Topband: Receivers

[Ford Peterson]

Earl wrote:

...snip...

> In the $1000 price class, I recommend the Elecraft K2 or the IC-746Pro. 
> Stay away from the Icom IC-746 non-pro and the IC-756 non-pro.  It was a
> quantum leap when Icom added the name "Pro" to these radios when they
> simultaneously added DSP to them!
> 
> 73, de Earl, K6SE

Earl,

I respectfully must submit that your hate for the original 746 is almost certainly unjustified.  Properly configured with decent filters in both IFs, the radio performs quite well.  The 746 has DSP that will walk circles around my MKV (manufactured in June 2004).  For example, on the MKV, using the peaking filter requires pressing the button 5 times.  Turning it off requires pressing it another 3.  And the Twin Passband tuning of the 746 will run circles around the shift/width controls of the MKV.

If your 'hate' for the orginal 746 stems from the lack of dynamic range, running the preamps I would agree with you.  With the preamps off, BDR of 123 at 20KHz.  With preamps on, BDR of 115 at 20KHz.  The K2 is 136 / 127 respectively.  The beloved MKV is 123 / 122 at 20KHz.  The PROII is 111 / 103 at 20KHz.  Since you don't operate topband with the preamps running, the 746 outperforms both the MKV and the PROII.  The 746 Pro's BDR is 125 / 117 at 20KHz.  On this measure, the PRO is not bad by comparison.

The VFO on the 746 is identical to the 781.  Running split operations are a breeze.  I can use the 746 single receiver radio with nearly the same effectiveness as a dual receiver radio.

Having run 10s of thousands of Qs through the 746, I can assure you that the 746 (original) is not the pile of junk you contend.  If I could have only one $700 radio in the shack (DC to light), it would most certainly be a 746 (original).

Ford-N0FP
ford at cmgate.com