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FT-891 Radio
- Thread starter binrat
- Start date
Sounds good! I was up late, trying out different values and listening to myself on SDR's. I'm pleased with the hand mic so far. My voice is so deep and it's hard to get to the point of where "I" think I sound good.
I'm digging deeper into the 891's settings. I didn't mess around much with the previous ones I owned. If you tinker around with these rigs you'll have great results. Can't beat what you get, especially with the current pricing of them.
Only thing, I don't recall the previous models being so quiet when full QSK. Maybe they changed something around.
I'm digging deeper into the 891's settings. I didn't mess around much with the previous ones I owned. If you tinker around with these rigs you'll have great results. Can't beat what you get, especially with the current pricing of them.
Only thing, I don't recall the previous models being so quiet when full QSK. Maybe they changed something around.
I bought a 450 when they first came out. I liked the display. That was one of the first few rigs with decent DSP, that I owned. I got rid of it due to its ugliness. Stupid little VFO knob.
As far as performance, it's a decent rig. I'd definitely go 891 over it any day. Just more versatile.
As far as performance, it's a decent rig. I'd definitely go 891 over it any day. Just more versatile.
They both have DSP. Would you say they are the same type of DSP? My current rig is good but has no DSP.
Also how variable is the 891 power adjustment?? Is it like 1-100w or preset levels like 5-10-25-50-100? I didn't download the manual yet to check out.
Got this. Says 40w AM carrier on 891 and 25w carrier for the 450D. Do they swing up from the carrier to 100w? Kinda confused. My current rig does 60w AM
just read the 891 has a band scope function? How well does that work? This would be for a base setup btw.
just read the 891 has a band scope function? How well does that work? This would be for a base setup btw.
No swinging, lol. Power is adjustable 1 thru 100, even AM. I believe DSP is same or similar.
So for $739 shipped with tax and all, I can get the FT-891, LDG 100Plus auto tuner and YCC cable. Granted I'd have to push the TUNE button on the 100Plus to tune vs the tune button on the radio if I ran the MFJ-939Y ($762 shipped with tax).
Other tuner in the possible mix is the Z11Proii($759 shipped with tax) that has an auto sense feature that tunes as you key up and you can adjust the SWR tightness. (Not sure on the other auto tuners if you can)
Other tuner in the possible mix is the Z11Proii($759 shipped with tax) that has an auto sense feature that tunes as you key up and you can adjust the SWR tightness. (Not sure on the other auto tuners if you can)
The 891 will run circles around the 450d. As far as am, the 891 does swing up in power with modulation but not the full 100w, it swings like 3x the carrier. 20w carrier gives around 80w with modulation on the peaks. It is low level am modulation so there you go. But for what it is, am and fm sound great. The band scope is at best meh. Its not a real time scope in that you have to press the scan button and it will sweep the frequency range you program once. Also the receiver is muted because again, not a real time scope. Trust me, you wont use it much if at all. Oh yea, when you do use it get your reading glasses out, it is small. The dsp is really really good. When you set it up properly for the signal your receiving, the station really pops out with no backround noise. Also when the dsp is active you dont loose any fidelity for the most part and it does not have that nasty under water sound that old/cheap dsp's tend to have. Set up properly and eq'd correctly, the ft-891 is a little beast of a rig. I bought two. One in the mobile, one as portable back up. Get one, you'll love it. Side note, i got the matching ant tuner and it is cool. No pressing tune buttons all the time. Tune a frequency once and when you turn the vfo on receive, the tuner tracks with it and automatically tunes without receive interruption. Then when you transmit it will save the tuning into its memory. Way cool and its powered from the radio. Spendy but worth it i think.
So you just manually hit the 939 tune button and not use the interface cable or tune button on the 891??
If you need to match more than a 3:1 vswr you have antenna issues that need to be resolved. Dont just throw a transmatch at it. 16:1 , lol really?
if your bored during the corona lockdown, there is a yaesu mh-31 electret mod ,, I did this a few months ago with a $3.00 radioshack electret element I had and some spare parts I had... works great!
https://m0ukd.com/mods/yaesu-mh-31-electret-condenser-mic-modification/
I did not change/add the caps to the switch (2nd part of the mod) because after looking over the 891 schematic noticed there already is a dc blocking cap inside the radios mic circuit inside the radio... so just do what is in the pic here and it works great
https://m0ukd.com/mods/yaesu-mh-31-electret-condenser-mic-modification/
I did not change/add the caps to the switch (2nd part of the mod) because after looking over the 891 schematic noticed there already is a dc blocking cap inside the radios mic circuit inside the radio... so just do what is in the pic here and it works great
That hole for the element is so large, it would be cool to just replace the stock element and put a big sm58 mic element or similar in there and see how it sounds. Hmmm
My antennas are just fine and do what I want them to do. I also like to experiment and take excursions. The 939 allows me to do just that. Why do you think they build antenna tuners that tune such a wide range? Think about that for a minute before thinking I'm a dumbass noob, which I'm not!
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