Yaesu FT 991A - Portable Champ or Chump?
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- Опубликовано: 19 янв 2023
- For several years now, I've wondered just how suitable the Yaesu FT-991A would be as a portable rig. Join me as I put this nice compact ham radio to the test and make a determination.
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I've always had my eye on the FT 991A, but I never thought about bringing it out in the field. I only thought of it as house based radio, so my office, my patio and my garage. Great review, thank you!
I have had my 991A for 12 months. It has been my radio shack. Used at home as a base station and portable camping and my mobile rig. I have used it on all bands. I have used it for SSB SSTV and FT8. It handles EasyPal with ease. I have used in temperatures ranging from 0-43c. Can not think of anything I don’t like. VK3BOT
Thank you for giving us your findings!
It's a champ for those who want to start on HF. I used it many - many times on the field. I can say it's not light to carry with a 144 Ah battery. Although, it was rugged and audio was great when you use a headphone. Power consumption is heavy - I think Yaesu wasn't thinking of this radio so much Portable but a shack radio. It would have been nice if Yaesu had a new version of the FT-857D - they did but regressed and gave us a FT-891 which has no sprit of what they have done before.
Seems Yaesu has be going backwards for years now. I’m more worried about the new qrp rig to replace the 818 than I am excited.
@@forgetyourlife yup. The form factor has to be right. 705 is nice but it’s like 1/2 a shoe box. Awkward shape.
@@frankwc0o it makes you wonder what Yaesu was thinking when they made the Icom IC-705, doesn't it?
How long did the 144Ah last?
@@billloveless6869 If you don't transmit, it will last you for about 6 hours. If you start transmitting, it can last less than 2 hours. It takes up a lot of power when it transmit - up to 23 Amps. But, unlikely you will be talking all the time. So, it depends how active you are.
great overview of the 991A in your use case and experience as it will surely help others when considering the 991A in a similar use case.
thank you Mr Tracy, stay healthy
and make more trials and suggeations to choose radios
in my little brain, only hunger of power storage may run smooth and beautiful, if only my opinion🙏🙏
The 991A is my YL's preferred POTA rig. Even with her small frame, she hikes around with the rig, 12aH battery and antenna in a small backpack setup. I have never checked the current consumption myself but most of our activations are an hour or so long, so plenty of battery life. That said, since we hike in to most activations, it will probably be returned to the shack and replaced with another 891 this summer, mainly for the weight and size savings. Personally, I think it shines better in the shack than in the field, lots of features in a small package and the DSP noise reduction is very good. Looks like a nice camping spot, thanks for the video! 73, NJ0Q
Thank you for sharing your experience and thoughts! 73 from VE3TWM.
Thanks for sharing this video. I've been considering the 991a and the IC-7100. I currently operate portable via batteries, like this activation and use either my FT-818ND or FT-857D. I like the 991a but after seeing the consumption, I couldn't justify buying one for what I want to use it for.
I have also used mine for Field Day and at various camping/remote locations.
Antenna's used have so far been Wolf River TIA and a W8AMZ G5RV when out and about. Also have a endfed for outdoors ops.
This an outstanding piece of equipment, I used it in vhf/uhf contest and it was beyond expectations. Go for it with no regrets! Cheers from 9a6c
thank you for a honest report
This was the best damn review of the FT 991A in regards to the true versatility. Well done Tracy 👍
Thank you very much!
Thanks so much! Trying to decide on POTA radio.
Thanks for your honest review.
You're welcome!
Outstanding mate. The FT 991A is a very good bit of kit if left at home I love mine' But as you have found out for field operations and off grid use { I am a Prepper} I would take my FT 897 every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Many thanks and greetings from the UK
Thank you very much for your comment! 73 from VE3TWM.
Can you talk through the 991a with a handheld? Like if you had the 991a as a base station with a good high antenna and you wanted to walk around your property with a handheld but transmit through the 991a for the better coverage? If that makes sense lol thanks
@@swedesspeedshop2518you talking about cross band repeat??
