| KI4PSR |
Rating:      |
2011-08-28 | |
| Difficult Install for me |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I installed this mod/kit yesterday, and it was certainly more daunting than I expected. That surface mount resistor is tiny! Removing it and attaching the component leads was tricky. I had no problem with the other routines required by the mod however. Given the high marks for the work Burghardt does installing this mod, and their diligence in finding and fixing other issues on the rig, I would send it to them if I had to do this again.
It works well ans others have reported. I'm glad I did it, and I'm glad it works, and I'm glad its done and back in the shack! Whew! |
|
| W3PH |
Rating:      |
2011-05-31 | |
| Big improvement during WPX contest |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I shipped my ProIII off to Burghardt to have the Inrad roofing filter installed, and they seem to have done a great job. There was much less of the goop that I used to hear on 40 CW during hot-and-heavy contest periods with strong signals all around, and the fatigue factor was much improved. Scope still works fine, and noise reduction works at least as well as before. For me, this was the best way to get to the next level, rx wise, without buying a new rig, and I'd definitely do it again. |
|
| AC0X |
Rating:      |
2011-04-08 | |
| Superb - but kind of think of it like a fire extinguisher.... |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
A superb add on for your Pro III...
But kind of think of it as a fire extinguisher...
Let me explain...
Most times, most people never use their fire extinguisher (but oh boy they'll be glad they have it when they need it)...
And most times, most hams will never notice what this little gem does (but oh boy, they'll be glad they have it when they need it)..
On an average rag chew day with a not-too crowded band, you'll move your balance control from left to right, and not really notice a thing..
But get on during a heavy DX Phone contest, with the 100dB+S9 sigs all over the band, and you WILL notice when trying to work the weak ones. No, it won't help if someone is working a kc away. No filter will help much there, you're dealing with the transmit width of the offending signal. But many of the strong ones that were out of your passband but STILL seem to bleed for several kcs will be reduced or even gone. This is what a roofing filter is good for, and this one works well at it.
Some notes tho for users
1) Its a 4-5 kHz filter. Which makes it great for phone, and a big help on CW. But its improvement on REALLY close by offending CW signals (withing the roofing filter passband) won't be much (heres where the 7600 does somewhat better, it has 3 kHz roofing filter)
2)If you're an SWL or AMer and like listening to your stations in the WIDE modes (6kHZ and 9 kHz), you have to listen to them on VFO B (Minor nit, to be sure)
3) Its too narrow for NBFM
4) Its NOT an install for neophytes. Not even neophytes plus. Most hams, even with a fair amount of technical experience may want to defer this to a more experienced technician.
But - for those who find themselves in a position to need the extra filtering, they will for sure find it VERY useful. |
|
| K2QPN |
Rating:      |
2011-02-21 | |
| Wow! |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
I had the INRAD roofing filter installed in my Pro3 by a club member. He is certified to do SMT repairs.
My first impression was the the bands seemed much quieter. Next, I was listening to a weak DX station and noticed that there was a huge signal less than a kc away. No interference, no key clicks, no nothing.
The proof of the pudding was the ARRL CW DX contest. The bands were much quieter. No hash and no trash. Copying weak signals was a breeze. The contest went from a chore to a pleasure. I doubled my previous best score.
If you are contester or a DXer, I highly recommend the INRAD roofing filter.
73, Bob K2QPN
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Earlier 5-star review posted by K2QPN on 2011-01-17
I just had an Inrad roofing filter installed in my Pro3. The preliminary results are impressive. I turned on the rig and the bands were noticeable quieter. Then, I was listening to a DX CW station and noticed a super strong (S9+20)signal on the band scope - right next door. I didn't know he was there - no clicks - no thumping - no nothing. It seemed easy to pull out weak SSB signals, sandwiched between strong signals, during the NAQP.
I will write another review after the ARRL DX contests. That is the acid test.
If you are a DXer or contester the filter is a definite plus.
73 (Best Regards),
Bob Nelson K2QPN
Burlington County Radio Club
Frankford Radio Club
NAQCC #2872
Flying Pig #2298
NJ QRP #518
k2qpn@arrl.net
www.k2qpn.ham-radio-op.net |
|
| WA9IVH |
Rating:      |
2010-07-08 | |
| Great if you need it |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I recently had the InRad roofing filter installed in my 756 Pro III.
Due to the warnings regarding the complexity of the install, I asked Jim Smith at Burghardt to do the work for me. They seem to have done a wonderful job. They turned it around in less time than expected, they repaired a bad trace in my band decoder near the acc. socket, and aligned the radio. Finally, they repaired a bad audio pot, which apparently was damaged in shipping.
One surprise was the radio was completely reset--all my settings were gone, including my voice recordings. No biggie, but I didn't expect to need to re-enter everything, and it (frankly) took longer than I thought to restore my settings (fonts, memories, baud rate, band scope, clock, etc., etc.)
Overall, my preliminary impression is the radio is not that different, and yes, the Inrad filter does significantly improve IMD. You get a feeling that tuning is tighter because you don't "hear the station coming" in advance. (But you can still "see it coming" on the bandscope!) There's been a lot of talk on various reflectors about how this mod changes the band scope response. The only affect I've noticed so far is signals are a little narrower on the scope (which should be expected if you think about it!). As others have reported on e-Ham, the audio is a little "harsh" due to the sharper filter--kind of like just a little too much treble on an AM radio. But this is minor, and you get used to it very quickly.
