Hi everyone - I'm now the proud new owner of an FT 990, and I really like
it so far. I have a few questions I would like to bounce off the list:
It appears that Yaesu does not make the 250 Hz CW filter for the 455 KHz IF
anymore. Is this correct? If so, does anyone know a source for these
filters? Does anyone have any experience with International Radio's 250 Hz
CW filters? I have looked through the archives and this seems to be the
most popular choice. Do they perform well? Are they relatively easy to
install?
The first thing I noticed on the rig, was the hissing noise on CW,
particularly with the 500 Hz filter engaged. After looking through the
list archives, it appears that I am not alone. I saw several folks ask
about mods to improve CW audio, but I never really saw any responses posted
to the list. Does anyone have any leads on audio modifications?
I also saw several people asking about mods for power level. Any tips in
that department?
My last radio was an ICRAP IC751. It was a great rig when I could keep it
running, which wasn't very often. One feature it had was monitor
capability on SSB. I saw several folks ask about this mod in the archives
as well, but again, no posted responses. Any ideas here?
Any other interesting mods floating around out there?
My radio is equipped with ROM version 1.2. It looks like 1.3 was the
latest. Can somebody give me a brief rundown on what changes were made
between the two versions (anything other than CAT interface stuff)? Can I
still pull the ROM board from the rig and ship to Yaesu for upgrade?
Anybody know how much this costs?
One other feature the ICRAP had was the ability to cascade the CW filters
in the different IFs. It's not clear to me from reading the 990 manual
that this is the case on the Yaesu rig. Can I run both the 500 Hz CW
filter in the 10.94 MHz IF and the 250 Hz filter in the 455 KHz IF
simultaneously?
Anybody else have trouble with audio distortion on the internal speaker?
Mine sounds pretty raspy at levels above about 10 o'clock on the volume
control.
How 'bout the mode-specific tuning rate mods... My manual says in one
place that if you solder across the gaps that it makes the tuning rate
slower, and then in another place it says that it makes the tuning rate
faster. I haven't cracked it open yet, but it tunes too fast for my taste
now... Anybody know which way this really is?
My A=B button must be pressed harder than all the rest of the buttons on
the front panel to engage. Is this a "feature" or is that button just worn
out? Anyone else have this problem? Could it be fixed without replacing
the button?
My only other gripe is that the IF shift doesn't have a center stop. Tough
to tell when you got the shift centered.
Finally, the radio's serial number is 1J070101. Anybody have any idea what
vintage this would make the radio? It is an AC model without a DC plug on
the back panel. Anyone know when they started putting DC plugs on the rear
panel?
Thanks in advance for any input anybody has. I plan on doing primarily CW
contesting and some DXing (when I get some real antennas up), so I would be
interested in hearing any reports, good or bad, from anybody who uses the
990 for this or ragchewing, RTTY, FM, etc. Please respond direct to
conserve bandwidth on the list and if there is any interest expressed, I'll
be glad to post a summary.
73,
-Mike Fanning, K4GU
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