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Reviews For: ICOM IC-746PRO

Category: Transceivers: HF Amateur HF+6M+VHF+UHF models - non QRP <5W

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Review Summary For : ICOM IC-746PRO
Reviews: 304MSRP: 1,870 (Street)
Description:
All mode HF+SIX+TWO base tranceiver, 32 bit if DSP, 100 watts all bands,digital if filter (51 types),SSB/CW Synchronous Tuning, Lots more....
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.icomamerica.com/amateur/hf/index.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
123044.1
KB4YHO Rating: 2008-01-22
Hard to beat Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I purchased the 746PRO to use at my beach house. I put it on the bench next to my favorite rig the 756PROIII and began compairing the two. Well much to my surprise there is in my opinion very little difference between them. The 756PROIII has a few more options but as far as the transceiver section goes I can't really tell the difference. Maybe with some test equipment I could see the difference but in crowded band conditions this radio shines. Needless to say I have put the 756PROIII back on the shelf and am now using he 746PRO full time. None of the folks I usually talk with knew any difference in the TX audio and I could tell no difference in receiver performance.
This is one radio that should be considered if your budget is in the $1500 range. I see them used for $1100 all the time.
As far as the historical issues with the 746PRO I've experienced none. Fantastic radio and a bargin at the used prices.
KC0VPQ Rating: 2008-01-13
Solid, easy to learn Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is my second iCom, I had the 706MKIIG first, so learning this rig was about a 20 minute undertaking. IF you are coming from Yaesu or another it would be about 2 hours to get real comfortable. It's a snap to run. I was a little worried about the screen with all the new color jobbies out there, but it is clear and bright and has everything you need right there. As has been said a thousand times, the receive audio startled me at first, it is amazing. Fit and finish is A++. Comes with the power supply, and with the DSP and ease of use, and 100WAll Mode, this is the best deal on the market, ill say it again, this is the best deal on the market! Couldn't be happier, Kudos iCom.
AD9P Rating: 2007-12-26
Great Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Best bang for buck.
Not to far behind the pro3.
Thanks
AD9P

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Earlier 5-star review posted by AD9P on 2006-01-20

Outstanding radio.
Excellent receiver, nice sounding transmited audio as well.
AL
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Earlier 5-star review posted by AD9P on 2005-01-17

I have a 746pro with over 10,000 contacts which was used in several contest. It has keyed an AL-80B thousands of times . I am concerned why my 746pro has not blown up. Did I get a Bad one?
I have a Mark 5 Field sitting next to it and yes I feel it is a better radio, but not by much.. I bought a 1000d when they first came out es it was DOA. But Dan at the Ham Station replaced it es it worked just great for the 8 years that I keep it. I don't have any brand loyality to any radio , since I paid for each one.. Now if some manufacture wants to send me a radio then I will feel that I owe some brand loyality. If someone has a problem with a radio of any brand you will see it here on e-ham. But for every problem radio there many many more that work fine. All brands have some problems. I bought a Drake TR4CW back in 1977, es made a few trips back to Drake, but I still think that it is a Classic..
And i still fire it up just to look at the tubes, and warm the shack up.
I don't understand how anyone can list a report on a radio that they don't own....
I like them all es i wish i had the money to have one of each..

Thanks
Al
AD9P
K0ZL Rating: 2007-12-15
Intermittant or low output power, driver bias issues Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Let me start by saying that once fixed, the 746PRO is an awesome rig! It's sensitivity is beat only by my SP600 on HF. On VHF, it's much quieter than my old TS-711.

I have seen a pattern of failure in the driver transistors in the 746PRO. Mike N1EQ has done a great job addressing the issues in his "tech notes" here: http://www.n1eq.com/ ... this is different than the well-known issues with IC-151 (in which power goes away and stays away). If your drivers are bad, you will see intermittant power output on all modes; problem may come and go, or stay low (similar to the IC-151 problems).

The 746PRO (at least early versions) has been shipped without heat sink compound between the driver unit and the chassis. Also on 3 out of 9 rigs so far, idle bias current to the drivers was set to 2.5 amps which is what the service manual prescribes. This results in 35 watts of heat being dissipated into less than 1 square inch of heat sink, without compound. Can anyone say, "soldering iron"? Indeed, the drivers in these cases were getting hot enough to melt solder on each transmission!

So, we replace the driver module, add heat sink compound, and reset the bias to 0.5 amps idle; a much more reasonable 6 watts or so of heat. Now you can leave your fingers on the tops of the drivers without having to reach for the Bactine.

Don't try removing the drivers with solder wicking; you will need a professional vacuum desoldering system (no sucker bulbs), or the Chipquik system. http://www.chipquik.com/ ... email them, be nice, they may send you a sample! Their site has some cool advice on working on SMD stuff without spending a fortune.

