"New" Radio Arrives Tuesday

[mbott]

I really need to keep away from ebay. Made a quick pass through the HF receivers Friday and came across a Icom IC-R71A. Damn! Should arrive Tuesday. Going to have to pull my R75 for a bit to make room for the R71A.

Too many radios and not enough desktop.

--
Mike

 

[SDRPlayer]

Going to have to pull my R75 for a bit to make room for the R71A.

Tough decision,but: a man's gotta do waht he's gotta do. Nice buy, and you can always get a bigger desk!

 

[mbott]

A bigger desk is not really an option at the moment.

https://imgur.com/LHS3Dji

--
Mike

 

[ridgescan]

That is a damn nice station!

 

[mbott]

That is a damn nice station!

Thanks, it has been 50+ years in the making.

--
Mike

 

[GB46]

Going to have to pull my R75 for a bit to make room for the R71A.

Once you get your new radio, it would be nice if you could share a comparison between the two. Not that I intend to buy another radio, but since I also have an R75, the comparison would be interesting. At first glance, it looks like the front panel of the R71A is far more complicated, or at least populated, compared with the R75, which is really compact for all the features it sports, perhaps because a lot of things are hidden in the menus. I wonder if the R71A's tuning dial is as smooth. Also, does the R71A have an internal power supply, or does it require an external one like the R75?

Questions, questions -- but then, I've never owned or even tried out any other ICOM product.

As for desk space, I have my entire listening post, along with this little netbook computer, on one of those little tables you can slide under the sofa (known as a TableMate). It measures only 20"x15". I'm not including my portable, as I don't use it as a desktop radio.

 

[mbott]

GB46, the plan is to do some side by side comparisons. I do know it does have an internal power supply, but does have the capability to run from a 12v power supply too. Until I get it in front of me, details are only what I've read.

--
Mike

 

[GB46]

GB46, the plan is to do some side by side comparisons. I do know it does have an internal power supply, but does have the capability to run from a 12v power supply too. Until I get it in front of me, details are only what I've read.

Thanks, Mike. I figured it must have an internal supply, judging by its size. That probably accounts for the R75's relatively small footprint. The regulated power supply I'm using with it weighs almost as much as the radio itself.

 

[pjxii]

Awesome radio room!

 

[mbott]

Awesome radio room!

Thanks!

--
Mike

 

[johnnystuyv]

A bigger desk is not really an option at the moment.

https://imgur.com/LHS3Dji

--
Mike

nice desk. Where did u get it ?

 

[mbott]

nice desk. Where did u get it ?

Thanks. Local Amish furniture store called Amish Originals. The auxiliary shelf top was a custom order just early this year and is based on specs I gave them. I've had the paymaster desk itself for about 20 years.

Paymaster Desk - Amish Originals

The double drawers and shelf unit below the tabletops is removable. I used to have that unit removed and the tabletops sat there, but I missed the storage space it provided. Hence, the custom shelf.

--
Mike

 

[ka3jjz]

Did your 71a come with a replacement for the operating system battery? Hopefully it did - if not, when the battery runs down, the radio is basically dead...and yes, that's a heck of a room...Mike

 

[mbott]

Did your 71a come with a replacement for the operating system battery? Hopefully it did - if not, when the battery runs down, the radio is basically dead...and yes, that's a heck of a room...Mike

Thanks! There was no reference to the battery being replaced or not that I remember, so that will be one of the first things I look into when it arrives tomorrow. I have the instructions to do said mod if necessary.

The radio itself did come through Electronic Equipment Bank in Vienna, VA at one time. There is a chance that the battery mod was a part of their HP upgrade.

--
Mike

 

[johnnystuyv]

Thanks for the info

Thanks. Local Amish furniture store called Amish Originals. The auxiliary shelf top was a custom order just early this year and is based on specs I gave them. I've had the paymaster desk itself for about 20 years.

Paymaster Desk - Amish Originals

The double drawers and shelf unit below the tabletops is removable. I used to have that unit removed and the tabletops sat there, but I missed the storage space it provided. Hence, the custom shelf.

--
Mike

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

[Scan125]

Our two house rabbits would just love to nibble your radio's dangling roots that block their escape path.

I have enough trouble with cabling for an Alinco DX-R8, Lowe HF-150, Uniden UBC125XLT, MFJ-956 and MFJ-959C.

 

[mbott]

I wonder if the R71A's tuning dial is as smooth.

.

The short answer is "yes". What I really like about the tuning is while one rev of the R75 tuning dial covers maybe 40kHz, on the R71A it is about 180kHz. Dual VFOs is something all radios should have and the R71A has that covered, too. Also, the NB on the R71A seems to be more effective than the NB/NR on the R75. Lastly, the R71A has an actual s-meter.

As far as what I could hear, there was not that much difference between the two in the short amount of time I've had the R71A. Unfortunately, neither have a Br Stair filter other than on/off/volume.

--
Mike

 

[pjxii]

The short answer is "yes". What I really like about the tuning is while one rev of the R75 tuning dial covers maybe 40kHz, on the R71A it is about 180kHz. Dual VFOs is something all radios should have and the R71A has that covered, too. Also, the NB on the R71A seems to be more effective than the NB/NR on the R75. Lastly, the R71A has an actual s-meter.

As far as what I could hear, there was not that much difference between the two in the short amount of time I've had the R71A. Unfortunately, neither have a Br Stair filter other than on/off/volume.

--
Mike

Congratulations on the new radio! I had an R70 for a while and it was a terrific receiver. The constant hiss in the audio is the only reason I moved on to a Drake R7A. Do the R71A and R75 have that issue?

 

[mbott]

Congratulations on the new radio! I had an R70 for a while and it was a terrific receiver. The constant hiss in the audio is the only reason I moved on to a Drake R7A. Do the R71A and R75 have that issue?

Not that I have noticed.

--
Mike

 

[GB46]

What I really like about the tuning is while one rev of the R75 tuning dial covers maybe 40kHz, on the R71A it is about 180kHz.

Doesn't that depend on the tuning step settng (the TS button on the R75)? I just rotated the R75 dial one rev up from 6000 kHz and arrived at 6005. That was with the tuning step set to 0.1kHz. Setting it to 1kHz produces a jump of 6000 to 6050. Usually I use either the .1 or the 1 setting, though there is also a 1 Hz step available, plus big steps like 5, 10 etc. The other thing is that if I choose a very small step, spinning the dial really fast accelerates the tuning rate. Spinning the dial too fast on my really old tube sets used to make the dial cord slip so badly that I couldn't get anywhere.

Dual VFOs is something all radios should have and the R71A has that covered, too.

Nice feature. I use the VFO quite a bit, especially when I'm trying to monitor a station in a memory channel, perhaps waiting for it to come on the air, and meanwhile switching over to a station I've just discovered.

Also, the NB on the R71A seems to be more effective than the NB/NR on the R75.

NR is only available with the DSP module installed. I have it; it works OK, but too high a setting distorts the audio. The noise blanker only works with ignition-type pulse noise, and I get very little of that.

Lastly, the R71A has an actual s-meter.

That's a little retro thing I'd appreciate.

Unfortunately, neither have a Br Stair filter other than on/off/volume.

That's where I find the tuning dial most effective.