Many operators nowadays aspire to owning the very latest all singing all dancing radios which have more bells & whistles than a fairground Wurlitzer and more menus than your local Italian restaurant.
Features such as DSP, band-scopes, digital decoders and such-like are pretty much the norm nowadays but you’re going to pay through the nose for these features.
However in the late 80’s & early 90’s manufacturers were producing high-quality equipment and with a wee bit of searching you can find a ‘jewel’ of a radio for a few $$$$ less which I was, luckily enough, recently able to do.

The Yaesu FT990 first came onto the market in 1991 and is deemed as many to be the forerunner of the FT1000 series, usually being described as the ‘ 1000’s little brother’.
Available in 2 versions, either AC or DC, many features are available to the owner which include twin VFO’s, multiple DDS (direct digital synthesizers), a triple-conversion general coverage receiver (100kHz-30MHz), 90 memories, 500Hz CW filter as standard, in-built ATU and capable of 100w output on all bands.
I was, once again, very lucky in as much that the model I was able to purchase is a very late one containing the optional filters (XF-251 250Hz CW & XF-202 SSB) although sadly the internal PSU (FP-25) was never fitted it’s used via DC source only.

It’s a very large ‘good-looking’ radio, a ‘mans’ rig, weighing in at a staggering 13kg (around 30lbs) housed in a 368x129x370mm casing so it could not really be classed as a mobile/portable set unless your name is Charles Atlas of course!
On air it performs like a dream with a very sensitive receiver I was able to pull out signals that I couldn’t hear when comparing it with my TS480SAT. The internal ATU although a wee bit ‘noisy’ easily tuned my antennas, a G5RV and a 9-band vertical, quickly and efficiently.
The signal meter not only measures incoming signals but also incorporates output power, SWR, ALC, audio compression, final amplifier current and final amplifier voltage removing the requirement for a separate meter.
The rx audio is exceptionally warm and very natural sounding which you can adjust once the “digital filter” (for that read DSP!) is in-line. Now it does say digital filter on the tin and conjures up DSP images to many folks however it’s more of a slope-tune than the more modern DSP.
The front-end is equipped with all the buttons you require to operate the radio with the exception of a small amount of ‘specialist’ (FM Dev, Vox gain & delay, CW Pitch etc) adjustable ones situated under a small flap on the top cover. The buttons are large enough that folks, like myself, with big fat stubby fingers are NOT pushing/pulling 2/3 buttons at the same time due to their miniscule size as is the case with so many modern rigs with their sub-menus and all. Each function does actually perform the task it’s supposed to even the Noise Blanker which is quite unusual as I’ve found many modern rigs where the NB is about as much use as a chocolate fire-guard.
Mic Gain and audio compression are simple adjustments to make without having to access multiple sub-menus. Initially when it came into the shack I was using it with the Heil ProSet (HC5) and after a few fine adjustments, well more of a hit it & try effort, received some ‘outstanding’ audio reports which I put down to the Heil. I decided to test it out for a while using the stock mic, MH1-b8, and was pleasantly surprised when I continued to be given ‘outstanding’ audio reports, that being the actual description on more occasions than not. On many an occasion it’s my audio that’s been picked up by operators of SES, not much of a signal strength report maybe 5/1-2 but clear and readable audio which is, IMHO, the main thing.

An aid I use to decide whether to purchase equipment, be it radios or otherwise, is the review section on eHam.net where operators/owners are able to post their comments on a plethora of subjects giving their equipment a ‘mark’ out of 5. Prior to finally deciding on the 990 and reading these reviews I noticed it was given an overall mark of 4.7 out of 5 which is on an “equal” footing to some more modern radios such as the Icom IC-756ProIII, the Yaesu FT1000MP Mk.V Field, the Ten-Tec Orion II & the Kenwood TS940SAT so it’s able to hold its’ own in some very exclusive company.

Conclusion: I’ve heard some operators describing some radios as “keepers” and the 990 easily falls into this category, others may be up for sale, swap or exchange but the 990 is a “keeper”. If you’re lucky enough to come across one for sale at a price you can afford BUY IT, you most definitely will not be disappointed of that you can be assured.