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Roninboricua
Junior Member
Username: Roninboricua
Post Number: 18
Registered: 1-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 07, 2006 - 11:16 am: | 
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Im looking to buy a ham radio, but im not really sure what to get, some people are telling me to get the kenwoodTS-440 or the IC-751,Yaesu FT-920 ,Kenwood TS-2000, there's alot of options out there. Im looking for something reliable, maybe modifiable.
What would be the best ham for both am and ssb. And due to the fact that im not rich, under 1000 bucks would be nice also. |
Bruce
Senior Member
Username: Bruce
Post Number: 3500
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 07, 2006 - 12:01 pm: |
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IC-706 is a winner AVOID FT-100D
HF ONLY FT-840 is a long time produced dependable radio but 160 to 10 meters only not fancy but last forever .... |
Roninboricua
Junior Member
Username: Roninboricua
Post Number: 19
Registered: 1-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 07, 2006 - 1:27 pm: |
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What are the specs on th IC-706?160M to 10M?Output?
What's the most i should pay for one used? |
Roninboricua
Junior Member
Username: Roninboricua
Post Number: 20
Registered: 1-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 07, 2006 - 1:54 pm: |
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What about the Kenwood TS-450S? |
Bruce
Senior Member
Username: Bruce
Post Number: 3503
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 07, 2006 - 2:46 pm: |
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706 runs 100 watts up to 6 meters 50 on 2 and 20 on 440 all modes I love mine very nice on 6 and 2 meters and as good as the 840 on 160-10 meters.
It has a removable head so you can remote mount it.
NEW they are 900 bucks USED you will have to search places on the internet. |
Bruce
Senior Member
Username: Bruce
Post Number: 3507
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 07, 2006 - 6:37 pm: |
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Im not a kenwood person ..... |
Hollowpoint445
Senior Member
Username: Hollowpoint445
Post Number: 1074
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 07, 2006 - 9:48 pm: |
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I am! I love my TS-450SAT. It's an outstanding radio and worth more than I paid for it.
I think some amateurs knock Kenwood because they are a consumer electronics company and not just a communications company, but Kenwood started as a radio company and made some of the best stereo equipment ever manufactured. Their engineering is second to none. |
Geekster
Intermediate Member
Username: Geekster
Post Number: 183
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 08, 2006 - 7:48 am: |
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I would go for the ICOM 706MKIIG it will have all Amateur bands up to and including the 440MHz bands. All modes AM/FM/SSB/CW/RTTY and it is fairly easy to modify for MARS or 11 meters if you so desire. I do believe it has just over 100 memory channels. The audio from these radios are great (well the ones I hear on HF).
On AM up to 50MHz its about 40 watts, however I have seen them tweaked above 40 watts on AM
On SSB up to 50MHz about 100 watts and I have seen them capable of 100+ watts.
For 2 meters its about 20 watts on AM and 50 watts on all the other modes including FM
For 440MHz (70CM) its about 8 watts on AM and up to 20 watts on all other modes including FM
This radio just about does it all, and its portable for mobile/rovering, or emergency situation usage. If it were a tad bit smaller you could almost tuck it into your coat pocket 
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Bruce
Senior Member
Username: Bruce
Post Number: 3513
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 08, 2006 - 11:04 am: |
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Im not a kenwood person I had a ts-830 and a ts-700 and was not inpressed with them.
Now there is nothing wrong with the Kenwood line they just do not fit MY needs.
The IC-706 is one fine radio i'm very happy with mine and i use it all the way from 75 meters to 3/4 meters although it is most used on 2 meters with GREAT results. As for used radios
........... ANY USED RADIO ..........
you need to be very carefull and remember older radios don't have support .... you cant buy things like filters or DSP boards.
"I think some amateurs knock Kenwood because they are a consumer electronics company"
I don't buy this Kenwoods are very well know by HAMS and ARE good radios.
USED RADIO not to buy ??? DRAKE( TR 3 or 4 or 6) they are too old and poorly built with well know switch problems and caps that are going to be bad.....
Then the bottom dwellers the SWAN 350 or 6 meter 250 AKA TOO DRIFTY or Any Silconx or Clegg ...... none of which are worth the prices they sell for today.
AVOID YAESU FT-100 / 100D I don't care if it was used for nets on the church net by a little old lady ham on sundays ....
However the little FT-747 is not a bad set just hard to find ...... |
Roninboricua
Junior Member
Username: Roninboricua
Post Number: 21
Registered: 1-2006
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 08, 2006 - 3:24 pm: |
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Ok Bruce and Geekster you convinced me! Im going to buy the ICOM 706MKIIG. I did some reaserch on it and it gets pretty good reviews.
About the modifications for MARS and 11 meter. Do you know where i can find the best way to do this? Do you know how to do it? |
Patzerozero
Senior Member
Username: Patzerozero
Post Number: 2402
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 08, 2006 - 4:41 pm: |
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www . mods . dk
the 706 mod is...tricky  |
Bookworm
New member
Username: Bookworm
Post Number: 7
Registered: 1-2006
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 08, 2006 - 8:37 pm: |
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I own the 706MKIIG and am totaly pleased with it. I performed the extended trx mod myself using an xacto razor knife and a magnifying glass, cutting the solder at one end of the diode and lifting it up a bit. Gotta have a steady hand...I wouldn't recommend trying to use a soldering pencil.
