Topband: IC-746 PRO A/B Test Results

[k6se at juno.com]

A local ham loaned me his new Icom IC-746 PRO for the weekend for the A/B
tests. The other Icom transceivers I've tested (IC-775DSP and IC756)
ranked low on the list, therfore I wasn't expecting much from the 746
PRO.  Much to my surprise, the receiver does an extremely good job of
digging weak signals out of the noise on both 160m and 10m.

It was an extremely close race and I spent the good part of two days and
one night before making a decision:

The IC-746 PRO is now #1 on the list!

The receiver performed best on the weak test signals with its controls
set as follows:

Mode: CW
DSP bandwidth: 50 Hz
Preamp #2 on

The controls on the FT-1000MP comparison receiver were set as follows:

Mode: CW
Xtal filter BW: 250/125 Hz
DSP BW: 60 Hz
Preamp: Tuned

The 746 PRO's NR made no difference whether it was on or off at narrow
BWs.  At wide BW's (SSB), it worked quite well.  These same results are
true on the only three receivers that included DSP NR (the others are the
Orion and FT-1000MP), so perhaps this is the norm for NR effectivity when
using narrow BWs.

The IC-746 PRO IMDDR3 and BDR test results from the ARRL lab are not as
good as a number of receivers they've tested, but my tests are done when
there are no nearby strong signals on the band.  The sole purpose of my
tests is to determine how well a receiver can dig weak CW signals from
the noise.

Within the nexr two weeks I'll be A/Bing an Icom IC-756 PRO II.


Here is the updated list of receivers checked so far at K6SE, in order
from best to worst:

 1) Icom IC-746 PRO
 2) Yaesu FT-1000MP (with INRAD mod)
 2) Elecraft K2 (tied for 2nd place)
 2) Yaesu FT-1000D
 5) Kenwood TS-830S
 5) Kenwood TS-870S (tied with the TS-830S)
 7) Yaesu FT-1000MP (without the INRAD mod)
 8) Yaesu FT-757
 9) Icom IC-775DSP
10) Ten-Tec Omni VI+
11) Icom IC-756
12) Ten-Tec Orion

As more radios are A/B tested, I'll update the list.

73, de Earl, K6SE