FWIW, I bought a 990 about four years ago at the local hamfest and kept it
about a year. I really liked the ergonomics of the radio, but I always thought
the hissing in the receiver without the switched capacitor filter engaged was
really weird. Basically the "feature" of an adjustable SCAF was useless, as
you had to keep it fully engaged all the time to keep the hiss out of the
receiver when using it. I eventually sold the radio because I like using full
QSK on CW, and the 990 full break-in is absolutely unusable. If you used
semi-break-in, all was fine, but in full QSK mode, the radio would truncate
characters so badly that folks would routinely ask for repeats. I guess if you
don't do much CW work, or if you are okay without full break-in, its a good
radio. I really do like the layout, but I would never buy another one again
due to its CW performance.
My $.02!
73 & GL,
-Mike, K4GU
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