Do I Really Need a 300Hz Roofing Filter?

Those of you who are into CW, and might be shopping for a new radio, might find this video helpful.
My friend Joel, KC4WZB, and I were having a conversation yesterday about how good the DSP filtering is in Yaesu radios, especially when it comes to CW. Joel has the Yaesu FTdx101MP. I have the Yaesu FTdx5000MP. Both radios include both a 600 Hertz Roofing Filter and a 300 Hertz Roofing Filter. But do you really need a 300 Hertz Roofing Filter?
On older radios, pre-DSP, the narrower roofing filter helped mitigate noise and QRM. So, generally speaking, the more you spent on filters the better your radio would be at filtering noise and QRM when operating CW mode.
Yaesu introduced their new “flagship” radio, the FTdx101D back in 2019, with only a 600 Hertz Roofing Filter. You could pay extra and order one with both a 600 Hertz Roofing Filter and a 300 Hertz Roofing Filter. But is it worth the cost? Hold that thought.
The 200-Watt version, the FTdx101MP, includes both the 600 Hertz Roofing Filter and the 300 Hertz Roofing Filter. So, for approximately $1,200 more, you get the 300 Hertz Roofing Filter, plus 200W of output power. You also get the variable preselector, called VC Tune, for both VFO-A and VFO-B. The FTdx101D only includes VC Tune for VFO-A.
If you don’t care about the extra 100W, VC Tune for both VFOs, and a 300 Hertz Roofing Filter already included, you could save the $1,200 and buy the FTdx101D. Then, for approximately $260 more, you could order the FTdx101D with a 300 Hertz Roofing Filter. But is it really worth the extra money to buy the 300 Hertz Roofing Filter? I explore the answer to that question in this video.
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