Hopefully there's a few folks out there still watching this group and can lend some advice. I may have made a mistake, and decided to buy an older/classic unit for my -first- HF rig. My thinking was to try to start with the basics and eventually work my way up to a more modern SDR transceiver. Anyway, I got it from a guy on Facebook marketplace who was moving to Texas for a new job and needed to clean house in a hurry. For being around 40 years old this FT-980 does look immaculate, has the original owners manual and a MD-1 mic. He did power it up to show me that everything "worked" at least from a lights / meters / band switching and VFO tuning perspective, although not hooked to an antenna to really prove anything and said he never used it because it was given to him. Maybe that is my first mistake, but I'm trying to learn from them. After I got home I connected a dummy load with a SWR / watt meter on it and was pleased to see that it would transmit right at 100w. So this past weekend I strung up a dipole antenna tuned slightly above the center of the 40m band. Unfortunately, even with the volume (AF) and RF gain cranked I can barely pick up signals and the voices are all indiscernible. No matter how I try to fine tune the frequency, I can't pull them in and they are weak and garbled sounding whether I'm using headphones or via the built in speaker. I was able to listen to CW on the lower portions of the 40m band fairly easily and they seem to have more clarity after adjusting the width/shift. The FM mode is definitely seems louder, but maybe this is normal? I feel as if this station almost works. I'm a little terrified of cracking the case open but have done fairly simple electronic repairs before replacing blown caps and so on, but I feel this is pretty daunting. Based on what I have described, is it worth opening up to see if I can possibly locate a physical solder connection or visibly apparent failed component(s)? I saw a few posts indicating this sort of problem, but I don't feel the unit has been abused from the exterior appearance. Also, would there be standard components I would possibly need to replace just due to age of the unit that would be the cause? Thanks for any tips and advice you can share! Mike Nicholas, KQ4VKJ

Hello, Changing parts from heavy smoked Sommerkamp ft-980 to clean Yaesu ft-980. Now all other modes working but not ssb. I appreciate, if someone could give some advices. 73, Aimo

Hello, in my FT-980: when rotating vfo knop, in the display numbers are changin by 10 hz,thats ok, but the real frequency is not changin until one khz is reached. So, by one khz steps. I have replaced some parts in vfo board, no success. I appreciate, if someone can give me advice, where to start , "march order". 73's Aimo, oh6nes

Whilst receiving a strong signal I turned off the AGC. ( STUPID ME ) turning it back on seems to have overloaded the amplifier. With the AGC off it will work as normal backing the RF gain off for strong signals. With the AGC on the Audio is very thin and hissy and hardly any output at max volume. Observing the S meter it looks to be working normally and a fast and slow AGC can be observed on the S meter indicating the the diode detector is operational. Just low Audio and hissy with AGC engaged. I'm hoping it just might be a 2SC1815Y on the AGC bit of the i.f. board. I was just wondering if anyone has come across anything similar. Cheers de GW7VFJ.

Anyone out there remind me please of VR no for S metre Calib pls 73 Mark

What’s a good price to pay for a clean working ft-980? Best place online to look for one?

Hello, I am trying to restore an old ft980 that has not led a good life, with many problems, I bought a used vfo board, since yours was very bad, I already have the 30 mhz with a good signal, the 60 mhz are also present, although with less signal, but I can't see the 90 MHz clearly. although the ft980 already receives, but the operation of the vfo is strange, when turning the jumps on the dial they go well, but in reality it varies every 1 khz, I did a reset without success, apart from that I am about 200 khz above the frequency shown , all very strange.

Hello, I am trying to restore an ft980 that has had very bad treatment, I have managed to get it back, although the performance is still not the maximum, the problem I have now is with the tuning steps, when turning the vfo, the dial and subdial moves correctly, but in reality it varies the frequency in steps of 1 khz, it is also shifted 200khz, for example, receiving at 7074, the dial reads 7274khz, I have 2 vfo units and with both the equipment works the same, it would be strange if the 2 have the same problem. any ideas?

Hi Jones, This 11 m modification is not a change in EPROM. It 's hardware modification to apply the GEN VFO on this 11m band. I described this on a document to get the GEN VFO as a general coverage in Tx too. https://www.mods.dk/index.php?ModelId=77&RadioId=1-yaesu&ModelRec=ft-980 73 de F5RCT JMat

brian i have a ft-200 the radio receives great on all bands except when the band switch is set to 28.0 thru 29.5 i am getting no receive at all, any suggestions on what the issue may be? thanks marc On Sunday, November 26, 2023 at 10:44:44 AM EST, Brian Harris via groups.io <cosmophone@...> wrote: Before you attempt to use external supplies you should measure the voltages of the internal supplies.

I am the proud owner of a 1983 Yeasu FT-980. I bought it used in 2010 for $250 (which included a Dentron MT3000A transmatch) and it has been my daily driver ever since (Phone, CW, Digital). I will be using it this weekend in the ARRL RTTY RoundUp in fact. I enjoy the fact that it is built like a tank, have a very high receiver sensitivity, and is very to work on/repair. I've repaired it several times, and have made a couple of minor modifications: 1. Buffered IF Out for a panadapter 2. Added an always on silent fan to the fan 3. Added the AM and CW-N filters I would like to assist the Hamlib group to debug their FT-980 CAT Interface from Alpha to Beta or Release. I am also considering replacing the "heated" master xtal with a TXCO (my shack is in my basement, and there are times when it gets a bit drifty due to the ambient temperature changes for some digital modes).

Hello and I am new here. I am Jim VE1RB and I have a friends Yeasu FT-980 on the bench and have been working on it most of this week. The receiver appears to work okay but nothing out of the transmitter. I can't hear anyting on another Ham radio. I wonder if anyone has run into the problem and knows how to fix it or anyone have any suggestions of things to look at. I do have some test gear and not new at this. I appreciate any help and thank you. 73, Jim VE1RB

I use my FT-980 mainly as a receiver. I have INRAD Xtal 455kHz filters. So I decided long ago to remove the 24V fuse. I heard alarms about PA destroyed by 24PS failure destroying PA transistors by overvoltage. But I have never seen a real failure. So I dont know how needed is to install a 24 crowbar. It is simple and easy to connect it at the 24V fuse output. But I have never heard in "serious" forum about the need for the crowbar, o even about overvoltage problems. Has anybody any notice about it? Or installed a crowbar? 73 EA1FC

Hi all. How do I connect my Q5signal transverter to my FT-980? Also what is the best methode for connecting my sdrplay to my FT-980? 73 de Bent LA0GE

I was given a nice looking 980 apart with a broken attenuator shaft. I fixed that, and cleaned/lube all controls. It did not want to go to Ham fr Gen coverage and I tracked to and replaced a 40 pin IC (socketed) in the PLL . This rig works great, and I have a MD1 for it and hand mic. I really would rather sell it to someone here-before I go to Ebay..I have video of it and get great reports. Send me email and an REAL offer above $300...Randy K5SL