| F1VJT |
Rating:  |
2025-01-11 | |
| Great entry level rig |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I have purchased my 730 about 20 years ago.
After a complète alignment I found it very sensitive and quiet receiver when connectd my Rhode & Schwarz CMS50... and I found sames performances on antenna!
Very good receiver, audio is smooth and the IF shift work very well. No overload, no noise.
You can compare 730 receiver with modern transceiver, it probably will be the winner!
Very simple to use, no menu, sub menu, no useless buttons or functions.
After fews years of utilisation i decide to modify the mic stage to standardize it for work with any microphone (go to mods.dk to view my improvements). Goods reports with any type, ceramic, electret or dynamic.
In mine I have replaced the PA transisors after fews weeks,
probably mistreated by the previous owner.
I found more than 100W with a new pair of SD1405, on all bands.
On mine I have added an audio notch board, it can rivalize with others and modern transceivers without shame!
The commons problems (easy to repair yourself) are:
-Preamp relay
-T/R relay
-bad contact on push buttons
-2.4 kHz 455 kHz filter (Murata or other 455 kHz filter with the same bandwidth) or repair the original (with caution!)
PRO:
-very very good receiver, quiet, selective and pleasant
-very simple to use
-two VFOs, split
-good NB
-good IF shift
-relative compact size
-no useless gadgets or menu
CONS:
-no general coverage
-no notch filter
-no 1.8 band
-no 27MHz band (and difficult to modify)
ATTENTION: cold/hot frequency drift is normal for equipment from this era, the transceiver is completely analog and enginered with the technology of 40 years ago, don't be too demanding!
At the time (except for the PA transistors replaced more than 20 years ago and the preamp relay recently), I have never replaced a component, everything is as ICOM made it, no leaks on capacitors.
I use it every day and is my preferred in my shack. |
|
| OZ8AFH |
Rating: |
2024-10-26 | |
| Overall the best "old" radio you'll ever get! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Have had two of those, 1st as my "first" radio after a longer break from HAM due to location.
It suffered from missing preamp relay (jumped wires, preamp always ON, easy to overdrive), I fixed by modifying IC socket to adapt modern closed relay to RF board, worked as a charm.
Added the SSB IF shift filter, CW filter already in place.
Sold it after a few years as I got newer and better (I thought) equipment.
2nd one I bought very cheap, took a chance.
Very weak on receiver, but good Tx. Replaced 1st IF amp and some parts in the preamp. Cleaned preamp relay and did "relay self cleaning mod" to keep the original relay in top shape.
Still low sensitivity, but better. Replaced mechanical filter with FL44A crystal filter. Added IF shift and SSB filter.
Cleaned/regreased all switches.
Radio now working satisfying, sensitivity better than 10dB SN/N @ 0.25uV and more than 15dB SN/N @ 0.25uV with preamp on (Factory 10dB SN/N @ 0.3uV, preamp off)
The station works rock solid and I get as good audio reports as on my FT-710!
I work it side-by-side with my FT-710 and most of the time I prefer the IC-730.
I've acquired the IC-HM10 remote mic and IC-SP3 external speaker - It's really good with those additions
Pros/cons - As amateur station
- Missing notch (Use external DSP)
- Missing wide/narrow on SSB (Use IF-shift)
- Missing 160m band.
- Mechanical IF filter ages badly (Replace with FL44A)
- Preamp relay ages badly (Either replace or clean and add modification)
+ Extremely smooth VFO
+ Extremely fast (manual) change in VFO speed, fantastic!
+ Very pleasant receiver sound
+ Extremely simple in daily use - No menus, just works!
+ Low noise floor and sensitive receiver
+ Good separation, steep filter skirts and excellent Tx audio reports, often people struggle to understand it's not an IC-7300 I use.
+ The best IF shift I've had on older radios, better than on FT-902DM
+ Very low power consumption on standby, less than 700mA, excellent in FD work.
+ Real metal in buttons and front, just feels better than all modern plastic...
