Yaesu FT-990

Yaesu FT-990 is a model line of amateur radio transceiver manufactured by the Yaesu Corporation in Japan from It is a descendant of and shares many features with the Yaesu FT-1000. An expedition in 2009 by radio amateurs 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.
Description
FT-990's have knobs and buttons, versus menu driven interfaces of some newer transceivers. The Yaesu FT-990 is a solid state transceiver with the following features:
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.
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).

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