I think you will be happy with the 706. Enjoy! |
Roninboricua
Junior Member
Username: Roninboricua
Post Number: 22
Registered: 1-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, February 09, 2006 - 10:37 am: |
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I found this bad review online about the icom706, any toughts? Also i heard the Kenwood TS-480 is about the same price as the icom706 and already comes with the DSP.
Icom 706 Mk has a major problem..... design flaw .... be careful out their...
I recently have run into two other hams who now have had the same failure with their ICOM 706s� ... both have be scraped due to the bad service that ICOM has been promoting on this issue...
It appear that the Caps C188 and C604 both are rated for 16 volts at 1000uf... these are electric caps and as such have liquid in them which is corrosive... and currently the way that ICOM instructs you to wire the radio up for mobile operation can lead to the failure of one or more of these caps... which can do irreparable damage to your 706 if they burst or catch fire by shorting out in the process of their explosion...
Here is why....
The instruction manual says to hook the leads of the 706 directly to the battery... make a good connection... as it says that can handle at least 30 amps... fine..
However, when you check the shop manual circuit diagram... it shows that the power is ever present on the input to the radio.. and also the PA amp section that these little caps are associated with.
Why did they do this.... well ICOM being cheap didn�t want to switch the high current PA section on and off... by putting some device in that would handle 30 amps... so what they did was wire it so that the finals are hot all the time as a direct connection (see drawing) and its associated circuitry of which these two caps are in line with.
So what�s the beef...
Well if you go starting the car... your starter can develop spikes that amount to several times the input voltage... thus the little caps which are rated at 16 volts are right at what the battery voltage and charging system is... So when you go to start the car you could be placing at least 2 to 3 time (30-45 volts) of the battery voltage across them.. thus, we have exceeded the voltage rating of the caps... some one at ICOM didn�t quite figure that out right... I would think...
What is also amazing on this radio is that someone has not had one of the PA transistor fail and cause a fire or at the least flatten the battery while it is un-attended... if they failed also... something not to be taken lightly...
When we called ICOM... not once but 4 times now to present this design flaw to them and to see if they will back the defective material or part... due to their under sight.. we were told that for 90 bux an hour they would fix it... (1 hr MIN) plus the shipping to and from can become a expensive issue...
So what�s the fix...
Well about the only thing that you can do is to put either a relay or a ckt breaker in series with the power leads going to the 706... Sure its going to be costly.. but, how much is your car worth... or the radio... as it appears that ICOM is reluctant to fix the bad capacitors when they fail... which then could lead to the radio becoming a boat anchor eventually...
I know K0BG is going to differ with me on this but, I prefer that a aviation toggle switch circuit breaker (such as what can be gotten from Chief Aircraft parts) be put in the positive feed line... Here you can have a selection of a toggle switch or a rocker switch similar to what aircraft call the avionics master switch... that does about the same as what you need to do in the car... and that is remove the power from the radio until after you start the car... and the charging system has settled down.
It is the only way that you will be able to isolate the 706 from the rest of the electrical system... as their on/off button on the front does not remove or apply power to the PA board as shown.
I am against using a dual relay contactor as the points of the relay will eventually develop some IR drop and again your going to suffer the effects of a low voltage application... and cleaning the contact is some what of a chore. While the good quality 30+ circuit breaker that has the regular toggle switch on it was made for the aircraft environment and thus can stand the test of time without having problems...
Conclusion
If you own a ICOM 706 and don�t make the modifications to the power input leads... you can stand a chance of damaging the radio due to their deficiencies and/or loss of electrical to the car leaving you stranded or thinking that the battery is no good... worst yet... come back and find it had a color change as it burnt up... if the 30 amp fuses don�t work as advertised...
I am sure a lot of people who own a ICOM 706 are not aware of the design deficiency and the fact that if it happens your going to have to pay for it.... thus we call it to your attention... as I am sure ICOM would never...
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Seems interesting that we have gotten over 9 emails of people saying that they have experienced the same problem as we stated. (Icom continues to ignore the problem and uses the soft shoe shuffle saying .... I have never heard of this... when you talk to their reps... sort of reminds me of the capitol one commercial... NO... ) For a radio not having problems I wonder what these people are talking about then. Clearly if you take a electrolytic capacitor and over voltage it.. with spikes .... its going to do something.... and yes they have a dielectric inside which is corrosive to other metals. And no a capacitor across the power lead directly... (see schematic of the 706) has little or no RC constant... instead it has inrush and outflow tracking. (electronics 101)
Again Icom seem to ignore the problem. Out of the 9 emails that I received back in less than a day it is strange how no one knows of this problem which they also experienced. 2 of them paid to have their radios fixed by Icom. Average cost $127.00.
