Rob Sherwood Ranks Yaesu FTdx-101 as the New Number One!

Larry - WA7LZO

Rob Sherwood has just ranked the new Yaesu FTdx-101 into First Place amongst all receivers on planet Earth, above the Flex 6700, and even higher on his rankings list than the $15,000 Icom IC-7850! At Yaesu’s remarkably low price point for this transceiver, what “magic” did Yaesu discover and leverage that allows it’s product to perform better than any and all other radios, that cost oh, so much more $’s than the FTdx-101? BTW, my understanding is that Mr. Sherwood’s receiver tests and subsequent competitive rankings are widely considered to be the industry’s absolute gold standard, so I take his top ranking of this Yaesu radio as a fact.

Ria

Al_NN4ZZ

FISHULA X

 I gotta tell ya, I have owned many radios. Three Flex 5000A radios. and I own a 6300 now. I live in a very noisy area with limited yard space. I gotta say this for the Flex 6000 series. The WTB AKA wide band noise blanker is a life saver. Non of my radios could achieve the RX so well as the 6300. I have tried all sorts of units to cancel the noise. Nothing could get better results then using the WTB. As long as Flex continues to have this feature, I will be a Flex owner for life, I just loved the 5000a and I must admit I do miss some of the features however, This is the best yet for me. So If you are troubled with noise that you just can't seem to get rid of and it is interfering with your hobby, Look into the WTB It is the cat's Meow, Seriously. Thank you Flex radio for helping me enjoy my hobby. 73 all.

Mark_WS7M

Larry - WA7LZO

I think the footnote is perhaps slicing some fine hairs. The fact is, Yaesu is currently King of Sherwood Hill! Perhaps more importantly, I will ask again: What “magic” does Yaesu have that places their $4,000 radio above a $7,000 radio? **** for the buck is extremely important, to those of us not quite as rich as Bill Gates.

FISHULA X

 I gotta tell ya, I have owned many radios. Three Flex 5000A radios. and I own a 6300 now. I live in a very noisy area with limited yard space. I gotta say this for the Flex 6000 series. The WNB AKA wide band noise blanker is a life saver. None of my radios could achieve the RX so well as the 6300 and actually drops my noise floor. It's increadable . I have tried all sorts of units to cancel the noise. Nothing could get better results then using the WNB. As long as Flex continues to have this feature, I will be a Flex owner for life, I just loved the 5000a and I must admit I do miss some of the features of Power SDR however, This is the best yet for me. So If you are troubled with noise that you just can't seem to get rid of and it is interfering with your hobby, Look into the WNB It is the cat's Meow, Seriously. Thank you Flex radio for helping me enjoy my hobby. 73 all.

KF4HR

Al_NN4ZZ

Hi Larry, The FT101D is a hybrid rig. Superhet then SDR from the IF freq. Here is my understanding of the differences and pros & cons. A superhet down conversion stage before the analog to digital conversion stage can provide better dynamic range than a plain direct conversion SDR. The downside is that it does not sample the full spectrum like a direct sample SDR radio. BTW, the new K4 offers both direct sample models and a hybrid model, the K4HD. Regards, Al / NN4ZZ

Mike-VA3MW

I want to pass on something that Rob posted on the 7610 reflector.  I would also not be surprised if he is also part of this community.  Unless you really understand all the parameters, the number 1 is dependant on how the list is sorted.  Not all units are created equal and there are trade offs in all areas.

------------

Hi, 

 

RMDR and dynamic range (DR3) are separate measurements. If the phase noise is significantly better than the DR3 measurement, then the two measurements don’t interact.  If the LO noise is about the same or higher than the third-order intermodulation product, then that reciprocal-mixing “noise” interferes with the measurement.  My table is sorted on close-in (usually 2 kHz) DR3 measurements, not RMDR. 

 

I don’t have an RMDR column because RMDR was only defined by the ARRL in 2012, and my test data goes back to the mid 1970s.  I do have an LO Noise measurement that really should have a minus sign before the number.  Ignoring that for now, if you take the LO Noise value for the TS-890S of 155 dB and subtract 27 dB for a measurement in a 500 Hz bandwidth instead of 1 Hz, then you get an RMDR value of 128 dB.  The FTdx-101D has an RMDR value of 127 dB. 

 

On 40m the difference is 2 dB, (Kenwood 2 dB better) which is also insignificant from a “who’s radio is better” consideration. Both radios are top notch in that respect. 

