| KC9MSA |
Rating:  |
2024-08-23 | |
| Great radio |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I tried to delete my review but I can't seem to figure it out. So I revised it instead. Great radio! |
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| KL7JT |
Rating: |
2022-09-27 | |
| A Big Radio that is a Pleasure to Use |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| Have owned for over 10 years. Big knobs and clear display with no menus. Couple mods, such as PBT, N6BV AGC time constant, added external SDR RX. Very good Speech Processor and AT. Turn it on, dial a freq and work DX. RX audio is not quite as good as TS-830S, but have listened for many hours straight in contest. TX is cleaner than many. I think this helps bust pileups barefoot with my modest tri-bander. Very pleasant radio that is fun to use. |
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| N6UBO |
Rating: |
2020-05-23 | |
| Great rig! One of the best! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I've had this rig for about 5 years, maybe a bit more and have loved every moment with it. Great performance and easy to use.
Everything is right in front of you. No menus or scrolling through options, all the buttons are right there on the front of the radio.
Lots of space for my big old fingers, I don't have to worry about buttons that are too close together or labels or print that's too small to read.
One of Icom's best ever, IMHO. |
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| KD7RDZI2 |
Rating: |
2020-02-09 | |
| contest machine but... |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I used this rig sporadically at a Radio Club. I like its front-end very much. Impossible to overload even with large antennas. The RF part seems to me exceptional. This machine is great for CW contesters. SSB in TX is also very good, good modulation. Another pro is that it can be repaired as it uses many standard components. A durable good. |
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| VK2NZA |
Rating: |
2019-09-24 | |
| One of Icoms best! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I love my IC-765!, Although I have a number of later quality DSP rigs as well as some sand-state classics.
This old girl is my favorite go to rig, It sits along side its identical in appearance IC-761 and these are I suggest two of the easiest rigs to live with,fatigue free analog audio, a very clean finals with excellent audio and a punchy processor when engaged.
Ergonomically one of the best rigs around, virtually all functions accessed by a dial or button on the front panel, no menus's.
Large footprint, equal in size to my Yaesu FT 1000D.
No problem with large hands on this rig and a very large smooth tuning knob with good speed selection.
Conversely my FT-1000D tunes a bit fast for my liking.
I get 120 watts out into an 80 meter loop on 80 and 110 watts out on 40 with my ZS6BKW and receive excellent audio reports using an Icom SM-20 desk mic, most of the time I'm cruising at 35 - 50 watts for good copy with current poor band conditions on the local net, but as they say its all in the antennas.
My FT 1000D puts out 180 watts into my loop and about 165 into the ZS6BKW.
Although the FT-1000D has twin receivers my combination of paired IC-761 and 765 gives me similar if easier to use capability.
These have proved to be very reliable rigs used appropriately although the tuner relays can get sticky and caps will need replacing as they age.
The tuner relay is an easy fix with a clean and capacitor replacement kits are NOW available for the IC-765/761 from 2 sources for a reasonable cost.
The IC 765 is relatively easy to work on and has plenty of room to manouvre, it has a excellent build quality and a great appearance with twin digital VFO's and a 1 hz readout, bandstacking register, 99 memories as opposed to 32 on the IC-761, a great multi-fuction analog meter, electronic keyer with full and semi breakin..
Due to a contractual issue with Kenwood the PBT circuit available on the IC-761 was left out leaving the Notch and IF shift only however there is a relatively simple re-connection of the PBT circuit available that utilizes the IF shift control, among-st a number of modifications for the IC-765 easily found on the net.
The 765 didn't receive Icom's finest filters as did the IC 761 however replacing the FL-30 with an FL-80 and the Fl-96 with the FL-44a the filtering becomes superb compared with just very good.
It comes as standard with 2 500 hz CW filters in if i remember correctly the 9mhz and 455 khz stages of this quad conversion receiver.
A DDS PLL Synthesizer with 1 hz resolution works well and I have found no stability issues ever although the 765 did not come supplied standard with the high stability filter option that the PLL only synthesized IC-761 did.
I suspect it wasn't needed, a roofing filter option is available for the IC-765 and although I haven't found the need to fit it, some recommend it.
The inbuilt PS-35 power supply works well however I have disconnected mine and run 13.8 vdc from my solar battery banks thereby reducing internal heat . Its an easy fix as the internal supply use the same 6 pin plug/socket combination as other Icom DC powered rigs.
I highly recommend these now almost 25 -30 year old rigs as they have stood the test of time and can be repaired if necessary and still compete well with later more sophisticated offerings.
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Earlier 5-star review posted by VK2NZA on 2016-09-29
On arrival at the Gold Coasthamfest a few years ago I spotted the bulk of an IC-765 sitting amongst an array of other gear, after giving it a good lookover and deciding it was very easy on the eye I asked how much, the price was more than I had in my wallet and I dragged myself away to other attractions.
