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Reviews For: ICOM IC-R75

Category: Receivers: General Coverage

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Review Summary For : ICOM IC-R75
Reviews: 87MSRP: 570.
Description:
Desktop Communications Receiver
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.icomamerica.com/receivers/tabletop/#IC-R75
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00874.5
KC2IGY Rating: 2001-08-15
Would be perfect if the AM Sync. Det. worked Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Very nice receiver. If the AM Sync. Det. worked, it would be perfect. Unfortunately, it doesn't do anything. WIth that said, the radio is still great. Everything else that it does, it does very well.
You get a wealth of features for the price. This radio used to cost around $700 not to long ago. Now you can get it for a little over $500 with the optional DSP. This receiver is tough to beat for the price.
KB5OQK Rating: 2001-02-05
Very nice Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Ordered it online, sight unseen. Got mine for $519 + freight. Was pleasantly surprised with selectivity, since I am only 3 miles away from a 50kw AM station. I have a vertical 6 foot long, 1 inch diameter dowel helically wound with 65 feet of bell wire because of lack of space in my condo. It works great considering the strange design of the antenna, but works better when I reel out my 100 foot longwire throughout the rooms. Of course that's not very feasable. Having 2 antenna jacks makes such antenna comparison a real breeze! Much better than my portable. Planning to buy the handle kit & DSP filter, to be ready to tote on vacation.
K1YGG Rating: 2000-12-01
Very good overall Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have owned the R75 for several months now and like it quite well with a few exceptions. One problem is that the sync. detection is nearly useless and the rf gain control does not seem to do anything. I installed the DSP unit after three weeks of listening without it (on the BC band)and did not like the change in overall BC band performance. The signals pump regardless of the settings/level. All the new functions perform as required, but after I disconnected the DSP it sounded better. Without the DSP it is still my top receiver out of a R5000, IC726 and a TS430s.
BD9494 Rating: 2000-10-01
Great receiver at its price range with the free DSP. Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
The ICOM R-75 is outstanding for receiving the HF bands and shortwave. Add the DSP its worth the upgrade. Now that I have owned the R-75 long enough to know how to really fine tune weak signals and shortwave broadcasts I give it a five rating.

On shortwave where fading is a problem I tune the rf gain lower while using the F.AGC and that eliminates fading. For weak HF fine tune the rf gain and use F.AGC for pulling out the weak signals. I am amazed at all the HF signals I can tune from all over the world including the hard to get signal beacons. My R-75 has a 60' wire in the attic from Lantini Communications. That wire is outstanding.

I think the Icom R-75 is outstanding with almost no complaint. Out of the box learning to use the R-75 with the instruction manual was difficult since I had no previous receiver experience. I learned quickly since the R-75 has simple controls. The only fault I have about the radio is the speaker. Buy an external speaker and learn to tune the R75 with a great antenna and you can hear almost any signal.
KF4GNL Rating: 2000-09-27
Good tabletop receiver, affordable price Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The R75 does everthing the reviews in QST, Passport to World Band Radio, and the Radio Netherlands Receiver Review say it should. DSP works well and is a must. DSP installation was relatively uncomplicated. Synchronous AM doesn't work at all, but this is as the above reviews state. SSB sensitivity is excellent for amateur and utility reception. Price at the Huntsville Hamfest in August 2000 was around US$635 with a coupon for the free DSP board. If the synchronous AM worked, I would have given it a 5/5.
KE2WG Rating: 2000-07-02
Good Package Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've had this one in the shack for about a week now. Installed is an INRAD 2.1 Khz SSB filter. Only option, other than the dsp. So far, it is doing nicely. Very sensitive to the weak ones and the dsp NB & NR work effectively. Two selectable pre-amps, really give the rig a kick in the butt, when diggin them out. Noise does not increase with use as much as I would have thought. Pleasant surprise. One item, an outboard speaker is a must. The internal one appears to be an after thought. However, this seems true on most HF rigs these days. The set does not have hissy audio, like the JRC series, 525 & 535. (been there & done that) Nor the thin audio of the 71A. Keyboard entry is excellent, as is the overall ergos of the rig. It is all there, like it should be. The Twin PBT is a star performer and with the opt filter in the rig, makes its use outstanding. For you clock fans; yes it has one. No, I don't use it. Compared to other rigs on the market, I'd say as long as Icom adds a coupon and throws in the dsp, it is one of the best buys under a Kilo-buck. I just wish Icom would have put this receiver in their new entry level xceiver. Probably would have been a real winner.
KB9UER Rating: 2000-02-24
R75 Beats R71A Time Owned: unknown months.
Purchased Icom R75 and received DSP free in 10days.. Somewhat easy to install DSP. This receiver is much better than my 71A. The DSP alone is alarge advantage to this unit. For 688.00 purchased from AES in Wis. this is aneat performer. It has more hands on control of filters and double IF shift to bring in hard to receive stations. @ antenna selections and the sync. detector really helps hold on to AM broadcasts.The audio is good even tho the speaker is small and set to one side. This is a great deal for SW listeners price and quality . I use a 85 foot end fed long wire and it works fine attached to the 500 ohm connector. Will add a G5RV this summer. Good luck with yours.