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| Reviews Summary for ICOM IC-7400 |
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Reviews: 41
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Average rating: 4.5/5
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MSRP: $1850
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Description: Transmitting range:
1.810MHz to1.825MHz
1.9075MHz to 1.9125MHz
3.500MHz to 3.575MHz
3.747MHz to 3.754MHz
3.791MHz to 3.805MHz
7.000MHz to 7.100MHz
10.100MHz to 10.150MHz
14.000MHz to 14.350MHz
18.068MHz to 18.168MHz
21.000MHz to 21.450MHz
24.890MHz to 24.990MHz
28.000MHz to 29.700MHz
50.000MHz to 54.000MHz
144.000MHz to 146.000MHz
SSB(2.4kHz)/6dB,3.2kHz/40dB,3.6kHz/60dB,4.3kHz/80dB
CW(500Hz)500Hz/6dB,700Hz/60dB
RTTY(350Hz)
AM(6kHz)
FM(15kHz)
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Product is in production.
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More info: http://www.icom.co.jp/ham/products/ic-7400/index.html
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G4PNF
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Rating: 4/5
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Dec 10, 2011 06:04
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Superb! but some reliability issues.
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have owned the IC-7400 for about 4 years and I can confirm that it really is a great transceiver.
The receiver is excellent, strong signal handling, and the DSP filtering fantastic. I fitted the TCXO because I was noticing some very slight drift, especially on 2 metres but with the TCXO installed it is rock solid across the bands. I love the “user interface” it is a delight to operate and has solid/quality feel about it. The display is superb, very clear and displays all the information I need (without toggling buttons to bring up different items).
I have compared it to two other HF rigs, the IC-7200 and the TS-590s. It does compare very well indeed. The receiver is not quite as smooth as the TS-590 and the NR not as effective but as far as I am concerned is not that far off the mark. I certainly have never found a signal on the 590 that cannot be copied on the 7400.
The transmit side of the 7400 is also spot on. The SSB signal is robust and clean. Using the compression really boosts the signal without adding noticeable harshness or distortion. The audio reports are always highly complementary and it is easy to adjust the TX audio to suit different mics and voices. CW is also very good on this rig especially with the ability to narrow the filtering down to 50 Hz without excessive ringing. I found the original HM-36 mic (Chinese) that came with the rig rather soft and muddy in the audio it produced and initially went over to the SM-20 desk mic which was excellent. But I now use the original HM-36 with some modifications and I think the results are even better than the SM-20. Mods for the HM-36 are well documented and easy to carry out. I not only changed the circuit as suggested but also changed the electret insert.
The inbuilt ATU is fast and highly effective.
There are a few inevitable minor niggles. In particular, I would have liked there to be a numerical indication on the display for the CW keying speed ,mic gain and power level and as has been often mentioned the little knobs for adjusting these items are a bit naff. This is nitpicking though and I certainly wouldn’t mark the 7400 down on these points alone.
Why the 4/5 then?
It would be a 5/5 plus! But I have suffered the same reliability issues that have often popped up on this forum and elsewhere. First, after about 3 years of light use the 7400 developed an intermittent transmitter fault where the max output went down to milliwatts. I had to dispatch it for repair twice to completely solve the problem which in the end turned out to be a failed FET in the driver stages. Than about a year later I suffered the almost inevitable back light failure. I had always run the backlight at 100% brightness to reduce the loading on the hopelessly underrated transistor in the CC tube supply circuit but in the end even that didn’t prevent failure. As the repair is well documented, I tackled it myself. It is apparently always a transistor failure and never the CC tube itself. I replaced the offending transistor but not with the original type. I used the much more beefy BD650 transistor remotely mounted to the side of the screening can. It has been fine since and I run the brightness where I want it to be now at 20%.
So apart from a question mark about reliability this is one really nice radio that I can thoroughly recommend.
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F4EGA
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 11, 2011 09:18
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Excellent
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I have had this radio for about 3 months.
The IC-7400 doesn't need the filter it doesn't have the overload/intermod. The receiver is stable enough in HF bands but need TCXO for EME on 144Mhz.
