Yaesu: Newbie looking for help with Yaesu 991a

[Northof62]

I just purchased a Yaesu FT-991A. It's powered by a Yaesu FP-1030A. My antenna is a Diamond X30A hooked to the transceiver with 25' of DX Engineering 400MAX PL-259. The antenna and radio are grounded to my AC service earth rod with 10 gauge wire.

My problem is I can't transmit on any frequency or receive on most. I am able to hear the NOAA weather repeater over 30 miles away perfectly clear but when my friend one mile away tries to call me there is no signal. Some of the bands won't even let me try to transmit, the red transmit indicator just blinks. On other bands the indicator lights up but the radio doesn't appear to be transmitting. On some bands when I key up the SWR is through the roof and the high SWR light comes on(I've never held down the PTT for more than a few seconds since setting up the radio).

Lastly, my friend brought over his radio and hooked up to my antenna with my coax and it worked just fine. I checked the settings to make sure the front MIC is selected. I have done two full resets. I've been researching this for a few days but I'm at a loss.

What am I doing wrong?

 

[K4EET]

Did your friend try to get your rig working?

 

[Northof62]

Did your friend try to get your rig working?

Yes Sir. He couldn't figure it out either.

 

[eaf1956]

What bands are you attempting to use? Hopefully 2 m or 440 and why get a multiband HF rig for VHF/UHF? or a $1200 radio with a $70 Antenna

 

[Northof62]

What bands are you attempting to use? Hopefully 2 m or 440

Yes. I can't transmit or receive on either of those and when I key up on 440 the SWR high indicator on the radio kicks on. On 2m the SWR on the radios internal meter drops to zero.

What bands are you attempting to use? Hopefully 2 m or 440 and why get a multiband HF rig for VHF/UHF? or a $1200 radio with a $70 Antenna

I'm planning on getting a separate antenna for HF

 

[K4EET]

<snip> On some bands when I key up the SWR is through the roof and the high SWR light comes on(I've never held down the PTT for more than a few seconds since setting up the radio). <snip>

With that antenna, what frequencies are you checking the SWR on? Here is your antenna:

VHF/UHF Base Vertical Antennas - diamond x30a KEYWORD | DXE HAM Radio Equipment

Find VHF/UHF Base Vertical Antennas diamond x30a KEYWORD and get Free Shipping on Most Orders Over $99 at DX Engineering!

www.dxengineering.com

 

[Northof62]

With that antenna, what frequencies are you checking the SWR on?

2m and 440, using the radios SWR meter.

 

[eaf1956]

And you are using the ANT connector closest to the Ground screw not the one labeled HF/50 MHz

 

[Northof62]

And you are using the ANT connector closest to the Ground screw not the one labeled HF/50 MHz

That's correct.

 

[K4EET]

<snip> My problem is I can't transmit on any frequency or receive on most. I am able to hear the NOAA weather repeater over 30 miles away perfectly clear but when my friend one mile away tries to call me there is no signal. Some of the bands won't even let me try to transmit, the red transmit indicator just blinks. On other bands the indicator lights up but the radio doesn't appear to be transmitting. <snip>

Are you working simplex, e.g. 146.52 MHz or are you trying to work through a local repeater?

 

[Northof62]

Are you working simplex, e.g. 146.52 MHz or are you trying to work through a local repeater?

Just simplex. Unfortunately there are no repeaters in my area.

 

[eaf1956]

Didn't mention his power settings either

 

[Northof62]

Didn't mention his power settings either

I've tried different settings. But really I'm just trying to see if my setup works, I'm trying to contact someone who is only a mile away from me. I can't even reach my HT in the same room. I guess I suspect there's an issue with the radio but I was hoping to confirm that somehow before I return it.

 

[eaf1956]

I've tried different settings. But really I'm just trying to see if my setup works, I'm trying to contact someone who is only a mile away from me. I can't even reach my HT in the same room. I guess I suspect there's an issue with the radio but I was hoping to confirm that somehow before I return it.

If your friend's VHF/UHF radio worked with your antenna/coax. And you are connecting the 991a correctly then I'd say that your radio is the issue. I can hit a repeater 30 miles in another town with 5 Watts. if in doubt take your radio to his/her house and try it there.

