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Reviews For: Yaesu FT-990

Category: Transceivers: HF Amateur HF+6M+VHF+UHF models - non QRP <5W

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Review Summary For : Yaesu FT-990
	Reviews: 142	MSRP: 1995 ac 1795 dc
	Description: Yaesu FT-990
	Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.yaesu.com/yaesu.html
# last 180 days	Avg. Rating last 180 days	Total reviews	Avg. overall rating
0	0	142	4.8

AA2DK	Rating:	2023-09-13
Really Great Receiver			Time Owned: more than 12 months.
We had a Yaesu FT-990 as the club station in the Indianapolis Radio Club for several years. 20 story building, with a beam on top, no argument this helped. But in all my years, one of the most sensitive and selective receivers I've ever heard. Fond memories..

W0RDX	Rating:	2022-12-18
Great Radio, mirrors the FT-1000 series well			Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I like the 990 but wish they would have put transmit monitor for transmitted SSB just to hear my output audio. Mine does not register ALC for some reason so I just set the controls about where they typically would be without issue. I had it to Ham Repair.Com to check it out but doubt they checked that function while there.

N2DMI	Rating:	2022-10-30
Got to be one of the best HF rigs ever made!			Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Got this rig on 4/14/2022. I bought it used from Ebay for around $575.00 at auction. She puts out 100 Watts on Sideband and 25 Watts on AM. It's Frequency range is 100Khz-30Mhz. It has a triple conversion receiver. It has SSB/AM/FM/CW/RTTY and Packet. It has dual VFO's, 90 memory channels, separate RX antenna, AGC, Squelch, NB (one of the best!), MOX, VOX, iambic electronic keyer, speech processor, Full break in and semi break in, 250,500,2K,2.4K filters, RX and TX Clarifier, Notch filter and Digital filters to pick them out of the noise. It has an automatic tuner that can match 3:1 or better. Comes with CAT. You can even connect this to wsjtX and run FT-8 with the proper connections to CAT, PATCH IN and AF OUT. If you get one of these rigs, head over to the YAESU FT-990 I/O group and we can show you how to use the rig with FT-8 (and get the proper CAT cable!) (It will probably be me teaching you how to set it up for FT-8.) I have made over 800 FT-8 contacts all over the world with this rig in 6 months! The other thing I like is that it is not menu driven. Keep your menus! I can find everything right in front of me! My opinion on this radio is that it is THE BEST non-menu driven rig that was ever made and I've been a ham for over 41 years!

F5MAG	Rating:	2021-04-27
nice tranceiver			Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I operate 99.9% CW. I can not also say that in ssb works very well according to the tests it is a tranceiver of very good manufacture I have a bunch of modern device starting all the Kenwood icom range and other devices I decide to buy one used ft990 to have a troubleshooting tranceiver in case of breakdowns for 500 euro I am very satisfied What I like: Integrated power supply No internal cache menus except to check the cpu Fantastic blocking dynamic range Ease of use Excellent internal antenna tuner Excellent audio reception Simple, easy-to-read display and counter Ultra sensitive receiver to tell you works wonderfully even with a piece of wire from my measuring device Very effective noise reduction Works wonderfully no breakdowns apart from the vfo and whatever dry capacitor due to aging Delivers the indicated power I advise you if you have this tranceiver do not sell it I have a lot of information to collect on the internet more personal interventions for any repair you can contact me either by face book or by mail qrz.com I would be happy to help you keep it as long as possible 12-star device

VE3XMN	Rating:	2020-01-30
EXCELLENT			Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I love this YAESU FT-990. No menus at all it's all knobs and switches. I will keep this rig forever! VE3XMN

AC6UY	Rating:	2018-05-31
Excellent rig			Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This was my dad's rig and I used it as well back in 1995-1996. Both of us only used it for CW, but it worked great for every band and had great filters. The tuner knob is solid and precise. I can't really compare to modern rigs since the last time I was on the air was 1996... ---- I've inherited it since his passing so now the rig is just collecting dust in the closet. I'd like to sell this rig, but I'm not sure what is a fair price for one in near perfect condition. Feel free to private message me with an idea of what the price might be. Of course if you're interested it in, definitely private message me.

