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write your own review of the ICOM IC-701.
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N3WXW
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Rating: 4/5
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Jul 2, 2008 17:43
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FUN OLD RADIO
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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This is a good cw radio stock out of the box. What I found with my 701 is it must be operated with the matching power supply it has a higher voltage than other power supplys. Once I switched to the Ic-701PS. The radio worked like a charm! A good old radio. Do not spend too much money on one, their isn't any parts support for these old radios. $250.00 is more than enough with a power supply. If it is more than that price, walk away. Their are plenty out on the web for sale. No need to spend too much money. Rember it could be a throw away radio if band switch fails. Or at leat you will have to buy a parts radio..( I did buy a cheap parts radio because I have a 720a also ).
I also have a tip . If one has been not powered up for a long time. the PLL will get stuck on 40 meters . Just leave it on for a while do not switch bands. Then turn the radio back off for a bout 1/2 hour then turn it back on it will reset.
have fun !
73 de Ed
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KD7CAO
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 13, 2007 07:32
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Great EMCOM Rig
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have an IC-701 that was given to me by the widow of an SK friend. It works flawlessly and has been used on numerous Field Day and EMCOM events. With 200 Watts of Kick it can make a difference compared to some of the IC-706MKIIG that others show up with. Most of them like my rig because it is large enough to operate and small enough to be portable. If I could afford another radio I would probably get a new unit but, mine has had all of the service performed at the Icom Service Center in Bellevue, WA (I am from Washington.) All issues have been corrected. The only problem I have is that I need a power cable for battery operation. The connector is cheap the contacts for the connector however very expensive!
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K6SDW
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Rating: 3/5
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Jul 5, 2006 04:46
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Great when new but....
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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An outstanding rig when it was new...but used you'll be "screwed" when (not if!!) the rotary vfo fails. I would suggest staying away from used units unless you have one for parts rig and the vfo hasn't yet failed!
Cheers All.....
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N4JOY
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Rating: 4/5
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May 18, 2006 09:11
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Great classic Icom rig
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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The IC-701 is my favorite of the classic Icom rigs. Small and functional, the 701 has served me well over the past few years... I love the nostalgic red LED display! Prices for a used 701 seem to be climbing. Expect to pay $200-$300 for a decent 701 with the matching power supply. I had my rig calibrated, aligned, and cleaned by Comtek -- which is necessary if you purchase used. As a previous reviewer noted, the rotary bandswitch and the cct board "soldering issue" is a major weak point. Moreover, RF output is only adjustable on CW and RTTY, but not SSB. It also would have been nice to have AM. Otherwise, the 701 would be perfect as a backup transceiver.
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KD7PNY
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Rating: 4/5
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Oct 11, 2003 13:07
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so far so good
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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As my first HF rig, I have nothing to compare it with. There is nothing digital about the old box, no fancy bells or whistles (a little musical interlude while tuning?!!), and without the matching power supply there have been problems with operation. I guess I got lucky with my rig. I have both the matching PS and SM-4 mic. Even though their both old as well they accent the rig in its "era" if you will. I continue to receive excellent audio reports while DXing and solid reports from locals when I'm tuning up. I do wish it had AM as an option, but that was something I settled for not having due to the low entry level buying cost online. All of the controls continue to be operator friendly and work well. It does tend to receive a lot of noise now and again, as was posted previously. I can't really complain about this old beast, it just plain works for me without any real problems. I'll keep it as a backup radio or a SWL after my xyl lets me buy an upgrade to a newer 718 or 746. I guess... if you can find one like I did for around $150 and it works as well...then lucky for you.
73's from the Oregon coast,
KD7PNY
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K7VO
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Rating: 4/5
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Aug 21, 2003 01:22
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Much better than it's reputation
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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The Icom IC-701 is much better than it's reputation and much better than the reviews here would have you believe.
First off, usually when the Ledex rotary stepper motor fails it IS repairable. Scott Malcom's Malcolm Technical Service website makes this clear, and he spent 10 years at Icom America repairing rigs. I've had that confirmed by a number of sources I consider knowledgeable. If, in the unlikely event the motor really is shot, a suitable replacement is available, though it is not an exact match and you will have to do some modification to install it.
The eyelet/feedthrough problem is real, and I experienced what a pain it is to correct when my old Icom IC-245/SSB failed. The thing is, by now any good, working IC-701 would have had this repair done or it almost certainly wouldn't be working.
The IC-701 does have some parts availability issues, but show me one rig manufactured between 1976 and 1981 (the years the IC-701 was made) that doesn't. Overall, the IC-701 is no more and no less serviceable than most older radios. For the most part, unless the CMOS LSI chip goes you should be able to find spares.
The receiver performance, while certainly not up to 2003 standards, is typical of a 1980s synthesized rig: the noise floor is relatively high. You will not pull out the very weakest of the weak signals with this rig. However, for most everyday communications the receiver is fine. I certainly don't find an objectionable amount of hiss, and certainly not more than you find in many radios that get very high marks here on eHam. Indeed, I find the rig's audio fairly pleasant. Your ears may hear it differently, of course.
The bandswitch is noisy, and yes, the 100Hz tuning rate is very course by today's standards. These are minor annoyances at worst, not show stoppers.
The radio is VERY solidly built. It was years ahead of it's time, and was the very first truly synthesized, digitally tuned HF rig on the amateur market. It was a high-end rig in it's day, but yes, it's day has passed. To me the one big negative item is that the WARC bands are not covered and can't be added.