Later that afternoon as many were packing up the club member standing behind the stall looked at me and said "go on you know you want one" he was right I did! but I said "sorry its too rich for me" He replied well no one has bought it, we're selling it and its accessories for the family of a recently SK member and its got to go, how much have you got,I dug into my wallet and said $410.00, good enough he said and it was mine!
Sometimes the gods are smiling on you, because the accessories included a pristine Millen tuner an SM8 mic plus SP2300 speaker.
All my xmasses had come at once.
How does it perform,well its big! and it imposes itself over every other transceiver in the shack.
Ergonomically excellent, everything at hand, no menus Yay!
The FT-1000D sitting alongside glowers at it sideways and sulks.
A truly fine receiver, analogue at its best,the finals still punch that Icom clinical copy,and when switched through another pair of Icom classics the IC2KL linear and AT-500 auto tuner well its "the Flight of the Valkyries" Wagner very loudly proclaiming mastery of the airwaves.
Solid state analog nirvana!
No squinting at the screen or applying tweezers to turn a truly miniscule knob on this baby! Large digits are welcome.
Seriously though i have a couple of late model (Icom)desk tops and they are very good, great DSP, fine receivers, but there is something about the IC765/761 that quietly understates quality, those who have experienced them know the feeling!
Highly recommended in that big Lazyboy comfort type ham experience.
Next....I have always admired the IC-775 Hmmmmm. |
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| W4PIG |
Rating: |
2019-08-25 | |
| BEST OF THE BEST |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| GREAT VINTAGE RADIO EASY TO OPERATE |
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| N2ZD |
Rating: |
2019-07-26 | |
| Surprised Me!! |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
I bought this radio a while back and it was missing the bottom metal cover. I scored it for a good deal figuring if I couldn’t get it to work, I would trade it off. Well, it worked fine and I used it regularly and eventually found a lower cover. I did have an issue pop up with the autotuner, the pots that lock into the variable caps tell the tuner board where the slicers are aligned had broken off resulting in the tuner hunting for a match it couldn’t ever find. I ended up just replacing the tuner from a good working one from eBay. I gave this radio a “5“ as I was pleasantly surprised at how great the RX is on a nearly 30 year old radio. Yes, it has its list of quirks, but any handy ham with an iron can fix these rigs on the fly as their problems are well documented. I find the 765 is a little better and well sorted vs it’s older brother the 761. But I have both and love them both as well. Lots of good features on both and the front panel is well laid out. I was never a big fan of Icom, but this rig along with the 781 and 761 changed my mind!! |
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| VE3XMN |
Rating: |
2019-06-23 | |
| EXCELLENT |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I love this ICOM-IC-765. It's a large and heavy transceiver with built-in power supply and antenna tuner. No menus on this one...just knobs and switches! I'll keep this one in the shack forever. VE3XMN |
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| SWL377 |
Rating: |
2019-03-27 | |
| An ICON in the ICOM line. |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
The 765 still has a loyal following and still commands a surprisingly high price used, for a reason: it is a great performer. No DSP, just a classic HF xcvr design very well executed. Build quality is high, relatively easy to service compared to some later more compact sets. There are a few trimmer caps that fail with age but they are well known and not too hard to replace. Scott Malcom at MTS is a 765 GURU and can fix anything that ails your set. HOT very quiet receiver and great xmtr. Good cooling, doesn't overheat. I had the 765 and a 756 MK III right next to each other for a few weeks and although the 756 is a LOT fancier, the 765 could hear absolutely everything the 756 could hear, even weak signals right next to powerful ones. I got better audio reports on the 765 than on the 756 but that could have been due to my 756 mic settings. The 765 is big and heavy but it can go the distance. You will not regret owning one.
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Earlier 5-star review posted by SWL377 on 2012-03-08
No DSP but it still pulls in the weak sigs very well. The 765 suffers from the same trimmer cap aging problems that the 751 does, but its fixable with new caps. Its a big heavy radio. Feels like a 400 watt set but it's not. I like the large front panel, easier to work with than the 751. I get good reports on the transmitted signal, but nobody raves about the audio. Very good ergonomics, you can easily use it without a manual. These sets command astounding prices on eBay where one sold for $1259 in Feb 2012. There must be a good reason why they are so highly prized given how old they are. You can buy a used 756 Pro III for only $400 more so there must be something special about the 765 which has FAR fewer features. I do agree that the 765 rcvr is a high performer indeed, very quiet and sensitive. The rest of the set is good, but not exemplary. It's nice to see an old timer that can still keep up with the new kids as far as hearing weak signals goes. The 765 is a classic and has a loyal following. |
|
| EA5IMJ |
Rating: |
2019-03-26 | |
| Magnifico |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| Buy an icom ic765 and be surprised by its good construction, very robust chassis and quality components, the receiver is really good, and the nb works very well, really does its function, the touch of the buttons is very nice, as for the transmitter pushes very well in ssb, with power around 110w, compare it with my old kenwood ts930 and the difference is quite large, so I sold my 930 and bought another unit of 765. I wonder how it would be the difference with an ft1000 from the same time, I have not found comparative, but it could be interesting |
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