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.

Yaesu FT-991 review

I currently own a Yaesu FTDX-3000 and was looking for a field day/portable rig with the smallest footprint, the FT-991 was it! It was a toss up between the FT-991. Icom 7100 or wait for the new unreleased Icom 7300. I own a Yaesu Quadra amplifier so I preferred the FT-991 to keep the connections simple, the radio also has VHF/UHF and a decent frequency receive range that comes close to most scanners!

The FT-991 is not that small but it is small enough for portable use, it may not be the best choice for backpacking but I can see it being a great fit for field day, lighthouse events and dxpeditions. I installed mine in a Gator GR-4S 15in deep case using the optional mobile mounting bracket. There was plenty of room available for a switching P/S, speaker and power connectors. The whole case weight about 25lbs and could also be brought on board flights as a carry on piece of luggage.

How does the radio work? Well, on SSB the DSP is great, it blows away the FT-857 and FT-897, I also found the DSP was actually too strong even on the lowest level, the latest DSP firmware update seems to have resolved this by weakening it a little. It is still not as nice as the DSP on the FTDX-3000 but it is pretty close, for example on the FTDX-3000 my DSP on level 6 is comparable to the FT-991 DSP level 2 or 3. Most of the time I have the level set to #2 as anything higher starts to create a fishbowl effect.