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Reviews For: ICOM IC-718

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

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Review Summary For : ICOM IC-718
Reviews: 432MSRP: 750 1199 Cdn
Description:
HF Transciever
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.icomamerica.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
24.54324.6
KD8IIC Rating: 2011-01-18
Workhorse Radio. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Excellent transmit audio with stock mics.Easy to navigate.Feature packed.I use mine with an R-75 as "Twins".R-75 has the better receiver.Does fine on A.M. too. Bought a second one recently used. 73 de kd8iic
VK3LBT Rating: 2011-01-18
Good Txcr for the Price Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I was given this a spresent a while back, and have used it as a backup transceiver.
Things I like -

1: Built in SWR meter, gives a reasonable ball park reading. ( still would refer to a dedicated VSWR Bridge !)
2: Receive on the commerical AM stations is very sharp and easy to listen to.
3: Easy of programming and navigating around the controls.
4: Transmitted audio is quite good and found this is enhanced with a Heil Goldline Mic.
5: The NB appears to work well and the level setting feature is ok.
6: Wide and Narrow filters are quite effective.

Things that could be better:

1: The preamp, I have found this to be a floor noise enhancer more than anything else.
2: Front mounted speaker, although in theory a good idea the ones in the 718 are rather thin and tinny sounding, maybe go back to a decent size top mount speaker to give a little more depth.
3: AGC is to fast on SSB this can be fixed to a certain extent by utilising the RF Gain and ATT on strong signals without delving into the internals of the radio.

Overall:
I operate a TEN TEC Orion 2 and this certainly has all the bells and whistles and the 718 is not in this league, however, it is still a good performing little transceiver that is easy to use and has good receive and audio (TX) characteristics. It is a pleasure to use and will remain in the shack. I have compared the received signal on many bands against an FT847 on the same antenna and found that the 718 has kept up admirably and on occassions had better receive characteristics.

Warning on Mods -
Currently a few mods for the AGC and TX output unless you are well equipped and experienced on smd give then a wide berth. I have seen reports that the 718 will run up 200w, having tested mine and another the best is about 140 to 150 w although this is pushing the limit with these finals best to stick to the 100 to 110 w maximum. I have been told through a colleague that with tuning at the maximum setting the finals will go to God very quickly set at the maximum. also the difference between 100 and 140 w in S points is hardly worth it if you want to be a gun station by a Linear Amp and be kind to this nice little radio !

Barry
VK3LBT


4:
K9MHZ Rating: 2011-01-16
Agree....this radio is great! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Couldn't agree more with the positive reviews about this radio. I owned one when they were first released, back when DSP was an option. Icom did a good thing in later (ugh!) deciding to include DSP in a stock radio. While the 718 is now becoming somewhat dated, it's radios like these that inspire and encourage new people to join our ranks, as they realize that they can get new, modern gear without assassinating their household budgets.

Great radio.....I hope that whatever new design Icom decides as a replacement for the 718, that it will be as comparatively affordable and icludes some nice, modern features.
N6DXX Rating: 2011-01-16
Great Little Radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I love this little rig! It's easy to use & performs really well. The menus are easy to access & once set, seldom need to be visited. The main dial has a nice "feel" to it & the other buttons & knobs are well situated. The receiver is hot & includes general coverage too. Transmitted audio reports are good - I use Heil's IC mike.
The only negative I have is that only one extra filter can be installed - I opted for the 500 Hz CW filter which works great.
All in all, ICOM has a winner with the 718.

Tony, N6DXX
KU2US Rating: 2011-01-11
A great low cost rig Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The IC718 doesnt do this, doesnt do that. C'mon! One thing it doesnt do is look like you are sitting in front of an instrument panel of a Boeing-747!I cant stand 10 thousand buttons. The IC718 is a good performing rig, easy to use, has a lot of features found in more upscale rigs, and a joy to use. I prefer simplicity. Some prefer bells and whistles, que cera. For under $600. what else can you ask for! Mine has the DSP and it helps alot. I will buy another one for a back up rig. So for the radio afficiendos this rig is not for you-OK, to each his own. But for the ham who wants to have a reliable, low cost, well built rig-No other but the Icom IC-718. A winner for Icom.
N5VEG Rating: 2010-11-29
Simple Is GOOD! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
It came time to put my aging Yaesu 707 back-up rig to pasture so I opted to get a decent simple radio for it's replacement.

