Icom 756 ProII or Yaesu 1000MP Mark V Field

[W2VD]

I plan to buy a new rig soon, and have narrowed my choice between the 756 ProII and the 1000MP Mark V Field. Both rigs would meet my needs from a technical standpoint. My main selection criteria between these two fine rigs would be the front end. I live in NYC, where we have high powered AM broadcast band stations. I'm not concerned about another local ham operating within 20 kHz of me, as this is not a problem in my location. My concern is the rig's ability to avoid being overloaded by nearby AM broadcast stations. I'd appreciate hearing any comments or experiences that you have had regarding the front end of these rigs in tough RF environments (especially from urban hams).
73 de Mike, W2VD

[WB2WIK]

Both these rigs have the ability to turn "off" the front ends altogether, and feed received signals to the first mixer.  It is in this mode that I operate my rigs 99% of the time, and under this condition they are very, very difficult to overload.

Using a T-network (high-pass configuration) antenna tuner helps reduce or eliminate AM BC interference and is also very useful in the most severe situations.

I've lived not only very near AM BC stations, but also very near FM BC, TV BC and -- worst of all -- SW BC stations.  My last home was 2 miles from a 250 kW SW BC station operating on 17 MHz daytime, and 9 MHz afteer dark.  Its antenna is directional and happened to aim almost directly at me, providing me with a cool million watts ERP or so.  Nice.  This is a lot more power than any AM BC station runs (in the U.S.), and is also closer in frequency to where I'm trying to operate (especially the 17m ham band) than any AM BC station would be, unless you concentrate on operating 160 meters.

Still, under the described conditions, I had no interference, no noise, no desense, and no mixing products when using two interference-fighting tools: The "AIP" feature of my receiver (Advanced Intercept Point, a Kenwood term but nowadays they all have it) which shuts off the front end altogether; and an antenna tuner which creates a narrowband match.

Bypassing the front end of most all modern receivers does not impact apparent sensitivity, other than to often improve it.  It matters little to me if my "front end" noise figure is 1 dB or 5 dB, when I plug an antenna in and get 20 dB of band noise from the sun and other sources.

Based on the choice you've outlined, I'd pick the rig which most appeals to my operating desires.  I personally prefer the MKV MP, but the 756PROII has that nifty spectrum scope the Yaesu lacks, and that can be very handy.  They're both solid rigs.

WB2WIK/6

[N4ZOU]

 I have had both Icom and Yaesu transceivers. Both over the years required repair service. Icom will go way ahead of what I would call normal help on the phone. The service rep went through the problems with my Icom to be sure it really needed to be sent in. It did and they did a great job. All I got from a phone call to Yaesu was an address to send it to and then brushed off the phone. Needless to say I go with Icom now. BTY my new Icom IC-756 PRO II is ordered and on the way!

[EI5FK]

One thing for sure, you will not find a shoot out article in QST or any of the other radio magazines to honestly tell us which is better, how on earth do you think the next dxpedition is going to get sponsored if they told the truth. Of course if you were an "EXPERT" and I am not and if you were a member you could always look at an extended review on the ARRL pages for each rig individually and come to your own conclusions. Motorcycle magazines do extensive reviews and comparisions every few months, Ham radio magazines do not, they generally over advertise.
Charles