 

Unlike in the past when synthesized radios came out, we now have radios from all five major OEMs that have excellent RMDR, and also excellent dynamic range (DR3). 

 

The buyer has lots of choices of fine transceivers that will rarely limit his ability to copy weak signals in the present of lots of very strong QRM.  There may be limits by SSB splatter (IMD) or key clicks on CW, but that is a whole different subject.

 

73, Rob Sherwood, NC0B

===========

Part 2 on my comment is today I received a call from a customer who purchased the FTdx-101.   Here are his exact comments:

• The 3D display was cool - for about 5 minutes.  Then, it got so annoying to look at, he covered it with cardboard since it was like watching a video game.  I asked him if he was kidding, and he said, no, he was dead serious on the cardboard part.
• He thought the receiver was OK, but it was not as quiet at the Flex radio he had a year ago.  The 101 was somewhat hard to listen to.
• The transmitted audio was terrible and it was only 3.2 khz wide - max (maybe he said 3khz)
• He sent it back for a refund and even took the 15% restocking charge as there was no way he was going to use it.

Then, he surprised me by ordering a new 6700.   


Mike

Al_NN4ZZ

Hi Mike, Yes there is a lot more to consider thar the DR3 numbers. What you do with the digital data ( i.e. DSP) as well all of the other software features, the ergonomics of the user interface, etc. All of the receivers with DR3 numbers above 90 are a good place to start, not finish your evaluation. Regards, Al / NN4ZZ

Robert Lonn

ctate243

More research into your desired platform and the measurements involved would probably be wiser than taking that top ranking as "fact".

Robert Lonn

Steve

"All of the receivers with DR3 numbers above 90 are a good place to start, not finish your evaluation"  Obviously a quote from NN4ZZ.  He has summed it all up VERY well.  There really is nothing else that needs to be said.  73's

Bill -VA3WTB

Al_NN4ZZ

Hi Bill, Even if you ignore the invalid test that has the 6700 at #2, the 6700 is still in the top 10%. (With a DR3 of 99, it is about number 14 out of 140+ tests). Many of the rigs tested go back to the 1970’s 1980’s etc. So the 6700 is not likely to drop off or even drop down too much in ranking for a long, long time. Same for the other Flex models that are at about the ranking. There will likely be more receivers join the top tier . New models will probably also have a DR3 rating in the 95+ range. But in the big picture they will all be fine, and it will be the other aspects of their feature set that are more important than the DR3 ranking. So yes the Flex line can still be on or near the top from an overall performance standpoint, it’s more about the software and other features. And that’s why it is important to keep making improvements there. So I’d say Rob’s chart is a valuable tool and his work testing over the years has been a valuable contribution that has helped us get better radios. Regards, Al / NN4ZZ

Martin AA6E

Pat N6PAT

Doug

Rich McCabe

N9VC

Roger_W6VZV

A totally meaningless statistic.  Yawn.

Robert Lonn

At first I was excited about a 3D waterfall, neat and different,,, but the more Videos I watch of it, the less impressed I am, for me that is.. The best way to describe it is "It does not appear natural".. The way the brain works, it seems more complex and more confusing then a regular linear waterfall.. I have the ability to change the GPS in my car from 2D to 3D, decided many years ago 2D made more sense from a quick glance perspective.. 2D just look, 3D  need to think for a second what you are seeing..  NOTE! I have a 3D Blue-Ray player, a Sony 3D TV set and about 35 3D movies.. I Love It..  But that is a Movie, your watching for entertainment value with a **** in your right hand and popcorn in the left... But as a waterfall,,,, no thank you... Glad Yaesu gives you the ability to choose what you want...

Craig Williams

My fallback radio.

Bill -VA3WTB

Erika - KØDD

N8FNR

OT: how do you like the LP-700?

N8FNR

Here is the link to Sherwood's test page: http://www.sherweng.com/table.html Interestingly he rated every Flex-xxxx rig higher than the TS-990s. The 1500 which came out in 2010 is just above the 990s.

WK2Y

I also have an LP-700.  Happy to discuss with you outside of this thread.
Bob. WK2Y

Robert Lonn

Sure, just got a VHF unit for it,, so now 3, One before and after the linear, and one for my Yaesu FT-991.. Even though it is 2 meters it still works on UHF.. Only off by a few watts.