Tuesday, 2 June 2015

The new rig in the shack.....

Well after Sunday's disastrous island activation attempt and the death of my much beloved FT-857D, a new radio appeared in the shack this morning.  An IC-718 now graces the bench.

While I would have dearly loved to have replaced the FT-857D with another one, I really could not justify the cost.  The IC-718 was about half the price, and although it doesn't have 6m, 2m, and 440, it will do me very nicely for the portable work I do.

It's a nice compact rig that is packed with options.  I set it up right out the box, attached the antenna, tuned up, and had a QSO with JW9JKA on Bear Island, Norway, and got him on the first call.  While I only received a 51 from him, I was quite pleased as that was done with the factory settings.

The menu system is one that you set and forget.  I had Don, VE3MNE, on the air tonight on 160m and we went through some of the settings and sorted out the mic gain.  Don says the radio sounds very good, in fact the results were very similar to my FT-950.

I think it's a bit big to actually mount in a go-box which is a bit of a draw back to me, but we will figure something out to protect it while we're operating portable.

This weekend I'm out doing the communications for the Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour, and I plan on taking the radio and my Buddypole antenna with me and doing some HF DX chasing in-between the busy times.
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3 comments:

  1. Anonymous3 June 2015 at 08:15

    Nice looking rig with a nice big display.... I look forward to your reviews on how it works for you.... Maybe by Chillycon if Liz lets me get a new toy...

    Have fun on the cycle tour.... I can't join in this year...

    73bob

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  2. Anonymous3 June 2015 at 14:17

    The IC-718 is nice simple basic radio that I am sure you will get much use out of. At one time I was looking for something similar for similar use but decided on the FT-450D. At the time it was not much more than the IC-718 plus it does include 6m, has a built in tuner, and unlike the IC-718 has built in CW narrow filters which for me is a must. The FT-450D is often the radio I grab when I want to head out for some out and about operating. More power hungry than the FT-817 but a bit easier to use and if conditions warrant I can crank up the power to more than 5 watts if needed.

    i am sure your new IC-718 will gets lots of good use.

    cheers, Graham ve3gtc

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  3. VE9KK 6 June 2015 at 10:09

    It's alway nice to get a shiny new radio and power it up for the first time, to bad the 857 gave up the ghost. I did have the 857 at one time but found it frustrating as you had lots of menus to go through for some very simple functions. Have a great time with the Icom and looking forward to reading how its doing for you.
    73 Mike

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