Should contest rules allow and act upon 599K QRM reports?

Sunday 10 March 2019

Yaesu FT-991a or FT991 cw ptt fault (no ptt via usb2 or rs232 in cw mode!) Work-around

The FT-991a has pc based ptt in all modes except CW! Note that I don't mean keying the radio through full or semi break-in. The reason for not using these break-in modes is as follows:

1) Full break-in is useless in contests as you never want to hear while you are sending. Also this mode thrashes the radio/amp TX/RX changeover relay, leading to an early demise of your radio/amplifier.
2) Semi-break-in incorporates a delay to prevent the radio from removing PTT between sent cw words and elements. This delay is also applied at the end of every transmission, meaning you miss the start of callsigns from fast return callers. Also if you vary the speed of sending or have a different manual sending speed than the PC, the delay value will need adjusting each time to avoid needless PTT drop-outs.

To avoid these pitfalls it is more efficient for the PC just to apply PTT when it needs to. When the PC sends a cw message it engages PTT and then removes it immediately at the end of the message. You'll need a winkey or similar to interface the PC with the radio in CW mode.

Yaesu aren't interested in fixing this in their firmware, so here is a work-around for anyone who wants to use an application (N1MM+, Win-Test etc) to PTT the FT-991a in CW mode with a winkey or similar. The only way to PTT the FT-991 from a PC in cw mode is through pin 6 of the RJ45 mic socket on the front of the radio:

https://shop.technofix.uk/cable-for-pc-headsets-3-5mm-jack-8p8c-modular-rj45-for-yaesu-ft-817-ft-857-ft-897-ft-450-ft-900-ft-991-etc.

The 1/4" PTT jack socket can be used to hook up the PTT output from your Win-Key or other device:

https://www.hamcrafters2.com/WKmini.html

Note: This hardware workaround causes auto CW in SSB mode to stop working, as if the MIC PTT is engaged in SSB then the source of transmission will be from the MIC, not the cw key input. As long as we are in CW mode all is well.

With the above setup you can then ignore the following FT-991 Menu items: 056 CW BK-IN TYPE (semi/full). 057 CW BK-IN DELAY (30msec to 3000msec). The internal break-in feature and keyer will be disabled in the next section, as these functions will now come from the winkey or similar.

Whilst in CW mode, disable the internal break-in feature by hitting the F key and then toggle BK-IN to OFF. You also need to disable the internal keyer by hitting the F key and then toggling KEYER to OFF.

Using the above hardware and firmware recommendations means that the FT-991 can now be used for cw contesting in an efficient manner from a contest logger and from the key plugged into the winkey or similar. It's a shame that Yaesu seem to have lost any in house experience in CW contest operation and are now producing sub-optimal equipment for the masses who don't know any better. Just imagine if they they did this this on data modes too, the FT8 crowd would be on them like flies.

I can only hope that this radio was an "ooops" moment for Yaesu and that the architect is demoted to coffee duties. Hopefully this article saves many ops selling up their FT991 in favour of a proper cw radio like an Elecraft K3.