Some positives: very good filtering, including a built-in narrow CW filter standard. Very effective passband tuning. A noise blanker that works reasonably well. An effective speech processor.
IMHO, some poor reviews have created a wonderful opportunity for hams on a miniscule budget. You can pick up the radio and the matching power supply/speaker for very little money. In these tough economic times the IC-701 is actually well worth considering if you have limited means and want a very solid, decent HF transceiver.
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VE2DC
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Rating: 0/5
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May 9, 2003 14:12
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Not with a 10 foot pole!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I loved mine when I owned it... it was the first "cute" radio I owned... it was so small in it's day!
But real K6LO's review below... I've seen these on Ebay... it would be a very unwise purchase today.
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VE7CRA
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Rating: 4/5
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Jul 11, 2000 04:27
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Pretty good for a 20+ years old radio
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Ah! Take us back to those marvellous days of yesteryear.....
I agree in the main with the sentiments of K6LO, regarding the short comings of the IC-701.
The 100hz tuning steps produced a musical interlude as you changed the vfo setting if there was a signal present on the frequency. I am unaware of any agc problem when running from a "stiff" 13.6 vdc supply, but I always operated mobile with the two 701's I owned.
The audio chip was terrible for hiss, & there was reciprocal mixing in the receiver owing to the
synthesizer phase noise. Stated from my own point of view, I did not find the noise objectionable, but I was enduring mobile noise anyway, so I expect that sitting in the shack at a quiet location might color one's viewpoint!
This radio was part of a suite of radios that Icom produced in the 78/79 time frame, & all suffered from cct board problems. They used metal eyelets as connectors from one side of the cct board to the other, & I believe there was a problem with the flux(or possibly NO flux!) when wave-soldering the board. The long & short of it was that the through-connections effected by these eyelets, were subject to electrical & mechanical intermittants owing to the solder not having hot-flowed through the eyelets.This may have been due to the plating on the eyelets...that is the solder would not adhere to the metal eyelet itself. The IC-211, & the IC-245, to name only two were plagued by these problems as well. These were, I would point out, arguably, the most advanced amateur gear of their day, & Icom quickly addressed the problems in their subsequent offerings.
The one problem that I suffered, & that nearly turned me from the Icom product line, was the PA transistors. These transistors were, I believe US$150.00 per pair. If they weren't $150, they were some outrageous price close to that, & they were not even ballasted emitter transistors. The bias regulator for the finals was a temperature compensated diode controlling a TO-220 style bias regulator transistor(a 2sd190?). The infamous "eyelets" would allow the bias regulator to lose output & the finals would self-destruct. I went through three sets of these transistors at $100 odd dollars per set, & Icom allowed I was the only person in the world with the problem!
Their "engineer" insisted that I had an antenna problem etc. I sat down & made up a board with a 723 regulator chip, bypassed it for RF, & hard regulated the finals ( 2SC1279's?) .....memory dims after 20 years! About this time, I talked with Whit, W5GG, who told me there was a replacement transistor (American made) a 2SC2049, I think, that was excellent as a replacement. I obtained a couple of sets, & ran the radio for years with no more trouble. The Ledex rotary bandswitch is no longer available I am sure, but Ledex in the UK probably has something that could be made to work. This same switch is used in the IC-720. Once I had the "final bias" problem rectified, the radio performed well for years. I bought the second one at a preferential price because Icom would not or could not fix it. Pa transistors & bias again. Icom customer service made a quantum leap forward about that time, & they became excellent people with whom to do business. I very much enjoyed my 701 & thought it was a great mobile radio, but I am afraid K6LO is correct when he says it is essentially an orphan by reason of parts availability, or correctly, lack thereof..
If you stumble onto one in good condition except for the Ledex switch, you should be aware that there is a capacitor that shorts, & prevents the Ledex motor from operating....a CHEAP fix!
As regards K6LO's final comment regarding the swr shut-back cct, there was a mod from Icom that was brought out, that involved cutting cct traces & installing a resistor kit of several resistors, I think a cap or two & possibly even a couple of diodes. Also contained in these mods was a fix for the pa bias problem, & I think two or three other little foibles that people complained about....Icom had appointed a customer service rep, & problems were being fixed..(79 or 80?) To sum up, I must align myself with K6LO's position of avoiding the radio as a "user" in the shack. If you are a collector or a tech, & the price is right..........73, Brian, VE7CRA
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K6LO
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Rating: 2/5
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Jul 11, 2000 00:16
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Way ahead of its time
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I had one of the first IC-701's many years ago. It was a novel rig for its time, and Icom's first HF effort. However, let me impart some wisdom of the passing years:
Don't buy one used. The rotary relay will fail, and when it does, you'll be up %#@! creek with out a paddle. The transmitter will only operate to specification with the PS-701 supply. You see, it was unregulated and supplied about 17.5 volts under no load conditions. The rx / logic sections of the IC-701 had their own regulators.
Using a standard Astron 13.8 volt supply will cause ALC trouble.
The receiver is NOISEY. Synthesizer hissss (remember this was one of the first synthesized rigs, and, I think, Icom's first HF effort) and the audio amp was a hisser too. It was a very fatiguing radio to listen to.
It also only tuned in 100 cycle steps, so I was always riding the RIT.
They are smart looking radios, and cheap on the used market. But pass unless you have a fetish for classic gear.
Did I mention that the SWR turn down circuit was hyper sensitive? : )
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