Also C188 is in series with a low resistance resistor so the surge and spikes should not be as high to it than the other C604 which did not blow thus, we feel that instead of the spiking it may be manufactures defect. With the fact that your using a 15 volt charging system... (diesel trucks use 24 volt so they have to use a reducer to provide 12 volts or split the battery which has a different effect on the system as a battery makes a good capacitor also.) and the caps are rated for only 1 volt higher than the system.... any abnormalities puts a stress on these parts which apparently are failing. We recommend that if you pop one of these caps you replace it with the same value but, use the 35 wvdc replacement. Least then you will have a buffer for any spiking that occurs in the car. Be they failing by spiking of the cars electrical system or defective part... either way... putting the safety ckt breaker cut off switch in should be considered to remove all power to the radio for safety sake as well as preservation of the system.
No the radio will fail... like ours it suddenly will start giving off the large amount of white smoke... which by the way may be hazardous to your health if you inhale it...
The latest radios also run extremely hot... again putting stress on the electronic components. Several articles have been written as to how to keep the fan running at low speed to help extend the life of these components. Front end overload is also a problem.... Again if the radio was designed correctly and Icom was not so cheap these kinds of problems would not be showing up out at the consumer level. But, I agree with you on one point... they are cheap...
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Bruce
Senior Member
Username: Bruce
Post Number: 3517
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, February 09, 2006 - 12:10 pm: |
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Icom 706 Mk OLDER RADIO YEARS older .... we are talking about ICOM 706MKIIG The problem is VOLTAGE spikes and in a car its SMART to filter the leads to your radio .... on a home supply this is not a problem.
There are thousands of 706's out there ask around and find how many unhappy users there are VERY FEW ....... |
Bruce
Senior Member
Username: Bruce
Post Number: 3518
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, February 09, 2006 - 2:37 pm: |
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The 706 HAS DSP it comes with it. |
Troublemaker
Intermediate Member
Username: Troublemaker
Post Number: 271
Registered: 2-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, February 09, 2006 - 6:40 pm: |
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I would bet the problems were the radios that came out BEFORE the MKIIG, Have'nt had the first problem with my 706,,I would deffintly buy another one. |
Rldrake
Member
Username: Rldrake
Post Number: 61
Registered: 1-2006
| | Posted on Friday, February 10, 2006 - 4:01 am: |
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If memory serves correctly...
Original 706 did not have 432/440 mhz band...had 10 watts max on 2 meters. "Tune button" for optional external autocouplers did not function on 6 meters.
On 706 Mark2...the power on 2 meters was increased to 25 watts and some minor improvements to the receiver. I think this model is when the "tune button" was enabled for 6 meters.
On the 706 Mark2 G...432/440mhz added, IF DSP added, 2 meter power increased to 50 watts, and illuminated "buttons" added.
The internal cw keyer might have been improved on either the mk2 or mk2G...I'm a little fuzzy on that...might be thinking of some other model...not sure. |
Geekster
Intermediate Member
Username: Geekster
Post Number: 185
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Friday, February 10, 2006 - 1:36 pm: |
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Interesting in how that would pass any UL approval. I know it wouldn't fly in our laboratory LOL.
I liked the 706MKIIG myself. Another good choice is the Yaesu FT-857D the biggest complaints I can recall is the high-SWR limiter causing distored audio but who runs high SWR LOL?
There will always be a negative complaint or two on every radio because there is always room for a bad egg off the assy line. The good reviews far outweigh the bad on the ICOM 706MKIIG... |
Rldrake
Member
Username: Rldrake
Post Number: 64
Registered: 1-2006
| | Posted on Saturday, February 11, 2006 - 1:18 am: |
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"Who runs high SWR lol?". Amateur radio operators do...the very people such a transceiver is built for. Amateur's operate over a wide range of frequencies, not just a 1 megahertz spot. Amateurs concern theirselves with antenna effeciency rather than how low they can get the so-called "swr". Most hams, especially the well seasoned ones, do not even own a "swr" meter. |
Wildrat
Advanced Member
Username: Wildrat
Post Number: 810
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, March 02, 2006 - 6:08 pm: |
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Man, what a coincidence, I'm reading this thread and Sam Lewis calls me from Magnum radios, and starts telling me about a cap with power on it even when the radios off, and it is a 16 volt cap also. That's what blew up in my radio, they have repaired the radio and it's coming home. Sam said it's coming home and it's going to work better than ever. I bet you there are lots of other radios outhere with the same setup as the ICOM above judging from what I just heard from Sam. |
Troublemaker
Intermediate Member
Username: Troublemaker
Post Number: 283
Registered: 2-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, March 02, 2006 - 7:27 pm: |
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Yeasu FT-857D |
Bruce
Senior Member
Username: Bruce
Post Number: 3605
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, March 02, 2006 - 7:30 pm: |
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WILDRAT your CORRECT early IC-706's had the same problem and there are others .... A good spike filter in the 12 volt power supply line will save you greaf ...... |
Wildrat
Advanced Member
Username: Wildrat
Post Number: 813
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, March 02, 2006 - 11:07 pm: |
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Roger on that, I wish I were a Ham so I knew what I was on about, alas I'm just a Cya Beya guy so I better just got chew some backy. |
