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).
Mat Breton N8TW