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

Pat N6PAT

Do you purchase a radio because someone you never met says it's a good radio or because it has the features you really want?

If I put together a list that says 2 **** cans and a string work better than a TS 890S would you buy the **** cans and string? Why not? After all, the **** cans are at the top of my list so they must be better than the 890S

Robert Lonn

That will work Pat, but the **** cans must be FULL first, then you open them, drink a lot, then attach the string between the two cans.. I believe that the COORS cans are rated the best!! Probably has to do with the quality of the aluminum being used... :-)
Robert

KL4QG

Lets go with No Kool-Aid Punch review-
I have 6400M again on borrow ,
I had Yaesu FTDX-101D ,101D has slight edge on receiver -pulling out weak signal + less band noise ,a lot better NR,NB ,Winner for yaesu if you like buttons and have the time get everything right,oh very hard get mic setting correct but it can be done!!

6400M less buttons ,easier use,very easy mic adjustment,Best water fall,Scope .I just get turned off with Kool-Aid Fan people here and some degrading comments main reason i sold my first 6400M,.

I have icom 7300 on loan coming I will be back give report on 7300.

The radio that i should never sold was Icom 7700 it is the best all round hf radio out there still today.
joe

KL4QG

101D is best of Japanese radios made.,

Flex is best of American Made radios, 

After this attack by Chinese's  Monkey Brain Virus .

I am going American Made Flex 6400M once again 

icom 7300 as back up but mostly sell to ****-a nes-e friend,,
  

Bob Needleman

I also know Rob and have communicated with him personally. He will tell you, and has gone on record, as saying that there likely is going to be very little difference in performance in the top 10 radios in his Sherwood Rcvr List. The RMDR ratings would only apply for conditions of very close-in QRM, like for contesting, etc. For most amateur communications, you won't notice any difference in receiver performance between #1 and #10 (maybe even lower). AS far as the new FT-101D, while I have heard its DNR capability is excellent the ergonomics and lack of certain features (no Tx Tune feature, No Averaging for the bandscope) is a deal breaker for me - I would never own one and much prefer the Flex line or TS-890, hands down. Likewise, my K3S is always in the top 5, but frankly given the small front panel layout with 'multiknob' design, having to constantly push and double push knobs in, make it less user friendly to me, although it has a superb receiver. So if you don't accept my comment, drop Rob a line and ask him yourself. He'll likely tell you exactly what I just layed out. BTW - if you want the best receiver performance, you do what the military and commercial (marine, avionics, etc) radio equipment manufacturers have done which is to go complete CHANNELIZED (no VFO). That is not terribly suitable for amateur use, but that is the solution to all this RMDR 'stuff'. 

Bob K3AC

Bob Needleman

Joe - that's interesting. I thought the IC-7700 had a  pretty mediocre receiver and didn't hang onto mine very long (and Rob Sherwood's results would confirm that). The IC-7610 beats the pants off it. If you want an incredible receiver experience try to get your hands on one of the Apache/Anan rigs - eg. 8000/7000dle running HPSDR. The AGC-T is amazing. You can achieve effortless FM-like reception on HF, barely hearing any background hiss. Signals just seem to 'pop out of the ether. 
I prefer the Flex SSDR platform, but the Anan line with their open source software has really set a high bar in terms of receiver performance (And Rob Sherwood agrees with me on that too!).
Bob K3AC 

ka7gzr

You might also check the summary of the QST reviews here:
https://www.remeeus.eu/hamradio/pa1hr/productreview.pdf
I own a IC-7850, Flex 6700 and a Yaesu FTdx101D among other radios. I can switch between the radios with a single switch. It allows a direct comparison of received audio.
I have my favorite receiver.
Jim

  

Mike-VA3MW

For those that have communicated personally with Rob you know that there is no 1 good rating or number.  He is the first to say to not depend on 1 of the measurements in his documents.  

If you haven't watched his presentation in Contest University last week, I suggest you hunt it down in YouTube.  