I can't find a fault to overcome with this rig. I can AB it with my 847 and it holds up very well and is more fun to operate.
In 144MHz the 7400 is better that the 847 when i switch between the two transceivers.
I looked long and hard at the reported TX failures reported here and otherwise but have had no problems.
This radio has great receive audio and with the right mike the tx audio is solid as any model out there.
The fan is quiet, the menus are easy, the features are beyond what I will utilize.
I love the RTTY receive built in but use only FSK in this mode with MTTY it's perfect and RTTY filter built in is fantastic.
The IF DSP filtering is breathtaking.
No filters to buy.
Two antenna connections for HF and another for VHF.
Simple computer control.
Great display.
Great audio from the built in speaker.
The band stacking registers and the memo pad memories are terrific.
I'm using it with an ACOM 1000 amplifier for HF-50Mhz and Amplitec amplifier for VHF and i have no problems, all works very well.
If I have some big change of heart in the future or worse if the dreaded TX failure catches me I will repost with the bad news but this far into its life it is the greatest radio I have ever owned and I have ended the search for the biggest bang for the buck.
LOVE THIS RIG!
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SV8FMV
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Rating: 4/5
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Jun 20, 2011 01:24
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Nice Radio. This is no IC-746
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Outside is the same with IC-746 but only that, inside is a verry different transceiver.
Good value for youre money.
The DSP is excellent and the noise is low level.
Nice Rig.
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IZ7KVM
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 26, 2010 08:52
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Great radio,amazing cw digital filters
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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I have had my icom ic-7400 since may 2009 ,i'm very happy.
The receiver is very selective,dsp
works great and audio quality is very good.
Three IF convertions, dsp and twin pbt,
are heart of the receiver.Dsp and twin pbt,really allow to pull up a cw weak signal near a strong signal.
Ic-7400 has all the features i want,it's easy to use, it's excellent on rx and tx,
intuitive menù and nice clear display.
I simply love this rig for CW work.
Nico, IZ7KVM
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G4UNB
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 17, 2010 10:38
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great mid priced radio.
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I have owned my 7400 since august 09, I really like the radio, and enjoy the 32 bit DSP filtering on it.
its a pleasure to use and to own, however the only caveat i wish to draw attention to, is that i also own two kenwood radios, a ts940sat, and a ts 950sd,(check out my reviews on these also) BOTH kenwoods have a superiour auto internal ATU in them. That being said, there are no perfect radios, each has its strengths and drawbacks. In the 7400 the auto notch filter is a real boon to use....filtering out with consummate ease those annoying on freq tune up-ers, one push of the button and ..hey presto! they're gone! Mine is a seven digit serial number, so hopefully wont suffer from some of the earlier model failures, which we're all familiar with having read the stories. Should i in the future fall foul of any failure...i will of course update my experience with the radio, but for now...i am fully satisfied with mine, one tip for the new comer to the 7400, dont expect the VHF receiver to be too sensitive without the pre-amp switched in, but with the pre-amp in line its perfectly acceptable. Also the 'band stacking' system on the 7400 is a very useful feature, and one which i certainly use on a regular basis...how good it is to have features that are really useful rather than some 'belles and whistles' we see on more expensive rigs but are rarely if ever needed or used! As a CW operator myself i can confirm to any other ham who is wondering if the 7400 is a good CW rig, The filtering system is extremely good for the discerning CW operator. For those who prefer to use phone, The SM20 desk mic is a good compliment to the radio, but dont be too concerned about the standard fist mic the radio comes with...its very well made and gives very good audio results too. So we have one rig....HF/6/2 on board,all with a full 100 watts output, nice aesthetically, and which performs very well indeed, thats why i rate it a 5/5, perfection never comes in anything in life, but this is quite close in my humble opinion.
73 to all who read this!
David...G4UNB
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NL9849
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Rating: 5/5
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Sep 13, 2009 12:36
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Great receiver - transmitter??
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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This review is about the receiver bit only, since I am a SWL, not a licenced ham. This transceiver is very easy to convert to a receiver only by disabling the PA-stage.
