Keith GM4YXI wrote:
|I see plenty of comment supporting the 1000MP but then I see
|all sorts of mods being marketed by INRAD and others. Why?
|Is there something fundamentally wrong with the radio?
Keith,
I recently bought an FT1000MP for SSB use. There are lots of things I like
about it, but it's not perfect.
The flexibility is outstanding - so many extra features, most of which can
be programmed to your preference via the menu. The second receiver is a
great addition (vs. my old 940), for SSB DXing in general, but particularly
for 40SSB/split contesting.
However, my big disappointment is the noise floor, especially on 10M.
That's why you see so much discussion about the INRAD preamp, etc. I just
don't understand why Yaesu couldn't make their latest top of the line
transceiver at least as good in this respect as all preceding technology.
The 1000MP (unmodified) is definitely NOT as quiet on 10M as my 940. I do a
lot of low signal long path listening on 10M, and for that I always use the
940. The 940 is so quiet that even S1 or S2 long path signals are Q5. Also,
the 940 noise blanker is better on a reasonably quiet band (it doesn't seem
to raise the noise floor). The 1000MP noise blanker is much more effective
under higher noise conditions though. You have to work harder to pull out
very weak 10M signals on an unmodified 1000MP - that ought not to be the
situation with the latest technology.
Finally, I don't think the 1000MP received audio on SSB is quite as crisp
and clear as the 940, but I'm willing to concede that I might not yet have
all the options optimized.
73, John, NT5C.
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