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Reviews For: ICOM IC-7700

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

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Review Summary For : ICOM IC-7700
Reviews: 135MSRP: 6999.95
Description:
Description: The ICOM 7700 200W HF/6M has been introduced at the 2007 Dayton Hamvention. ICOM has followed all the success of the beautiful IC-7800 with the smaller, single receiver IC-7700. It utilizes two separate 32-bit floating point TI DSP chips, has a 7-inch wide TFT display, built in RTTY/PSK31 receive and transmit using a USB Keyboard interface, external video connection, high res spectrum scope, plus high voltage MOSFET 200 Watt PA.
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
001354.4
IZ1ANU Rating: 2008-04-28
THE BEST..!!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
excellent tranceive great receiver the best ..!
KC1XU Rating: 2008-04-24
Excellent Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The IC7700 now sits next to my ProIII, and replaces my FT9000DX. This rig is much easier to "learn" than the Yaesu was. The software and menus are far more intuitive. I owned the FT for 18 months and never grew fond of it. I am an occasional user, sometimes not playing radio for weeks at a time. I was constantly referring to the Yaesu users manual do anything. The Icom is a dream by comparison.
My only complaint is "no dual watch". I understand that this radio does not have the 2nd super receiver in it like the 7800, but if the Pro series supported dual watch at their price point, this rig should also have it.
ZS00011 Rating: 2008-04-23
SUPERB Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Icom IC-7700 initial impressions.

Your first impression when the deliveryman brings it is it's HUGE - a giant box weighing in packed at 37kgs/80 lbs. It is double boxed and extremely well packed. It takes two of you to unpack it and get it in place in the shack. Setting up may be difficult for anyone not familiar with the Icom 756 PRO range, as it has a huge 216 page instruction manual and takes some time to go through it and get familiar with all the functions and numerous "bell's and whistles". However, if you already owned a 756PRO series you will find setting up much easier as many of the functions follow the same format.

I am a listener only and focus mainly on the LF and MW bands.
I have had it for several days now and feel more familiar with it and have given it a really good thrash in some productive quiet early morning pre-dawn sessions.
It is very quiet compared to the already quite quiet 756PROIII that I have next to it connected for direct A/B comparisons through a SP20 speaker and common antenna.
A major advantage for me is that the 7700 will engage both pre-amp 1 and 2 in both LF and MW bands, whereas this is not possible on the 756. In addition pre-amp 1 is supremely quiet and can be engaged with confidence in nearly all situations. This results in the possibility to render audible some very faint stations that are not audible on the 756. In addition pre-amp 2 can also be engaged usefully on MW and LF, even though the instruction manual recommend it's use only above 20 Mhz.

The action of the filters on the 7700 is superb, as when selecting a 2 Khz setting and engaging the 3 Khz roofing filter. Working the difficult 9/10 Khz MW splits is a breeze and gives results appreciably better than the 756PRO.

Using the pre-amps and the tight filters I was able to render several very weak Brazilians audible that the 756 couldn't get. Plus on LF I found the ASN Ascension Isl. NDB beacon, extremely faint but readable with a 50 Hz filter and pre-amp 1 on. You could hear it faintly on the 756, but could not really render it readable.

The NR noise reduction feature on both radio's seems to be the same, but the NB noise blanker is a dream on the 7700, as it is adjustable for both width and depth. On the 756 the NB will only zap the infrequent ignition noise you get today, but the 7700 will in addition zap all sorts of suburban electrical pulses = lovely feature.

The 7 inch scope is lovely, much clearer and larger than the 756 and covers a much greater span - 5 khz to 500 khz in several steps.

So I am very happy with the 7700 and it seems a very worthwhile upgrade and money well spent. Don't misunderstand me, the 756PROIII is a very good radio, it is just that the 7700 is superb and a marked improvement.

