Shack Equipment

Some ramblings and general thoughts about the kit that currently resides in my shack.

Yaesu FTDX-3000

I've recently replaced my main shack transceiver (Yaesu FT-991) for the FT-3000.

I was an early adopter and bought the FT-991 when it was newly released. Unfortunately I experienced a number of issues and faults with the radio. Some of the minor issues were fixed with the regular firmware updates during it's early life. However I had a long standing issue with the ATU that required two return warranty trips to finally solve. The problem was that the ATU would run through a tuning cycle and then complete returning a HIGH SWR solution. The fault was intermittent and most prevalent on the 40m band. I believe most early FT-991s have this fault, with many owners unaware believing that the ATU has simply reached its limit. In fact if the radio starts a tuning process it should complete successfully. If the SWR is too high to begin with, the radio will not allow the tuning cycle to begin. The fault has been traced back to inadequate grounding of the ATU unit to the radios chassis. Further more I had to return the radio again under warranty for the finals failing. This turned out to be another common issue with early radios due to an incorrectly set bias. I believe all these issues have now been fixed at the factory and if you buy a new FT-991A you will likely have no issues at all.

I decided I wanted a dedicated HF radio with more features that was a little more substantial. The FTDX-3000 came out in 2012. So after 8 years of production and updates I figure it should be a pretty solid and dependable radio. Checking the serial number, mine was built in October 2020 (bought early November) and comes with some firmware actually newer than what is available on the Yaesu website.

The FTDX-3000 was a very expensive radio when it came out. Over the last 8 years the price has dropped to nearly half the original RRP. It came with the same receiver from the then flagship DX5000 radio (which has since been discontinued). I expect this radio will not be available for much longer as SDR radios start to replace existing models. At it's current price I believe it's a bargain, solid, dependable HF radio.

Some features that I particularly enjoy from this radio:

  • Has a lovely sounding receiver. A mellow/warm sound that I prefer to the sharper sound of some modern radios

  • Lots of inputs and outputs including three antenna sockets, DC out, Panadapter and many more you don't get with small compact radios

  • Inbuilt soundcard and CAT via USB. This is now pretty standard on all modern radios, but makes digital modes easy.

  • Big radio with front buttons and controls for the main features. No need to navigate menus for common functions.

  • Big radio means a big slow quiet fan and easy cooling. The fan is barely audible when it comes on.

  • Large brass weighted VFO knob which is a pleasure to use vs the ones on small radios.

  • Contains a large selection of roofing filters as standard.

  • 3 Year Warranty is great -hopefully won't need it!


Literally days after I picked up this radio the new FTDX-10 was announced. Looks like an interesting radio at a similar price point to the FT-3000 I just purchased, but with my previous experience of newly released radios and the disadvantages of a compact menu driven radio (form factor looks similar to the FT-991) I think this radio is best avoided for a while.

I'm often asked what HF radio I recommend for a newly qualified amateur that's relatively affordable . Here are my personal recommendations, but do your own research to choose what is best for you.


ICOM IC-7300 (£1200) - Incredibly popular (and for good reason) modern SDR compact radio. These have been out for a while and a proven solid performer with a lovely band scope and modern features.

YAESU FTDX3000 (£1300)- Buy one while you still can. A mature, dependable radio with lots of buttons and controls on the front panel and lots of inputs/outputs. A great desk shack radio.

YAESU FTDX10 (£1550?) - Latest technology in an affordable radio. Beautiful modern display. May have some early issues, and expect lots of early firmware updates. With the Yaesu 3 year warranty you have some backup if things go wrong.

YAESU FT-991A (£1200) - Shack in a box. HF/2/70 all mode (including C4FM digital), but missing 4m. Now the early issues have been resolved this is a more solid radio.