Is The Yaesu FT-891 Really A Great Portable Transceiver?

The Yaesu FT-891 is an absolut great Mobile/Portable Radio!

My solution is a Buddypole Power mini and 100w solar will keep the battery topped off and will give you your power usage.

Great job providing an actual user review, it is both refreshing and appreciated !

You have to draw your eyes away from the radio when you Log your contacts, there's Rarely a need to Stare at your radio. Glance at the S-Meter or external voltmeter occasionally and Enjoy The View of the Great Outdoors IF your an Outdoors person like you claim that you are... Your Outdoors, Relax and Enjoy it... Working any hobby like a job sucks the love out of it.
73 mike

how do you interface with a battery?

All well listing positives and negatives comparing it to older radios but you missed the biggest positive of the lot, and that is the receiver performance, that makes it stand out head and shoulders above it's predecessors (even more so if you are a CW operator!), and yes, I do own the whole range you mentioned.....

A very clear exposition. The most helpful ft891 briefing available in my experience, thank you. Phil - Suffolk, U.K.

Ft 857 you will really want to keep it. Because of what you show. Then having everything in the car suits me perfectly.

Xiegu g90 is a better portable , 20 watts, has built in tuner and better screen , nothing wrong with Chinese radios, last I checked they didn’t bomb Pearl Harbor either

Just bought an 891. Great to see your review and thoughts. I’m still glad I did. Thanks for the vid.👍🇨🇮🇵🇸

Why would a FT891 quit displaying signal strength? Just started using my 891, it was showing signal strength and now it doesn’t. Thanks NM5SP Alan

To be honest I would like to have a rig that is like ft817 but with dsp and at least 20W RF (best 100W). I think that for me ft857 is better than ft891. But today is hard to buy ft857

Thanks for the video. Very informative. What is the current draw while monitoring?

I had an FT-891 Center Console; Direct Mounted in a 2016 RAV4; XLE w/ ATAS120@ Antenna. The absolute best combination you could have. Period

Excellent video!! I’m looking for a good quad band radio to include HF for a man pack

Thanks, this is super informative and helpful as my main QTH is a sailboat and now it's clear to me I gotta be more careful in keeping on eye on the voltage. Like a heads-up display in an aircraft, it is indeed true having to look at another gauge can be dangerous and detrimental to equipment. While rigs of the past were more tolerant, this can not be said of present day equipment. With regard to knobs, yeah I am certainly no fan of plastic as it is definitely no replacement for the super robust knobs of yesteryear which were made of bakelite or a fiberus material. Bruce KQ4EIH

As always, Tracy, an accurate assessment geared toward portable ops.
If I did not own two FT-857D and one FT-897D radios, the FT-891 would be at the top of my list for portable and ECOM. The next closest rig is the FT-991A that has 2m & 7cm, but it is less rugged, larger, and a bigger power hawg.

I too operate almost exclusively SSB phone, except for digital mode practice geared to ECOM. Even though I typically operate a =<20W, 100W is a must requirement for HF ECOM for when the solar cycle is at the bottom and band conditions suck. One more S-unit can make the difference.
Given I require all band all mode portable operation capable of 100W, in the new radio market I would end up with two radios as the FT'991A is unacceptable. Or I would end up with a 20W radio and amplifier.
I long for a waterfall display and better filters that are found in current radios, but I am NOT trading away my FT-857D and FT-897D radios to get what is on the market. I have three Armageddon worthy radios already. Going digital with a tablet and soundcard should allow regional communications in all but the harshest RF environments known. If I can get out with 100W and mode like Olivia, chances are 1000W will not work either.
If I bought another used radio, it would probably be a FT-817ND, FT-818, FT-857D, or IC-706MKiig. All are solid compact shack in the box radios. I've owned them all except the FT-818.
A new modern 100W or 20W rig with similar form factor and power consumption would float my boat and get me to crack open my wallet. 20W is acceptable in a backup radio.

