Yaesu FT-991A 100W All-Band Multimode Portable Transceiver

This radio is most perfect for all my needs all in one unit. The features are the best like the Digital noise reduction is so useful and dose a tremendous job at reducing noise, there are too many features that are outstanding to list here, but just an excellent radio.

This Yaesu FT-991A has everything all modes all bands digital modes and so on, great sound the filters are outstanding. Just an amazing radio.

A super radio! You get a 3 year warranty, All Mode all band from 160 meters to 440 mHZ. I ran mine almost non stop for 3 years just to insure that it made it. It's been 6 years and the radio is going strong. How does one not appreciate just how great the "waterfall" is?? So nice to look at the display and see the stations that are on the band. Great for contesting! Did I mention that it is small? Almost like a mobile rig except that it's slightly heavy at 9.7 lbs. Good solid rig that operates cool, even with extended use at 100 watts output. The cooling fan is so quiet that you almost have to listen for it in order to hear that it's running, and only when the radio is warm enough to need cooling. It features C4FM - Fusion digital as well as analog mode, nice for ultra quiet QSO's and if privacy is a concern such as in an emergency. There are a number settings to reduce noise but my favorite is the DNF, Digital Noise Filter, if there is a carrier on the air, say, BCI (Broadcast Interference) or someone tuning on your QSO, the filter totally removes it like magic. Incredible! I think that it's the best buy on the market! I recommend it. If anything happened to mine, I think I'd still purchase the Yaesu 991a as replacement. Way to go Yaesu!

I get GREAT radio reports and can break through most pileups. Overall I love this radio so happy with mpileup. If your still on the fence well JUMP IN YOU WON'T be disappointed

I've owned several shack in the box radios and this is the best! Audio (TX and RX) sounds great! Easy to use and the performance is great! Don't care for the background colors in the display but they don't get in the way of making contacts.

I love it, it's a year later find new stuff I can do with it.

For 5 months I have gone back forth between these 2 radios. I have read every internet post and every video. Both are great radios. It came down to a 3 year warranty vs a 1 year warranty. I looked at Sherwood Engineering tests, listened to them both on the internet and saw hams doing sdr/panadaptor conversions.. During this pandemic that’s all we have to go by and I could not see a big difference. As a casual operator the 991a gave me all the frequencies without the additional cost of a separate UHF/vhf radio. I saw people complain about menu driven vs knobs which really is ridiculous. No used radio here as you buy yourself someone else’s headache for almost the same price as new. Your best friend is good antenna, such as my hexbeam, not a linear or a super expensive radio unless you need it for regular contesting which I am not. I am a first line provider taking care of covid patients and a ham. Be safe and follow the guidelines

The built in sound card is amazing. When you connect it to a computer with USB you will see you system has a new sound card and 2 serial ports. The 2 serial are both connected to the CAT. Works perfectly with a RasPi. There is no included USB cable. I recommend a USB with chokes on both ends like:
"Tripp Lite USB 2.0 Hi-Speed A/B Cable with Ferrite Chokes" ~$10. Without that cable the RasPi 4 USB disconnected on TX. ( RasPi 3 was fine in same configuration)

I love this rig. I studied this and the 7300 for months agonizing over which one to buy. Though the 7300 supposedly has a better view of the screen, audio output and ease of use, it doesn't have the 2m and 70cm.

Why no one is talking about the audio output of this radio boggles my mind. It has so many adjustments with the EQ and band width for transmit, processor and mike gain. If you take the time and tune it right, it screams and that is exactly what other hams say when they give me my report.

I love the way the menus are set up and easy to access. Two buttons give you access to multiple screens that have so many options for so many different things, I love it. I use 20-20 on mic gain and processor as my normal setting. When the signal starts to fade I change it to 40-40 and I always get in the sign off and complete the qso and I am not left without saying good by. Some hams have said, oh, you must have kicked in the afterburner, your signal came up. That's no lie and makes a lot of difference to me.

I really can't see why anyone wouldn't like this radio, it has such a spectacular front end and adjustments if you need them to shut out the adjacent noise and narrow the signal down. In addition the contour is really good at changing the sound so I can add treble or bass to it and make it easier to understand. I usually just use the RF gain knob. It also has a digital receive mode that is just crazy. It can be noisy and if you are lazy, you can turn on the Dolby Noise Rejection and it immediately cuts out background noise and enhances the signal you want to hear. I have taken it at high as ten to see how much difference it makes but I usually run it on 2 so I can hear weaker signals if I use it at all.

If you are used to using Yaesu products, you won't have a problem with this one but there is a major learning curve because you have so many radios in one. To me it's like the took the best ideas from all the manufactures and put them all in one radio. I use this as a base and a 450d for my mobile but I am seriously thinking about buying another 991a for my mobile. I could put this in my truck and buy a new 7300 but the question is why? This one does all I want, has excellent receive and transmit and covers more freq. than the Icom for a few bucks more. In addition it is cheaper than a new 7300 and a c4fm wires x radio or Dstar and takes up less space.

The manual is easy to read though rather lengthy and is well written. YouTube is a great help if you have questions regarding the wiresX and you will have them, believe me, but having another mode of communication is well worth it. I can't say how well it does on CW but I am about to find out.

If the condition changes or the radio starts to get disappointing in the future, I will edit this post or add another one if required but I really doubt it will change. Yaesu still makes an outstanding product.

I'm still learning this rig but I am extremely happy with my purchase. This is a rig I can grow into. I can make it QRP if I want to or operate at 100W on HF! I look forward to many good years out of this rig. Easy to set up and the real learning begins when we operate!