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write your own review of the Icom IC-746PRO.
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K2VI
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 26, 2009 10:56
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Icom finally addressed issues
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Years ago I flamed this radio and gave it a zero.I was not happy with the failure. I recenly purchased a new 746P and cannot be happier(so far)The reciever is very quiet and many tweaks and ajustments at you fingertips.The XMIT audio is exactally like my proIII and the reciever is not far behind.It might even be equal.The radio has a nice look and the display has a lot of information. Im really getting to love this radio and i think icom finally got all issues addressed.The PA unit finals were redesigned on 2007 with power MOSFET'S.The old design was Bi-polar and seemed to be good but i believe mitsubishi stopped production.One more thing is the fan is very quiet and the radio does not get warm even with long winded qso's.I just purchased one of the last ones produced as they dicontiued the radio.THE 746 PRO is now a winner.
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AK3Q
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 26, 2009 03:51
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Excellent Value and features
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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This is an excellent rig - more bang for the buck than any other rig out there. Mine has performed flawlessly, and while some folks have had problems, especially with earlier models, the vast majority of folks are very happy with the rig. Those are usually the people you never hear anything from.
The built in filters are a great plus, as are dual-pass band filtering. The receive sensitivity makes it a great SWL rig as well.
I like the fact that almost all major controls are on the front panel, with only a few things to dig down into menus. This makes the rig easy to use and adjust as you are working stations.
100 watts out on all bands is great as well. While I have a dedicated 2m/440 rig to do most of my local work, it is nice having the 100 watt option for 2 meters both in FM and SSB. Three antenna connectors is a nice feature as well.
Couldn't be happier with my choice after almost 2 years.
73,
Robert
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KB3RPE
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 23, 2009 16:14
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A Pro indeed..
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Bought used with all the "issues" addressed. I like having 2M SSB & 2M 100W power. The filtering & notching are very, very helpful during peak times, make pulling in a weak station "possible". Have been working DX: Saudi Arabia, India, Hawaii, most of Europe, to mention a few... Feature rich rig with good receive audio and aforementioned "likes"...This one's a "keeper"...
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AA8MI
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Rating: 4/5
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Nov 10, 2009 14:48
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I like it!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I purchased mine new in October of 2004 (ser. #0203028). I am primarily interested in HF QRP CW, and have begun using the 746PRO with the power cranked down to 5 watts as my primary QRP rig (unless I am camping). Although I have several QRP transceivers, I do so because the 746PRO receiver is far superior to those in my Ten Tec Argonaut V and the Index Labs QRP Plus. I had no problems with the 746PRO at all until this past summer (2009) when I experienced the famous transmitter death. I believe the failure was due to a static charge on a VHF antenna I connected to the rig. I sent it to Matt Adrian at ICOM Michigan Service Center. Matt found the IC 151 defective, replaced it and installed static discharge upgrade. He also installed the ICOM factory backlight upgrade. It has worked fine since. I was very pleased with Matt's customer service and repair work.
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KA4UPI
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 2, 2009 10:08
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So far So Good!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Ok being a ham of limited funds and resources I purchased this RIG about two years ago because of the features and pricing. I was very apprehensive in purchasing it due to the numerous low review ratings but got it anyway. I kept it unopened in the box for a year trying to decide whether to do the mods or just go forward and put it on the air. Well I decided to take the gamble and fire it up. I have had it on the air now for a good year with absolutely no problems or issues as yet. I normally operate it and hour or two each day now and eight to ten hours on the weekends depending on the band conditions. I have worked all bands and frequencies with no problems at all so far. I also like all of the features and funtionality of this Rig and have it interfaced for the digital modes with no problem. I have really enjoyed this Rig to date and hope that it continues to work as it has in the past year.
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KC2IJI
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Rating: 4/5
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Oct 25, 2009 20:05
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Solid Basics, no fluff
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I've had this rig now for about five years. It is post the TX failure fix, and I've had no issues with it. Receive is great, and I have had many unsolicited audio compliments.
The 746Pro tunes a G5RV on all bands but 18 mhz. The antenna is set up almost ideally, fed by 150 feet of coax. I leave the display full up based on other reports of problems.
2 meters uses a discone for repeaters and stacked Par Loops for SSB. 6 Meters uses a par loop and the G5RV. I am quite happy with the receiver-Air Band AM is very clear, and public safety coms are also easy. I am an antenna compulsive, so all antennas are low SWR, even the compromise G5RV.
I've made good contacts both locally and some DX, ionosphere permitting. Overall the radio does what I ask of it. The receiver handles AM SW and BCB extremely well, and the combination of DSP and passbands can pretty much pull any signal out from under QRM.
The only thing that might be better is a full color spectrum display, but I'm not sufficently enamored to buy a new rig for this feature. I would also like to be able to change the size of passbands on AM and FM, but it's not a deal breaker.
