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Reviews For: Icom IC-731S

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

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Review Summary For : Icom IC-731S
Reviews: 1MSRP:
Description:
QRP (10W maximum output) version of the famous Icom IC-735, sold only in Japan. A few have been imported into North America and Europe by intrepid hams.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.classicicom.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0014
WX9T Rating: 2019-05-01
Big radio features, QRP output Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Many on here should be familiar with Icom's IC-735, a classic 100W rig from the mid-1980s Icom lineup. Well, what this is is an IC-735 in QRP rig's clothing. With 10W PEP on phone, one might be tempted to think that a radio like this is sort of...silly? Why not just get a 735 and "have it all"? No one can POSSIBLY hear you with that lousy an output...right? Right?

Wrong. The IC-731S is a QRP rig that can walk the walk. Given that it has the same mic processing that its beefier sibling has, when paired with a suitable mic the IC-731S can hold its own. Since SSB is all about the modulation quality, when you have a radio that has the same excellent speech processing as the IC-735 but with 1/10th the power, you're apt to find that you're not losing all that much even with the lower output. I've used my 731S in nets many a time, and never once had a situation emerge where the NCS(s) couldn't copy me. And much of this was with an abjectly-crummy wire vertical + an MFJ tuner; once the mic compression was dialed in right (I used an Icom SM-20 desk mic with mine), the rig was "there", never needed a further tweak, and consistently did a great job at wigging other OPs out when they found out they were QSOing with someone using QRP phone.

But it never really has that "QRP rig feel". The 731S is a full-coverage ham rig with the bells and whistles of a meat-n-potatoes mid-80s Icom, and unless you missed the "IC-731S" on the front panel, you wouldn't know otherwise. Created for the Japanese "Class D" license OPs, this radio allowed for operation under those constraints, but with the ability to "unlock" the rig for all HF bands once the OP had jumped up in class. After all, if you're used to the rig and you like the feel, ergonomics, and performance, why bother going through learning a whole new radio? Certainly makes sense to me! Plus, with all-mode operation (yep, even FM for that segment of 10m as well as AM operation [4W max] that benefits from that excellent speech processing), the rig definitely is one that most any OP would want to keep around. Not that there's an equivalent upgrade path, really; you could either opt for something like an Elecraft K2 ($800, and about the closest thing I can think of), but as for something else in the used price range of this with the same feature set? Nope.

I picked my IC-731S up used in Tokyo Akihabara at Fuji Musen back in 2005, and I have exactly ZERO intention of letting it go. It's that good. The only ding against it is that it too suffers from the same plastic VFO trimmer degradation issue as the IC-735, which is dealt with fairly easily by replacing these with ceramic trimmers. Once that got done, my unit was just perfect. And TBH, you don't necessarily need to blow 100 watts all the time...nor do you, except when doing a tone-test, perhaps. Most of the time, you'll only kick your finals into overdrive on your loudest voice peaks anyway, so...well, you get the idea.

BUT WAIT...there's more! Given that it has the same sort of CI-V connectivity as any other Icom of its sort, this makes the 731S a KILLER rig for digital modes, especially the various weak-signal modes for which running excess power is something of a "don't". But is the receiver up to the task? Well, yeah. At first, I had to grapple a bit with how the filtering worked (I'm still not totally sold on how the roofing filter performs and still might get that swapped out for something tighter) but once that was out of the way, the fine triple-conversion performance of the receiver stage (think Icom's R-71A here) that could even outgun my JRC NRD-515 on weak-signal action says that this rig is very capable for modes such as FT8, where receiver performance is critical. Oh, and did I mention the RIT capability? Yeah, it's got that, too.

Four out of five stars, dinging one off for the chronic plastic VFO trimmer issue (that IC-735 users are likely to know) and the not-so-hot filtering on receive (that one does tend to get used to over time). But with those being the only flaws here, it goes without saying that this Class D radio is a QRP sleeper. Anyone comfy with QRP will be utterly gleeful with one of these...and, for that matter, most anyone else as the IC-731S just doesn't ACT like a typical QRP rig. And...well...it's not. Sure, if you MUST have the typical 100W output, you can pair this easily with an amp such as the Elecraft KXPA100. But then, that kinda takes the fun out of freaking out other OPs when you tell 'em your smokin' signal is QRP phone!