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Reviews For: W4RT OPF-ICOM-CW-DIY-300

Category: Filters, RF: bandpass, duplexer, lowpass, highpass, RFI/EMI

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Review Summary For : W4RT OPF-ICOM-CW-DIY-300
Reviews: 1MSRP: $119
Description:
This 300 Hz CW filter uses factory fresh Collins Mechanical Filters. Rather than the ICOM optional crystal, you can now have the excellent Collins filter. This filter allows the IC-718 radios to perform nicely in the CW modes, and is properly terminated for best performance in your radio. Available for you to install or to have W4RT install for you.

Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.w4rt.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0014
HFHAM2 Rating: 2010-09-08
Not as good as FL-53A Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I've had 3 Icom IC-718s, two of them fitted with Icom's optional 250 Hz CW Filter, the FL-53A. This time I decided to be cheap and went for the W4RT Collins 300 Hz Mechanical Filter instead.

As regards installation, it's probably a little easier to install than the FL-53A in that you solder wires from it into the IC-718s board and the filter just attaches to the board using some double-sided tape (not very secure). The FL-53A on the other hand is completely encased in a can which bolts onto the board and has pins that get soldered to the board (very secure). The W4RT set-up would be easier to remove if you later wanted to sell radio and filter separately though.

Regarding performance, yes, the W4RT unit does slice off QRM very well (just like the FL-53A does), however, it seems to be much noisier than the FL-53A in terms of how much hiss and QRN remains in the pass band (probably due to it being 50 Hz wider).

This being the case, it's just not as pleasant to use as the FL-53A and given the choice again, I'd go with the more expensive FL-53A.