| KG4HUP |
Rating:      |
2011-06-20 | |
| great rig |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
This is one of the very best rigs Ive ever had that does it all. I have a IC756pro an it as close as it gets. Great little do it all rig!! This isnt your old 706 mk2g. It works great.
Thanks Tom |
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| KU5Q |
Rating:    |
2011-06-15 | |
| 3yrs....no regrets |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Liked the idea of the functionality offered in a very small package. No reason to slobber endlessly over what others have already. It does many things okay, but not stellar. It has been dependable in the 3 yrs owned. My job is in avionics service and product certification, so maintaining my own equipment is no big deal with access to all the equipment that could ever be needed to work on my ham gear. All I've ever done to mine is very fine alignments using the service manual. It's never needed anything else. The XMIT audio with stock HM151 can be made satisfactory as long as the operator understands the basics of how the XCVR works in setting up the xmitter, and would hopefully know to how speak into the mic. Pretty basic you would think, but still used to hear lots IC7000 terrible voice audio on the HF bands, and if one really knew the 7000, one could always pick out that (talking in barrel) sound coming from a mal adjusted IC7000 with the HM151. The DSP filtering is okay, but not stellar. Operate only CW these days, and the performance is not like my fully filtered K3, but that's okay, it's not expected to be. As stated, no operational problems or failures in 3 yrs service. And of course anything can fail any time. There have to be a certain amount of operators than unknowingly abuse these radios and other gear because they don't know anything about basic communications electronics and antenna systems. Keep that in mind when reading the emotional "0" reviews, and the questions asked on the yahoo group reflectors/forums. It is not a bad radio at all for a beginner that wants something small that will operate many modes on many bands. Keep an eye on the Chinese mfrs in the years to come. It will be interesting to see what competition they offer to the Japanese "big three". I enjoyed the 7000 for the time owned. With no further interest in voice modes, and operating only cw these days, my 7000 had started to collect dust. It was time to sell it before it depreciated any more, but not because it was a bad radio. It is a decent multipurpose rig that I'm sure still keeps many people happy.
The 7000 reminds me of the boat I once owned in that one of my happiest days was buying it, and one of my happiest days was selling it. Same for the 7700 I just got rid of.
No regrets. |
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| VK6ZMS |
Rating:      |
2011-04-16 | |
| A great unit |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
A great little package, the DSP and Notch filter are
superb. I own two, one in the car and the other in the shack. The radios do run a little warm but a PC
cooling fan over the air vent takes care of that.
Also don't run the mic gain too high if you have the compression on as it can sound a bit tinny.
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| HK3PDX |
Rating:  |
2011-04-15 | |
| Very very bad transceiver. On my first day of use the whole HF |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Por favor, se lo digo de todo corazón, si no quiere tener problemas, jamás compre este transceiver. Comprarlo es comprar problemas.
En mi primer día de uso el se quemó toda la etapa HF. Ahora está en reparación.
Icom está estafando a los consumidores con este transceiver.
Con Ic-756 and TS 480 Sat, nunca he tenido problemas.
_______________________________________
Please, I say with all my heart, unless you want trouble, never buy this transceiver. Buy it is to buy problems.
On my first day of use the whole HF stage burned . It is now under repair.
Icom is ripping off consumers with this transceiver.
With Ic-756 and TS 480 Sat, I never had problems |
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| KF4MJJ |
Rating:    |
2011-04-06 | |
| vote is still out |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I have had my 7000 since 12/2009. Worked great until yesterday and the audio went out on my ext sp. seems the jack in back is not working. Called icom and I have to send it in to WA to have it repaired. You would think something like that would be under warranty but it's not. I would fix it myself but have you looked at how tight it is in there? They would not say how much it will be other than $80.00 an hour. Well if you can’t make money selling radios, sell the service. Not happy so far. KF4MJJ |
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| ON4EM |
Rating:     |
2011-03-27 | |
| can do everything - very sensitive |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
I'm using 2 icoms: the ic-7000 and a 756 pro3. the 7000 is a great rig, I often alternate between both rigs, both offering lots of useful things like dsp on if, cascade notch filtering, spectrum scope...
This ic-7000 is the smallest 'base station' I know. While designed for mobile, it can be used as a base station: big screen, readable, excellent filtering
Be aware of:
1.The rig is sensitive to RF in the shack.
symptoms: rig is changing band while transmitting! Ground it for best results and use balanced antennas.
2.The rig is sensitive to input voltage. See my review of the alinco dm-330mve power supply. But the issue is applicable for mobile as well, with the motor stopped, and 12v supplied from the car battery, you will get max 75w from an ic-7000.
3.Using headphones is more confortable than using the internal speaker.
4.Remote head must be properly plugged otherwize the ic-7000 will not start. Mine is new and this issue is observed since the first day!
5.Microphone adaptation is not required, I've compared the original mic sound with a heil mic (pro set plus) and both are excellent. Use the mic correctly, do not eat it but talk close to it -> for mobile at least.
6.The mic make some cracks (I mean physical crack) you need to use the ptt in a way you do not press the mic otherwize a crack will be heard in your modulation.