I decided to install the filter primarily because there is an active DX’er who lives 3 blocks away from me. In the past, when he was on the air, I couldn’t work stations unless I was at least 100 Khz from his frequency. I could see his signal on my band scope—it appeared as a solid rectangle about 1/3 the way up and all across my screen. After I got the rig back with the filter installed, I knew my neighbor would be in a contest the next weekend. My heart sank when I saw the same pattern on my bandscope 100 khz away! But…wait a minute…this is normal, because the band scope is BEFORE the roofing filter in the signal path! (Think about it…you wouldn’t want a band scope with a 3 khz wide response!) Whew! But did the filter eliminate the interference? Unfortunately, no, but it greatly reduced it. When I tuned 20 khz off his frequency, I was able to copy other stations--THAT was not possible before! I also used to have a "desense" issue when he was operating, where received signals took 2 seconds to come up to full strength when he stopped transmitting. And that was gone now, too!
I waited to submit this review until after this years Field Day, where my rig is our Club’s SSB station. In the past, we had significant interference from our other stations. This year, that interference was practically gone! (We’re 3A, and also run GOTA and VHF rigs, so there’s a lot of RF at our site.)
So the end result was that the filter DID help significantly. Would I buy it if I had it to do over again? Yes, absolutely. In my situation, it is really a major improvement. Is it something every 756 Pro owner should install? If you’re a causal operator, or if you don’t have another active ham living close by, perhaps you wouldn’t see as much difference. YMMV.
73, Mark WA9IVH |
|
| KR4JA |
Rating:      |
2010-05-12 | |
| Poor man's IC-7600 |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| This is an excellent upgrade. It brings the IMD dynamic range specs up to the IC-7600, about 95db, versus the 80db of a stock ProIII. Haven't noticed any scope affects. I'm not a contester, but the roofing filter sure makes operating on crowded low bands (like 75M & 160M) much more enjoyable. |
|
| KU5Q |
Rating:      |
2010-01-05 | |
| Good mod.... |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
This is what I needed for CW ops in crowded bands for my PROIII. The modded PROIII still won't compete 100% with my K3 in crowded, busy CW ops, but it does make the PROIII RCV more of a pleasure to use on a crowded band. Effect on scope is slight to me, but I consider the scope on the PROIII an extra tool I don't use that much anyway. I like the scope, but don't depend on it, and its not the reason I bought the PROIII to begin with. The mod is definitely worth the money to me. I've done avionics bench maintenance at the component level for many years, so this mod was not difficult at all for me. But, for the hams that don't have the benefit of technical skills necessary to maintain their gear (especially the newer gear) at the component level, I recommend having someone who is, do the mod for you.
All in all, not bad. |
|
| KC3ET |
Rating:      |
2009-07-09 | |
| Works Great |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Hello
I promised that I would respond once I received my Icom 756 Pro III transceiver from Burghardt, for repair, and installation of the Inrad Roofing Filter. I received my transceiver at the very end of May. They replaced one SMT resistor that I had managed to burn up with my soldering iron, and installed the Inrad Roofing Filter. The Burghardt techs did a great job. It turns out the burned out resistor caused my ACC1 connector to not work. I hadn't realized that it wasn't working.
As far as the new filter, it works very well. I do notice that when turning the main tuning knob that the ssb and cw detection is more sharp than with the original filter. It definitely is detecting radio signals closer to the dialed frequency. I used to hear some splatter from strong stations on nearby frequencies with the original filter. I do not notice that problem as much as before. On cw, it is very sharp.
Is it worth it? In my opinion it is. The only thing that I would say is that it is not a kit for those who have average skills in kit building, like me. Removing that one blasted SMT resistor was near impossible for me. I could just barely see it with my eyes. I could see it with a 5x and 10x magnifier. If you want to do it yourself, you will need some sort of heavy magnification device, and a very sharp tipped soldering iron. :(
Well, I hope that this helps you.
73 de Chuck KC3ET
----------------------
Earlier 1-star review posted by KC3ET on 2009-04-28
I recently purchased the 'Inrad IC756 Pro 3 Filter Mod'. Inrad is correct that the installation is not for the average radio amateur. I started the installation, but stopped when it came to the step in which I would have had to remove the R216 SMD resistor from the
RF-A board. I finally found R216 using a Jewelers Loop. It is very small. I also had to use quite a bit of soldering iron heat to get the center shield cover off of the RF-A board. Also, my preparation of the 2 RG174 cables that connect from the RF-A board and the Inrad filter, was not easy, as the cables kept breaking. At this point, I have packed my IC 756 Pro 3 and sent it out to Burghardt for repair and to install the filter. The Burghardt rep told me on the phone that they use a Microscope to work on both repairing the IC 756 Pro 3, and installing the Inrad filter mod for the IC756 Pro 3. I asked the rep at Burghardt to go over all of my work, and to check the IC756 Pro 3 for proper operation. Prior to shipment, I reassembled the IC756 Pro 3. It appeared to work properly, although I am not sure whether the sub receiver is working or not. I will post my results when I receive the IC756 Pro 3, with the Inrad filter installed, when I receive it from Burghardt.
For now, my advice, if you want that filter have it professionally installed. Inrad mentions several companies that can do the installation.
73 |
|
| KI9A |
Rating:      |
2009-05-01 | |
| Great item |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| Inrad is correct that it is not for the normal ham to install. Mine was time consuming, but, during crowded band condx, it has proven to be very worthwhile mod. |
|
| EA3GEG |
Rating:      |
2008-12-25 | |
| Very good |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I installed INRAD filter on my pro III, and the results are very good, the noise and splatters for nears frequecys going down, signal about +25 dB, on 3 or 5 Khz up don't disturb now.
The instalation is a little dificulto, but with pacience don't any problem.
Grettings
Joan EA3GEG |
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