 

[K4EET]

<snip> I guess I suspect there's an issue with the radio but I was hoping to confirm that somehow before I return it.

It would be rare if there is a problem with the radio straight out of the box. Sooooooo... Before you return it, answer the following questions:

1. Do you have a dummy load? If you do, remove the outside antenna and hook up the dummy load. If you don't have a dummy load, order one that will handle your rig's transmitter at full power for 3 minutes minimum.

2. Referring to the Operating Manual (OM) available here, have you read pages 1 through 6?

3. On pages 7 and 8, which microphone are you using?

4. On page 8, do you have the Yaesu FC-40 External Automatic Antenna Tuner? If you do, with the dummy load, connect the dummy load DIRECTLY to the rear of the radio whereby eliminating the antenna tuner.

5. Have you successfully completed ALL steps on pages 9 through 15? Where did you leave the settings?

6. Have you successfully completed pages 16 through 19 as it applies to your radio?

7. Do you FULLY understand everything on pages 20 through 23?

8. Do you FULLY understand everything on pages 24 through 26?

9. Are you FULLY familiar with the rear panel layout as described on pages 27 and 28?

10. Are you FULLY familiar with your microphone(s) as described on pages 29 to 31?

11. Have you successfully completed ALL steps on pages 32 through 38? Where did you leave the settings?

12. Have you successfully completed ALL steps on pages 39 through 46? Where did you leave the settings?

13. Have you successfully completed ALL steps on pages 47 through 60? Where did you leave the settings?

Now we have a configuration that all of us know.

14. Can you successfully complete ALL steps on pages 61 and 62?

15. On the power output meter, is it moving when you speak into the microphone?

Let's stop here for now and see where we are with respect to initial setup and preliminary testing. If the dummy load and cable to the radio (make sure that you are on the right connector), the SWR should be close to 1:1 since the dummy load presents a close to 50 ohm resistive load. Please be specific on what you do with the settings and what you observe in completing tasks 14 and 15.

Thanks and 73, Dave K4EET

<edit>

IMPORTANT: If you are not familiar with something or are unsure what to do with a setting, PLEASE post your question(s). We are here to help you with your entry into using a fine transceiver.

 

[eaf1956]

Antenna tuner on 2m/440???

 

[K4EET]

Antenna tuner on 2m/440???

My instructions/questions start at ground zero in the manual. The above 15 tasks are mainly addressing HF operations. Right now, none of us have any clue as to what the OP knows about the Yaesu FT-991A nor do we know how any of the functions are configured. I would think we would go about this in an orderly manner to validate any claims that the transceiver is defective.

73, Dave K4EET

 

[eaf1956]

OK back to 80 meters for me. Good Luck!

 

[Northof62]

I want to thank you guys for all your help. I'm very appreciative of you taking the time to help with what turned out to be a very simple fix. My friends radio had a tone set which wouldn't allow me to break though. I couldn't reach my HT because it was to close to my Yaesu.

Big thanks to Ric KC5AKB who contacted me last night and figured this out for me.

There's so much to learn about this hobby and I'm at the very beginning. It's nice to see there are so many people willing to share their years of knowledge.

Thanks!

 

[K4EET]

Another thing @Northof62, for the dummy load, you want one without meters that covers 0 to 600 MHz. Ultimately, you will need two external power/SWR meters, one for HF and one for VHF/UHF. For now, if you don’t own any power/SWR meters, we can use the internal power and SWR metering functions of the Yaesu FT-991A.

As for a dummy load, it should have an SO-239 connector and be rated at 300 Watts intermittent or 1,500 Watt intermittent. I prefer a 1,500 Watt dummy load for my 100 Watt and 250 Watt transceivers because the transmitter can be held “key-down” almost forever.

Using DX Engineering as a Reference, here are the dummy loads:

HAM Radio Dummy Loads | DX Engineering

Test your transmitter the proper way with a dummy load from DX Engineering! We carry dummy loads rated all the way up to 2,500 watts—shop now!

www.dxengineering.com

I would suggest either the MFJ-260C for $70 or the MFJ-264 for $130. Both are adequate for your “barefoot” transceiver. As I said, I would prefer the MFJ-264 because of its power handling capability.

73, Dave K4EET