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write your own review of the ICOM IC-706 - All flavors.
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MI3LVZ
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Rating: 5/5
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May 13, 2009 11:27
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First class
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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I have a mk2 (non 70cm's). Superb for portable work with plenty of features to keep any grown child happy.
You wont be disapointed.
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KM5VI
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Rating: 5/5
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May 11, 2009 15:57
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One tough radio
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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OK, with over 400 reviews what can one possibly add about the 706? Perhaps longevity: purchased new with 10 years of continuous mobile service and over 350,000 miles of potholes serving now in its third vehicle, subjected to temperatures ranging from 20 F below 0 to +130 deg F, this is one tough little radio. Failures to date: two microphone plugs and one internal speaker. Unit is still in service and performs as well as when it was brand new.
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VK3NJP
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 8, 2009 06:54
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A legendary do-everything rig
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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Purchased new in August 2008 from local Icom dealer in Melbourne, Australia. I also purchased an Icom DTMF mic for it for use with IRLP. I didn't need the extra bells of the IC-7000 as HF isn't my primary band of operation. I wanted a tough multi-band multi-mode rig that could withstand the life of camping and portable work. This is the rig! It's tough as nails. For HF work, I use it with an LDG AT-7000 ATU into an 80m dipole. Otherwise it gets a good workout on 2mSSB & 70cmSSB. I haven't used it on 6m yet. It's an excellent rig. Every man and his dog has got one - now I can see why. I've since bought the separation kit for it with intentions of operating mobile HF soon. It's a ripper! I'll be taking this to my grave!
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K4SFC
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 17, 2009 09:09
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MY FAVORITE RIG
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I've owned new 706's, all models. My favorite is the MKIIG natch, it's the newest. Comment about RX of harmonic freq broadcasts. More often it is the fault of your antenna being too broad banded. Not the fault of the rig's rxvr. You can easily eliminate most of that by using a remote ant coupler at the antenna feed point. Coupler is fed with coax. Antenna hooks directly to coupler. Mine is a SGC-231 over 13 years old.
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K4GLM
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Rating: 4/5
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Feb 17, 2009 08:06
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Reliable, user friendly,shakey receiver
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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A good radio, reliable and easy to use.
The receiver hears things that should not be where it is tuned; image responses from AM stations and SW broadcasters. I tracked down some with a spectrum analyzer, and found images from stations that were not close in frequency or geographic location overriding ham signals nearly as strong as the images. If you are near a big AM station this might not be your radio. I hear a one kW station ten miles away on forty meters.
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N4MJG
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 14, 2009 21:54
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still kicking since feb 14.04
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I had mine since feb 14,2004 and brought it for 769.00 before they jack up the prices up more and planing on keep it !!!!
73
Jackie
Tullahoma,Tn
WWW.KG4ORX.COM
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K4MSG
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 14, 2009 20:00
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K0KS said it right, it's a "Workhorse" of
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I bought my 706MkIIG new from HRO in 2004. Since then I have used it on all bands and several modes, including HF CW DXing on 40 meters, daily CW traffic net on 80 meters and a handful of rare check-ins to a sideband traffic net on 75 meters; 50, 144 & 432 MHz using SSB & CW for tropo, sporadic E and aurora contacts; 50 & 144 MHz for digital meteor scatter using J6M and FSK441a, respectively; and 432 MHz using JT65 digital terrestrial transmission. Oh, yes, I occasionally like to listen to SWBC.
Do not be mislead by the above. There are a number of things that this rig doesn't do as well as other radios, and operating from a series of menus is something that can occasionally make CW DXing a bit more of challenge, but IMNSHO you'll be hard-pressed to find a radio that does so many things adequately in so small a package. The current (2/2009) new price is too high, IMO - I paid less that $750 for mine brand-new with a free FP remoting kit - so maybe that''s a valid delimiter when comparing with other radios now available.
But for me the bottom line is that THIS RADIO helped me get VUCC on 50 & 144 Mhz and now has me well on the way towards 40 meter DXCC (already have a CW DXCC, done with an IC-735 back in the '90s). I use a simple wire antenna on HF, a Moxon on 50, a 10-el. Yagi on 144, and an 8-el. Yagi on 432, and nothing is higher than 28 feet in the air. To be fair, I did use a 200w amp on 144 until recently and still use a 100w amp on 432.
I've never had a heat "problem" with this radio, although it can get pretty warm in, say, a VHF contest. There is a simple mod to add a small extra cooling fan on the back and I recommend this for high duty-cycle operation at full power output.
My choice of filters is the FL-232 350 Hz filter for CW and the FL-223 1.9 kHz filter for SSB (and I tried other combinations before deciding on this set).
Again, this radio has its shortcomings. The DSP NR does help sometimes but is far from perfect, the NB is marginally useful, the receive audio doesn't sound as nice on SWBC as a good ol' tube receiver (but neither does any other modern rig), and I never use the "spectrum display" (such as it is). Because of all the menus it can take a while to really know your way around the controls and if you don't use something for a long time you may have to go back to the manual to find it. And if you have fat fingers you may have an ergonomics issue.
The best way to view the 706 is as a complete HF/VHF ham station in one tiny box, with all the compromises that can entail. However, if you treat it right and learn to live with it the way it is you'll be a happy camper like me. In terms of overall capability it beats the crap out of anything I used decades ago, and I've always believed that operator experience can make up for a ton of radio shortcomings.
Yes, it is indeed a workhorse.... :-)
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N0YXE
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 12, 2009 09:30
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RETURN TO GREATNESS!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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My first HF rig was the 706MK2. I eventually traded it towards the 7000, then traded that one for my current rig, the 756 ProIII. When I decided that I wanted a self-contained unit for Ten meter FM, I searched the marketplace and was quite dismayed. The Alinco had only 10 watts and had internal defects (I tried it) and the Yeasu (50 watts) was reported to have had calibration problems and difficulty making it into repeaters. So I returned to the 706. I bought it from Ham Radio Outlet-Denver at a very reasonable price, along with a smaller Samplex power supply and an LDG IT100 tuner. What a small and powerful package! This unit works extremely well and does everything! No wonder it is a solid classic. I'm keeping this one. It's staying inside and I'l use my 703 for portable work in the park. When my son upgrades I'll get him his own 706. THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST BUYS ANYWHERE FOR WHAT THIS RADIO WILL DO! If you're looking for a first HF rig or an extra one for base, mobile, or portable, you will have one of the very best radios available for it's size and price. It really performs.
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KJ4EOZ
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 8, 2009 16:46
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Im glad I got this radio
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Well I just got the 706 MKIIG 3 days ago .
this is my 1st HF rig and I love it !!!!
Put up a G5RV.jr And as soon as I got the 706 hooked up I talked to GA from VA .
within the last 3 days I worked alot of 40 & 20 meters .
Great radio , now I want one for my car .
73s KJ4EOZ
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KD5JX
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 25, 2009 12:26
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5/5
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I see several hams having trouble with over heating. I have never had that problem , even here in Texas where it can be better than 105 degrees in the shade during the summer months, which is about half the year. I use it mainly in a Ford-Ranger P/U. It is the best of all worlds with HF, 2 meter and UHF in the same package.
I have had this since I bought it new at Dayton Hamvention in 2002.
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