I also have an 897 that I love and use for portable operations. The biggest question I have is this: is the filtering and processing on the 891 something that would net you more contacts? If so, would it net more contacts in total before running out of battery, when compared to the 897 running on the same battery?

In my opinion, I really like the form factor and features of the 891, but if it doesn't mean more contacts it really doesn't justify the spend.

No portable is big

Hi there, very nice video thanks for that. I have a question from Brazil. I am considering to have a FT-891 for a base operation with a quite good price. Besides the battery and voltage monitoring issue, is that a good choice for an apartment radio? PS. yes, I am considering an antenna tunning. Thanks

Thank you for a great video. I just got mine and is still playing with it to file a negative. It's not an Icom 706MKIIG that I sold years ago but good enough. If doing POTA I'll operate for 1-2 hours then call it quits.

Very helpful as I decide what to buy as a fulltime RVer who boondocks on solar power most of the time.

Danke für das tolle Video.73 de Jozef OE1CJG,(S56CJG).Österreich.😊😊😊

I own an 891 and I agree with all of your criticisms, However, as you seem to carry chairs, tarps etc. you're not a backpacker, I would suggest you get a larger battery or build one yourself . See the company called Battery Hookup for sometimes great deals on portable batteries. Everybody but YAESU hates their menu and that's across all models. What I think the 891 really needs as a portable rig is a good built in tuner. If Xiego can put one in a G90, then Yaesu should get one into the 891. A resonant antenna is a nice tool but not always feasable.

i always enjoy your narration, thank u

I use an adjustable unit in line for my rigs. I can read and adjust the voltage as necessary. So I set up a bunch of Anderson power pole connectors so I can do pretty much anything with my mobile power. Yes, a bummer on the manufacturer but like most rigs there are workarounds. External atu or a qrp mechanical atu to expand your capabilities or a random wire.... To me that is what keeps this a focused endeavor and adventure.

7 years now
How times flies😊

I'm trying WSJT-X on 14.074.000, but each time I TX, my FT-891 transmits on 14.073.500. Why does it jump down like that to TX? Thanks, CE4JDM

Lack of 2 meters and 70cm is a huge negative

This was fantastic! Thank you.

Yes, I agree with pretty much all you say in your video, especially packing it carefully when taking it out portable.

I've been using an FT-897 and FT-817ND for years for portable operating. I love both radio's very much. Most of my operation tends to be SSB and digital although I am looking to up my CW game.

This year I've decided to upgrade. Most of my digital ops tend to be sub 10W and I also run resonant antennas - mainly ex-PAR Electronics excellent end fed half waves and resonant dipoles for NVIS. I tend to listen a lot so decided to go for the Lab599 TX500 and a 50W linear for when I need the extra power and put the CW filter in my 817 into the 895, so I will have the TX500 for HF and the 897 for V/UHF main radio with the 817 as QRP backup. Receive power consumption will be greatly reduced compared to the 817 and 897, I get a full DSP RX and bandpass filters on the front-end, large functional display and the capability to run more power should I need. I tend to rarely use V/UHF portable.

I'm also ditching the lead acid and moving across to LiFePo and solar, so again, RX current reduction will be useful. The panel is a 60W with a Gensun MPPT charge controller (which are supposed to be the best for low QRM).

Tracy, I am back watching this very informative radio again. My year lapse into real life distractions may be lessened so I can get out and operate again.

Did you mention there is no sound card? There are workarounds of course but it can be important for digital. Maybe not your mode to worry about. I am very new and won’t say I will or will not use a certain mode. I do like the preparedness approach to use digital with like winlink as a operational control in emergencies. But I will not say they messed up. I just see it as missing. Thanks for reading all this if you are still here. All the best, 73 de KI5HXM

Is The Yaesu FT-891 Really A Great Portable Transceiver? Does a bear sh*t in the woods?

