IW5EDI Simone - Ham-Radio

///////////////////////////////////////////
Icom IC706 User Review

Posted: 10 Feb 2016 04:01 PM PST
http://www.iw5edi.com/ham-radio/2063...06-user-review


Icom IC706 User Review

by T. Kirby 1996, 1997

I wrote the following article for publication in the journal of the First
Class CW Operators Club (FOC), FOCUS, in 1996.

In case you have not seen the adverts, the IC706 is a miniature 11 band
transceiver, covering all amateur bands between 1.8 and 200MHz (excluding
70MHz in the UK more of this later). On all bands except 144MHz, the power
output is 100 watts. On 144MHz, output is 10 watts. Since I already had a
reasonable quality HF rig, I was not too concerned about the HF performance
of the rig and expected this to be mediocre. I was more concerned about the
VHF performance on 50 and 144MHz, where I enjoy DXing on CW and SSB. After
some discussions on the HAMNET Icom Support forum on Compuserve and an
exchange of e-mail with Geoff, GJ4ICD I was satisfied that the VHF
performance would satisfy my needs.


Front panel of the IC706

As many members will know, I had the opportunity to take a permanent job
here in Toronto earlier on this year which I was pleased to accept. This
necessitated a rethink of what radio equipment I should keep in the UK and
what I should take to Canada. I had a considerable number of items surplus
to requirements, so I decided to trade those in against an IC706.

When the rig arrived, I thought there had been some mistake, as the
packaging and box were VERY small. But a flurry of bubble wrap later, I
confirmed I was indeed the proud owner of an IC706 rather than the latest
tri-band handheld. The rig measures just 167W x 58H x 200D mm and weighs
2.5kg. There are options to have filters installed. I decided on the 500Hz
filter. If you fit this yourself, note that physical installation is not
enough ! You also have to enable the filter in the software not difficult,
as long as you know to do this.

A number of reviews I had read of the rig complained of a noisy fan. I am
not sure whether Icom addressed this issue, or whether the reviewers were
being super sensitive. Either way, I can report that fan noise is barely
noticeable on receive and normal on transmit.

My first tests of the rig were on 50 and 144MHz CW and SSB. With the preamp
switched on, I found the receiver sensitive. I was able to hear the 144MHz
GB3ANG beacon quite consistently over a path of some 450kms using a small
8el yagi mounted at about 30 feet. Reports on SSB were good and the
processor got particularly good reports, increasing average talk power
without introducing any distortion. I then tried CW and was pleased to have
good reports of the keying from local stations on both semi and full
break-in. I tend to use semi break-in on this rig as the chattering relays
annoys me a little when using full break-in. Mobile on 144MHz with a 1/4
wave, I was able to make some good SSB contacts from the Cotswolds area to
North Wales and the Isle of Man (distances of 150 to 200 miles). Another
entertaining testing QSO was a cross band between 50 and 70MHz with my
friend Evan, G3CJ. I discovered one minor annoyance at this stage, it is
not possible to transmit on one band and receive on another. Normally this
would not be an issue, but would make life difficult if you wanted to use
the RS-12 satellite (21MHz uplink and 29MHz down) for example.

Gradually I was finding my way around the rig. The menu system of selecting
functions does take a little getting used to, but after some initial
hesitancy I find it quite simple. Most often used functions (RF Output, CW
Speed etc) are towards the top of the menu structure and can be accessed
using a Quick Set feature. Yes, the rig has a built in keyer. It has dot
and dash memories and I find the timing pleasant and easy to use. It is a
little off-putting not to be able to control the CW speed without diving in
to the menu. This is only a problem when you need to adjust the speed,
perhaps either at the beginning or end of a QSO as someone of differing CW
ability calls you. I am beginning to perfect the technique of sending with
right hand whilst pressing buttons and selecting options with my left. Its
not easy, I assure you ! I do think that some people might find the menu
system confusing, but if you are used to computers youll have no bother.