Excellent comparison of essential specs along with a real world test case. Probably not a FD rig without a generator or serious solar panels.But it does have its application for sure.
The 991a was my first rig. As a feild radio operator in the U.S.M.C. it was actually a light carry ! 😆 🤣 I love the thing as a base station, very versatile and very capable but very power hungry yes. A used 857D took it's place in my ruck for the last couple years for feild ops but with cycle 25 ramping up I find that the additional TX power is just not necessary for my casual use of P.O.T.A. and rag chewing so it got packed away in a Faraday box next to an Icom 718 for the Zombie apocalypse. I picked up a Xiegu X6100 last week and am enjoying the heck out it ! I had almost forgotten how effective qrp can be if someone is really listening. I made a contact to New Zealand from my home qth on 1 watt yesterday. One, 1, uno...
Anyhow I'd like to say thank you for you effort and time to review, video, edit, upload and everything else. I enjoy watching your channel. 73 !
Kirk W9KOA
Thank you for sharing your experience, Kirk! 73 from VE3TWM.
Good to know! I love all the bands the ft991a does. I do a lot of portable ops. I use a KX2 and love it. But on SSB, I wish I had more watts going out. It’s not financially prudent to buy the optional amp for it when I could get a ft891 and have 6 meters and 160 meters along with 100 watts. Still looking. No rush.
Great content as usual. I was looking for 991A but I'm very happy with my 891. With 8Ah power-tool Li Ion battery with 12V DC-DC converter I do not worry about power draw at all. With CG-3000 antenna coupler and 12m fiberglass pole this rig works amazing. A lot of QSO around the world form 80m to 10m. Including USA and Indonesia 10k km from Poland! So far 127 QSO in WRTC 2023 form this portable setup only. 73 from SP2JW.
Thank you for sharing your experience, that sounds like a nice station! 73 from VE3TWM.
thank you sir, greetings from Indonesia
@@OutdoorsOnTheAir Indeed. I got a lot of ideas from your channel. :) I hope I will catch you on HF . 10m and 15m propagation forecast for this year looks promising. 73.
@@OutdoorsOnTheAir BTW. There is a nice presentation about antenna tuners by John Portune "Antenna Auto Tuners - John Portune - W6NBC"
I'm not surprised by your battery life findings. While I have used my FT991a in the back country knowing that I wouldn't get lots of life out of it, still - for the limited time I used it the rig worked nicely. But it was not my primary rig in those use cases. Good, fair, and helpful video.
Brilliant review and answered many of the same questions I had about this radio, kind regards De M0KTY
Thank you, I'm glad it helped!
Great review.
Thank you!
I love my IC-7300 but wish it had back-lit keys for when operating portable or mobile at night. I would almost get the 991A for that reason.
Great review thank you
Thank you!
The FT-991A is a Beast of a radio!
I have found The 991A is at home in any Ham Radio Application. I use it as a base station radio and mobile.
You'll hear me using it with an M-1 Reference Mic on 10m, 15m, 6m, 2m, 70cm on parks on the air and around my reagion. my FTDX101MP does 12m and down to 160m.
the FT-991A was my main bench mark radio until the 101MP came out. Now it's my everything else radio...
next time you want to sell one call, me lol.
Thank you for the great video. It really helped me decide for myself!
You're welcome! What decision did you come to?
@@OutdoorsOnTheAir well for my sailboat the 897D would be perfect, but due to poor availability, maybe I’ll end up forced to buy an IC-7100. Do you have a video on the IC-7100? I’m not comfortable paying 1000 euros for a 7 year old 897D. What are your thoughts? Why doesn’t Yaesu make more 897Ds? Many people would love to buy them!
@@D2z6 I don't have a 7100, but my friend Tom VA3WBA does. I own the base station version of the 7100, the IC-9100. I really like the 9100 but it's way too big and power hungry to take into the field.
Two things I don't like about the 7100 when considering it as a portable rig - high current draw (probably not as high as the 991A) and the two-piece form factor. The form factor issue makes it a bit unwieldy in my opinion. I have a strong preference for a one piece rig.
