Yaesu FT-990

An FT-990 tuned to one of W1AW's regular morse code (CW) bulletins on 7.0475 MHz

Yaesu FT-990 is a model line of amateur radio transceiver manufactured by the Yaesu Corporation in Japan from 1991 to 1999^[1] It is a descendant of and shares many features with the Yaesu FT-1000. An expedition in 2009 by radio amateurs with callsign FT5GA^[2] to the Glorioso Islands, in the Indian Ocean near Madagascar, made use of two FT-990's despite each radio being more than ten years old. FT-990's have knobs and buttons, versus menu driven interfaces of some newer transceivers.

Description

The Yaesu FT-990 is a solid state transceiver with the following features:^[3]

General

• General coverage receiver, tunes continuously from 100 kHz to 30 MHz
• Modes: AM, USB, LSB, CW, FM, FSK
• Controlled internally by six microprocessors
• Modular construction using removable epoxy boards
• Built-in switching AC power supply (115 V @ 8A or 230 V @ 4A)
• 90 memories, each one remembers frequency, mode and bandwidth
• Iambic CW keyer
• Multi-function illuminated analog S-meter
• Computer Aided Transceiver (CAT) allows computer control via a serial cable with a DIN jack
• Notch filter, IF shift, noise blanker, and a digitally switched capacity audio filter
• Independent receiver incremental tuning ("RIT") and transmitter incremental tuning ("XIT")
• Two independent VFOs to support split operation

Transmitter

• Supported amateur bands (meters): 160, 80, 40, 30, 20, 17, 15, 12, and 10
• 100 Watts, adjustable from 10W to 100W; up to 25W in AM mode
• RF Speech Processor
• Automatic antenna tuner

Receiver

Triple-conversion superheterodyne with IF frequencies of 47.21 MHz, 10.94 MHz and 455 kHz

Sensitivity

• SSB and CW: < 0.25 μV (1.8 - 30 MHz)
• AM: < 1 μV (1.8 - 30 MHz)

Selectivity (-6 dB down)

• No button selected: 6.0 kHz
• 2.4 kHz button: 2.2 kHz (all modes except FM)
• 2.0 kHz button: 1.8 kHz (all modes except AM and FM)
• 500 Hz button: 500 Hz (CW, RTTY, Packet)
• 250 Hz button: 240 Hz (CW, RTTY)

Note: the 250 Hz CW bandwidth and the 2.0 kHz SSB bandwidth require installation of optional 8-pole crystal filters.

Pricing

When new in 1991, the FT-990 had an MSRP list price of $2399.^[4]

Model Variations

ROM Versions. Earlier models have non-volatile ROM memory installed with software version 1.2, while later models have version 1.3. The software cannot be upgraded by the user and requires a new ROM chip. The chips have been discontinued by Yaesu and are not available.

• TRX Manager (http://trx-manager.com/) and DxLab (http://www.dxlabsuite.com/) supports the Rom Version 1.2.

DC Version. FT-990's were made in an "AC version" (with power supply) and a "DC version" (no power supply).

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yaesu Musen.

• Yaesu Musen Co., Ltd.
• FT-990 User Group
• Fox Tango Yaesu User Group
• Yaesu Museum, a fan site not affiliated with Yaesu Musen Co.
• FT-990 information at RigReference.com
• Radio DX Land