Yaesu FT-991 Review

This is my second update to my original review. I've owned an FT-991 for two months now. In my first update I mentioned that I thought there was some receive audio distortion in CW modes. It turned out to be magnetically induced by my power supply. After remedying that I found the FT-991’s receive audio is excellent – as good as I’ve ever heard from a radio. I mean that in terms of communications quality (i.e. “intelligibility” vs. “studio” quality). Communications quality is the key to a good ham radio in my opinion.

I am totally satisfied with the radio so I still rate it a 5. It is an outstanding value for the money. Here is the rest of my original review:

I did update the firmware, and I loaded memories using the RT Systems software, all of which was straightforward. The USB PC/radio interface for programming, audio and control was easy to configure. Other than a bit of an initial learning curve the radio is easy to use. That said, it most definitely takes a few steps to go from chasing DX on CW on the HF bands, to scanning local repeaters on the VHF and UHF bands, primarily because it's a small radio without many buttons or knobs so a lot of things must be configured by the touch screen. Once configured, there doesn't appear to be any operation the radio can't handle. I haven't really tried the digital modes.

I use a simple 33' vertical antenna on 80 - 6 meters that is matched by an LDG RT-100 remote tuner. To load up, I key the FT-991 until the LDG tuner settles to under 2:1 SWR (usually 1.5:1 or less), then I turn off the LDG (which saves the tune position) and turn on the FT-991's tuner to tweak the SWR down to 1:1. All that works just fine, even when I've sometimes tuned at full power.

I also own an FT-897D and an Icom 7600 so I can compare the pluses and minuses of the 3 radios. While the FT-897 is simpler to use and my preferred "go bag" radio due to its ruggedness and handing both AC and DC power in the same box, the FT-991 is much better at receiving and better sounding. Meanwhile, the FT-991 comes close to the audio quality of the Icom 7600 but the 7600 is my choice for DX chasing due to the dual watch receiver function and more buttons. Having more buttons saves time over stepping through menus as with the FT-991.

I was impressed when using the FT-991 spectrum scope to monitor a satellite downlink band; it helped me to quickly find some downlink signals. I've never had a VHF/UHF radio with as good of receiver quality and features as the FT-991. Also, it is evident from use that the Yaesu engineers did a very nice job in attempting to make the menu system as fluid and easy as possible.

The FT-991 is a good complement to my station. It provides the ability to monitor and operate on different bands when using my other radios at the same time.

Yaesu FT-991(A) Users Group (groups.io)
https://groups.io/g/Yaesu-FT-991