As far as the 897D, Yaesu had trouble getting replacement parts. That alone killed it, but also the market has moved to fancy displays, fishfinders and SDR's. I'm still happily using my 897D though :)
@@OutdoorsOnTheAir what’s your opinion about the 857D?
@@D2z6 same rig as the 897D, but in a different form factor. I like it!
I have one of these as my main shack rig, it's s champ 😊
Great video
Thank you!
Good thorough video.
I'm thinking about the 991a but I would mainly use it at home. I'm also interested in digital modes.
Now I'll have to look for a bigger battery when I get one or add solar aswell.
Cheers for the informative video.👍🤠
Hi Tracey, very nicely covered and well put indeed. Agree with your sentiments 100%. I will hold onto my 897 for may a year to come, as nice and feature rich as the 991 may be. Also, here in South Africa the pricing is a bit crazy (that's if you can even get hold of one), so that is another negative for us here. 73's
Thank you for your comment, Eric! 73 from VE3TWM.
Portable Champ. I have been operating Portable for decades. I own the 897D as well. The FT-991A was purchased to replace it ( 897D display went. ). It is awesome, and much more capable. If you're just carrying little batteries, and zero ability to recharge, this rig is not for that application. I have many QRP Rigs for that. I carry Solar panels of various sizes and 20AH LiFePO4 Batteries and under those conditions The FT-991A will play continuously for me.
Thanks for the Video :-) 73 N8BEG
Great setup! You've got what it takes to succeed. 73 from VE3TWM.
I use a 991A for POTA. Overall it’s a champ! My only complaint is high current draw.
Very helpful. Thanks
Glad it was helpful!
I used my 991 (PRE A) for just about 1 full year doing POTA with a 30 Ah Bioenno Power battery. It worked like a CHAMP until it burned up one day (at home - still need to have it looked at). I always operated from within my SUV in the winter or from out of it on the tailgate during the summer. It did work like a CHAMP for MY use. I was rarely out for hours at a time (maybe 2-3 times I was operating for over 2 hours), usually 1 to 2 hours. I have a good 9-10 months of videos of me using my old 991 & my 30Ah battery for POTA activations (50/50 duty cycle - same as Field Day).
The 991 & 991/A are GOOD all-in-one (shack-in-the-box) radios. Great for beginners into Amateur Radio or anyone that just wants one radio.
Bioenno Power has a good info about duty cycles & battery power on their site that will help people decide what battery is right for them based upon power level & duty cycle used. Even at 20W I wouldn't have used a 10Ah battery (brand doesn't matter) based solely on duty cycle (20/80 vs 50/50).
Good review of your experience. 73!
Thank you for sharing your experience! Sorry to hear your rig went south. 73 from VE3TWM.
@@OutdoorsOnTheAir Yeah, it was sad, but I got a FTDX10 last year to replace it! Best radio EVER!
Very interesting,I’m a portable only operator,currently using a FT818
Just got my 818 brand new from mtc radio just looking around for thr best antenna with the most bands
The 991a seems perfect for a compact base rig unless you want a really large screen, It may be a bit power hungry for off grid portable, but large AH LiFePO4 batteries are a thing now as well. Not to mention you have a car sitting in that camping spot and sun in the sky, between solar and car backup your set... For someone posting up on one frequency, the water fall and other added features over a simpler radio may not be worth it, but if your contesting and hunting people down, they may be very well worth it. Its all about how you want to use it and what features you want and are willing to put up with. Good review from your vantage point/ use case.
Great points!
I use mine with a 20 ah bioenno and have never run out before I ended my activation. I run mine at 100 watts and have 3 plus hours on many occasions with power to spare.
Thank you for sharing your experience!
One thing that I experienced on battery power that you didn't mention. On mt 50Ah battery providing 12.2v, The 991a's performance was diminished. Adding a N8XJK batter booster set to provide 13.8v corrected the problem. However, the battery then drained much faster to keep the 13.8v. I suspect that powering the screen was much of the idle power consumption.
