[ICOM] NEW IC-7000

Mon Dec 19 01:04:35 EST 2005

I have had a couple of TS2000s and ran one in the 2002 CQWPX CW contest with
no overloading or IMD problems at all.  Don't know where it gets the
repuation of having such a bad receiver, although I think it is a much
better CW rig than SSB rig-which might be a good thing should the FCC remove
the CW requirement, making the SSB portions of the band pretty worthless.

Now I ran an Icom 706MKIIG in the ARRL RTTY Roundup this past year (a
smaller contest than the WPX) and the receiver overloaded so bad that it
became unusable on 20 meters.  Same thing happened with an Alinco DX70TH in
the 1999 November Sweepstakes.

I think Icom has given up on 222mhz, as they are the only big manufacturer
that makes no 222 gear currently.  Too bad, as they used to be the leader in
220 gear, with the 375A, the V21AT 2/222 HT, the 3SAT, etc.

73s John NE0P

----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Baker" <k7ddmjb at qwest.net>
To: "'ICOM Reflector'" <icom at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Monday, December 19, 2005 5:11 AM
Subject: RE: [ICOM] NEW IC-7000

Here Here!  I have called Alinco Receivers the "Large Mouth Bass of
Receivers" for some time.  They are Wonderfull wide band receivers:  They
here everything within (and sometimes things outside) their designed range
ALL AT ONCE!  ;>)

Actually, I wanted to start this off with "perhaps you should get
out and listen to more receivers old and new before passing judgment on the
poor rig!  ;>)  Please, NO arrows, just being a smart alek.

I am a happy TS2K owner for 2 years now and until I listened to the
IC-7000 I haden't found anything ICOM (or anyone else) made that would match
the TS-2000 OVERALL for the money.  I do like the IC-7000 and think it would
make a Super Mobile.
Yes, the 756Pro3 is a fine rig no doubt; BUT, it is much more
expensive than the TS2k, only operates HF and 6 meters, but it has a nice
band scan panadapter that I wish Kenwood had included in their rig.  Even
Icom has left out a couple of very helpful items in its new BIG RIG the
IC-7800$$$$$$$$$.  Like making a programmable, alarm that can be use with a
selected band scan to look for a band opening when it happens like on 6
meters.  Scan the band, work on other stuff in the shack, as soon as a
signal shows up in the bandpass, record it digitally, record the Freq,
strength info etc, and produce a warning in the shack or ?? Remotely?
OK so for $10k I expect a lot from the rig: no automatic Beer
dispenser, Soft Pretzel oven, rub your feet and put on your slippers! Well!
In truth, most any receiver made within the last 20 years is SO much
better than all but a very few that came before them that we spend a lot of
time and $$$ attempting to impose new sciences to make things that much
better.  Anyone own an old Hallicrafters like the S-40B or S-77A that I used
as a novice?  You had to let it warm up for at least a half hour in advance
of its use or it would drift all over the place.  Don't leave the window
cracked open in the fall or winter either or the draft would drive you nuts
chasing down signals.  Deaf as a stone above 14Mhz unless you had a LOT of
antenna and even then is was marginal. 5Khz wide to copy CW signals and no
real accurate dial calibration unless you added an external xtal calibrator.
YUCK!!!  Now we are talking late '50s technology but that hasn't changed
that much except its methods of implementation over the next 20+ years.
Dial readouts became better, tubes and transistors got better and we found
new ways to facilitate their use along with better filtering methods but we
were still pretty much doing the same stuff we had for years.
Digital has made things better and more complicated giving us lots
of variations on the old methods but even it has had its limitations.
Mixing old and new together has produced some of the finest
receivers on the planet.  Find someone who owns a Robert Sherwood Fully
modified R4C and ask to listen to it; preferably during a Giant Contest like
the CQWWDX test or Sweepstakes. It will spoil you for what can be
accomplished mixing the best of all worlds.  The receivers "breath" as you
listen to SSB, the audio has a fine tonal quality that must be heard to be
appreciated.  Selectivity is nothing short of a "window" for signals to come
(or not) through. Put the local BIG GUN up 5Khz from the "barely above the
noise floor" weak one you are listening too and you will never know he is
there unless one of you change freq!!  Readout is still 1KHZ mechanical
markings and that is close enough for the FCC if you use your calibrator.
But alas, they don't make the C-Line anymore and comparing looks, well,
Drake never was one to flirt with cosmetics.
Time marches on but the abilities of our gear to seriously improve
still comes in small, sometimes almost indecernable chunks which is why we
seem to spend a lot of time picking a nit to death over a particular flaw in
a piece of new gear.  The changes are all too minimal to suddenly make us go
WOW!
When I listened to the 7800 I expected "Nirvana" to become a
reality.  I didn't get a lot of WOW factor for the $$$.
When I first heard about the pending IC7K, I had great expectations
of perhaps ICOM taking the lead again and incorporating the 220Mhz band, and
including a true functional band scope like the big rig that would allow you
to listen and scan at the same time.  Dual DSP engines had HUGE
possibilities to remove some of the objections others (and myself) had with
current audio DSP: Watery sound, distorted audio, too much agc action that
made the audio sound FLAT with poor dynamics to it.  Etc.
I got some Wow but more "I knew they wouldn't stick out their neck
and actually build the rig we wanted.  Too damn hard to top it later."
The DSP is very good and sounds better than any I have heard to date.  No
220 band.  The Panadapter function is time shared and distorts the audio so
it might as well have been left the way it was in the 706. (Half hearted
attempt in my mind. They should have done it right or not at all for all it
is worth to me.)  Noise canceling seems to be improved but I didn't take it
mobile.  Yes I like the rig.  No, I am not ready to trade in my TS-2000 for
it yet.  I think I will wait for the dust to settle and see how well it does
with time.
Thanks for letting me defend my choice of rig and my rant.
Good luck with your choices.  After all, that's why ice cream comes
in flavors, cause we all don't love Vanilla!  ;>)

