I'm so tempted to get one myself. I've been throwing good money at my 857D and got a CW filter in it, so it's much better now. But the IF filtering vs AF is really attractive in the 891. Plus a few memories would be nice. Nice rig!
The 891 is my go to, it does use a little bit of power but it is so versatile. I live in an HOA and it is so quick throwing the ATAS up and get a quick POTA hunting session in. I also have got into QRP over the last year and have several such as the MTR-4bv2.3, KH1, and QCX mini, but it is nice to have the 891at the ready when conditions are tough.
Thank you for sharing Evan. I just purchased the FT-891 myself. I watched your video on turners because, I want to buy a tuner for the FT-891. I would like a wide band turner but, I don't know if this is possible or how you determine if it is wide band or not. I will stay tuned to your channel to see how you make out with the FT-891. Thank you again Evan for all the valuable ham radio information. Just my opinion but, I do feel you are an asset to the radio community. KO4UWU
Im running the Mat-Tuner mAT-30. It'll do 10:1 and over 100W. It's automatic through the 891. Don't buy the Yaesu tuner. It can't handle a 9:1 EFRW. W6AMO
So far I'm really liking it. I was worried the menu structure would hinder me, but once the radio was set up, I hardly ever need to go into it. I definitely should have bought one sooner.
@@EvanK2EJT The deep menus are a bit complicated for sure. Fortunately you don't need most of them on the regular. The only ones I wish were more accessible are the power settings 16-01 and 16-03. There is a cheat sheet out there which is a good reference to keep handy.
Your SWR got better from 1.6:1 because your ground losses increased a little when the cloth folded over. With low(er) ground losses the impedance of your vertical will be ~35 ohms (hence the 1.6:1 SWR). Increased ground losses RAISE the impedance closer to 50 ohms, therefore resulting in improved SWR and a less effective radiator. So….SWR is not a good indicator on how well your antenna is radiating and receiving. A dummy load has a perfect SWR! (TIC!).
Perhaps the reason your SWR improved when the wind disturbed the Faraday cloth was that the input impedance of the antenna/counterpoise combination was well below 50 ohms when the Faraday cloth was spread out, and then rose due to higher ground losses when the cloth was folded over and had less effective area. A short monopole about 1/8 wave long on 40 m has pretty low impedance, maybe 10 ohms or so and the spread out Faraday cloth would bring the total impedance up consistent with the SWR you first observed. So then the SWR would improve when the Faraday cloth became less effective and the total impedance rose some more, but your radiated power would drop. I do like horizontal antennas better, preferably balanced ones. David VE7EZM
I like horizontal antennas better myself as well. They're difficult to put up in a lot of these parks though because you can't put stuff in the trees, so the verticals are way easier.
Evan can I ask a CW question. Can you set your CW WPM to something higher than you can actually understand, or even send accurately? It's arbitrary, but I just like the sound of CW at 18-20 wpm, it's kind of chill.
@@Paul_KE9BHN Oh, I can definitely go higher than I can understand or send at. I fall apart somewhere around 35wpm or so. My comfort speed is about 23 or 24 wpm.
I think he usually has his speed set at something like 22 or 24 wpm. You can do what I do if you don't like the speed, when you watch and listen to one of these TH-cam videos. Click on the gear-shaped settings button at the bottom of the screen near the right and then adjust the speed, up or down. I'm trying to bring my CW receiving speed back up to what it was when I was about 60 years younger than I am now (no hope whatsoever of getting my sending speed back up to what it was when I was a kid!), so I usually run things at 1.5x or 1.75x but if you're learning the code and he's faster than you'd like, you can make it go slower too. Unfortunately it makes the verbal comments come along at a changed speed too. And if you do this with music, the result is horrible. David VE7EZM
@@davidryeburn6446 Yeah, you're correct. I'm usually in the 23-24wpm range unless I'm on a straight key or a cootie. Straight key is usually 16-18, and a cootie is usually about 18-20. Good tip on changing the video speed for people who want to copy faster or slower!
@@SCTaylorTX It's definitely usable, but if you're someone who's bothered by relay clicks it'll probably drive you nuts. It doesn't really bother me, but it's definitely noticeable
U do a great job . Keep up the good work. I use the 891 also
I love it, I've done more with my new 891 in a month than I have with my 705 with amp in 3 years. I have the fc 50 comjng :) audio on RX is awesome.
LOVE my 891. I've been using a lot of little QRP rigs lately which are fun. But having a fully featured (and QRO) rig in the field is AMAZING!
For sure. I wasn't sure I was going to like this radio. I was wrong. It's awesome
Thanks Evan… just had you for class LICWC
He’s a good teacher from what I hear.
@@KD9ZHFyes he is!
I'm so tempted to get one myself. I've been throwing good money at my 857D and got a CW filter in it, so it's much better now. But the IF filtering vs AF is really attractive in the 891. Plus a few memories would be nice. Nice rig!
I'm really liking it so far. Yaesu receivers are hard to beat
The 891 with an LDG z-100a tuner is the perfect setup!
I run mine with the LDG Z11PRO II , and it's awesome
The 891 is my go to, it does use a little bit of power but it is so versatile. I live in an HOA and it is so quick throwing the ATAS up and get a quick POTA hunting session in. I also have got into QRP over the last year and have several such as the MTR-4bv2.3, KH1, and QCX mini, but it is nice to have the 891at the ready when conditions are tough.