Get a lifepo4 it will make your life much better for this use. The voltage is higher and it's lighter than lead per WH.
Thank you for posting about the current draw on the 991a compared to other radios. Really eye opening. I just received my 991a and I am extremely disappointed in the C4FM digital mode. Everyone on digital (whether it be Wires-X, DNR, System Fusion) sounds like a computer generated voices. I thought that digital would be clear and crisp audio, but, alas, the audio sounds muffled and Hams sound like computer voices. Otherwise, I love the 991a. W Rusty Lane K9POW in eastern Tennessee
Thank you for sharing your experience, Rusty. I'm not into digital yet so never tried C4FM on the 991A.
Great informative video. I loved my FT897D but sold it to a friend of mine so I could upgrade to the FT991A....and I am not sorry I did. I did not realize the 897 drew less current per wattage out compared to the 991? That was interesting. If I am not running my KX3 at 5 or 15 watts out for POTA, I use my 991A at 40 watts out powered by two each 20 ah LiFePO4 batteries.
I am not sorry I purchased the FT991A. I really like it. For POTA, I get a lot of use out of the digital voice recorder built into the 991. I use the remote keypad to trigger and DVR or CW memory keyer. I also use the 991A in the primary station and feel I could live with only having that for a one radio station if I had to scale back. It's a great, "One Radio do All".
Barry G. Kery, KU3X
Thank you for sharing your experience, Barry!
Why do few people run lithium batteries these days? I run 4 cell lipo rc batteries at the park and camping. MUCH better than humping old style lead batteries.
Love the channel!
Thank you!
I just own that rig a few days and can not imagine to carry it arround (yet 🙂)
When I recently purchased a LiFePO4 battery to support future portable (seaside) FT-991A operations, I selected a 30 Ah option. My preference was to take transceiver power consumption off the table as a significant concern, even at QRO 100 watts for an partial-day adventure. It's likely that most of my operations will be within at most moderate walking distance of my vehicle, so even a larger battery is a non-issue. And I've carried the entire station in one trip, without even making any effort to organize a more-suitable backpack.
Each will have their own use cases (I wouldn't go all day), so of course it's up to you. That said, 10 Ah is on the small side. It's perhaps limiting your options a bit. I do enjoy not worrying about power consumption.
P.S. I see that you also brought another 30 Ah battery. Good move. 🙂
Thank you for sharing your experience!
I love my 891. I have a friend that utilizes his 991A for POTA, and he gets frustrated when I am working stations he cannot hear. I am not sure if the 891 has more of a sensitive receiver, but I somehow make more contacts. When I am doing POTA, I have the screen backlight turned down, and run 50w on ssb, and with a 12 ah battery, I have had no problems getting 4 hours out of a single charge. That is more than plenty long for running ssb. Now if you are running FT8 or other digital modes, it will not last long at all.
Thank you for sharing your practical experience!
Thanks!
Thank you very much!
Nice review, I too have an 897D and I use it with a 16amp battery and 200watt solar panel. Have ran it for hours. The 991A seems to only use about 4 amps more than the 897D at full power. That actually isnt bad... I mean if you truly want small, portable and low power usage, neither the 991 or the 897 is a good fit. I still have my 857D smaller footprint than both the 897 and 991. Yaesu created a dud with the 891, was gonna buy it as a replacement for my 857D but they took out the 2m/440. That really was a big mistake..Im buying a 991A for my RV.. Think it will be really good for that... time will tell. Nice video, keep up the great work.. 73
Thank you for raising some good points! 73 from VE3TWM.
Thanks for the video. I love my 991a. It does use a lot of juice but I need all mode on vhf and uhf. My 450d works better for portable Hf ops. 73 great job.
Thank you for your comment! 73 from VE3TWM.
Danke für das tolle Video.73, von S56CJG,QTH- Wien.Österreich.😊😊😊
Gern geschehen! 73 from VE3TWM.
I've had experience with the 991 and 891, both are great radios, but I believe the FT-891 is a better portal rig.........its more flexible either in a mobile auto application, POTA, SOTA in regard to HF mobile operations.
