[Icom] 756 VFO Encoder

[Greg Ordy]

>>>Johnny Siu VR2XMC wrote:
>>>
>>>I have been an IC756 user since 1997 and am worried to know about this
>>>disorder.  Could you please advise how high chance / often will this problem
>>>occur with this rig.?  Is this kind of problem only common to IC756?

    I do not have specific statistics on this problem. I'm tempted
to say it's more than a few, but less than a lot. I know that when I
was trying to obtain the replacement encoders I had about 10 folks
who had contacted me with their own problems. It would then
be necessary to estimate how many 756 users participate on this
reflector versus the number of 756's sold.

    I personally would not worry about it. I think that the chances are
low. I believe that the problem was that the part was so (relatively) expensive.

    My understanding is that the same encoder is used in the 756,
the 756PRO and the 756PRO2. Apparently the Kenwood TS-850
uses nearly the same part. ICOM did have Copal make a special
part, with an extra long shaft to get out of their front panel. That is
the only reason why the $25 Copal part will not directly replace the
$130 ICOM part. 

    Although the part costs $130 in the USA, I was informed by some
amateurs in Europe that ICOM Europe sells the part for substantially
less, something like $70. 

    When I first got involved with this issue, I did exchange some E-mails with
engineers at Copal. Perhaps I'll try that again, and see if they
are willing to talk about field adjustment/calibration of the encoder.
At the previous time, they claimed "no user adjustments", but
now we see from Wolf that the part can indeed be adjusted. Maybe
if I'm a bit more pushy now that I know it can be done, they
will part with a little of that information stuff.

    The good news is that drifting out of alignment might be the
cause of all of the encoder problems. That could save the user
community some money.

    Greg, W8WWV  ordy@seed-solutions.com