Things you'll want if your only station
BCL receiving
FM receiving (10m band only) |
|
| LU7BSE |
Rating: |
2022-06-26 | |
| Beautiful vintage transceiver, from the metal front ones! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| In a few words, it is a device that is already 40 years old, has discreet electronics, and has few functions, solid as a rock, has a very good reception and works better than many current devices, I bought mine from a friend, and it did not work, typical relay problems, both the preamp and the tx rx, after a good cleaning and changing some electrolytic capacitors, the equipment works very well, although the TX Audio is good with any microphone, I prefer the TX From the Kenwood ts-130, That being said, it's a fun radio to use, and I'm super happy with it. |
|
| ON7WP |
Rating: |
2022-02-27 | |
| Best 40 yo receiver ever !!!! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Bought this one broken for 130 Euros.
Problem was screwed up SSB modulator alignment. Fixed this and did a bit of tweaking. S meter was still perfectly S9 at 50 uV. Far less detuned IF strip than Kenwoods of that generation.
SUPERB quad conversion receiver. Great user interface. The same aged TS130 and FT707 are jokes compared to this fine piece of Japanese early days solid state engineering.
A keeper !! |
|
| K1EAR |
Rating: |
2020-06-06 | |
| Restoration notes... |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Bought this in 2014 and used it for three years. Starting jumping around in frequency and FM ing, so I put it on the shelf and bought an IC 7200. Later found web article saying to try cleaning all the pots with contact cleaner (DeOxit works best), especially the main freq adjustment, RIT pot, and XIT pot (R66). This made a huge improvement, and the radio is now usable again; not perfect, since the microphonics of the bandswitch still cause a slight shift, say 5-10 hz, after changing bands, but much more stable.
The stock mic fell apart so I bought a replacement mic from TechnoFix in the UK. Works well, but much hotter than the original, so you have to lower the gain to avoid splatter... |
|
| SV1AGK |
Rating: |
2019-06-23 | |
| noise blanker |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Excellent noise blanker.
----------------------
Earlier 5-star review posted by SV1AGK on 2017-07-09
the best noise blanker ever |
|
| W0RDX |
Rating: |
2019-01-18 | |
| Great Radio and EZ to Buy |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| Have two and they are great. Enough said. |
|
| WB9VKM |
Rating: |
2018-02-25 | |
| Under rated |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| Sure it has no bells and whistles and needs narrow filters for crowed conditions but is well under rated. Only down point is the issues with the pre amp relay.Beats the 7200 on receive and transmit. |
|
| KB1PFL |
Rating: |
2017-08-18 | |
| Easy to operate mobile |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Got one of these a couple of years ago after my ft-857 got hit.got this from HRO in california used.I have had now for more than 24 mounths and must say The fun factor went up about 100% over the yeasu no menus to worry about.
I'm currently using it mobile with a yeasu screw driver antenna it seems to work great this way! this is a keeper.73' Jim KB1PFL |
|
| K4CWQ |
Rating: |
2017-07-26 | |
| Great buy |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
This is a great rig for the price, can be bought used for $200-300. Great buy for new hams, as back up or for poor hams, like myself, on limited income and little money for hobby It has WARC bands, noise blanker, processor, easy to use, with no menus. Other shortcomings, mentioned by others, don't bother me, such as no 160 meters, no FM, no general coverage, few memories. Never use those features..
Would have rated 5 but for the following shortcomings, especially when compared with my old Ten Tecs that I usually operate.
1. No QSK cw. Although I rarely do cw, I like QSK, as on Ten Tec. CW on 730 semi-break in, not easy to use.
2. Several controls under top, lift-up hatch, hard to access and too small to easily use. SWR check requires flipping tiny switch under hatch.
3. SWR check too complex. No easy way to generate cw signal to check.I instead use shorted key jack plug, flip mode to cw, key mike, use SWR meter on antenna tuner.
4. Noisy, compared to my Ten Tecs.
5. No aux jacks to provide 12 volts for accessories.
6. Relays bad for sticking. Many hams report sticking preamp relay problems. Mine OK, but the TX/RX relay sometimes sticks, causing receive sensitivity to be low. I either hit the PTT switch several times or slap the case side and it comes back. Understand relay can be cleaned or new one available from RF Parts.
All said, though, it's a nice solid rig, fun to operate, good audio reports, smooth and stable tuning. Would buy again. Good bargain compared with other older, solid state, WARC-compatible radios. |
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