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ic746pro: reliable enough to buy?
Hello, I am doing market research for a new HF rig, and the Icom IC-746pro would be a leading choice, but I'm worried about the "no transmit" and other problems discussed at length on the web. Of course, you take your chances whenever you get a new high-tech toy. My question is how does the '746pro stack up against the competition in terms of actual failure rate and reliability? This is something the manufacturers are keenly aware of from their warranty data, but they probably aren't going to share it with us. :-( Most of us don't see enough different examples of enough types of rigs to have first-hand data, and anecdotes on the net are hard to calibrate. Given the bad press on the '746pro, I am pretty leery now, but if it's really only a small percentage of units that are affected, I might reconsider. How would you decide? 73, Martin, AA6E |
"Martin Ewing" wrote in message m... Hello, I am doing market research for a new HF rig, and the Icom IC-746pro would be a leading choice, but I'm worried about the "no transmit" and other problems discussed at length on the web. Of course, you take your chances whenever you get a new high-tech toy. My question is how does the '746pro stack up against the competition in terms of actual failure rate and reliability? This is something the manufacturers are keenly aware of from their warranty data, but they probably aren't going to share it with us. :-( Most of us don't see enough different examples of enough types of rigs to have first-hand data, and anecdotes on the net are hard to calibrate. Given the bad press on the '746pro, I am pretty leery now, but if it's really only a small percentage of units that are affected, I might reconsider. How would you decide? I picked one up about 6 weeks ago, liked the price with the recent promo. So far I rather like it :-) As far as I could determine, the various problems you refer to occur only on earlier serial number 746s. Check with me in a couple years about the failure rate ... Do I like it as well as my Kenwood TS-850? Not sure yet. Certainly don't like the 746 less than the 850, but I'm not yet certain I like it better. Mostly CW DXing and SSB ragchewing. -- ... Hank Hank: http://horedson.home.att.net W0RLI: http://w0rli.home.att.net |
"Martin Ewing" wrote in message m... Hello, I am doing market research for a new HF rig, and the Icom IC-746pro would be a leading choice, but I'm worried about the "no transmit" and other problems discussed at length on the web. Of course, you take your chances whenever you get a new high-tech toy. My question is how does the '746pro stack up against the competition in terms of actual failure rate and reliability? This is something the manufacturers are keenly aware of from their warranty data, but they probably aren't going to share it with us. :-( Most of us don't see enough different examples of enough types of rigs to have first-hand data, and anecdotes on the net are hard to calibrate. Given the bad press on the '746pro, I am pretty leery now, but if it's really only a small percentage of units that are affected, I might reconsider. How would you decide? I picked one up about 6 weeks ago, liked the price with the recent promo. So far I rather like it :-) As far as I could determine, the various problems you refer to occur only on earlier serial number 746s. Check with me in a couple years about the failure rate ... Do I like it as well as my Kenwood TS-850? Not sure yet. Certainly don't like the 746 less than the 850, but I'm not yet certain I like it better. Mostly CW DXing and SSB ragchewing. -- ... Hank Hank: http://horedson.home.att.net W0RLI: http://w0rli.home.att.net |
I too liked the looks of it. I joined the Yahoo group for the 746 PRO, and
I would advise you to do the same. According to a late post on the site, serial numbers are being produced with several modifications that should make it more reliable. Myself, I am leaning toward a new TS 570, even though the features of the 746 are quite alluring. I could draw parallels between this and beautiful women or fast cars, (cool to have, but often loads of trouble) but I'll leave it to you to make the decision. I guess in our heart we know what's right for us. "Martin Ewing" wrote in message m... Hello, I am doing market research for a new HF rig, and the Icom IC-746pro would be a leading choice, but I'm worried about the "no transmit" and other problems discussed at length on the web. Of course, you take your chances whenever you get a new high-tech toy. My question is how does the '746pro stack up against the competition in terms of actual failure rate and reliability? This is something the manufacturers are keenly aware of from their warranty data, but they probably aren't going to share it with us. :-( Most of us don't see enough different examples of enough types of rigs to have first-hand data, and anecdotes on the net are hard to calibrate. Given the bad press on the '746pro, I am pretty leery now, but if it's really only a small percentage of units that are affected, I might reconsider. How would you decide? 73, Martin, AA6E |
I too liked the looks of it. I joined the Yahoo group for the 746 PRO, and
I would advise you to do the same. According to a late post on the site, serial numbers are being produced with several modifications that should make it more reliable. Myself, I am leaning toward a new TS 570, even though the features of the 746 are quite alluring. I could draw parallels between this and beautiful women or fast cars, (cool to have, but often loads of trouble) but I'll leave it to you to make the decision. I guess in our heart we know what's right for us. "Martin Ewing" wrote in message m... Hello, I am doing market research for a new HF rig, and the Icom IC-746pro would be a leading choice, but I'm worried about the "no transmit" and other problems discussed at length on the web. Of course, you take your chances whenever you get a new high-tech toy. My question is how does the '746pro stack up against the competition in terms of actual failure rate and reliability? This is something the manufacturers are keenly aware of from their warranty data, but they probably aren't going to share it with us. :-( Most of us don't see enough different examples of enough types of rigs to have first-hand data, and anecdotes on the net are hard to calibrate. Given the bad press on the '746pro, I am pretty leery now, but if it's really only a small percentage of units that are affected, I might reconsider. How would you decide? 73, Martin, AA6E |
On Thu, 11 Dec 2003 22:26:33 GMT, Martin Ewing wrote:
Hello, I am doing market research for a new HF rig, and the Icom IC-746pro would be a leading choice, but I'm worried about the "no transmit" and other problems discussed at length on the web. Of course, you take your chances whenever you get a new high-tech toy. My question is how does the '746pro stack up against the competition in terms of actual failure rate and reliability? This is something the manufacturers are keenly aware of from their warranty data, but they probably aren't going to share it with us. :-( Most of us don't see enough different examples of enough types of rigs to have first-hand data, and anecdotes on the net are hard to calibrate. Given the bad press on the '746pro, I am pretty leery now, but if it's really only a small percentage of units that are affected, I might reconsider. How would you decide? 73, Martin, AA6E The 746pro was introduced in Spring of 2002. (It was reviewed in May 2002 qst.) They oughtta have the bugs out by now. Buying a new rig is a delicate balance between waiting awhile after it's introduced, but not so long it's about to be discontinued :-) Kinda like these damned computers... Bob k5qwg |
On Thu, 11 Dec 2003 22:26:33 GMT, Martin Ewing wrote:
Hello, I am doing market research for a new HF rig, and the Icom IC-746pro would be a leading choice, but I'm worried about the "no transmit" and other problems discussed at length on the web. Of course, you take your chances whenever you get a new high-tech toy. My question is how does the '746pro stack up against the competition in terms of actual failure rate and reliability? This is something the manufacturers are keenly aware of from their warranty data, but they probably aren't going to share it with us. :-( Most of us don't see enough different examples of enough types of rigs to have first-hand data, and anecdotes on the net are hard to calibrate. Given the bad press on the '746pro, I am pretty leery now, but if it's really only a small percentage of units that are affected, I might reconsider. How would you decide? 73, Martin, AA6E The 746pro was introduced in Spring of 2002. (It was reviewed in May 2002 qst.) They oughtta have the bugs out by now. Buying a new rig is a delicate balance between waiting awhile after it's introduced, but not so long it's about to be discontinued :-) Kinda like these damned computers... Bob k5qwg |
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