We are also to the point where most of the readings are so insignificant that none of use can actually hear the difference in his top 20 list when it is sorted the way the default sort is now.  

I have been fortunate enough to play with a lot of radios and it is now getting hard to pick a favourite based on RF performance.  Now, it comes down to user interface and other creature comforts.

Mike

[Deleted User]

How about just getting your software all fixed so things just work like NB, ANF etc. We've been complaining about this stuff for years

KL4QG

I talked Dx Engineering about 7610 or 7300 he reminded me of screen problems of 7610 ,he said all 7610 is is two 7300s in same box,
I went with 7300 mainly it been out long time and dependable going in my sailboat in Maryland-with icom M710 marine ssb,

I am going buy this loaner 6400M FOR our HAM CLUB to use with large antenna farm they have.    

KL4QG

ill Bite =drum roll ,drum roll =What one your favorite  receiver  
Joe

KL4QG

Egos always want the best rated of anything lol  

KL4QG

I have agree with you great from gut comment--

I am working with one of Flex sale men great guy ,good e mailer answering all my questions
---this might sound **** -- The Water Fall=Scope I like best about 6400M ,
I dont own a computer only at work ,i dont own a TV at home Flex 6400M being stand alone WAS PLUS    
F8 ,ETC way over my head lol ,watching ham radio on 2 monitors not ham radio to my family

When we want hear sweet sounding SSB ,we turn on Hallicrafters 150 transceiver my wife made a little cast iron pan she makes poached eggs,and tea  on top of the two final tubes on top of metal top of Hallicrafters  150 now that a Ham radio ,,,  

KF4HR

I question why would anyone post a thread like this on the Flex Forum? 

KL4QG

Its called Freedom of Speech ==Knowledge 

Here we go again with down grading and condescending comments ,Flex biggest weakness The do like me men or I will call for reinforcements  lol

I always post on forms from my heart its me coming from me  and I try express myself.
RELAX lots are dying out there enjoy life-respect people comments even if you dont agree ,,
I post for all and try make my posts entertaining,,

KF4HR do you have a first name ??? Put the Kool-Aid down grab a Cup of Coffee and Enjoy =Joe From Alaska Show=**** 

i said lots positive Flex comments im not a Flex hater by any means,

Alaska Joe   

Bill -VA3WTB

It is fine to publish bench test numbers, but for the most part they mean nothing important to us users. They don't tell us what living with a certain radio is like day in day.
Could you imagine a car magazine doing a review and only publishing the specs on the car? mentioning nothing about steering wheel response, ride. creature comforts, inside interior levels, fit and finish?

There is much more to a radio than bench test specs. Front panel layout, buttons and dials easy to use, space between buttons, is the display grainy? good menu system. Receive audio. Living with the radio every day. These are the only things that should be considered. But the bragging rights for radio specs is all powerful. You know, the specs we can't hear or know the differences.

I remember when the 6700 was crowned at the top, Gerald said that's nice, but it means nothing. And it took years for a radio to come out to catch the 6700, that's amazing.

Opinion
VA3WTB
Bill

KL4QG

Spot on

ctate243

Also..  at some point these numbers mean nothing b/c the values involved are indiscernible by the human ear.

ctate243

it really cracks me up how these year old posts get dug out of the hole.

KL4QG

A year test out the 101D she  = king of the road now ---.
Follow The Bouncing Ball...

 https://youtu.be/WrhAC0dFis0

Robert Lonn

My friend asked me where to plug in his HDMI cable into his 101D radio??? He is still trying to figure it out! :-)

KL4QG

I goes into the  HDMI connector on back 101D, its marked HDMI..

-on page 23,134 near the middle of the  instruction booklet --

Robert Lonn

OK, got it! Heading to my Ocean Front Property in Arizona! back Soon!!!

Michael N3LI

I stopped worrying about that when i realized that somehow, these people are taking 1 single measurement, and extrapolating that a radio is number one based on 1 measurement. the best radio might not even transmit. 