The receiver is excellent in just about every way and even on VHF it is quite good (I have the cristal oven installed, but if you use it for receive only this is not really necessary).
The transmitter does seem to have some reliability issues, although most should have been dealt with in the later versions. Since I am not using the transmitter these problems do not worry me. The only issue with te receiver is the possibility of a failing backlight caused by overheating of a transistor. To prevent this I have done two things:
1- I keep the display brightness at 100% to stress the transistor in question as little as possible (this should be enough to prevent failure);
2- To be absolutely sure I have modified the internal fan to run constantly, not just on transmit. I run it at 6 volts so it runs very quiet but still produces enough airflow to keep the insides cool (the fan is just behind the backlight driver that has this tendency to run hot so this is a perfect way to prevent a 'meltdown').
The display is very nice with big digits and a lot of information. The bandscope is not very usefull but that is not a real issue to me. What i do like on the other hand is the trebble and bass adjustments (even on transmit) whitch allow for a very full and rich audio quality. I think this is one of the strongest assets of this rig. The audio is just superb!
This is an awesome receiver and the in-depth technical review by Bjarne on "kongsfjord.no" confirms this.
Despite the display issue I still give it a 5/5, but I do think that ICOM should have dealt with that problem in the first place.
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G4RNI
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Rating: 4/5
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Sep 29, 2008 15:42
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Super RX, 1 or 2 dislikes
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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No doubt about it, the 7400 has a phenomenal receiver. Once you get the hang of the digital IF filtering, tailor the TX and RX audio to suit, it's outstanding!
The BUT is, WHY do makers make the RF power control & mic gain so awkward? Tiny little controls! At least the RF power isn't buried in a menu like the FT-950 I despised after one day for that very reason but a proper control here and mic gain the same and I'd give it FIVE!
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ON4WIY
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Rating: 1/5
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Jul 13, 2008 03:59
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LOOKING GOOD THAT'S ALL !!!!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I've had mine for 2 years and yes big trouble!
After 2 weeks backlight failed,replaced it and after one month the same problem.
Worked verry well but after 6 months predrivers qrt max 10w out,returned it to the shop to repair under warranty tooks 6 months to repair ??? and 3 weeks later the same problem, icom refused to repair it again under warranty so the only thing i could do send it back and pay it by myself about €600!!! fantastic service so i never buy icom again and goes back to yaesu never had troubles and great service!!!
Icom know the problem of backlight, overheating, predrivers .... even in there new models but do nothing about it, it's a shame they just tread us as betatesters!!!
Good dx'73 ON4WIY WIM.
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DK8EY
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Rating: 4/5
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Jun 25, 2008 02:07
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Great, ...but backlight...
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I've had my IC-7400 since October 2006, means 20 month. Serial# >30500. I'm very pleased with it, no doubt. My 7400 runs every day, and has run, including contests, more than 15.000 QSO in SSB, CW and RTTY. The DSP implementation, in my opinion, is the best of all current TRX. Even newer, such as FT-950, FT-2000, etc.
Very often I do an A-B comparison the with my still installed Drake-C-line with Sherwood filters or a TS-940 with filters in both IF. Sorry to say, DSP-filters of the 7400 are not to beat.
So far, my sample is reliable. Except the well known backlight issue. It died after a lot of operating hours and 18 month usage. I changed the defective and hopeless underrated 1201-transistor (2 watt) with a BD810 (90W). The repair took me 90 minutes. The backlight setting was always at 30%.
The backlight issue exists since 1997, when the IC-746 was launched. Obviously even modern IC-746pro/7400 still have the same problem. Over 12 years! It's not to understand, that ICOM isn’t recognizing the issue. Bad customer relationship, dear ICOM.
DK8EY, Christoph from Mettmann, Germany
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G0KYA
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Rating: 3/5
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Mar 22, 2008 05:02
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Great radio - Icom need to work on reliability
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have previously rated the Icom 7400 as brilliant. I still think it is a great radio, but my backlight failed within a year of owning it and Icom have now had it for six weeks for repair with no sign of it returning just yet!
This is not good enough. I am using my Icom 7000 as back-up, but Yaesu is looking more and more attractive again.
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