Get a Xiegu G90.What a fabulous little radio !!!
Yes! Their marketing guys have seen and understood videos like that.
The 2 main differences between the 991A and the other radios mentioned are: the 991A has an auto tuner built in, the 857D and newer FT-891 do not, so if your Endfed or antenna needs a tuner in the field, it has to be brought in addition to the radio. The other difference is the 991A has VHF/UHF. The Icom 7300 weighs about the same as the 991A, uses half the power, has an auto tuner, but has no UHF/VHF capability. Wish they still made the 857D, low power consumption, light weight all bands, no tuner.
Thank you for the video, and your appraisal. On a slightly different topic, what computer would you recommend for someone wanting to go portable, specifically hiking application. Looking to get more off the beaten path this next year, looking to add a robust windows machine to my equipment.
That's a great question. For what application? Digital modes or logging, or both? I use an iPad 9th gen for logging only. I don't take a Windows laptop. or tablet with me, but I'm sure a Surface would work well if you had it in a good protective case. Maybe someone else more knowledgeable than myself on this topic can chime in.
@@OutdoorsOnTheAir The application I have in mind is off grid digital, and logging when doing Pota. I am personally wanting to get further off grid, pack in my equipment, setup a station for both voice and digital using JS8CAL and win link is what I am personally wanting to experiment with this coming year.
Hi Tracey, I am looking at portable operation this year for the first time over here in the UK. I have the FT818ND but my back up radio in the shack is a FT450-D which is my first ever amateur radio from new. I would like to repurpose this for above 10W operation, portable work. What's your thoughts on this nice HF 6M rig? Steven H (I have the FT991 for home operation plus a recently restored FT101E 1972 vintage. Boat anchor :-))
Hi Steven, thank you for your comment. I've heard many nice things about the 450D and apparently it's current draw is much more reasonable than the 991A's. Go for it!
Thanks for the video. 73
Thank you for your comment! 73 from VE3TWM.
It's a good review, Tracy. I've been wondering about a replacement for the FT-897D. But that current draw is not acceptable for portable operations.
One of my 897Ds has a zebra screen. I sent it to Yaesu for repair, but they no longer have that part. The flaw is not too bad (yet), so I can live with it. It's only a matter of time before parts are no longer available for repairs.
It is looking like the IC-7100 might be that replacement when the time comes. It has a lot going for it, although it will require an external matching unit.
73 de AG7TX
Hi David, nice to hear from you! I just checked ebay and found a replacement display for the 897 in case you're looking for one. I think I might buy an encoder just in case as those have a bit of a history of going bad. You're right of course about it only being a matter of time until parts are no longer available, but there really isn't anything available that will fill all the roles the 897 is capable of so I don't really want to part with mine. 73 from VE3TWM.
@@OutdoorsOnTheAir That must be the Canadian eBay site because I didn't see it on the US server. Or I just muffed the search.
I'm not sure how the encoder supply is; only the displays (direct information from Yaesu).
I managed to snag 300Hz and 2.3KHz filters for my 897D (that was a process!). I took the rig to the field yesterday to activate K-2640 and had a blast, getting both days done in one outing. The (12m and 17m) WARC bands were more productive on phone because of the NAQP, but 14MHz and up was working for CW mode.
73 de AG7TX
I would still get a solar panel setup regardless of the radio you use.
It would provide extra flexibility and could be used during power outages.
Good point!
Thanks, Tracy! I also own and love my FT-897D. It doesn’t cut it at home, however, and I find myself listening to lots of static and few signals. I am landing on the idea of having an FT-991A for use at home and keeping my 897D for times I am vehicle camping. Then I could connect it to my solar panel if I needed to do so.