GM1SXX	Rating:	2018-05-17
Follow up.			Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is a folllow-up to my post from 5 years ago. I've never found the audio hiss to be much of an issue but decided I'd go with the hiss mod. This is easily done by any competent hobbyist and only involves a cheap ceramic filter and a couple of resistors. You should also have an RF rource calable of providing an S9 signal, so you can adjust the gain to compensate for the filter loss. The mod does improve the audio hiss level and can be reversed if you are not happy with the end result. I still use the FT990 as my main radio and I greatly appreciate its good ergonomics.

KC1FWV	Rating:	2018-04-08
Great Radio			Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned my Yaesu FT-990 for a year now. It is fed into a 5 band off-center dipole up about 30 ft. It is my primary radio and never fails to impress me. If I can hear them, I can work them. I always get great audio reports with stock microphone. The switched capacitor filter bank beats the pants off of new DSP radios. It is very effective in removing adjacent frequencies and very easy to use. Best part is no menus. Everything you need is in the front panel. I'm glad I bought it. It is a keeper

DL6ZB	Rating:	2016-07-27
A masterpiece from YAESU			Time Owned: more than 12 months.
AF hiss might be a drawback for some users of a YAESU FT-990. The 3rd IF chain of this transceiver is broadband. This is the reason for the AF hiss. The 3rd IF is 455 kHz. It should be filtered with a simple ceramic filter at the input of T3001(transformer on the AF UNIT pcb). The transformer is followed by a quad Schottky diode product detector ND487-C1. Anyway, that quarter century transceiver is one of the best until today when that modification has been done. Some users of the FT-990 will certainly miss a CW sidetone knob on the front panel. The RX ANT front panel switch of the FT-990 offers a surprising feature in conjunction with the RX IN and RX OUT connectors on the rear. When a simple broadband wilkinson divider is connected with its input at the RX OUT and one output at the RX IN, there's one output port of the divider left for connecting a SDR or a second receiver. The loss is only 3 dB which is neglectable. This is much better solution for DXers than a second built-in receiver (as the FT-1000MP offers). It makes the FT-990 a modern rig with SDR capabilities. The transceiver's antenna tuner is very well designed. It tunes most impedances quick and accurate. The full-bk feature of the FT-990 is superior compared to many other transceivers. No "overshoot" was observed when connected to a linear amplifier. SSB modulation quality depends on the microphone. I use a MH-31 hand held and a MD-100 desk mic. All AF filters of the MD-100 should be switched off for best results. I installed an Inrad 125 Hz CW filter instead of a YAESU 250 Hz filter. This really makes the difference. The Inrad 125 Hz CW filter is extremly narrow, although no ringing has been observed. It is a MUST for the serious DXer as a replacement for modern digital filters. The FT-990 is one of the best transceivers from the analog era. I tested the FT-1000MP, FT-2000, Kenwood TS-950 and others. The FT-990 is my favorite after I modified it properly. Yes, of course, there's a little work to do. If you are interested in a FT-990, I strongly recommend that you check for a V1.3 version of the firmware. The 1.2 version is very buggy and cannot be used with most available CAT software. The FT-990's firmware is a ROM version which is fixed programmed in the microprocessor. There's no update option except to change the micro. There are no more microprocessors of this type available on the market. Therefore an update from V1.2 to V1.3 is impossible today. If you are looking for a small budget first class transceiver then I recommend the FT-990.

KG4GGG	Rating:	2015-12-09
My Favorite Radio			Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I love my FT-990. I've owned it now for about 6 months and its by far my favorite radio. Yes, its a few years old and does not have all the bells and whistles but it does the job and I can work almost any station I hear! I just had it aligned and it has a 100 watt power output. It tunes just about anything I've put up antenna wise. I also have a newer Icom but it sits on the shelf as a spare as this is THE radio for me.

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Category:

Transceivers: HF Amateur HF+6M+VHF+UHF models - non QRP <5W

Product:

Yaesu FT-990

Summary:

Rating:	Time Owned:
Great! Good OK Needs Help Poor Awful!	0 - 3 Months 3 - 6 Months 6 - 12 Months More than 12 Months

Remarks:

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