John Plimmer, Montagu, Western Cape Province, South Africa
South 33 d 47 m 32 s, East 20 d 07 m 32 s
Icom IC-7700, Icom IC-756 PRO III with MW mods
Drake SW8. ERGO software
Sony 7600D, GE SRIII, Redsun RP2100
BW XCR 30, Sangean 803A.
Antenna's RF Systems DX 1 Pro Mk II, Datong AD-270
Kiwa MW Loop.
http://www.dxing.info/about/dxers/plimmer.dx

K7ERQ Rating: 2008-04-22
OUTSTANDING! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Congratulations ICOM. You have another gigantic contribution to Amateur Radio. IC7700 excellent! Outstanding on CW. Outstanding on SSB. Quiet Receiver. A beauty to look at, operate, and enjoy
VR2XMC Rating: 2008-04-18
Get it if you don't need second receiver Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Just got my IC7700 few days ago and did an A/B comparison with my IC7800 (version 2). Grass level in the band scope is lower in IC7700 and the receiver seems quieter. I still need some time to evaluate both rigs before arriving a definite conclusion. However, if you don't need a second receiver, IC7700 is the best now.
W7UTE Rating: 2008-04-15
The Best! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This radio has to be the best built and performing radio I've ever owned. The hardest part was unpacking it and getting into my second story shack. Thankfully the UPS man carried the 82 pound box into my dinning room for me to open. I'm no DX'er or engineering type,but this radio in my opinion is the best ever. The ic781 I had was wonderful but very old technology and the Kenwood 950SDX I now own is nice to listen to,but not in the same class. The 1000D and 1000mk5Field are good,but the ft2000D isn't even their class. Thanks Icom for such a quality and fun to use radio!!!!!
W8DO Rating: 2008-04-15
W8DO Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've completed checking my IC-7700 out on all bands and modes and find it working perfectly! PSK and RTTY are simple to use compared with PC interfaces. I did have a top line USB interface running with my Icom 756PROIII but have to say that the 7700's built in decoder is faster and easier to use. I've gotten excellent audio reports on SSB and AM plus very good C.W. reports (my favorite mode). QSK is fast and adjustable and, there's no noise. The filters are the best I've every used, better than my Ten Tec ORION or PROIII. No ringing, exceptionally clear with the narrow filters. The layout is extremely well thought out with large dials controlling the most often used operations. Quick spit works great and was proven while working the YK9G pile up this past weekend. Compatibility with the IC-PW-1 solid state linear is perfect. It took about five minutes to change the PW-1 over for operation with the IC-7700. Finally, the feel of the main dial reminds me of the Collins dial, smooth!! Congratulations ICOM!!! I should have photos up on my web page in one or two days. www.nancyanddave.com
RFEXPERT Rating: 2008-04-07
PERFECT EXECUTION Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After getting rid of my FT1000D and buying a K3 which was disappointing in so many areas, i decided to try the IC7700.

What i wanted was a radio that had a good receiver as well as a good transmitter just like my old FT1000D. The K3 while having the best receiver fails to deliver in so many areas. The K3 SSB transmitter is very poor and has numerous design issues.

The IC7700 has a perfect transmitter that puts out a superb clean signal that the K3 can never match. I also like the 200 watts, a true big guns radio like the FT1000D. If you have a FT1000D get the IC7700 you will not be disappointed. The speech processor is excellent in the IC7700 and does not generate IMD around the transmit signal like the K3;s speech processor. You can also leave it off and still get full PEP power unlike the K3 which struggles getting 90 watts of pep out, its average power is very poor.

The receiver in IC7700 sounds much better than the K3's When you engage the preamp on the K3 it becomes a very noisy receiver. The IC7700 is dead silent with little apparent rise in the noise floor. The K3 seems hissy by comparison.

The raw sound on the IC7700 is much better and cleaner. It almost appears as if the K3 has peak distortion and almost sounds digital in comparison to the IC7700 which sounds warm like a old collins. The AGC is much smoother and has a better better response on the IC7700.

Ergonomics and layout kills the K3 in every detail. At least you can do a bit of shortwave tuning and get back to the ham bands. The K3 is a nightmare in this area.

Integrated bandscope is superb....

The VFO knob is silky smooth like it should be and is at the right height. The K3 is tiring too use from all manner of perspectives. The IC7700 makes a far better contest radio.

The stability is superb, unlike the K3 with its crippled 1ppm TCXO. The IC7700 is 0.05 as standard, this baby does not drift.