What are you using for your base station now? You had been using the 991A but have sold it - what’s filling the gap? Thanks again, Bruce. VA7SGY
Hi Bruce, my current base rig is an Icom IC-9100 HF/VHF/UHF. I really like it, and unlike the 897 the DSP handles locally generated QRM well. A plus for the 9100 vs the 991A (at least for me) is 100 watts out on 2 and 75 on 440. Also 99 memory channels for VHF High and another 99 for UHF. No fish finder, though. I don't understand why Yaesu didn't give the 991A only 100 memories total. My FT-70DR which cost less than $250 has hundreds.
Thank you very much for the video and details, I'm 100% agree with your needs and uso something still even cheapper (g90), I understand you perfectly and hope you enjoy the activities ! 73 from ea4huk
Have fun with your G90! 73 from VE3TWM.
There may have been something amiss with your particular instance. I almost never hear the fan in receive usage. Yes, it will start up during a higher power (25W) FT-8 contact or CQ string. I may have heard it during a 100W SSB contact, but I'm not sure. I'll have to look for it. I don't air condition here in New Hampshire, and shack temperature can get into the 80s in the summer.
But, yes, power consumption is a bit high for battery based operation. It was a joy on generator a couple of field days ago. And I did operate a lock-down era field day on a 20 AH Bioeno LiFePO4 for about 6 hours (so, again, there may have been something funky with your unit).
I do use an external Z-11Pro II from LDG, rather than the internal tuner. It uses latching relays. I suspect that the internal tuner does not use latching relays, so coil current might contribute to the receive currents that you saw.
If the guy that you sold it to is still seeing that much fan operation, he may want to get it checked out.
73, Bill - KE1G
Hi Bill, thank you very much for sharing your experience. I'm fascinated by your account of the fan operation in your 991A.
You could also use a manual turner, and for this use use a solar panel to. Charge batteries a pain and more gear for front country use. By chance did you test current draw for VHF/UHF?
I did not measure current draw on VHF/UHF.
Interesting use case. Similar to mine appreciate you articulating your approach so well !
I recently selected the RT-991a last Saturday as my next radio it was delivered in only 3 days. Thanks for sharing this video.
de AA4SH Steve, I have 30ah battery and recently ordered a 20ah backup battery
Enjoy your 991A, Steve!
Can you talk through the 991a as a base station with a handheld? So you could walk around your property with the ht but transmit through the 991a for better coverage?
No, at least not without additional hardware.
That looks like a beautiful area you were at! So nice this time of year to not have to worry about mosquitos. Nice intelligent synopsis of the radio. Was it advertised as a portable? Yeasu really needs to come up with a design that will fill the niche market you, I, and so many others are in and get back in the portable game. I think there's an issue with whomever is in their corporate strategic planning and how they are reading the market.
"Was it advertised as a portable?"
They put a handle on it as standard, so it must be portable! 🙂
@@paulsengupta971 Good point. Thx.
This radio is decent but it usually comes with some issues. Board varnish often is the cause of bad grounding points causing issues with the tuner, or mic hum on the MD-100 base mic making it sound 10/100
Then there are parts that seem to go pop around the attenuator relay in the rear of the radio such as D113 and other pin diodes or other components in that zone. I can't say for sure that it all comes down to the board varnish but take a look for yourself or search for details on this issue to see for yourselves. Easy to rectify if you don't mind stripping the radio down to clean the grounding points then rebuild it up again (you need a steady hand to replace D113). Yaesu how could you let this slip through Quality control.
I was running my radio from Lipo cells for a while. The radio can power from up to 15.87V so i used some large diodes to drop the voltage from 16.8V when fully charged until the battery drops below 15.87V. In the future i will use Lifp04 cells recently i ordered 12x 105Ah cells.
Oh it is pretty hungry on power. I use a 32A traditional transformer style power supply. It's a good radio for the vehicle and not too bad at home once you get to know it and or service it yourself.
It's clearly a mobile radio with it's compact form factor, i did enjoy driving around with it sitting atop my dash but now it's my budget base station. Not too shabby.
Interesting information, thank you!
Awesome video... so what did you decide was best for you?
Thank you! I sold the 991A. My primary portable rig today is my SGC SG-2020.
