[CQ-Contest] ICOM 775 vs ICOM 756 PRO 2 vs YAESU FT 1000 MP5

[Peter Grillo, Sr.]

Hi Dave -

12 years have past since I had my own station to operate....been on contest
DXpeditions and some multi-op since.  Now I am building my own shack.  My
Geochron arrived 2 days ago.  My two FT-1000D's are still in their boxes (I
had the first one at KH3 and loved it, so I got the other and have never
used it).  I have been gathering SO2R e-mails over the past 6 years so I can
make up the rest of the station.  Now I will need to select the antenna
switching hardware and computer programs to go along with them.  I have
always preferred TR over CT, simply because of my fear of the windows
environment causing crashing and the subtle flexibility Tree had vision to
include early in the game.  I found a $50 used 486 computer just for keying
the radio.  I picked up a Heil boom mike/headset at WRTC 2002 and hope to
have enough aluminum up to be on in time for SS.

Hope to CU on.

Thanks for your summary.  It confirms I am heading in the right direction.

73,
Pete

----- Original Message -----
From: "David A. Pruett" <k8cc at comcast.net>
To: <Cqtestk4xs at aol.com>; <x>
Sent: Thursday, August 22, 2002 9:55 PM
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] ICOM 775 vs ICOM 756 PRO 2 vs YAESU FT 1000 MP5


> Bill,
>
> Dayton 1995.  There I was, owner of two IC-765s which I was very pleased
> with, and wrestling with the exact same decision as you.  IC-775 or
> FT-1000D?  W8WD and I must have walked between the ICOM and Yaesu booths a
> half dozen times.
>
> My decision was compounded by the fact that I harbored an active dislike
> for Yaesu radios.  I owned (and still own) a FT-107M (the WHITE radio)
with
> which I won the 1984 ARRL ARRL DX CW from HR1DAP.  Still, every other
Yaesu
> HF radio I used struck me as rather odd: FT-101s (any version), the FT-102
> and any model of the FT-7x7 family.  I harbored a secret fondness for the
> FT-ONE which I got to use at N5AU in the 1982 CQWW, but it still had its
> oddities and a huge price tag to boot.
>
> I walked out of Dayton 1995 with a brand new FT-1000D.  In the seven years
> since I've acquired four more used ones ("Ya got a used FT-1000D for sale,
> call K8CC - he'll buy it" :-)).  Another FT-1000D is a long term guest in
> the shack, courtesy of a friend on assignment in DL-land.  This past
> January I bought a used FT-1000MP from AES to see if I was missing
> anything.  Multi-multis consume lots of radios...
>
> When I sit down to single op, the FT-1000D is radio I get behind.
Compared
> to my IC-765s, its a much better SSB radio which is what I was looking to
> improve.  The SSB crystal filtering of that era (dual 2.7 KHz filters
> yielding a -6dB bandwidth of 2.4 KHz) was not narrow enough.  The IC-775
> struck me as a DSP wrapped around the back end of a IC-765.
>
> I am a big fan of "simple to operate".  In this regard, the FT-1000D is
> better than the FT-1000MP, although I've gotten used to it by now.  The
> TS-950SDX IMO was the worst in this regard - lots of little knobs with
> medium gray legends which were difficult to read.
>
> K6KM makes an excellent point - if you're going to do SO2R, you really
need
> two radios of the same model.  I did 1991 SS with one IC-765 and one
> IC-761.  Same front panels, but different controls in different spots.
The
> same condition exists between the FT-1000MP and MKV/Field.
>
> So there are a few data points to consider.  If all you can do is replace
> the blasted radio, I'd get another IC-775.  If you want simple to use,
> 150W+ and competitive capabilities, I'd sell the IC-775 and get two
FT-1000Ds.
>
> FWIW
>
> 73,
>
> Dave/K8CC
>
>
>
> At 10:01 PM 8/22/02 -0400, Cqtestk4xs at aol.com wrote:
> >Ah, the joys of living in Florida...another lightning hit.  It looks like
the
> >main xcvr, an Icom 775 is toast.  The other 775 was not in line so it
looks
> >like it is clean.
> >
> >Insurance will be buying a new transceiver and since the 775 is
approximately
> >the same price, if not more than the 756 Pro and the FT 1000MP5, it looks
> >like decision time.  I loved the 775 and am tempted to get another.  The
> >reliability and simplicity of use are great.  I have also heard very nice
> >things about the 756 and the 1000.
> >
> >I am primarily a phone contester and like the fact that both the 775 and
the
> >1000 put out more than 100 watts which is handy for contests with the 150
> >watt limit.  I do operate some CW and plan on doing more in the future
but my
> >main love is SSB contests.
> >
> >Some of the review posts suggest quality control is more of an issue with
> >Yaesu than Icom.  More trips back to the shop, but some suggest the 1000
is
> >the ultimate rig.
> >
> >My question is this:  knowing what my operating habits are, if you were
in my
> >shoes and price were no object, which of the three would you purchase and
> >why.  Also which of the stock filters would you recomnmend. You can
either
> >send the suggestions and critiques to me or post them.  I am not trying
to
> >start a war of Icom vs Yaesu, only to get a feeling from the community
about
> >the pros and cons of each.  .This should be interesting.
> >
> >Thanks for the help.
> >
> >Bill K4XS
> >
> >
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