[Icom] 706 MkII or TS-50 for Mobile HF?

[Siu Johnny]

Hi John,

Yes, lab number does not mean real world differences but is an objective
comparison.  Furthermore, looking at market response, IC706 families are
very popular.  The popularity of IC706 implies:

1. there are many satisfied customers;
2.the manufacturer has very good chances to improve their products and
de-bug the shortcoming in later production.  That is the reason why it is
always better to get one with higher serial numbers.
3. the trend of multiband HF/VHF mobile rigs suits the market.

73

Johnny VR2XMC
----- Original Message -----
From: "John O. Newell" <jnewell@attbi.com>
To: <icom@mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Saturday, January 25, 2003 10:31 AM
Subject: Re: [Icom] 706 MkII or TS-50 for Mobile HF?


> > The IC-706 Mk II is discontinued
>
> Yup...part of the interest in the MkII/not G is what looks
> like a favorable balance among price, required bands, and
> performance.  I did read the ARRL reviews, and noted their
> text comments and quantitative results across the three
> flavors of the 706.  The G does seem to offer some further
> improvements...but the lab numbers don't always translate
> into real world differences!
>
> It would be revealing to hear from someone either that "I
> had the MkII and bought a G and couldn't believe the
> difference" or "I had a Mk II and traded it for a TS-50 and
> couldn't believe the difference" or something like that.
> Having read all the ARRL reviews and all (ugh! <g>) the eHam
> comments (well, some only got skimmed!), I don't think I'm
> going to hear any of that...probably just get confirmation
> that it's a close call on the air, that there are big
> differences in the control interface, and that the KW
> doesn't have the detachable faceplate!
>
> Someone prove me wrong? <ggg>
>
> 73
> John
> KB1FPM