You're quite a ham operator, selling such a nice rig, that soon. But, you're right I suppose. When you're operating mostly outside, you need a rig that's capable of doing long operating times with as low power as possible. Have a nice time Tracy and keep smiling.
73, Fred PA0TSE
Thank you for your comment, Fred! I purchased the 991A on the used market and sold it for what I paid for it originally so that worked out for me. 73 from VE3TWM.
May I ask, what Microphone were you using?
TechnoFix UK Yaesu condenser mic. Works pretty good and is half the price of the Yaesu replacement mic.
TKS!
YW!
uuuh, that hurts!
So many times I thought about buying an FT991A for outdoor operation, and was always hesitating due to its high current draw, as given in the spec. Finally, you announced to review this rig in the field, and I kept myself from buying it beforehand. Lucky me!
To be honest, I expected it to end like that - but that clear result was really disappointing.
But hey, where is the all-band / all mode alternative?? The FT818 is now out of production, the IC705 (if it was in stock, haha) costs by far more than twice the FT818 did, and that's it. Is there a company left that offers a good and up-to-date alternative rig, covering all-band, all-mode, low-current, 25W max, in a rugged housing?
Looks like the marketing guys neither have watched a POTA activation video, nor do they have a clue how much fun it can be to carry your gear outside and start activating. But exactly that's what attracts other people, makes them curious - and maybe one of them starts to dig a little deeper into the hobby.
There are some excellent rigs available covering the needs of the POTA folks - second hand, of course.
As always, thank you so much for sharing your experiences. Stay safe, and POTA on.
73 de Arne, DJ9AS
Great points, Arne! Thank you for your comment and 73 from VE3TWM.
This is my issue with a lot of so-called "portable" radios. They need to have a low enough current draw and be light weight enough for me since I like to put it in a backpack and ride my bike to the park. That means a 10 AH battery is about as heavy as I'll go.
Xiegu g90. 450ma on rx, 4.5a on 20w tx
What antenna do you use in the field?
For 80+ % of my work, I use either endfed haf-waves or off-center fed dipoles.
I would conclude that the power is it's main drawback also: even on standby? Why? There are some tweaks hopefully in the menu?
I looked for tweaks and didn't find any that would reduce the current consumption below the measurements I provided. But I might have missed something.
The Yaesu FT-991A weighs 4.5 KG or 9.5 Lbs. I wouldn't describe it as portable so it is definitely a chump for that.
I want to mention as I'm a armature radio opp VA3DLO,,, the batterie at any amps should have a solar panel and a small charge controller,,, to keep sun feeding juice to the batterie... well your using it... When ever any radios ... yaesu ft950 full base radio, yaesu ftm400xdr,, i had a a I com 2730A before i allways used a batterie hoked to a solar charge controller and a panel... helps prolong batterie life,...also you can get a FLEXABLE PANEL... lighter easer portablility .. I notice you don't have a solar panel on batteries ,,,that's wy i mentioned to farther prolong batterie life soalr is idel...
Thank you for sharing your thoughts! One day I'll get a solar power setup.
Hello Tracy, tnx for another kickass Video. How is Daniel doing? Is he studying the Books to become a HAM Radio Operator? Happy Weekend & keep up your fantastic Work. 73 de YFUG 💯🔔💣🙋♂
Always nice to hear from you, UG! 73 from VE3TWM.
Sir...why don't you deploy some solar?
Here's why...I have a limited ham radio budget, and there are still things I'd rather invest in before spending a few hundred dollars ($CDN) on solar stuff.
Thanks 👍 Tracy 73 from kb2uew
Thank you, Alvaro! 73 from VE3TWM.
In all focused parameters 897D won. Nothing surprising…:)
Yaesu needs to real isuue the 857 and make the 2.6 filter standerd in it
FM audio reports say Low and Muffled
It's still to big for my preference for a portable rig. I prefer something the size of the 857D or 891.
