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1-5 of 5 messages
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Icom Ic-746 pro
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by N5SM on August 24, 2008
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I purchased a new Icom IC-746Pro in January of this
year. In June of this year I lost all transmit power
due to the pre driver to the final amplifiers. I now
find that this is a common problem with this radio.
I sent it to Icom for repair which they did.
Is this going to happen again in another six months?
Has anyone had this problem occur again after having
it repaired? Any information will be appreciated.
Am trying to decide whether or not to keep the rig.
Thanks
Scott N5SM
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RE: Icom Ic-746 pro
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by K9KJM on August 25, 2008
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Some people seem to have this problem happen over and over, Others dont.
If it were mine, I would sell it and get a Kenwood TS-2000, A radio that does a LOT more, Including cross band repeat, OR if you are interested in HF only, A good used Icom 756PRO, (Or PRO II) A much better radio with it's spectrum scope.........
(Good used 756PRO's have been seen selling for 900 dollars, TS 2000's in the 1,100 dollar range.)
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RE: Icom Ic-746 pro
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Reply
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by KA1MDA on August 25, 2008
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Another common problem with those radios is the LCD display backlight going bad. The problem usually starts out witrh the light taking a few seconds to come on, or occassionally flickering or changing brightness on its own. Then goes down hill from there till it doesn't work at all. Cause is due to insufficient heat sinking on the driver transistor for the inverter (used to control brightness. My 746 did that. I also had problems with a relay going bad (case actually melted) in the ATU, making the tuner non-functional on any of the HF bands.
After some wise-guy comments by an Icom sales rep at a local ham clun meeting (he told me to not bother fixing a radio like the 746, and that I should just toss it out and get a real radio like a 756PRO2) I got PO'd and fixed it myself, then once it was working again, sold it and bought a Kenwood TS-2000X.
73, de Tom, KA1MDA
www.ka1mda.org
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RE: Icom Ic-746 pro
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by WW5AA on August 26, 2008
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The main problem with the IC-151 chip was that it over heated easly. If ICOM modified the heat sink properly it will not happen again. If they just replaced it, it might happen again. Good luck.
73 de Lindy
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RE: Icom Ic-746 pro
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by K2NRC on August 30, 2008
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be glad you got 6 months out of yours. $1464 from HRO, plus $50 rebate from icom....they should give these pieces of $4!t away. i have an early ic735 that WAS CB'd in an earlier life AND now i've abused the crap out of it with swr of 3:1 or worse to make a call here or there on non-resonant antennas. i have an 8 year old 706mk2g that takes a beating & keeps right on ticking. now, my 746pro has been used sparingly at best on weekends only since MAY 2008 (ONLY 14 WEEKS!!! LESS THEN 4 MONTHS!!!)has had the predriver go THREE TIMES!!!! WITH an added heatsink! the ATU works....ALL BY ITSELF. when it works. of course in the shop it can't be duplicated, but at several different friends' homes, as well as at my shack, while monitoring, it just 'tunes' all by itself. EVEN on a resonant, analyzer tuned antenna. then, resonant, well matched antenna or ATU tuned, slightly 'off' antenna, key once, the swr meter on the radio PEGS to the right side, speak a word or 2 & the swr goes back to where it should be. neither my 735 or mk2g experience swr issues on the same antenna. i have heard my signal both locally & skip via mp3 recordings, and it USUALLY sounds FINE. yet, locally, 50% of the time it sounds like crap. turning the compressor on then back off clears things up.
it took me 2 years to save the bucks to upgrade from my 735 and this is the piece of $4!t i ended up with. all i get from ICOM is 'canned' responses. if i was anywhere near them, it would have flown through their window 2 months ago.
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