Yeah, it's nice to have that little bit of extra power when the bands are in the dumps for sure!
Thank you for sharing Evan. I just purchased the FT-891 myself. I watched your video on turners because, I want to buy a tuner for the FT-891. I would like a wide band turner but, I don't know if this is possible or how you determine if it is wide band or not. I will stay tuned to your channel to see how you make out with the FT-891. Thank you again Evan for all the valuable ham radio information. Just my opinion but, I do feel you are an asset to the radio community. KO4UWU
Thank you and thanks for watching!
Get your self an LDG z-100a tuner… I use it with my 891 and it tunes almost everything!
@@skepticalmechanic Well thank you for recommending the LDGz-100a tuner, I will take a look at it. Is it a wide band tuner?
Im running the Mat-Tuner mAT-30. It'll do 10:1 and over 100W. It's automatic through the 891. Don't buy the Yaesu tuner. It can't handle a 9:1 EFRW. W6AMO
1.8-54 MHz.
I think I did it backwards. The FT-891 was my first POTA rig, before I knew anything. I still use it all the time. --n1bs
So far I'm really liking it. I was worried the menu structure would hinder me, but once the radio was set up, I hardly ever need to go into it. I definitely should have bought one sooner.
@@EvanK2EJT The deep menus are a bit complicated for sure. Fortunately you don't need most of them on the regular. The only ones I wish were more accessible are the power settings 16-01 and 16-03. There is a cheat sheet out there which is a good reference to keep handy.
Your SWR got better from 1.6:1 because your ground losses increased a little when the cloth folded over. With low(er) ground losses the impedance of your vertical will be ~35 ohms (hence the 1.6:1 SWR). Increased ground losses RAISE the impedance closer to 50 ohms, therefore resulting in improved SWR and a less effective radiator. So….SWR is not a good indicator on how well your antenna is radiating and receiving. A dummy load has a perfect SWR! (TIC!).
Perhaps the reason your SWR improved when the wind disturbed the Faraday cloth was that the input impedance of the antenna/counterpoise combination was well below 50 ohms when the Faraday cloth was spread out, and then rose due to higher ground losses when the cloth was folded over and had less effective area. A short monopole about 1/8 wave long on 40 m has pretty low impedance, maybe 10 ohms or so and the spread out Faraday cloth would bring the total impedance up consistent with the SWR you first observed. So then the SWR would improve when the Faraday cloth became less effective and the total impedance rose some more, but your radiated power would drop.
I do like horizontal antennas better, preferably balanced ones.
David VE7EZM
I like horizontal antennas better myself as well. They're difficult to put up in a lot of these parks though because you can't put stuff in the trees, so the verticals are way easier.
Hi Kevin, I don’t know whether I missed it or not but what is the antenna rig that you were using?
That's a Wolf River Coils 213" whip on a WRC Sporty Forty coil and a WRC tripod with three 33' radials and some Faraday cloth
Thanks Evan! I just notice spell check spelled your name Kevin in the original comment. Oops! Thanks for all your great videos!
Evan can I ask a CW question. Can you set your CW WPM to something higher than you can actually understand, or even send accurately? It's arbitrary, but I just like the sound of CW at 18-20 wpm, it's kind of chill.
@@Paul_KE9BHN Oh, I can definitely go higher than I can understand or send at. I fall apart somewhere around 35wpm or so. My comfort speed is about 23 or 24 wpm.
I think he usually has his speed set at something like 22 or 24 wpm. You can do what I do if you don't like the speed, when you watch and listen to one of these TH-cam videos. Click on the gear-shaped settings button at the bottom of the screen near the right and then adjust the speed, up or down. I'm trying to bring my CW receiving speed back up to what it was when I was about 60 years younger than I am now (no hope whatsoever of getting my sending speed back up to what it was when I was a kid!), so I usually run things at 1.5x or 1.75x but if you're learning the code and he's faster than you'd like, you can make it go slower too. Unfortunately it makes the verbal comments come along at a changed speed too. And if you do this with music, the result is horrible.
David VE7EZM
@@davidryeburn6446 Yeah, you're correct. I'm usually in the 23-24wpm range unless I'm on a straight key or a cootie. Straight key is usually 16-18, and a cootie is usually about 18-20. Good tip on changing the video speed for people who want to copy faster or slower!
That is a sweet key, which one is it?
That's a Begali Expedition
How’s the relay noise on that radio?
@@SCTaylorTX It's obnoxious if I'm being completely honest.
@@EvanK2EJTgood to know. I’ve been thinking about a 100w mobile rig. Not a lot of options and the 891 is certainly on the more affordable end.
@@SCTaylorTX It's definitely usable, but if you're someone who's bothered by relay clicks it'll probably drive you nuts. It doesn't really bother me, but it's definitely noticeable
dit dit dah dit / dit dit / dit dah dit / dit dit dit / dah
I like it LOL
.... .. .... ..
891 is smaller than I thought it was. ddDDD Dd Ddd
It is. It's not big at all.
It's small, but it's heavy.
Easy shoved in a back pack as it's nice and flat.