[Yaesu] Yaesu FT920 vs Icom 746: Results of comparison

[John Geiger]

A couple of weeks ago I posted a message on the list
asking how the Yaesu FT920 compared to the Icom 746. 
Since that time I was able to directly compare the 2,
and here is what I found, in case anyone else is on
the fence about which one of these 2 to get.  

After comparing the Yaesu FT920 that I have been using
to the Icom 746, I decided to keep the 920 and sell
the 746.  The Icom does have 100 watts on 2m which
would have been nice, better filter possiblities, and
is a smaller package for roving and portable use, but
here is why I decided to keep the 920:

1. The 920 has a much quieter receiver.  On 20 and 30
meters it was as quiet with the preamp on as the Icom
is when you turn off the preamp.  One Friday morning
I did an A/B comparison between the 2 rigs on 40 CW
under the same conditions-preamps off, SSB bandwidth
but in CW mode, same frequency at the low end of the
band-and the difference was striking. The Yaesu had
little or no noise showing on the meter, whereas the
Icom was showing an S6 noise level.  Yes, part of that
is due to the S meter differences (The QST reviews
confirm this) but the Yaesu just sounded much quieter
also.  While you may be able to use the tools on the
746 to dig signals out of the noise, listening to that
kind of noise level wears you down after awhile.

2. The FT920 gives you much more control over the
level of receive sensitivity.  With the 746, you have
3 different possibilities:
  a) Preamp on, Attenuator off
  b) Both Preamp and Attenuator off
  c) Preamp off, Attenuator on
The Attenuator is fixed at 20db, which is too much
most of the time.  On the FT920, there is a 3 step
Attenuator-6db, 12db, and 18db.  You can also have
both the Preamp and the Attenuator on at the same
time, so you have a total of 8 different sensitivity
levels.  

3. The internal tuner works better on the FT920.  They
both worked on 20m OK.  The 920 would load the dipole
on 30 and 80m whereas the 746 wouldn't.  The 920 also
loaded the mini quad on 17m where the 746 wouldn't. 
Neither will load the dipole on 40m.  I did briefly
try
15m and both will load the miniquad there.

4. The SWR cutback feature is not near as aggressive
on the FT920.  The 746 would start cutting back on
power with a 1.5:1 SWR (which is ridiculous).  The 920
would still put out full power into a 2:1 SWR.

5. The receive audio and DSP sound much better on the
920.  I am not one of those hi-fi SSB type guys, but
to me some SSB audio sounds better than others.  The
920 has about the third best received audio I have
heard, right behind the TS950SDX and TS850.  The DSP
on the FT920 also sounds smoother-removing the noise
without adding any digital artifacts or distorting the
received audio.  It has some of the best AF DSP I have
heard.

6. The 920 has more creature comforts.  The built in
voice keyer is nice, and you can also record audio off
the air to listen to again and again, if you like.  I
like the CW tuning indicator which is useful for zero
beating CW signals, as well as the spot key which also
helps for that.  The ability to lower power to 10
watts with the push of a button is nice for tuning the
manual tuner-needed only on 40, and 160 due to the
good internal tuner in the 920.  It just seemed that
the 920 had the features I liked better.  Having a
second VFO knob to tune VFO B is more useful than I
imagined.  

7. The noise blanker seems better in the 920
also-taking out most of the crud I get from the
neighborhood here.  It is one of the better ones I
have seen, not quite as good as in the TS2000, but not
far behind.

8. The transmit audio monitor works much better on the
FT920, and it is nice having the compression level
control on the front panel, instead of on the rear of
the radio, as on the 746.  Also, I don't believe the
meter on the 746 will show DBs of compression, as the
920's meter will.  The transmit monitor showed me that
I shouldn't mess with the transmit EQ settings, as the
audio sounded best with that off.  

9. The FT920 has a receive antenna jack, whereas the
746 doesn't.  The 920 also seems like it would be
easier to use with a transverter as you have more
control over power settings and such. For example, you
can set antenna jack 2 to have a max of 10 watts out,
and then use the RF power control to lower it from
there.  Also, it seems that it would be fairly easy to
set up the 920 with an external receiver to do dual
receive, whereas this would be difficult with the 746.

Things I liked better on the 746 were:

1. 2 meter capabilities, although 2 meter SSB isn't
too active in my area.
2. Smaller size
3. The CW memory keyer is easier to program and use
4. Much better filter setup
5. The audio peak filter is nice on CW.

Overall, I just felt that the FT920 was a better rig
for HF/6m given my style of operating, and I haven't
regretted keeping it instead of the 746.  I still get
amazed with how good the FT920 is each time I use it.

73s John AA5JG


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com