The FT-2980R is a beast of a transceiver putting out up to 80W FM on 2m. From spending a little time using it for 2m simplex nets and whatnot it is an excellent radio; the receiver is (anecdotally) an S-point “better” when compared to my other radios (FT-8800R, FT-857D, FTM-300D). S1 stations which were unreadable come through more clearly on the 2980R, and impact from local QRM seems much reduced. When running full power the case gets extremely hot very quickly, and on a 30W rag-chew the case still becomes maximum-touch-hot - but for long-term packet service 12.5W into a 3dBd antenna it should be perfection.

I always thought it would make an excellent packet radio, but in their wisdom Yaesu never put a 6-pin Mini-DIN connector on the back - so this article will address that shortcoming!

• Pin 9 of Q1028 is the output from the discriminator
• Junction between C1122 and C1123 is de-emphasised audio before the RX-MUTE circuit
• Junction between C1276 and Q1003 is the DC-coupled input to the modulator
• TP1008 is MIC audio input, to then be processed / emphasised by Q1049 / Q1043 etc
• PTT is achieved by grounding PIN1 of the MIC connector (front panel board)

The radio is beautifully designed and assembled; desoldering of the PA and rear RF connector is required to lift out the main PCB. The appropriate tap points are on both sides of the main PCB and the components are mostly very tiny 0402 and 0603 parts. The VCO is contained under a heavily soldered-down metal can so I left that well alone!

• A 90W vacuum desoldering gun was used to desolder the SO239 connector from the board, it needed a lot of heat
• There is a tiny capacitor on the board next to the SO239 solder points, be careful!
• The front panel assembly must be removed before the main PCB as a couple of capacitors on the front PCB prevent lifting out the main PCB
• The main PCB must be slid forwards slightly to clear the external speaker jack from its cutout on the rear of the case

• DC-coupled audio input to the VCO was done through a bit of RG178 - there is potentially a lot of RF flying about inside the radio so keeing the audio input well shielded seemed like a good idea. Plus there is a dirty great big ground pad to solder the braid to!
• The de-emphasised audio output appears on the rear side of the PCB too

• The flat audio out is tapped from the Q1028 side of C1098, it's an easier solder-job to access the cap rather than the IC pin
• The MIC audio input is tapped into the test point which appears next to the flat-flex connector to the Front PCB

More to come

More to come

More to come

More to come

More to come