How did I find that 0.5 amps was about right for the new idle bias setting on the drivers? Well, my buddy Fred, AA0JK lives about a mile away; I asked him to go "on channel" with me on 20M, then switch to LSB with his 756PROIII and listen for stuff from the 746PRO. We compared adjacent channel splatter (third order distortion for you techies) at a driver bias setting of 2.5 amps and again at 0.5 amps and found no difference; the 746pro is clean at either setting. Thanks, Fred!

You can assume that your driver module was shipped without heat sink compound. However, if you are not experiencing intermittant power output, the drivers may not have been damaged yet. Checking your idle current may be all you need to do.

An easy way to check your rig for this problem: Using your digital ammeter (Fluke 70 series is sufficient), check your rig's current in transmit mode, SSB, no audio in. If it's under 4.00 amps, you are probably OK. The ones we have been seeing are around 3.2 amps idle in TX. I will try to post the adjustment procedure (with pictures) on www.mods.dk later on. Check Erik's site; I should have this done in the next day or two. Or email me direct at k0zl.ham at gmail dot com.

Once again, the 746PRO is a great radio and I would not hesitate to own one (my 850 and 756nonPRO take up all my 'rig slots'). As with many great radios, this one needs a little help to see a long life in the shack. If I had one, I would check and adjust the driver bias current, then sit back and enjoy the rig! 73 to all!


AA9NN Rating: 2007-12-08
Excellent radio for the money Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The OLD problems are in the past. The 746PRO is an excellent radio for the money. Its a better HF radio than my TS-2000 which I love. I will keep them both.
I feel ICOM has the major issues under control.
K9WJL Rating: 2007-12-07
It'll always be here Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I'm a fairly new Ham, and knowing that I'd never be satisfied as just a Technician Class, I bought this Rig about 18 months ago because I wanted a Rig I could grow with.
I was using it on 2m FM at first, and I always got great reports on the Audio. Everyone would say I was booming in to the repeaters around the area here, and I was only using the stock hand mic.
I upgraded in Feburary, and I soon fell in love with the Rig on 15, 17 and 20 meters. I was using a chimney mounted A-99 and the tuner made my life really easy when it came time to change bands.
I put a G5RV up later and again, the Autotuner never had any problem with it, from 6m to 160, it never had any problem getting a flat match,and I've happily made hundreds of barefoot contacts with these combinations.
Addition of Rig control software was easy and so was the addition of an Amplifier.
I'm still learning this Rig, I discovered the other day that it decodes RTTY and displays it on the screen. Maybe one day I'll figure out how to use the stacking registers or whatever they're called.
I could go on and on, but I think that this is probably the best rig for the money available. I'm sure that there are better radios out there, but not in it's price class.
IMHO, If you're looking for a good first rig, this is the one you should buy.
WY4J Rating: 2007-11-23
JUST GREAT!!!!! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Not much more to add that has not been already said.....great audio, performance, perks and price. You will be happy that you made the choice.
SQ1K Rating: 2007-11-06
Great RX Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Hi,

I have been waiting to write this review after CQ WW SSB contest. I bought this radio couple of weeks ago toogether with PS-125 from my radio friend who made some mods with added heatsink for known places.

Now I can say how good this radio is.

I worked with this radio during the contest on 160m cathegory.This was my primary choice because I wanted to check my new radio as well as my Inverted L antenna.In my point of view this radio have very silent RX, most of the time I recived stations on TOP BAND without ATT, there was only view times when I hade to use ATT during strong signals nearby.I could easy dig weak signals next to the strong HP stations.

Digital filters are really good with his quick choice, to change filter widths or shapes you only need to push filter button for 1s.Radio is easy to use with not so deep menu system.

I only miss with this radio separate RX antenna input and sometimes for dualwatch which was helpfull when I used to IC756. I also used to a lot of transceivers and last one before was 746 but it`s hard to compare 746 with 746PRO for me. Different class of radio.

I hope to stay longer with this radio.

Best regards
Bart SQ1K
http://sq1k.bloog.pl

N5PK Rating: 2007-10-01
best for the buck Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've owned most of the rigs out there, including a
lot of the newer ones as well as the best of the
older rigs of the past.
I'm getting a new second IC-746PRO before they (ICOM) discontinue production. This rig does it all and for the cash outlay it's the best for the bucks out there in todays market.
N7SEE Rating: 2007-10-01
fair rig Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Bought new in March 2007 from HRO. Rig has good recieve but needs to go back to Icom for repair already. Output on 20m is intermitant and the CAT port went dead without explaination. This is the 2nd 746PRO in the local area to have the CAT die...A side note, of the 5 Icom rigs I use regularly 3 need repair, This one, a 706MKIIG that powers its self off only on 20m with intermitant recieve, and a V8000 that has a bad mic..I think I will buy another brand next time, too many issues with new rigs.