A number of friends were keen to see the IC706 and since I dont have any
real decent HF antennas at present, this afforded some opportunities to try
the rig in some challenging conditions. Many of you will be familiar with
the mega-station at VE3EJ. John has been kind enough to invite me to his
house on a number of occasions and one day I took the IC706 for us to play
with. John immediately suggested we try it on 7MHz. With a full-size beam
at 175 feet, I was concerned that this would be embarrassing. Not at all !
Whereas with my poor antennas at home, I can generally operate on HF with
the preamp selected, this HAD to be turned off to prevent overloading.
However, with the preamp switched out and the CW filter selected, the rig
was soon pulling in Europeans and the occasional Asiatic station. We then
hooked up some rudimentary switching so that we could compare the 706 with
Johns IC765. To our enormous surprise, the 706 put up a great show and
there was nothing that we could hear on the 765 that we couldnt on the 706.
We both had a sneaking suspicion that the 706 might even have been better
but there certainly wasnt much in it. I dont think the ergonomics of the
rig commend it as a contest radio BUT if you find yourself in some DX
hot-spot with a serious pile-up, you can feel confident that the 706 will
not let you down.

On the higher bands, performance is good too. I enjoy the Quick Split
function. If a dx station is working up a couple or so, you can hit the
Split button and your second VFO will be placed a user defined offset, up
or down (eg +3kHz). This saves a second or so from conventional
arrangements. In a pile-up situation you can do all the usual good stuff
like reverse the VFOs quickly so that you can listen on your transmit
frequency and find out whats happening.

I was not able to try the 50MHz DX performance until I got to Canada and
the Sporadic E season got underway. In some casual operating this summer I
have worked around 100 grid squares, including the West Coast and Caribbean
using the IC706 and a small whip antenna on the balcony of the apartment
here in downtown Toronto. So if you fancy trying out six metres this could
be a great way to do it. Youd be surprised at the FOC members that you find
there too !

In the UK, there is also 70MHz to be considered. The rig does not have
transmit on that band (although several people are reported to have
modified the rig in the UK), but I was keen to see how it performed on
receive. Derek, G3NKS kindly allowed me to connect the rig to his 4m beam
in Cheltenham. Performance was good, slightly inferior, I felt to Dereks
transverter and HF rig combo. But we were still able to hear the 70MHz
version of GB3ANG consistently and a number of other closer beacons. If
transmit mods do become widely available for the rig, this could
revolutionise four metre activity in the UK. It also affords some
possibilities for good crossband QSOs during, perhaps Es openings or even
the peak of Cycle 23 !

The rig has general coverage receive up to 200MHz. Above 150MHz I have not
heard a single station even the weather station on the CN tower some 3
miles away (I can see the tower from my apartment, dammit!). Common wisdom
on the Internet suggests that there is a problem with the way some of the
filters are wired causing out of band VHF performance to be severely
impared. I havent pursued this as yet but it would be nice to be able to
use the rig to listen to the Aircraft and Marine bands, for example. Wide
band FM is available, so you can listen to your favourite FM station in
Band II if you get bored of listening to amateurs! At HF, general coverage
works just fine though I have tried little other than listening to the BBC
World Service in the evenings here.

In summary then, I am delighted with the rig. It exceeds my expectations of
performance at HF and VHF. I believe it will satisfy the needs of many
amateurs as a very small, yet high-performance radio. The menu to control
the rigs functions will not be intuitive to everyone so try to play with a
rig before you buy to see how you feel. My guess is that most people will
get used to it. Its a small price to pay for the convenience of having so
much powerful functionality in a small package. I was disappointed with the
extended receive performance at VHF, but feel sure that this can be
addressed so that the rig will work outside the amateur bands. That was
hardly the reason I bought the rig in the first place. And hopefully, youll
get a chance to hear my 706 on the air from some interesting location
before long !



Article originally available at

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homep...irby/ic706.htm

The post Icom IC706 User Review appeared first on IW5EDI Simone - Ham-Radio.