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Rob Sherwood Ranks Yaesu FTdx-101 as the New Number One!
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.
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Answers
As far as what they have that Flex doesn't? I don't know that but I do know there were two samples of flex 6700 tested and Rob has said that the 6700 is really a 99dB radio. The chart topping dynamic range narrow spaced was with the preamp on, but later software versions eliminated the performance difference.
What do you want in a flex anyway? Anything above 90dB is simply a numbers game with no difference to normal ears in normal conditions on planet earth. I enjoy the integration and networking features paired with pretty decent performance.
Agree Rob also says anything of 90-95+ is good.
Here is a snapshot of the review with the footnote explaining that the 6700 test showing 108 is no longer valid in the current software. If you miss the footnote you may not realize that.
I believe Rob left the 6700 in the #2 position anyway because that is what he measured at the time back in 2014.
Regards, Al / NN4ZZ
This shows the 2014 test, the 2017 test and the 6600 test as well as the footnote Y.
I am a software engineer by trade and as such I've been involved with computers since their availability to the public. Yes I started selling Z80 CP/M systems. Later programming them until Apple and IBM came around.
Being in this for so long I can't help but meet people or have family members ask me what computer they should buy. It is always a tough question to answer because it really depends upon your needs and your desires.
If you have unlimited money then of course you should buy the top rated, best thing you can buy.but be prepared that your new purchase, while it might be the hottest thing on the market may not be what you like or want to use. This happens more often than not!
So when relatives, friends and others ask me what computer to buy I always say the same thing:
1) Do not try to buy cutting edge. You might have the hottest thing out there but you might not really like it very well either as in the computer field sometimes things need a chance to catch up.
2) Buy the most able you can afford. Buy a good solid machine, with enough RAM and DISK to do what you want to do.
3) Be prepared that you may need to upgrade in a few years.
Now all of that being said, the most difficult thing is to decide what you need. This is true of Hams as well as computer users. Sure that extra dB or two is desired, but do you need it? What are your operating habits? If you hang out on 75 and do the nets it is unlikely that you need the hottest receiver on the block.
If you are searching rare DX and have a HUGE tower and beam then probably yes that extra hot receiver will do you some good.
BUT keep in mind that you don't get to buy the sensitive receiver alone. You have to buy the entire box and you might not like the rest of the box!
It is a balancing act.
While Robs report is fun to read does it mean your 6700 is now a horrible receiver compared to the FT? Absolutely not. You are just now in good company instead of being the leader.
Just my take on things. My 6600 hears more than all of my friends on a crummy little 80m loop antenna that is not very high. I wish I could do it justice and give it a massive beam at 400 feet but I just can't. But I don't think my radio is angry with me. It seems to find plenty of RF to chew on.
Sure it might have preferred to be on the space station working the world but I think it has accepted that it will be my radio and do the best it can do with the meager antennas I can feed it.
Mark - WS7M
Question: What operational difference is there between a 99 db receiver and a 110 db receiver? Rob himself will tell you there's not much in the way of operational performance in any of the receivers, 90db and above. The main difference is just lab numbers.
I'd like to see Rob's Chart include audio files (of set standard SSB and CW signal strength) for each rig so people can actually hear the difference between the rigs. Odds are, no one would be able to hear any difference between a FTdx-101E and a Flex-3000.
If Rob's Chart numbers make you feel good about your buying decision. Enjoy.
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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.
===========
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
Robert
Amazing the 6700 is still near the top I think. that is just how darn good the 6700 is.
There are many parameters in the radio ratings charts, and there are many factors that aren't in those charts. In these days of near-perfect HF ratings (for top radios), one of the biggest factors for me is UX - the user experience. Display quality, knob arrangements (if any!), computer interaction (OS support), remote options, user support, and on and on.
We Flex users enjoyed being #1 -- according to the lists. There was a certain amount of crowing about that. I'm sure it sold a lot of radios. Now the cards have been shuffled again, and we are "in the top 10" -- until the next product round, maybe.
Don't worry, be happy!
73 Martin AA6E
BTW...still waiting for Yaesu customer service to call me back. It's only been three years but I'm hoping I'll hear from them soon.
That said we all still check out the list for fun. And if I am being fair with myself I feel let down when my radio (6600 currently) does not make it as high as I would like
There are radios on that list that you could not give me for free. My new operating style has been formed around Flex. And unless they really **** something up, I dont see myself switching brands anytime soon
to you, but, all he had to do was change to 2D Waterfall/Panadaptor mode. I
think the novelty of the 3D display wore off fast and an impulse purchase
of the radio was made in haste. At least he did the right thing and rather
than keep the radio, made it right to himself and got one he had really
wanted in the first place. Hats off to him for buying a Flex.
73, Jim N9VC
A radio may have great specs but the radio could be a dog to use. The screen could have low res, the buttons are to close so I fumble around trying to get a finger on one. The menue system is all over the place and hard to work. The audio tires me out. Oh, but the SPECS!!
I have already talked to people ready to buy a radio based on the list alone, disregarding everything that makes a radio really nice to operate.
Just because a radio costs a LOT OF MONEY doesn't mean it's the best thing out there. At our station at one time we had "the latest and greatest radios out there" and "Money was no object" when it came to selecting our station's rig...
FOR INSTANCE... The Kenwood TS-930 early serial numbers QRM'ed themselves. We received a brand shiny new top dollar IC-781... Well it had the ALC overshoot issue that would **** up linear amplifiers.
IC-756 Pro II our station had two of those at one time (Bought together) and BOTH of those radios came out of the box with weird oscillations on 6 meters... Ordered a 756 Pro III but that radio right out of the box wouldn't turn on.
Then we had the 7800... OMG what a nightmare that thing was.
You sure couldn't tell another owner 7800 had some issues we'd all paid $10000 for those radios and heaven forbid the sun would come up in the morning if ones 7800 was not sent by the high and mighty himself.
My point here is its been far too long since the last radio war... The Move is all towards SDR so everybody hopefully going to come out with VERY serious and competitive radios.
Due to past history Brand Loyalty around here anyway is going to become a thing of the past... My loyalty needs to be earned and is a continuous process.
I will state this... It's always best to place as much selectivity as possible as close to the antenna as possible. (tracking Preselectors are very good) devices that cannot be overloaded no matter what are good. We operate a lot of weak signal VHF and UHF stuff. Low noise figures and quiet IF's are imperative. PURE AUDIO amplification is good. Your LO's need to perfectly clean and pure...
I'm all for whatever company is raising the bar. Just don't keep raising the prices... I'm no longer impressed with spending $$$$ and ownership ego...
The one thing I'm not impressed by is the background noise on this widdle 1500 it is NOT band noise. If you take the antenna off I hear a roar... That sort of noise exhausts your ears during contesting. You need to be able to hear a pin drop out there and when the band is hot even on 80 or 160 the band is silent and the weak ones appear out of the vapor and can be worked.
The manufacturers must remember these radios might be named SDR... but are RADIOS FIRST. Keep development going and provide improvement to the radio art... Stop worrying about creating massive feature sets, Continue developing the SIGNAL portions of your radios to give us COMMAND PERFORMANCE...
I will never again write the check for HUGE money to get a box that some consumer product manufacturer banged out.... from now on right up front it better be worth every cent...
Have a nice day everybody.
Erika DD
Bob. WK2Y