[Yaesu] Yaesu FT-990

[Mike and Alicia Fanning]

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