[ICOM] Icom 706mKIIG-What a bargain!

[John Geiger]

If my memory is correct, this year is the 10th
anniversary of the Icom 706 series, as I believe the
original 706 came out in late 1995-probably in time
for Christmas.  When it came out, I wanted one in the
worst way, but couldn't afford it being a poor
graduate student.  My station at that time was an Icom
720A for HF and a Kenwood TS600 with 100 watt tube amp
for 6. No 2 meter SSB at that time in my shack.

Just for fun, I decided to see what a station with the
capabilities of the 706MKIIG would have cost 10 years
ago, in early 1995.  The prices listed below are from
the AES catalogs of that time.  To get something with
the capabilities of the 706MKIIG you would need:

Kenwood TS50-$1040
MFJ Econo keyer-$50
Timewave DSP9 DSP filter-$169
MFJ 9406X 6 meter rig (at 10 watts)-$240
CW adaptor for 9406-$40
Mirage A1015 6 meter amp (to get to 100 watts)-$350
Yaesu FT290RII 2 meter all mode, 25W-$630
Tone encoder/decoder for 290-$42
Yaesu FT790RII 70cm all mode, 25W-$720
Tone encoder/decoder for 790-$42

Grand total of $3323

And that is assuming that you would move the DSP
filter and keyer from rig to rig.  With this setup,
you would get 50 watts more on 6 meters, but 25 watts
less on 2, and most would agree that the 706MKIIG does
much better on 6 than the MFJ 9406 would do.  I just
went for lowest cost.  The package total might be less
if the Alinco DX70TH was out at that time (early 1995)
which it may have been.  ALso, the faceplate on the
TS50 is not remotable.

The best price I could find for a 706MKIIG was $739 at
Ham Radio Outlet.  This means that the 706MKIIG is
$2584 less than a similar equipped station in 1995
dollars, and is a whole lot smaller.  What a truely
remarkable deal!

73s John NE0P


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