There are fancier rigs, and more expensive rigs, but I don't think they'd change my on air impact at all. This does what you'd want in 2010 without bells and whistles. I'd change the mic gain and RF output controls-move them and make the knobs bigger. That's about it.
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K4AXF
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Rating: 4/5
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Jul 25, 2009 14:58
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A good basic DSP TRX
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I recently acquired a nearly-new IC-746PRO in exchange for a Ten-Tec Jupiter/AT which I had used for several years. It's hard not to compare the two rigs, having very similar architecture, up conversion with DSP 3rd IF and offering a similar high level of performance. Both are very good mid-price rigs.
I'm an SWL/BCL and QRP CW op. Pretty much in that order. I operate 100W CW once in a while and SSB less frequently. I listen to SSB stations often. I am extremely pleased with the receive audio quality of the IC-746. It is crisp with good bass and has menu bass/treble adjustments. I thought the Jupiter an excellent-sounding receiver. The IC-746Pro is even better. That goes for both AM and SSB. On CW, there's a difference but I couldn't say one better than the other.
I really like the variable DSP noise reduction level in the 746Pro. Jupiter's NR is fixed at a single, fairly high level; which I often found to be too much. Both have an Auto Notch filter that works well but are for SSB mode only. The Icom also has a manual tuning notch for the CW op. Nice!
My mind maps the frequency spectrum as a linear function; so, the band scope is very important feature for me for SWL/BCLing. The Jupiter's bandscope is larger and has better resolution. I will miss it.
On CW the Icom's QSK is very smooth. The antenna relay is a little bit noisier than the Jupiter's, but not annoyingly so.
DSP filter implimentation in the 746Pro is a bit different than in the Jupiter. Where Jupiter allows choice of any bandwidth in any mode, Icom has pre-made some choices based on mode for the operator allowing a suitable range of filter widths via the concentric-knobbed Twin Bandpass controls. I haven't found that this method limits my choice inappropriately except, perhaps, in the AM mode; where the filter choices are limited to only three fixed widths and you can operate only the bandpass shift control. The choices are 3.0, 6.0 and 9.0 kHz. The 6 and 9 KHz settings are very apt for the SWL/BCL; however, I would rather the tightest filter were set at 4 or 4.8 kHz.
I find Exhalted Carrier SSB detection is a viable substitute for full Synchronous Detection - tuning broadcast stations (amplitude modulated) in SSB mode. That way, you can switch to either USB or LSB and eliminate interference from a nearby station. ECSSB also eliminates most of the selective fading distortion found on SW BC stations. I find that with the IC-746Pro it is necessary to reduce the RF gain when tuning in stations this way - bears further investigation. The Jupiter alowed changing the tuning step from 1 Hz to 100 kHz - allowing very precise zero-beating of an AM station in ECSSB mode. The Icom allows choosing between only two tuning steps: 10 Hz or 1 KHz, not a big problem.
On balance the Jupiter allows more precise control of certain aspects the DSP system however Icom has implemented a better DSP system allowing operator very well thought out control of the system.
I had some misgivings about the internal antenna tuner in the Icom. It's stated tuning range is quite a bit smaller than that of the Jupiter. I have two coax-fed doublets (136' dipoles with a 1:4 balun at the center, with 50 ohm coax down to the shack). These antennas present SWRs ranging from 3:1 to 7:1 depending upon band. Well, the IC746Pro's antenna tuner matched them on all bands, even on 160m (which the Jupiter's tuner could not match).
Overall, I appreciate the more finished quality of the IC-746Pro. It's clearly a quality piece of equipment that I'm going to enjoy operating.
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PD1JP
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Rating: 5/5
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Jul 23, 2009 01:35
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So good, it was stolen...
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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This is probably not the place to put this, but anyone who reads these reviews and is buying an IC-746Pro with serial number 014034, this radio with the HM36 handmike was stolen on July 19th 2009 near Barcelona in Spain. If you track this radio, please inform me, so I can alert the authorities.
I have saved money for years to buy this great radio.
73
Jean-Paul
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K3WVU
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Rating: 5/5
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Jul 18, 2009 10:47
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Update of last review
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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As I said below, I love the rig but my transmit died after about 16 months. Sent it in to Mat Adrian, the ICOM authorized rep in Michigan. He fixed the bad final and applied an ICOM factory mod and also did a factory mod to prevent backlight failure...without any cost to me. Great rig, great service.
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KK8ZZ
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Rating: 5/5
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Jun 28, 2009 11:02
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Field Day shows it's Quality
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I used both the IC-7200 (which I really respect) and the IC-746PRO at home on Field Day 2009, as I'm selling one or the other. While both were very satisfactory, at my age the large display and intuitive controls on the 746PRO were hard to beat. The one I have has been carefully modified for the IC151 problem and heat sink issues and works fine. This is the one I'll be keeping !
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