[Yaesu] Icom 706MKIIG vs Yaesu FT450 vs Venerable Old FT-757GX

[Gerry Pement]

Hello  John and Fellow Yaesu Users
I just had experience with the FT-450 for a few minutes when I was over 
helping a friend set up his new FT-450 for PSK and RTTY. The FT-450 
seemed really quiet compared to the IC-706MKIIG. I have had 8 years 
experience with my IC-706MKIIG rig. That rigs is an example of a 
Receiver that has too much Sensitivity. It is noisy and has poor Signal 
Handling when you use it on a Beam or Loop Skywire antenna even if you 
keep the preamp off. I leave the Preamp off on all my HF radios that 
have Preamps on them they lead to a noisy Receiver and poor IMD 
characteristics. The Preamps are designed to make up for poor antennas 
like the inefficient antennas when you go mobile on HF or are in a 
Covenant Deed restricted District were you need to use "Stealth 
Antennas".  I have a Venerable old Yaesu FT-757GX sitting next to my 
IC-706G and I find my 24 year old FT-757GX blows the doors off the MKIIG 
for a quiet Receiver and the Full QSK on the Icom is a Joke compared to 
the smooth QSK the FT-757GX has. You use both with Preamp Off and Fast 
AGC. The FT-757 has whisper quiet QSK and the QSK on the IC-706MKIIG 
sounds like Grand Central Station with its relay's noise. The FT-757GX 
is a pleasure to use on CW contesting in the ARRL DX Contest several 
times I heard myself as part of the Pile-up and what a  great surprise 
the DX station came back to me from the pileup. FT-757GX's Shift and 
Width does a great job digging the desired station out of the Dog Pile! 
The FT-757GX came standard with a Narrow CW Filter the IC-706G the CW 
filter was a costly $200.00 option to add. I hope that give more 
substance the this dual I made a Trio. I use the FT-757GX the most of all 
my radios including a pair of IC-751A's in my shack. Happy 25th Birthday 
to the Great Old FT-757GX. It was first advertised in Canada in the June 1983 
issue of TCA. The FT-757GX I believe the next Legendary Rig after Yaesu's Famous 
FT-101 Series.
73
Gerry VE7BGP