Icom IC-706 problems
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prcguy
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Why not? Its my favorite mobile rig and has a much better receiver than the IC-7000 that tried to replace it. Many of my friends that sold their 706s for 7000s now want their 706 back.
prcguy
prcguy
Project25_MASTR
Millennial Graying OBT Guy
I had a bad experience with several of them. Our county go kit is comprised of 3 of them. Last year at field day they got pulled out for 4th time (they've only ever been used for field day) and I ended up swapping two of them for 7000's and one for a 718. The receivers on them were horrible compared to the 7000's on the same antenna.
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k9rzz
Member
WHat was wrong with the reception?
Guys, since you are now debating problems with the Icom IC-706, I've moved your posts to a new thread.
prcguy
Member
Ok, thanks for the new thread!
Looking at Rob Sherwoods receiver test data http://www.sherweng.com/table.html which I trust more than ARRLs testing, I see the Icom 706MKIIG ranks #45 of all the receivers tested so far for narrow spaced dynamic range performance. Getting a good rating here takes cost money and reflects the design and engineering effort put into the receiver.
At #45 the 706MKIIG is rated better than some well known but older contest radios like the Yaesu FT-1000D or the newer Kenwood TS-480 series and not far down from the Icom 756 PRO III or the very expensive WJ HF-1000 receiver.
The Icom IC-7000 ranks #91 and below some older mid grade table top SW receivers like the Icom IC R-75 or Kenwood R-1000. This may explain why most of my friends who traded off their 706MKIIG for an IC-7000 and use them on a large home antenna can tell the 7000 has problems with strong nearby signals, not to mention the 7000 has known problems with low voltage like shutting down when the battery voltage gets a little low, etc.
The 707MKIIG is not without problems as it does draw excessive current on receive at almost 2A, which is not good for portable battery operation and the fan tends to cycle on and off when just receiving which is annoying. They have been out of production for some time now and like anything else will be more prone to failure as time marches on.
I have two 706MKIIGs and one original 706 and they have given me many years of trouble free use until recently when one of the MKIIGs had a low voltage regulator problem. This particular radio has bounced around in three 4WD vehicles for maybe 20yrs. I've used a 7000 in a mobile installation and it worked ok and being on a small mobile antenna I didn't notice any receiver overload problems but the complaints are coming from people who are using them on home antennas.
With all that said I am still curious what exactly happened with W5PKYs 706s to cause a 7000 to work better? That is quite opposite of my experience and of anyone I have talked to who has owned both radios.
I know this will stir up some 7000 owners to chime in but I would like to hear more from people who have owned or used both radios.
prcguy
Looking at Rob Sherwoods receiver test data http://www.sherweng.com/table.html which I trust more than ARRLs testing, I see the Icom 706MKIIG ranks #45 of all the receivers tested so far for narrow spaced dynamic range performance. Getting a good rating here takes cost money and reflects the design and engineering effort put into the receiver.
At #45 the 706MKIIG is rated better than some well known but older contest radios like the Yaesu FT-1000D or the newer Kenwood TS-480 series and not far down from the Icom 756 PRO III or the very expensive WJ HF-1000 receiver.
The Icom IC-7000 ranks #91 and below some older mid grade table top SW receivers like the Icom IC R-75 or Kenwood R-1000. This may explain why most of my friends who traded off their 706MKIIG for an IC-7000 and use them on a large home antenna can tell the 7000 has problems with strong nearby signals, not to mention the 7000 has known problems with low voltage like shutting down when the battery voltage gets a little low, etc.
The 707MKIIG is not without problems as it does draw excessive current on receive at almost 2A, which is not good for portable battery operation and the fan tends to cycle on and off when just receiving which is annoying. They have been out of production for some time now and like anything else will be more prone to failure as time marches on.
I have two 706MKIIGs and one original 706 and they have given me many years of trouble free use until recently when one of the MKIIGs had a low voltage regulator problem. This particular radio has bounced around in three 4WD vehicles for maybe 20yrs. I've used a 7000 in a mobile installation and it worked ok and being on a small mobile antenna I didn't notice any receiver overload problems but the complaints are coming from people who are using them on home antennas.
With all that said I am still curious what exactly happened with W5PKYs 706s to cause a 7000 to work better? That is quite opposite of my experience and of anyone I have talked to who has owned both radios.
I know this will stir up some 7000 owners to chime in but I would like to hear more from people who have owned or used both radios.
prcguy
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eorange
♦Insane Asylum Premium Member♦
I own both of these radios. Never did any empirical testing, but my ears and experience tell me the FT-1000D is a better and more sensitive radio, but really not by much. Both radios are outstanding.
But since this is about the 706MKIIG...never had a single complaint with it. Love it!
Remember, Rob Sherwood's test summary is ranked by receiver performance in the presence of strong signals, not by sensitivity alone or selectivity alone. The most sensitive radio in the world does you no good if the front end is swamped by nearby strong signals or if the selectivity is so poor that you can't sort out what you are hearing. I'm not casting stones any particular radio...just explaining how Mr. Sherwood ranks radios.
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