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Reviews For: ICOM IC-R71E

Category: Receivers: General Coverage

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Review Summary For : ICOM IC-R71E
Reviews: 30MSRP: 680-1280
Description:
A classic communications receiver produced from1984-1996.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.rigpix.com/icom/icr71e.htm
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00304.7
PA0PGA Rating: 2009-10-26
A great receiver Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Own the R71E for two years now and use it daily, mostly for SSB on 80. Bought it second-hand with a burned-out transformer and some man-made issues for 150 Euro, and fixed it.
When correctly aligned, it is an amazing receiver, very sensitive and a low noise floor, ideal for fishing out the little signals from under the big QRM at times. It has the CW filter and the AM filter and FM module.
Altough there were some minor issues with the powersupply and there is some digital hash here and there in the AM and LW band, it is still the most used receiver overhere.
I use it beside the computer in my living room to listen on the bands while searching the net.
It can hold its own against every other receiver I own and more (R390A, IC756, FRG-7700).
I really love the little bugger.
PY4VFO Rating: 2008-11-04
Great Radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Excellent with the modifications, IK2RND (Roberto Nardo) EPROM/RAMBOARD, and KIWA audio mods.
My receiver, is with all the modifications, including, P.B.T/Noch filter in AM, etc...
For me is a great old radio.

http://swloggins.blogspot.com/
SWL64 Rating: 2008-10-12
5/5 Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Own my IC-R71E more than a year now,and from the beginning of,my opinion :this is THE receiver i want to keep in my house,it really is an amazing good one!!With the stockfiltering the quality in AM(broadcast)is bad indeed,tuning 1 kHz up/down helps a little.My one has a wide-filter build in and i'm satisfied with it,no audioproblem at all in AM(i can listen for hours!)Owned a lot HF-receivers :Lowe HF350/HF225,Icom R72,Yaesu FRG7700,Kenwood R5000,but the IC-R71E is the best of all,i never sell it anymore.
Built as a rock,nice great S-meter,real laboraty quality!!
DK9DE Rating: 2008-10-10
AM receiption with R-71 Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I fully agree with the comments from KB3GJL about the Icom R71 receiver. I like the receiver using it for SSB mode. I had and still own many other receivers and can say, the AM receiption is the worst of all receivers I know. The shape factor of the cheap AM filter is simply too bad. A strong broadcast station (S9 +60 on the S-meter) splatters more than +-50Kc of the carrier.
The modulation of the strong BC-station is even audible on other stations below or above. Any other receivers like R75, FRG100 or AOR 7030 perform much better in the AM mode than the R71. This receiver is not the right choice for a serious BC listener.
WI0H Rating: 2008-08-11
A Tale of Two Radios Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The Icom R-71 (My version is the A model) is the first radio I've ever encountered that suffers from multiple personality disorder. On one side you have the SSB and utility radio that performs quite admirably. On the other side though, you have its AM performance, which is so mediocre it's laughable.

If you plan on spending all your time on the the ham bands, listening to SSB, or monitoring RTTY and wefax, this radio is your dream come true. If you EVER plan on listening to something broadcast in AM though, don't bother. Quite frankly, this radio sucks when it comes to AM. The filters are either too wide or too narrow, the gain control is useless, and the audio is atrocious. Imagine listening to your stereo with three layers of down pillows duct taped to your head. THAT atrocious. Keep in mind that this is after the radio was professionally modified for improved audio quality as well. Yuck! The good news is that the rig is stable enough to tune in AM broadcasts with either upper or lower sideband engaged, which measurably improves the audio.

So there you have it, two radios in one. Dazzle your friends with its clean SSB reception, then send them all out of the room by tuning in the BBC. I guarantee the radio will hear it, even if you can't. Icom should be proud an embarrassed of this radio at the same time. There are so many better alternatives out there of similar vintage(JRC NRD-525, Kenwood R-5000, Drake R8, etc.), I don't know why this would be anyone's 1st choice for a receiver.
W8WZ Rating: 2008-06-13
Best Rcvr Around Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had 2 Icom R-71A recievers. The first one didn't have the PBT. The one I currently have does have the PBT. Both are wonderful recievers. The PBT is a nice option. The display did go out on the one I currently have. But all that was required to fix it was to replace the electrolytic caps in the display unit. The yahoo user group for the Icom R71A is a great place to get advice about how to fix these radios.

The only radio I have used that was as good as this one was my Kenwood TS-930. I have used an Icom 737, and Icom 735, a Kenwood TS 570, and a Kenwood TS 950. None of those performed as well as the Icom R71A for Shortwave Broadcast DXing. Although the TS-950 wasn't bad. However it cost alot more than the Icom R71A.

This radio has the advantage of having a built in power supply that none of the other Icoms I mentioned had.

I plan on keeping this radio forever. If someone is just getting into Shortwave listening, or if you have been listening for a long time and want to get a very, very high quality rcvr, I HIGHLY suggest the Icom R71A. I am an avid Short Wave Broadcast listner, as well as a Ham who uses this radio with home brew transmitters that I have built. It works great for both purposes.
K9HDT Rating: 2008-03-19
Better than the new stuff! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I own a R71A. It's fantastic. It beats any new radio thats out there. Simple and straight forward. I had the Willco board mod done to give me 1024 memories and to make sure the operating system never dies. The only thing that would have made it better than the newer Drakes would have been a sync detector. Other than that it's every bit as good if not better. By the way I have owned an R8B since 98 so I know what I'm talking about. IT's way more sensitive than my R75 and a lot less noise. No DSP hiss, just a pure analog signal. The radio was a gift from a fellow Ham friend so it's even better. It was just sitting on his shelve collecting dust. Now it get's daily use and will for a long time to come. Too bad they don't make this kind of quality anymore.
IV3GWJ Rating: 2007-12-30
THE RECEIVER!!! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This isn't a ordinary receiver. This is "a receiver". Apellative that can share together with few others (surely..JRC 535, Kenwood r5000).Forget all the "bells and whistles" around. With R71E you can find all the necessary to listen to good programs and make good dx!
....and second hand prices are often good!
Others new and semi-new products could be better in some respects..but in general view this old friend has still a lot to teach!
Buy one if you can!
KPAX2 Rating: 2007-12-24
LOOK AT THE R70 REVIEW Time Owned: more than 12 months.
LOOK AT THE R70 REVIEW. SAME THING without the ENTRY LEVEL MEMORY JUNK.
N6NKN Rating: 2007-04-24
Oldie But Goodie Time Owned: more than 12 months.
My R71 is actually an "A" version. And its performance rates an "A" as well. I have thousands of hours of happy SWLing with this rig and still favor it over my new 756 Pro III. Its audio is top notch for hours and hours of listening. I have owned this receiver for many years and have not found a receiver that greatly outperforms it. I recently bought it a new Par Electronics End-fed SWL antenna, and expect many more years of listening pleasure.

They just don't make them like this anymore.