Icom: Icom IC-718 and the "full duty operation"

[yahya]

Colleagues,

I'd like to ask for clarification if the term "full duty operation" used on the IC-718 page can be interpreted that the radio is capable of continuous operation, at least of the receiver, or full RF power while transmitting? What are the limits of the "full duty operation" in practice?

IC-718 | Products | Icom America.

Icom,America,Land Mobile,Marine,Aviation,Amateur,Network,Systems

www.icomamerica.com

Actually, the statement can be confusing. It's remarkably absent on the IC-78 page although this set is almost similar to the IC-718 with exception of full HF coverage of the Tx.

Any suggestions are welcome.

 

[AK9R]

Receive usually isn't a problem. My IC-7610 has been on for months with no issues. But, it has a "sleep" mode that turns off the display after a few minutes. That feature is probably not necessary on the IC-718 since the display is less complex and less prone to "burn-in".

Transmit is another matter. If you key down with a full duty cycle mode, like CW, RTTY, or FM, the output transistors will have to deal with the heat build-up. Given a large enough heatsink and/or enough air flow, the heat may not be a problem. My guess is that Icom rates the radio for 90% listening/10% transmitting. The radio should be able to deal with the heat generated by most 2-way communications.