After running the new replacement Yaesu FT-991A that HRO shipped to me and after having used it on SSB, CW, 2 meter FM, and on the digital modes of Hellschreiber a.k.a. Feld Hell, FSKH-105 Hell A.K.A. FM Hell, JS8Call, and FT8 modes from July 22, 2020 until June 29, 2022 I have not had any problems at all! I get unsolicited compliments on the audio using a Yaesu MD-100A8X desktop microphone with it and that's without having the built-in parametric equalizer turned on! I do have the switch settings beneath the base of the MD-100A8X mic set with the MAIN/FIL switch set to ON, the two TONE switches, HIGH EMPHASIS switch set to ON, and the LOW CUT switch set on position 2. It has performed flawlessly and I love all the filtering capabilities and the Contour filter that I can turn up to around 260 hertz and pull weak signals from the noise as well as boost the audio on sideband stations I cannot hear well. It works great and even puts the receive on my Yaesu FT-1000MP Mark V to shame on CW mode. I can use the 2 preamps and boost a CW signal of 2 S-units to around S-5 on the 30 meter band with the preamp on my FT-1000MP Mark-V and boost that same signal to a S-9 signal using Preamp 2 on the FT-991A! I'm going to hear stations on CW now I could never even hear before using the Mark-V and that's saying a lot because the FT-1000MP Mark-V is a quad-conversion receiver and has a great receiver. I really like the APF (Automatic Peaking Filter) on CW mode because it brings the CW signals that are close to noise floor out of the QRN so I hear them much better! Also, I really like the ZIN button that automatically zero beats CW signals so I'm dead on frequency with the other station in about 1 second. I am so glad I chose the FT-991A over the Icom IC-7300 because I've had 3 different owners of both radios tell me that the FT-991A has a much less noisy receiver than the IC-7300 they own. Another great thing is the radio has it's own soundcard and digital interface built right in and I can operate digital modes with only 1 USB cable between the radio and my PC that has a standard USB plug on the PC end and a printer type plug on the end that plugs in the back of the FT-991A. No more audio wires lying everywhere going to and from a West Mountain Radio Rigblaster digital interface! I use it on VHF and HF phone, CW, FT8, and Feld Hell a.k.a. Hellschreiber modes weekly. The only thing that concerns me is Yaesu's technical/repair service because I have read about numerous hams on numerous amateur radio forums that had radios they sent to Yaesu for service and could not get anyone at the Cyprus, California repair center to answer the telephone, return a call when they left them a message, and never received a reply when they emailed them! I wonder what's up with that? This is my fourth Yaesu HF radio, I also own a FT-897D as well as the FT-1000MP Mark-V and now the FT-991A and historically Yaesu has had good customer service and it concerns me greatly if I have to return it for any kind of servicing because the FT-991A has a 3 years manufacturer's warranty. One thing I dislike on the FT-991A that the IC-7300 does have is that it doesn't have a IF out so I can connnect a external pan adaptor to it unless I buy and install a G4HUP PAT (Panoramic Adaptor Tap) board and do a tap on the IF stage of the radio plus have to run a small coaxial cable to a SNA jack to connect a RTL-SDR dongle to in order to use HDSDR for a external pan adaptor. I have that setup on my FT-1000MP Mark-V and it works great! All in all, ignoring Yaesu's current lousy customer service record, on a scale of 1 to 10 I rate my FT-991A at 9 and it's probably the best multiband HF/VHF/UHF/C4FM + 6 & 60 meters rig I have ever owned and I consider it a keeper! "I absolutely love 💖 my new Yaesu FT-991A!" Very 73 de Cliff, KU4GW.
*NOTE: I was licensed 25 years as of October 16, 2021, Amateur Extra Class licensee since April 19, 1997. and am now a member of the QCWA (Quarter Century Wireless Association) membership # 38573 as well as a member of QCWA Local NC Piedmont Chapter 126 membership # 279.
Proud member of the ARRL A-1 Operator Club (Elected to full membership April 11, 2012)
