[ICOM] IC-706MKIIG Issue

[D C _Mac_ Macdonald]

Do NOT use any preamp on any band lower in frequency than 20 meters.  On 40, 80/75, or 160, I usually use the ATTENUATOR.  Most times, no preamp is needed on 20 or 30 meters, either.

73 de Mac, K2GKK/5​
Since 30 Nov 1953​
Oklahoma City, OK​
USAF, Retired ('61-'81)​
FAA, Retired ('94-'10)​



________________________________
From: icom-bounces at mailman.qth.net <icom-bounces at mailman.qth.net> on behalf of KD7JYK DM09 <kd7jyk at earthlink.net>
Sent: Wednesday, August 7, 2019 16:50
To: ICOM Reflector <icom at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: Re: [ICOM] IC-706MKIIG Issue

"It's had this issue since it was new. It appears to me that the radio
is overly sensitive, both on HF and VHF. I bought the rig for mobile use
but, due to this problem, it is unusable..."

Assuming it wasn't bad the day it was made...

Do all your tests with a 50 Ohm load, the antenna ports open, and
shorted, to get a baseline of what the radio itself is doing without any
antenna at all.

I don't have my MKIIg handy, but I recall with a MODIFIED 70 MKII, that
the pre-amp turns on and off in odd places when tuning, so things change
from deaf, to noisy, while spinning the dial, or, if in a memory, and
pre-amp was a parameter on one channel, and not another, different noise
on different channels.  When tuning, and you observe this odd behavior,
make note of the pre-amp light.

Generally, I found the radio too wide-open for the RF cesspools of big
cities.  It's been a while since I've been to a big town, but seem to
recall an S-meter reading of well beyond S-9, just from all the garage
in most towns.  Legitimate signals still come through OK, with no noise
being heard when something was actually there, making me think the
S-meter is just relative crap.

I last used my rig in a big city around 2009, and swore I'd never do it
again without literally a pickup truck load of band-pass filters, just
to make things work as expected.

To get decent usage, but still with absurdly high readings of nothing,
just ambient RF, on VHF, pre-amp off, narrow FM, noise blanker on, and
DSP on.  A PL decode helps, if available.

Kurt

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