The only thing the K3 has over the IC7700 is the AFX binaural feature. The noise blanker in the K3 is superior, and its one of the reasons i am keeping the K3 as a receiver. The K3 will blank the chinese dragon on the low bands. It is safe to say if you work low band CW and you dont have a K3 you will pay the penalty in your contest scores. The K3's DSP blanker is fantastic.

In short the IC7700 has a better balance of features and performanc between its transmitter and receiver. It also has superior ergonomics. The K3 is a bargain in comparison to the IC7700. However the K3 is very agricultural in its construction and its current state is an unfinished product thats hampered by slow firmware releases. When i bought the K3 i was hoping it was going to be a good replacement for my Ft1000D, the lack many things in firmware and features in the K3 has changed my mind on this. The K3 was delivered way too early. Things like not having AMP keying delay should not be absent on a new radio.

I am very happy with my IC7700, and it will probably be my main ham radio unless something much better comes along. ITS SUPERB.
GW3YDX Rating: 2008-04-05
What a shame! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Bear in mind that this review was the result of all of two hours in front of the radio, as it was intended for one of our customers, who kindly allowed me to play with it.

First impressions are very smooth, very quiet. The RTTY screen is fantastic with both the waterfall and the spectrum scope there and decoding is faultless even at 250 Hz bandwidth. A *** HUGE *** radio and I have never seen a shipping box like it. The features on it are very nice but the lack of dual-watch just screams at you. I tried it on split to see if it was all a big misunderstanding and perhaps dual watch was really there but hidden, but no joy.

The build quality is outstanding. It is very solidly constructed. Have a good breakfast before lifting it!

QSK is excellent with no sign of character clipping even up to 40 wpm. SSB on both receive and transmit was nice and crisp even with my ultra-cheap HM-12 fist mic. I do not have equipment to measure IP3 or noise floors, but the radio will not fail on the technical measurements, I am sure.

I'm mainly a CW operator and the CW APF is a nice feature. It was there on the IC-746, pity ICOM didnt include it on the pro-series.

The screen has a much better definition than my pro2, where copying RTTY is fairly useless as the characters are pixillated due to poor screen definition. However, the display washes out at less viewing angles than the pro2 display. Having the waterfall and the spectrum display on screen is lovely to tune data-mode signals with. However I was rather surprised that one has a much more limited choice of screen colours and fonts than on the pro2. I am saying this without having read the handbook so am probably wrong here. Use of a VGA external monitor delivers a beautiful screen with easy font size for the RTTY and PSK decoding. Very nice..!

What do I think as a summary? Too big for my shack... And of course no dual-watch. I have the feeling that I may be able to pull some more weak ones through with the 7700 but for 99.9% of the time the pro2 / INRAD roofing filter will be fine. As I use an amplifier the 200W does not do anything for me.

ICOM - if omitting dual-watch was a marketing ploy to get me to buy a 7800 instead it has failed. Not to be able to copy both sides of a pile-up with a major transceiver offering is a fatal error, and no I wont be buying a 7800 as a result. Some say that the dual-watch was omitted or the price would have been much more. Come on - dual-watch is on the pro series that sell at half the price, so I dont buy that for one second!

I would buy this radio if it had dual-watch, but leaving it off is a critical error for a top-of-the line DXers radio. I'll wait for my K3 (with 2nd RX if it ever happens) to arrive instead. Maybe ICOM will take on board this issue and the 7700Mk2 will include dual-watch. At that point I may dust off my wallet and evict the moths from it.

73 de Ron Stone GW3YDX

KP4BD Rating: 2008-04-05
KP4BD Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I HAVE JUST BUY THE 7700ICOM WHICH IS A BEAUTIFUL RADIO AND THE RADIO I HAD BEFORE 7800ICOM IS ALMOST THE SAME RADIO. THEY ARE BOTH RADIO 100% BEAUTIFUL. AFTER I HAVE TRAY ALL THE RADIO LIKE YAESU, KENWOOD I WILL STAY WITH RADIO THE 7700ICOM. 73DX.KP4BD