Yaesu FT-201 CW Filter Upgrade

Not long after I first got my amateur radio licence I was lucky enough to meet Frank G3SFL, who at the time had gone QRT. He passed to me some older equipment and lots of components and test equipment, much of which I still have today. One such item was a Yaesu FT-201, not a model I had ever heard of until I saw it.

There is much on the internet about this particular radio, and although it’s mostly solid state it has two 6JS6Cs in the final PA driven by a 12BY7A.

Until moving to the new QTH I didn’t have the desk space to have this radio out on display and on the air, but it was always in my mind. It now takes pride of place alongside the rest of the shack. The one thing it had never been fitted with was a CW filter.  It turns out the XF-90C CW filter was used in the FT-201 and also the FT-301 but was not a common item on the second hand market. After many months of searching I found one on eBay in the USA and a couple of weeks later it arrived.