Best 73, Mike Baker  K7DD
Peoria Arizona:  Where its gotten so cold this winter, I had to put on long
pants!  No swimming on Christmas Day this year!

-----Original Message-----
From: icom-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:icom-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On
Behalf Of John Geiger
Sent: Sunday, December 18, 2005 8:28 PM
To: ICOM Reflector
Subject: Re: [ICOM] NEW IC-7000

Then you must not have owned a 706MKIIG or DX70TH.  They seemed to be in
completition to see who could overload the worst on HF.  They actually made
thge FT847 look decent on HF.

73s John NE0P

----- Original Message -----
From: "Edward L. Dowdy" <ka9ees1954 at insightbb.com>
To: "ICOM Reflector" <icom at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Monday, December 19, 2005 3:18 AM
Subject: Re: [ICOM] NEW IC-7000

> Maybe that should be "First to OUTCLASS". The TS-2000 has the worst HF
> receiver I have ever heard.
>
> 73,
> Ed KA9EES
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "John Geiger" <ne0p at lcisp.com>
> To: "ICOM Reflector" <icom at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Sunday, December 18, 2005 9:12 PM
> Subject: Re: [ICOM] NEW IC-7000
>
>
> > That is a nice writeup, but I hate to inform Icom that the IF-DSP on the
> > 7000 is not "the first in its class."  The Kenwood TS2000 is the first
> > HF/VHF/UHF radio with IF-DSP.
> >
> > Icom tried something similar with the 756PRO, acting like it was such a
> > design breakthrough, even though several rigs before it had IF-DSP and
DSP
> > based filters, like the Kenwood TS870, Kachina 505, Ten Tec Pegasus, and
I
> > think the TS2000 came out a little before the 756PRO also, but I could
be
> > wrong on that one.
> >
> > 73s John NE0P
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "AD5VJ Bob" <rtnmi at sbcglobal.net>
> > To: "Icom Reflector" <icom at mailman.qth.net>
> > Sent: Monday, December 19, 2005 2:36 AM
> > Subject: [ICOM] NEW IC-7000
> >
> >
> > Hey just visited the site at
> > http://www.aesham.com/display_pages/ic7000.shtml and found
> > this on the front page in case anyone hasn't seen it yet
> > they have all the specs on it published now.
> >
> >
> >
> >  73 fer nw,
> > Bob AD5VJ
> >
> > 10X# 37210, FP#-1141, SMIRK#-5177
> > http://www.n5iet.com/
> > Code may be taking a back seat for now,
> > but the pioneering spirit that put the code
> > there in the first place is out front of it all.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ----
> > Your Moderator: Dick Flanagan K7VC, icom-owner at mailman.qth.net
> > Icom Users Net: Sundays, 1700Z, 14.316 MHz
> > Icom FAQ: http://www.qsl.net/icom/
> >
> >
> > ----
> > Your Moderator: Dick Flanagan K7VC, icom-owner at mailman.qth.net
> > Icom Users Net: Sundays, 1700Z, 14.316 MHz
> > Icom FAQ: http://www.qsl.net/icom/
>
> ----
> Your Moderator: Dick Flanagan K7VC, icom-owner at mailman.qth.net
> Icom Users Net: Sundays, 1700Z, 14.316 MHz
> Icom FAQ: http://www.qsl.net/icom/
>

----
Your Moderator: Dick Flanagan K7VC, icom-owner at mailman.qth.net
Icom Users Net: Sundays, 1700Z, 14.316 MHz
Icom FAQ: http://www.qsl.net/icom/

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----
Your Moderator: Dick Flanagan K7VC, icom-owner at mailman.qth.net
Icom Users Net: Sundays, 1700Z, 14.316 MHz
Icom FAQ: http://www.qsl.net/icom/