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Reviews For: Icom IC-501

Category: Transceivers: VHF/UHF+ Amateur Base/Mobile (non hand-held)

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Review Summary For : Icom IC-501
Reviews: 1MSRP: Ja Yen108,000 in 1976
Description:
6m all mode analog base rig
Product is not in production
More Info:
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0014
VK3YAZ Rating: 2005-11-24
Simple to use base station or portable Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The IC-501 was marketed 1975/76. It is a 6m SSB, AM, CW base station. It incorporates a plug-in 12v power supply and may be used portable direct from 12V. Quoted specs are 50-54 MHz in four bands plus provision for four Xtal channels on each of these bands. Power out: CW 10W, SSB 10W PEP, AM 2.5W. Frequency stability is quoted as +/-150Hz per hour after warm up and experience suggests that this is about correct. Dial is well calibrated and other controls are all easy to operate. Performance is OK on Tx with good reports on modulation. Rx has good sensitivity but suffers from marginal selectivity and overload. A 3SK40 FET is used as the RF amplifier and perhaps some careful adjustment to the biasing is needed here as it is also under AGC. The noise blanker is just about useless so forget about using it mobile. Although getting on in years it does not deserve to be put in a museum as you can easily service it and it remains an ideal unit to drive a linear without needing to pad down the output. (I would like the companion IC-201 2m unit!)