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Reviews For: ICOM FL-53A i-f filter

Category: Filters, RF: bandpass, duplexer, lowpass, highpass, RFI/EMI

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Review Summary For : ICOM FL-53A i-f filter
Reviews: 5MSRP: $190
Description:
250 Hz narrow cw filter for ICOM 455Khz i-f
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0055
VE2EZD Rating: 2012-06-11
Great filter Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I wanted to add a narrow CW filter to a recently acquired IC-751A. Because I've read so much great reviews about the FL-53A I decided to go with this Icom original filter.

I was lucky to find one on eBay offered by "hamguy123".

I received the filter exactly as described: in excellent shape.

What a great filter! Its the perfect combination with the IC-751A. CW is so pleasant to listen to.

Highly recommended.
KB5KWO Rating: 2006-01-17
Does as Advertised Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
PRO- The FL53-A Absolutely does as Advertised. Most of the Hash and QRM seemingly Disappear into Neverland once the Filter is Engaged. The Signal that you're looking for seems to Jump Right out at you.

?CON?- *You will have to use your RIT if you want to Roundtable or Participate in a Net as many Ops dont zero-beat close enough for the 250hz Filter to Receive Everyone. This very minor inconvenience is Easily Outweighed by the advantage of having such nice Filtering.

PRO - Effective Filter that Surprised Me. I'm Glad that I went with the Narrow instead of the 500hz. I Ran without a Filter for almost 2YRS and while I cant Give Technical Data, I can say that it Works as Advertised....

..Wish I Wouldnt have Waited So Long?
VE2DC Rating: 2004-07-20
Very narrow Time Owned: more than 12 months.
At 250HZ at -6db and 480Hz at -60db, t's a bit narrow for general use. I have both the 52 (500Hz) and 53 (250Hz) and I use the 500Hz most of the time... but when you need it for DXing or contesting... it really makes a difference.
K8WV Rating: 2004-06-17
VERY sharp Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I give this filter a 5 because it does exactly what it's intended to do. The trick is to understand what it does, and to make sure that's what you want.

It is as narrow as a CW filter ever needs to be. It's so narrow that you'd be hard pressed to use it for ragchewing. Any retuning or drift and you'll lose the other station. This is the filter I use for CWSS and similar activities - wall to wall, strong signals, and short contacts. I don't recommend it when calling CQ. If you try to listen to both sides of CW contacts, you'll quickly find out that a lot of stations are not working each other on the same frequency. You'll have to switch the filter out, or retune to hear both sides of the contact. Of course, if you call a station you've tuned using a sharp 250 Hz filter, and s/he's using the same type of filter and working stations exactly on his/her frequency, you'll make the contact. That's what makes it a great contest filter.

The FL-53 is a 455Hz IF filter. I keep a 500Hz filter in the 9MHz position in my IC-740, and use it with a DSP-9 outboard audio DSP unit under "normal" conditions.

But when the going gets tough . . ..
NZ5L Rating: 2004-06-17
outstanding Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After three years operating my IC-718 in cw mode, I finally decided to bite the bullet and try the real deal. Previously have gotten by with audio add-ons, like QF-1A and more recently MFJ-784 DSP box. Just added the FL-53A, and can only say: Why did I wait so long? Difference in QRM and noise reduction is immense, nothing else comparable. Sold the QF-1A, may sell the 784 as well. If you have the 718 and like cw, you NEED this filter.