Hi all: 

I received an announcement on my FT-102 Yahoo Group regarding the unveiling of the new Yaesu FT-991 in Japan. 
This rig will replace the FT-897, according to reports. I'm hoping though that they will put a speech capability in this one, like the FT-450 and in fact, drop the 450, FTDX-1200, FT-817, and the FTDX-9000 series and clean up things a little like KW has done. 
You want mobile/base station use, TS-480, mid priced HF and 6M, TS-590 and finally a the top rig with all the bells and whistles, the TS-990. 
For Yaesu, I'd like to see the 857D for mobile/base, the new FT-991 for the entry/mid, FTDX-3000 for an upper and the FTDX-5000 for the top. 
I wrote to Yaesu in CAL and surprise, the tech supervisor couldn't add anything to what was already released and he said keep checking the site. LOL 
We'll probably see this at Dayton next year along with the new Icom IC-7850, which I don't know much about yet. 
FT-991 will cover 160/70CM, with a 160/6M built in auto tuner, 32 bit processor, touch screen and 3KHZ and 15KHZ roofing filters. 

73: 
Mike VO1AX