for repair. I was told by Tim Factor I would have it back in 3 to 5 Weeks. It took 7. When I finally got it back, here is what I found… 1. The Power Cord was broken. I had to repair it. 2. The short separation cable that mates the head unit to the radio body was missing. 3. I sent the entire Separation kit to Yaesu along with the radio. They replaced the long cable that separates the Head from the main unit. HOWEVER- Instead of returning my extended Microphone able, they INSTEAD sent an 8 foot Speaker cable for which I have NO use! I want Yaesu to return my MIC CABLE so I can re-mount the FT-891 in my Pickup. If Yaesu does not return my mic cable or send me a new one, I have to come up with $75.00 out of my own pocket. Why should I have to pay to replace something that YOU lost??!!! 4. When I asked a Tech over the phone why the radio broke, the tech told me: “When it’s a Warranty repair, we don’t tell the customer why it broke”. SAY WHAT?! 5. A Call taker I spoke to transferred me to Juan Hernandez. I have left THREE messages in his voicemail-he has not yet responded. 6. I called the call taker back later in the day. I asked her if there was someone above Mr. Hernandez whom I could speak with. The woman matter-of-factly said “NO”. This was beyond rude and most certainly unworthy of a company like Yaesu! 7. I have left 3 Voice messages and 2 emails for Tim factor, asking that my broken Power Cord, Missing Mic Extension Cable, and the original short separation cable be replaced by Yaesu because A. YOU broke the Power Cable. B. YOU lost the shorty separation cable. C. YOU lost my Mic Extension Cable! Why should I have to pay to replace the things that YOU broke and YOU lost?! Some of your personnel have broken my parts, some of your personnel have LOST some of my parts, some of your personnel have refused to respond to my communications, and some of your personnel have treated me with outright rudeness! This is treatment I will NOT tolerate!!! Patrick Nobel at the Portland Oregon Ham Radio Outlet has also attempted to reach your people, and nobody responded to HIM, either! I guess Yaesu is more concerned about Commercial, Military, and Maritime business rather than us lowly Ham Radio Operators! DULY NOTED! In addition to my FT-891, I own the following Yaesu Products: FTM-100. VX-8. FT-4. FT-60. If this is how you intend to continue treating me, I will sell ALL of them, and buy from your competition. Sincerely, Bruce A. Forster-AC7AA. An extremely DIS-satisfied customer!
After many years with the FT-950 having a successful, I am about ready in the near future to place the FT-991A above my FT-950. I am impressed with the programming behind the FT-991A, and having HF, VHF, and UHF all available. I have never had any problems with the FT-950, and looking forward to the same degree of success with the FT-991A... KA0EMD
I'm a new ham. I'm interested in the Yaesu FT-991A, but I don't understand why the Yaesu FT-991A isn't capable of transmitting on the whole of the 70 cm band (420-450 MHz) and is only capable of transmitting from 430-450 MHz.
Love my 991....non A version. But I use an SDRPlay and control the rig via OmniRig. Dont like the size of the screen on the 991 anyway, so why not save the cost and get a 991 preowned. Bought my last one from a local trustworthy operator for $700...box, paperwork everything
I have the 991A and then got a IC-7300 and while the 7300 does not have the UHF/VHF I do like the menu system and ease of use over the 991A..... The 991A is a very good radio it is just a little wonky on the user interface as compared to the 7300. Good Vid Sir.
The Win4Yaesu Suite made working with the menus and EQ settings in the 991A a dream PLUS there are many more features to the software. I can't imagine using my 991A without it. Very affordable and a free trail is available. (Win4Icom is also available)
Tnk you Tim. Fyi the Icom-7100 which Gigaparts offers is the same the 991 not A model. 7100 shack in a box however more IC-7100 offers more output on vhf & uhf then 991 and 991A. Nice video Eric. 73's Merry Christmas too all
Why, oh, why are there (at least) two different releases of the FT991A manual? Both are A and one of them the menu options are different than the radio I have. Guess which one I had bound for $30ish. Yes, "the other one".
I’m not a big fan of “shack in the box”. What if you pop the rig - no V/U, no HF. I have separate rigs for both. Having said that, a lot of guys in my club have this rig and love it. To be honest, I don’t think I have met a piece of ham gear that I didn’t like.
I’ve used this rig on Satellite (works great with gpredict software to automate doppler shift during the pass), i’ve done APRS using the fantastic free “direwolf” software TNC, I’ve done NXDN, P25 and DMR cross mode using a cheap chinese c4fm hotspot with pistar, i can also access some dstar but that only works in dedicated cross mode rooms where the others work in any reflector on that mode. I’ve used this rig remote from the PC by routing the usb audio through voicemeeter to my pc mic / headset, i also added audio spectrum scope software in that mode along with recording and voice keying. I’ve done local rf scanning for dmr, nxdn, p25 etc not via hotspot but using dsdplus software (receive only). The only limit with this rig is your imagination.
I really want to like this radio (I think it's better looking than the 7300) but Yaesu needs to release a firmware update for these that allows full screen (or at least larger) scope, the option to use fixed scope edges so you're not dragging the waterfall around, and a double meter to show e.g power and SWR at the same time. The ftdx3000 has all of these things, so it's not like they don't know how. The Icom 7300 has all of these things and a whole lot more, for less money. You have a full color LCD screen, use it well (resize display elements according to user preference, let me have a smaller frequency display and larger scope, let me see nothing but all meters at once, etc) or Icom will continue eating your lunch.
Where could I find an antenna tuner for vhf uhf for the 991a? The internal only tunes the hf bands, I've been looking for an external for the vhf uhf side... thanks!
The calendar might say 2024, but this radio is still the cat's meow! It's definitely on my must buy list this year, and will sit proudly next to my FT-897D.
Just bought one about a week ago. Still trying to figure out all the menus and don't have an HF antenna up yet. So far on 2-Meter and 70 CM it's working great, even on simplex.
I bought one and compared with my ft 857 why it has only 100 memories (my 857 have 200, FT1D 1000, FTM350 1000, VX8 1000), why deleted nice icons in memory description like 857 have (airplane, home, flag and other) , why output power at memories is not stored (some repeaters needs 5W other 50W to operate), why cannot store splitted frequencies (sat) by PC software, why there are issue with tuner, why there is na ARTS function anymore, why when you switch from vfo A to B it always shows A, why menu is so complicated and when you have touch screen you have to go to menu to change simle things instead to tap it and adjust (4 ex. Smetr display change to ALC and other), why when you go to memory mode knob is not switching for memory counting like at 857, what for we need 100 steps of SQ which bring crazy if rotate, and rotate, and rotate... if so many years of experience is there...
Jano, good post! You mention several short comings of the 991A which are unknown unless you buy one as you did and did a comparison. I have the ft-897D, basically the same rig as the 857. 73!
I ordered my FT-991A on the 12th of December. Called HRO, placed the order and was waiting on me when I came in from work on the 13th. Love the 991A so far!! Actually made 2 dx contacts on Wires X tonight from Japan. KN4YMT
I'm new to all this and understand most things. Their are two antenna connections on the back. One for uhf and one for vhf. Does that mean you need to separate anntenas?
@John Cliff thank you. I'm guessing that takes a different antenna as well. I have a tram vertical and a yagi 8 element for directional. Any suggestions for the HF side?