This is why you haven’t seen any videos about remote use of the 991 - it is not really suitable
Why didn’t you know of the 991A’s current draw before you bought it? Seems a bit silly to be going on about it now? All radios require a lot of power so get enough battery power. Not one hair splitting item you have mentioned would put me off this radio. Get a 115 A hour battery like I did and don’t be slating the 991A. You seem surprised it uses any power at all! I usually enjoy your vids but……
No offence intended with this response. I waited a while to send it as I wanted to take the time to do the best I could with it.
First, thank you for saying you usually like my videos.
Regarding the power draw, Yaesu's spec sheets are notoriously inaccurate where current draw numbers are involved, so I couldn't trust those. And searching the net, I couldn't find anyone that had posted actual numbers. I suspected high current draw but was intrigued enough by the 897's successor and its feature set that I wanted to try it for myself.
The fact that you did n't find one thing to put you off getting one is of no surprise to me. This video is not a hatchet job on the 991A which is a good rig.
Hope this clarifies, 73 from VE3TWM.
20 watts draws 9.1 amp,, battery was a 10 amp hour, battery math says you way over drew that battery by draining it that much, hower the radio ran til it had a mear .9 amp hours left. DO not blame the radio for you using a battery that was too small for it to run more then a hour based on simple math, no matter what your past experience were. the battery gave its all, the radio worked til the batter literally went flat, cause you over drew it.
No kidding. The point is that the rig draws too much current for sustained portable ops running at 20 watts as compared to other portable options like the 891 and the 897 which work much longer on a 10 Ah battery.
What you say is true. In fact, THE question now is: how is it possible to use the 891 for 4 hour with this 10 amp hour battery (891 draw 7.4 amp hour, so t’at’s not 4 time less the 991a)?
🙄 There are so many variables. Not a good comparison.
Did you transmit exactly n the same amount with each radio? Did you put a killowatt (tm)
or another wattmeter on each radio and measure how many watts each consumed?
Seriously.
I'm going to need you to explain your criticism. All readings were taken with the same external wattmeter and the same fixed-voltage power supply used with all rigs. Your comment is not making sense to me, please clarify.
@@OutdoorsOnTheAir Sorry, what I mean is, there are a lot of possible reasons why the battery depleted prematurely other than the radio is more power hungry. Without being able to measure and compare total wattage consumed while you were operating in the field that day and having a similar wattage consumption comparison of operating your other radio on the same day, it's not a deterministic comparison. A one day test is a single data point and therefore in my opinion inconclusive.
Your bench tests do indicate it draws more current and therefore more power but there are many other possibilities that contributed more substantially than the current and power draw. The problem in the field could have been battery health ( batteries degrade over time and usage), environmental factors (like maybe it was hotter that day and therefore the fan ran longer) then on previous days with your other radio. It could be that you had twice as many QSOs on that day so it was in transmit twice as much and therefore using that much more power. All I'm saying is there are many many contributing factors and variables.
To me what would be a more deterministic comparison would be to measure total wattage consumed by the two radios during the same day or many other days for each where you measured the total wattage consumed in similar conditions.
I understand it's your decision and your perception however, respectfully, my criticism is that I don't feel it's a valid comparison.
Cheers!
Sorry for the delay in response! Thank you for taking the time to explain. You make a good point.
I also hear the VHF/UHF is subpar and that’s the only thing going for the rig as the water fall and display is terrible.. i used to want this rig but it’s cheap.
Sorry i do not agree kg6mn
I will say this about the 991A's VHF performance: It has a hotter receiver than the FTM-3200 I had in the shack for some time, and is about the same as the Icom IC-9100 I have now. the 9100 has a good reputation as a VHF receiver.
@@OutdoorsOnTheAir you are correct om
I have the 1802,nowned,yasue radios ever since I got into the hobbie,done alot of rag chewing on the,best radios I can see out there,we use the n our cert unit ,Mercer cert,ME
It’s like listening to a hardy boys Cstory
I really liked The Hardy Boys when I was a kid (Brains Benton too!) 😀 They were all hams.
thank you Mr Tracy, stay healthy
and make more trials and suggeations to choose radios
in my little brain, only hunger of power storage may run smooth and beautiful, if only my opinion🙏🙏