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Reviews For: Icom IC-723S

Category: Transceivers: HF Amateur HF+6M+VHF+UHF models - non QRP <5W

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Review Summary For : Icom IC-723S
Reviews: 1MSRP:
Description:
QRP version of the Icom IC-728 sold for the Japanese market 3rd and 4th class licensees in the early to mid '90s. 10W output SSB/CW only, general coverage receive. AM/FM with UI-7 option board installed. A 25W version, the IC-723M, was also available.
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0015
K7VO Rating: 2006-08-04
Basic rig, nice and simple with a sweet receiver Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
The Icom IC-723S is basically a QRP version of the well regarded Icom IC-728. It was originally only sold in Japan but thanks to the internet and eBay you can very occasionally find one on the used market that made it across the Pacific. Power output is adjustable from just under a watt to 10W out. It lacks the infamously noisy fan on the IC-728 and IC-729.

The IC-723S uses a pair of MRF477 transistors for finals. The IC-723M, a 25W version of the same rig, uses exactly the same finals so the 10W version is never going to push them anywhere near the limit. They should last almost forever.

The receiver is really quite good. The noise floor is quite low thanks to a very good DDS front end. For fighting QRM the IC-723S has passband tuning (PBT), which I find to be more effective than the IF SHift in Icom's current QRP offering, the IC-703Plus. The rig does not have DSP, something Icom's newer offerings do have.

The main drawbacks to this rig are high power consumption (5A for 10W output) and relatively large size compared to today's tiny rigs. The IC-723S is fine for a QRP rig in the shack but it's not very practical for portable operation. Also, for CW it's the typical Japanese semi-QSK. What a gem this rig would be with full QSK. There is no allowance for a narrow SSB filter, which, to me, is another drawback.

While I've read lots of complaints about the FL-100 and FL-101 CW filters offered for this rig (same as the IC-706MkIIG) I personally find the FL-101 250Hz filter works very well for me and received CW signals sound quite good. Receive audio in SSB and even in AM for SWLing is also quite pleasant. I really don't hear the hiss some reviewers of the IC-728 complain about at all. The IC-723S does get good transmitted audio reports with the stock HM-12 hand mic. when running SSB. I don't have the FM/AM transmit board installed so I can't comment on those modes.

The IC-723S does meet NTIA standards for frequency stability on 60m if you have the optional CR-64 installed. I've done the 60m mod (really general coverage transceive mod) and it proved to be quite simple. The rig works perfectly well on 5 MHz.

Overall I am really enjoying this radio. For the $250 plus shipping I paid for this rig it's proven to be a real bargain. For what it is, a basic radio with good performance, I think "Great!" is the fitting description, hence the 5. It's not perfect but there is no 4.5 rating, is there? If you enjoy QRP and see one of these at a reasonable price it's worth having.