A member of my local amateur club had an Icom 718 for sale that he had won at a hamfest so I gave him call. A few hours later I was on the air with this fine little rig and easily learning it's menu's,buttons and knobs (remember knobs?) This radio has a terrific receiver and does better at same than my year old Yaesu 857D. The recieve audio is crisp and clear with plenty of volume available. I particularly like the meter/screen because I can see it! Big numbers and a really decent S meter complete this aspect. The tuning knob has a wonderful automatic accelerator feature in that the faster you turn it it jumps to the next frequency number. On some other radios you have to go to the menu each time to activate this feature.

After a quick manual tune-up, I went on 80 meters with my usual rag chew group and received nothing but excellent sig./audio reports.

I don't think you could get a better bargain if you are looking to replace a rig or just to have one as your main tranceiver.

I have never owned an Icom radio prior to the 718.

Good job Icom!
M0KDB Rating: 2010-11-16
cool little radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I picked up this Icom ic-718 last night in a trade deal. The previous owner was singing its praises and proudly showing me his log of DX contacts using the radio.
I was sceptical about this basic little set, no filters, no DSP and no knobs or switches to have hours of fun with. I certainly would never have considered purchasing this radio in a store and i fully intended to either use this as a mobile radio or put it on the boat for back up SSB as i already like many people have a shack full of gear and currently use two FT1000mp's and an FT 920 on HF.
I am also not an icom fan having had a pro3 which i dislliked and a 7400 and 746 in the past as well as numerous MK2g's therefore my expectation of this little basic radio was not that high.

However i am absolutetly amazed with this radio. The receive is far better than i expected and i just find it so refreshing to be able to use a radio without having to twiddle all the knobs switches and menus.
Ok i admit if i am pushed that its not going to perform perhaps as well as my other equipment but this radio has just put the fun back into ham radio for me. Having spent thousands of pounds on other equipment i am currently as happy as a kid in a sweet shop over this little basic radio. Its just so easy to use and does exactly what it says it will do !!!!
KD7CAO Rating: 2010-11-01
Perfect Radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Whether your doing EMCOMM playing in the realm of digital, or need a good quality rig without a ton of extras then this is the radio to get!

I recommended the purchase of three of these units for my agency to use for Pactor I,II,III, and then I liked them so much I turned around and purchased one myself. I love this radio super simple to operate, works perfectly with the SignaLink USB, my LDG AT-200 Pro, a Heil Traveler Pro and an Alinco power supply. WOW! I just love this radio.

Heck if they are good enough for the TSA to install at the airports then they are definetly good enough for me. Thanks Icom!
KC2ULJ Rating: 2010-10-24
Great rig Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
The 718 is a great rig for anyone, beginner or vet. It does well on digital modes and with an sm-6 mic it gets great audio reports. Good receiver, price is reasonable, whats not to like. 73 w2waw
AD4C2006 Rating: 2010-07-22
Very good radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Been an owner for almost 2 years of a K3 wanted to have a spare radio just in case my main radio might be broken and did not wanted to spend much,then decided to give it a try to this IC-718 and it surprised me the good receiver it has,very quite,at least as a base station at my work office where I have it hooked up to a homemade windom dipole at 40 feet up,very sensitive,always has to be with the ATT engaged,nice audio quality with an external speaker from Radio Shack,poor quality trough the one on the front panel,aceptable selectivity using the shift been able to reject stations at about 3 to 4 Khz off your working freq.Easy to operate,its a plug and play entry level radio that with the minimun of knobs and settings can go easy on any band.Even having the stock handmic,the audio is excellent when TX on SSB going from 200 to 2600Hz audio spectrum,very stable even without the accesory for higher stability.Hard to install an extra filter,has to have skills on removing boards and soldering,that is its weak point,not everybody will be able to install a new filter.I pulled it out of the box and not even read the manual,figured out all the settings,its bvery similar to the 706MK2G that I owned in the past.
Another weak point is that the RX AGC is too fast for SSB and sometimes with too strong signals audio sounds some distorded unless RF gain control be moved counterclockwise to reduce RF gain and regain the audio quality but that is easy to fix with some minor mod on the main board.The TX PA heatsink is well designed,after two hours of continuos operation on cw when touched is just slightly warm.Tx PA well designed,high efficiency,mine make 110W and takes only 16A at maximun power.
The DSP in spite of been the audio type,it notch out very fast the carriers close to the working freq,the NR works great,it can reduce at lest 50% of the band noise,the NB could completely wipe out all ignition type noises around the office.
I payed a decent price and after a while using it I knew it was a good investment.
Hector
AD4C
Lake Worth,FL