I've been using the 7000 for digital and ssb with an amplifier al-811 with a lot of success. |
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| W8NYY |
Rating:    |
2011-03-04 | |
| A Major Issue from IC-706 Not Corrected |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I've been researching this radio and already own two IC-706MKIIGs. I had considered upgrading to the 7000 but there's one fault in the 706 which I figured Icom must have finally corrected in the 7000 and that is the scan resume function. Unlike every Yaesu radio I've used where you have an option to set the scan to stop and stay on a signal until the signal is gone and then resume, Icom only allows you to set Scan Resume Off which stops the scanning process all together when it detects a signal in the scan or Scan Resume On, which resumes the scan either 2 seconds after the signal is gone or after 10 seconds even though the signal is continuing. I monitor public service bands as well as repeaters and find the practice of interrupting the received signal after 10 seconds to be impractical, unuseful and annoying and for that reason alone, I would not lay out the premium price for an IC-7000. The other benefits are not enough to sway me. |
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| KK8ZZ |
Rating:      |
2011-03-01 | |
| Still a great radio! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Just received my third IC-7000... bought one at AES the third week they were available, put it in the car, and just kept operating.... through winter COLD and humidity, then summer heat and humidity, and year after year, it just kept going. Never a problem when coupled to a Little Tarheel II mobile antenna... easy to work 40 meter nets any time of the year on the way to and from work. Downturn in the economy suggested downsizing, so I went to a Yaesu FT-857D and then found that I needed the SSB filter, then the CW filter, and the price worked its way (used) to within a $100 of the price I'd sold the first IC-7000 for.... major mistake! Recently found a nice one here for $975 shipped, then traded a mint IC-746PRO for a second one to go back in the car.. you can debate all the pluses and minuses and pick the nits here and there, but in the end, this is a great mobile rig with great audio and a magnificent noise blanker for mobile QRN, which the 857D just could never kill... the color display, easy menu choices and full function display still delight me. I really don't think you could go wrong with this radio, especially at very reasonable used prices with the mobile/separation kit included.
Bob KK8ZZ Ohio |
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| K0BG |
Rating:     |
2010-12-30 | |
| It has a few wants |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I've been mobile using the IC-7000 now for a little more than 4 years, nearly on a daily basis. It is a wonderful mobile transceiver, but it does have a few drawbacks.
Probably the most offensive is the AGC. It responds to the narrowest of pulses, regardless of its settings. Even using fast decay, the delay back to fill receive takes several seconds. To get around this, you have to use the noise blanker. It's difficult to get a good balance between the requisite NB settings, and not destroying the receiver dynamics.
The Tuner interface is a lot different than the IC-706 series, which means you can't use devices meant for the 706, on the 7000. If you do, the cooling fan won't run correctly, with obvious consequences.
Like just about every synthesized transceiver, there are birdies present. Most are outside the amateur bands, with the exception of 6, and 2 meters. They aren't all that bad, but they are annoying on a quiet band.
It isn't a drawback to me personally, but the fact it doesn't send live touch tones could be one for those who use linked repeater systems.
On the iffy side...
The frequency stability seems to be a variable. Some production runs are good, some not so good. Mine seems to be above average with less than .5 ppm regardless of ambient temperature.
I'd like more audio power, especially when using the front speaker jack. Perhaps they should put an amplifier chip in the head.
The optional screen colors just don't work in a mobile scenario, especially when using an external monitor (I use my navi screen). I'd rather see better resolution as well along the lines of the 7600 or 7800.
Using the voice recorder while mobile in motion, is an act of futility. It would have been nice if the controls would have been added to the Function key settings.
Mine never had the 8 kHz squeal problem, which has since been traced to a incorrectly placed grounding clip. too bad, really, as it generated a lot of bad press.
On the positive side...
On a quiet band the receiver sensitivity is quite good, especially with the preamp on. Side-by-side comparisons with an IC-706MkIIg, and an AB switch, is nothing short of remarkable. Fact is, the 7000 will have solid Q5 copy with the preamp off, when the 706 will be barely Q3 with the preamp on.
I've learned to love the HM151 microphone. Most all of the commonly used functions are on the mic, and the programmable Function keys are a godsend.
And contrary to popular belief, if you properly adjust the transmit bandwidth controls, you do not need any microphone mods. Part of the issue surrounding this scenario, is the mic gain control. Mine is set at 7%, and I close talk the mic. The PEP and average are right where they should be.
Speaking of audio, I never use the compression. About all it does is increase the background noise, and decreases intelligibility. It is actually worse than the one in the 706.
I have a few other minor nits, and a few likes. Hopefully when Icom replaces the 7000 with their 7100, they'll fix the nits, and keep the likes.
Alan, KØBG
www.k0bg.com |
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| K4VUD |
Rating:   |
2010-12-28 | |
| Compromised Toy |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I had a good chance to test the IC-7000 here on my antennas. It has some surprising flaws. Intermod blasts thru it on 17 and 20 with several offending sigs. Two or three on 20 and five or six on 17m. Definitely sw or bc broadcast stations. Turning off the pre-amp helps some but not nearly enough.
The Digital Noise function is great, especially on CW. BUT, the band scope creates pulsing hissing noise when it scans, a factor noted in the book, which recommends turning it off or putting up with the noise. Definitely not good.
Finally, the attack time on the DSP is too slow to cope with pops and short blasts of sigs that scan thru the bands. While the DSP (and the auto notch) are great after they get onto the offending signals and kill them, the quick pops are totally unaffected, and those are even more irritating because the DSP has otherwise quieted other longer-term noise so that the pop is really jarring.
Altho with more bells, the 7000 is not as satisfying as the 706 and the menus will drive u nuts as well as remembering which...and how long...to push panel buttons.
This is a toy radio. If u want small, try the FT-857. In real money adjusted for inflation, this 7000 price says lots... u get what u pay for and only just that by a hair. |
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