[CQ-Contest] Icom 756 Pro series as mobile rigs

Gary Schmidt garys at austin.rr.com
Sun Nov 9 13:21:48 EST 2008


Jim,

 

I've used my Pro II mobile several times under pretty severe operating
conditions, and have had decent results with it. Specifically, I've taken it
mobile four times as the third station in the K5NA Multi-3 rover Texas QSO
Party operation (the infamous BurritoMobile) where I've been the 20 meter
CW/phone op. This is three 100 watt radios operating simultaneously in a
Chevy Tahoe SUV with very tight antenna spacing. Those are very challenging
conditions to be sure, and I cannot say that everything went smoothly or
trouble-free. The Pro II noise blanker does a good job of quelling ignition
noise, but at the price of creating lots of other noise on a typically busy
contest band. In that high RF environment, despite our best attempts at
grounding, isolation and filtering, there's a lot of noise that you simply
can't avoid, and this year even Larry K5OT with his K-3 was not immune, so
I'm not too quick to criticize the Pro II. I also did a Multi-2 Oklahoma QSO
party using the Pro II with Chuck NO5W, and there were considerably fewer
interstation interference problems - probably because we were lacking the
third station. Any receive noise problems I was having with my Pro II were
almost certainly less severe than my compadres running 706's and 7000's in
the other seats.

 

I think for your intended use, a parked motor home, I would definitely
encourage you to use the Pro II. It is simply a lot more feature-laden and
versatile than its more compact brethren, and quite robust. BTW, I have
marveled at how rugged my Pro II is to have endured the thousands of miles
and handling (though careful) associated with its life "on the road", but
did have a nasty surprise when I got home from the latest TX QSO Party run
in September. When I put the rig back on the desk, hooked everything up and
hit the power button the only sign of life was the S-meter backlight.
Nothing else worked, and the radio was dead for all intents and purposes. I
took the top and bottom covers off to see if I could spot anything obvious
that had rattled loose the previous weekend, and seeing nothing, wiggled
board connectors and anything that looked like it might make a difference -
my highly scientific desperation attempt to avoid shipping the radio to
Icom. It worked. With all the covers back in place, it came right up and
hasn't blinked since. It's fair to assume that this was an aftermath of
using the rig repeatedly in a mobile environment.

 

Hope that helps.

 

73,

 

Gary W5ZL 

 

 

Date: Sat, 08 Nov 2008 22:01:04 -0500

From: n3aws at aol.com

Subject: [CQ-Contest] Icom 756 Pro series as mobile rigs

To: cq-contest at contesting.com

Message-ID: <8CB102E89CC3904-9B0-54C at webmail-de06.sysops.aol.com>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

 

As I approach retirement, I'm thinking about upgrading my mobile setup with
the intention of improving performance primarily in state QSO parties.? I
currently operate mobile with an Icom 706 MkIIG in a 23 foot motorhome using
the marine deep cycle battery for power and a Hustler antenna.? I only
operate while parked or when someone else is driving.? While the 706 is a
reasonable mobile rig, I wonder if the improved receiver in my 756 Pro II
would work well in the mobile environment.? I've only had the Pro II a short
time and have only used it once in a contest (June 08 ARRL VHF).? I operate
QRP 95% of the time and always in contests.? Also, I currently operate 95%
SSB although when I retire I'll probably operate CW & digital modes more
often.

 

So my questions are: how well does the 756 Pro series handle the noise of a
mobile environment?? Would I experience enough of a RCVR improvement to make
it worth the effort to upgrade the 706 to the Pro II?? Would the improved
ergonomics of the larger 756 be reason enough to upgrade?? Any other input
from anyone who has used a Pro series XCVR mobile would be appreciated!

 

Thanks and 73,

 

Jim N3AWS

 



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