After a short loss of my sanity (or at the least a serious lapse of good sense), I wound up snagging a Yaesu FT-890 off eBay with a very reasonable Buy It Now price. The rig arrived this morning, but I've not yet had the opportunity to put it on the bench and give it a whirl.
The FT-890 is essentially the third incarnation of the FT-757GX. It had a few extra features over the earlier design, which included an internal antenna tuner as an option.
The case is the same size, and the speaker and CW keyer controls are identical to the earlier rig. The front panel layout is similar but updated. The earlier rig had the CW filter as standard; the FT-890 had it as an option, though you had two different filters to choose from rather than just one as standard.
From what I've read, the receiver in the FT-890 is improved over its earlier kin; I guess we'll see about that now, won't we?
The cheap price may bite me in the butt; this was an estate item. The seller didn't know what options (if any) are included. The CW filter is a must, and the tuner would be a big bonus.
Depending on how the rig checks out, I probably will not send off any of my FT-757GX's out for repair/alignment. I will likely send them on their way to the eBay food chain.
After rearranging the shack a bit I have room on the operating desk to set a rig for temporary check out. I hooked up the Kenwood TS-430 that I painted last year, and I have to admit that the receiver is superior to that of the FT-757GX. Perhaps an alignment will help, but the audio on the Kenwood was just head and shoulders above the Yaesu(s). I probably will sell the TS-430S, but after listening to how nice it sounds, I may have to rethink that. I want the FT-890 as my monitoring rig for the library; I'll sell the fleet of FT-757GX's to replace the funds that went into the FT-890. The Kenwood needs to go too.
One of the better eBay bargains I bought a couple of years ago was a Heathkit FT-1400 (rebadged FT-747GX) and the matching speaker/power supply (also a Yaesu item). I sold the FT-1400 for more than I paid for both items, and the speaker/PS is a very good one. It's compact and a great “base” on which to set the rig. The front-firing speaker is a big help and greatly improves the audio quality.
I'm off to grab the camera gear, have a GOP picnic to cover. Today is Kid's Day, and listening to the kids on 20 meters reminded me of when Elijah was on the air at Kid's Day. He still talks about that.
QRT for now …
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