so ive been going back and forth on this for like two months now and im just gonna ask. i currently run a baofeng on VHF/UHF for local stuff but i want to get into HF seriously and build out a real shack. my budget is around $1000-1100 and i keep landing on either a new IC-7300 or a used FT-991A that a guy in my club is selling for about $750.

the 991A is appealing because it covers 2m and 70cm too so id basically have one radio for everything, and the price is obviously lower. but ive heard the 7300 is just... better? like the SDR-based receiver and the touchscreen waterfall is apparently really nice to use. the guy selling the 991A says its in great shape but its a few years old and i dont know the full history on it.

i mostly plan to do SSB on 40 and 20m, maybe get into JS8Call or FT8 at some point, and potentially some POTA activations down the road. not really a contester. does the 7300 receiver make that much of a real world difference or is that more of a "specs on paper" thing. honestly any input would help at this point im just going in circles

the 7300 receiver difference is real, not just paper specs. i went from an older Yaesu to a 7300 a couple years back and the first time i sat down with it on a busy 40m evening i was genuinely surprised how much cleaner everything sounded. the waterfall alone changes how you operate — you actually start to see propagation patterns and spot openings you'd have just tuned past before.

that said, the 991A is a solid radio and if you're brand new to HF the receiver difference isn't going to matter as much as just getting on the air and learning. and having 2m/70cm built in is genuinely handy for a home shack, one less thing to clutter the desk. if the guy selling it is someone you trust in your club and you can maybe put it on a dummy load and poke around the menus before buying, $750 for a working 991A is reasonable.

for FT8 and JS8Call either radio will work fine, both have USB audio built in. for POTA the 7300 is heavier and needs more power management thinking if youre running off battery, the 991A is similar but it does have a 5w low power mode which helps a bit. honestly either choice is a massive upgrade from a baofeng so you're not gonna go wrong, it really does come down to whether you want VHF/UHF integration or the nicer receiver.

had a 991A for about 18 months before i upgraded and it served me well. only thing i'd say is check when it was manufactured because the earlier ones had some known issues with the finals that Yaesu quietly revised. not saying it's a dealbreaker just worth asking the seller if it was ever serviced or if he knows the production batch. you can usually tell from the serial number range, theres info on eham about it.

also the 991A menus are kind of a pain compared to the 7300 touchscreen, took me forever to remember where everything was. minor thing but after a while it gets annoying when youre trying to change something mid-QSO.