My 891 only draws 600mA on receive whether or not a signal is present. I can get it down to 500mA if I lower the dimmer backlit level (menu item 02-02) from the default 8 to 6. This is the illumination level of the top and bottom buttons' backlight level. My radio came with firmware versions 01-10 for main, 02-05 for DSP and 01-01 for LCD. I use mine with a switching power supply in my shack, not with a lithium ion (not iron: pet peeve, sorry) battery in the field though.

Hey Tracy, I came across this video as I am getting into ham radio myself.. and thought I would see what I can find out about the 891 from other users… I plan on using as a mobile set up with the ATAS120 antenna..

Thanks for the video.

Cool. Thanks for making this. DE VY2MJ and VE3ITS. Cheers!

My comments are as an owner of the '897,'817 and '891. I definitely agree on the constant voltage monitor! Though I still use an outboard constant monitor on the '897 and '817 - more so to keep better track of voltage and usage of the LIFEPO4 batteries I use. Still - it should have been included in the '891.

I find the '891 receiver better than those of the '817 and '897: Of course, it is also a much newer design. DSP is pretty good and audio works fine for my not so great hearing. The lack of auto tuner wasn't a concern for me as I use resonant antennas: and if needed an LDG tuner with cables for my Yaesu and Icom radios as a backup.

For my portable ops - the best choice of my radios which is the Yaesu 891. I base this on performance, size/weight, features - tailorable via menu, and definitely cost. GREAT - Perhaps not, but pretty darn worthy mobile, portable and in the shack.

As to your review - Well Done and informative!

Biggest drawback is having no internal tuner. Otherwise I would buy one in a flash.☘️👍

I operate CW, mostly QRP, and find the FT-891 a great radio for this mode. Agree, power consumption could be better for portable. Considering the price and CW receiving features, I am very happy. Much better than the Chinese radios. 72, Luis CU2IJ

MY MAIN COMPLAINT RE THE 891 IS THE CUMBERSOME AND NON-INTUITIVE MENU SYSTEM. BUT ITS FEATURES OUTWEIGH THIS DRAWBACK. It only means that with my newly purchased 891, I'll have to devote a day or two "learning" the rig rather than just jumping right in and operating.

Since I encountered one of your first videos where you worked a FD in the Canadian rain, I have come to respect your reviews as sound and objective. This one is no exception.
I DO NOT use my 891 portable nor do I ever intend to. It was purchased to replace my venerable Icom IC-706MKiig whose "second generation" add-on filters were costly and limited. The 891 filtering is quite good and, as a shack rig, is my go to radio. (It's in addition to my IC-7200 used to do digit work because of the on board sound card.)

Thanks for an excellent review.
I've been on and off interested in building a portable device that I can carry on a mini backpack that has more power than a talkie. It seems the 891 might be too power hungry for what I'm thinking. Is there any similar format UHF that I could use on a single battery (in a small radio pack where weight and space are an issue) for receiving/transmitting 40+ hours?
I understand maybe such thing is not possible.

hi very good video . 4 extra protection 4 buttons you can using it remotly beter ventilation 4 the main unit and yoy can buy or macke mails 4 it from aluminium 73

The 891 was first modern appliance I could afford and I enjoy it very much. Thanks for tip on the advanced manual . Great review!

very inspiring

Regarding concern about voltage please see thread started by Samyham on RadioReference 'Yaesu: Can too low voltage harm my ft-891?'

My conclusion from that thread and other utube channels is that because it's digital it likely won't seriously harm the radio.

This may be a late comment, but you gave a good and balanced opinion. I agree that an internal tuner is not a big deal - I use antennas that are either resonant or close to resonant. My big concern - and something I will need to review - is the current draw at receive. If I want to go portable, I will likely need a LiPO.

Great video. My 891 had the dot matrix line missing after only 6 months. Front panel had to be shipped to Japan to be repaired. Took 3 months, but radio has been ok since. The worst thing in my opinion is the (lack of) mode switch. Menu system is rather complex, but still love the radio. Fast QSK on CW.