[ICOM] Query: 1st Icom HF Transceivers ????

[Gary P. Fiber]

I think your right Mac. However Icom did make a set of  HF " twins" The 
transmitter was tube and the receiver was solid state. I forget the 
model number I do not think they were ever imported into the US though. 
At one time Icom America had a set of them in the " bones" area I 
suspect they are long gone though.

According to Icom's published history on the www.icom.co.jp "Tokuzo 
Inoue founded Inoue Seisakusyo in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan in 1954 then 
in 1964 he founded Inoue Communications. In 1978 the name changed to 
Icom Inc. I always heard Mr Inoue worked for another company during the 
early years and had something to do with discovering microwave ovens and 
from the elders at Icom America when I worked there.

Its amazing to see rigs that were introduced since July 1989 and have 
gone out of production for replacement rigs. The original IC-706 has to 
be 10 years old, the 735 look at the life of that rig just amazing to 
me. I suspect I " supported" almost 1000 products while I was there. It 
was different then as I did it all from Amateur to Marine Radar, Now the 
technical area is split up into divisions. I think Amateur is hardest to 
support as there are so many features on the rigs. Land Mobile is likely 
2nd in support with all of the trunking and selective calling going on 
today. But one can't take away from Marine with GMDSS and Radar.

Gary K8IZ


D C *Mac* Macdonald wrote:
> I am hardly an authority, but I believe the IC-701was the first HF rig they marketed in US, maybe
> around 1976 or so???
>  
> There was a six-channel crystal-controlled 2m
> IC-2F that was the first that I know of, but
> the company was not yet known as "Icom" at
> that time.  If I recall, it was simply Inoue, but
> may have had some other name on it, perhaps
> Varitronics???
>  
> My first Icom rigs were IC-20 and IC-21 in 1972.
>  
> Dang, that's 35 years ago.  Oldest Icom rigs I
> still have are the crystal-controlled IC-30 UHF
> mobile and the IC-215 2m draggie-talkie.
>  
>  
> 73 - Mac, K2GKK/5
> Oklahoma City, OK
>  
>  
>   
>> Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2007 08:49:38 -0500> From: swanman at cfu.net> To: icom at mailman.qth.net> Subject: [ICOM] Query: 1st Icom HF Transceivers ????> > A collector friend sent me an email with the following interesting Icom > queries. I couldn't answer them. > > 1) What was Icom's first amateur radio HF transceiver? When was it > introduced?> > 2) What was the first Icom transceiver sold on the US market? When > was it introduced in the US?> > > Can anyone help? Any info greatly appreciated.> vy 73 to all, as always!!> > Jan N0JR> > ----> 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/
>
>