KD0RC

You guys are exactly right.  Years ago I bought a TS 2000.  It (even then) did not have the best numbers, and would not be a good choice for a serious contester. For my generic ham use, it was a great choice.  Reasonable performance, easy to use, well laid out controls and a vast range - 160M thru 70cm (excluding 222MHz xmit...).  My recent choice of the Flex 6400 was driven partially by good RX performance, but mainly features and function (particularly a really great panadapter).  I spent a lot of time at the local ham store playing with the various ICOM and Kenwood rigs (they were out of demo Yaesu rigs).  Then I went to my buddy Dave's house and messed around with his Flex 6400 and Maestro.  For me, it won, hands down, and I have not regretted the purchase for a moment.  All the rigs I looked at are somewhere on the excellent side of Rob Sherwood's list, some with better numbers in some category or another than others, but nothing that a casual operator would notice.  Rob's list is sorted only on RMDR performance, which is just one aspect, so top of the list does not mean "best radio".
73,
Len, KD0RC

Bob Needleman

With all due respect to Rob Sherwood, his rating of amateur transceivers, based strictly on receiver RMDR results, is not terribly useful in deciding what radio to buy. Just like you wouldn't buy a new car based solely on MPG or HP rating, and always do a thorough test drive before making a decision, you shouldn't buy a transceiver based soley on Rob's rating system. I have owned most of the mid-priced Japanese transceivers from Icom, Yaesu and Kenwood in the past 20 years and some of my favorite ones rank fairly low on Sherwood's list, but gave me excellent performance and enjoyment without any regrets for buying it. That includes radios made in the 80's and 90's without fancy bandscopes, DSP, etc. One of my favorite ones is my trusty Kenwood TS-830S, which is over 35 years old and I still own. The lack of synthesizer noise makes the receiver a pleasure to listen to, and having the switchable 500Hz CW filter and VBT, doesn't make adjacent QRM on a crowded band much of an issue. All the current radios coming from Japan, including the current TS-890, IC-7610 and FT-101D, are excellent performers and will be able to handle any type of communications that the average amateur is going to need, not to mention that they all offer very useful bandscopes, waterfalls, DSP NR, DSP filtering, etc. However - they give very different user experiences - like the  difference between the driving experience of a Chevy Camaro vs. a Ford Mustang. Unless you get in front of one of these current model rigs, get your hands on the controls, listen to the receiver and go through the the menu's, try the filtering, etc, it's foolish to decide on what model to buy just based on Sherwood's ratings (and I think Rob would agree). You won't go wrong with any of those models, as well as the Flex radios, but each individual ham will feel a different comfort and enjoyment level based on the ergonomics, features, etc. So let's focus less on the Sherwood ratings, and focus more on the in-depth, independent  product reviews, like are published in QST (NOT Bob Allisons' reviews that never say anything critical about any radio since he's an ARRL employee and the league won't make any negative comments against any major amateur manufacturer since they receive financial support from them), the EU amateur mags, etc. And finally - take a test drive at your closest amateur dealer if possible - 'get behind the wheel' and take it for a spin. You'll be in a lot better position to make your decision vs. reading the Sherwood ratings.
Bob K3AC

Robert Lonn

Oh Those Cars!!! I first said to myself that I wanted POOR MPG, then I told myself I wanted a LOT of HP.. The choice was easy then!!! :-)

Bob Needleman

The Yaesu FT-101D uses a DVI connector to hook up an external monitor, not an HDMI port. (same story with the TS-890 and IC-7610). I read somewhere that it has something to do with the patent protection on the "HDMI" technology. So they are all resorting to the (unpatented?) DVI port.
Bob K3AC

Bill -VA3WTB

Any time a company uses HDMI on a product they have to pay a licence fee to use it on their products. They pay so much for a certain number of units made. It is not cheap.

Robert Lonn

Correct, and my 50" LG 4K TV set LOVES that HDMI 1080P signal!! Makes for a GREAT PICTURE!!!