Tag Archives: Icom

Icom IC-705 Blind Receiver Test #4

Test #4: Voice of Greece 9,420 kHz

In this second test (click here for #1, here for #2, and here for #3) we’ll listen to the Icom IC-705, and one other comparable radio, tuned to the Voice of Greece on 9,420 kHz.

I’ve done my best to match these radios in terms of audio and receiver settings, but it’s certainly not perfect–these are essentially real world, not laboratory conditions.

Notes:

Both radios are using the same antenna via my ELAD ASA15 Antenna Splitter Amplifier
Both radios are set to the same bandwidth
I’ve tried to match AGC settings on all radios
Both radios have different audio EQ characteristics–not all are fully adjustable
Both have separate recording devices and are not matched perfectly in terms of audio levels. In other words, you may need to adjust your volume a bit to compare.

My advice would be to focus on aspects like signal intelligibility, selectivity and signal to noise.

Please listen to each recording, then kindly answer and submit the survey below. Thank you!

Radio A

Radio B

Survey

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Icom IC-705 Blind Receiver Test #3

Test #3: Shannon Volmet SSB

In this third test (click here for #1 and here for #2)) we’ll listen to the Icom IC-705, and one other comparable radio, tuned to Shannon Volmet on 8,957 kHz.

I’ve done my best to match these radios in terms of audio and receiver settings, but it’s certainly not perfect–these are essentially real world, not laboratory conditions.

Notes:

Both radios are using the same antenna via my ELAD ASA15 Antenna Splitter Amplifier
Both radios are set to the same bandwidth: 2.4 kHz
I’ve tried to match AGC settings on all radios
Both radios have different audio EQ characteristics–not all are fully adjustable
Both have separate recording devices and are not matched perfectly in terms of audio levels. In other words, you may need to adjust your volume a bit to compare.

My advice would be to focus on aspects like signal intelligibility, selectivity and signal to noise.

Please listen to each recording, then kindly answer and submit the survey below. Thank you!

Radio A

Radio B

Survey
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Icom IC-705 Blind Receiver Test #2

Test #2: 40 meters CW

In this second test (click here for #1) we’ll listen to the Icom IC-705, and one other comparable radio, tuned to a 40 meter CW station. Each recording is roughly the same length (2 minutes).

I’ve done my best to match these radios in terms of audio and receiver settings, but it’s certainly not perfect–these are essentially real world, not laboratory conditions. Indeed, making these recordings comparable in CW is incredibly challenging as the mode is so incredibly narrow and challenging to zero beat with radios that can tuned so precisely.

Notes:

Both radios are using the same antenna via my ELAD ASA15 Antenna Splitter Amplifier
Both radios are set to the same bandwidth: 0.5 kHz
I’ve tried to match AGC settings on all radios
Both radios have different audio EQ characteristics–not all are fully adjustable
Both have separate recording devices and are not matched perfectly in terms of audio levels. In other words, you may need to adjust your volume a bit to compare.

My advice would be to focus on aspects like signal intelligibility, selectivity and signal to noise.

Please listen to each recording, then kindly answer and submit the survey below. Thank you!

Radio A

Radio B

Survey

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Participate in our Icom IC-705 Blind Receiver Test #1

I’ve been asked by a number of readers to do a blind audio/receiver test of the new Icom IC-705 transceiver. I’m happy to say I’ve started the process today.

Instead of publishing one long survey with multiple types of recordings (AM, SSB, CW, etc.) as I’ve done in the past, I’ve decided to create a post for each test. This will make the process of completing the survey much easier. Additionally, it won’t require that you respond to each test in order to submit your pick.

Test #1: 40 meters SSB

In this first test we’ll listen to the IC-705, and two other radios, tuned to a weak 40 meter station in lower sideband (LSB) mode. Specifically, this is ham radio operator W3JPH activating Shikellamy State Park in Pennsylvania for the Parks On The Air program. I like this test because it includes a weak station calling CQ and both weak and strong stations replying. There are also adjacent signals which (in some recordings) bleed over into the audio. Each recording is roughly the same length (5 minutes).

I’ve done my best to match these radios in terms of audio and receiver settings, but it’s certainly not perfect–these are essentially real world, not laboratory conditions.

Notes:

All radios are using the same antenna via my ELAD ASA15 Antenna Splitter Amplifier
All radios are set to the same bandwidth: 2.4 kHz
I’ve tried to match AGC settings on all radios
All three radios have different audio EQ characteristics–not all are fully adjustable
All three have separate recording devices and are not matched perfectly in terms of audio levels. In other words, you may need to adjust your volume a bit to compare.

My advice would be to focus on aspects like signal intelligibility, selectivity and signal to noise.

Please listen to each recording, then kindly answer and submit the survey below. Thank you!

Radio A

Radio B

Radio C

Survey

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Shortwave listening in the field with the Icom IC-705 transceiver

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Yesterday, I took the new Icom IC-705 to the field for another Parks On the Air (POTA) activation. My goal at this particular activation was to make a couple of posts for QRPer.com: first, to test the new mAT-705 ATU on loan from Vibroplex, and secondly, make a short video about full break-in CW operation.

I also wanted to do a little shortwave listening after completing the activation. I had no idea what propagation would be like, but thought I’d tune around below the 20 meter band where the antenna was currently resonant.

I deployed the CHA Emcomm III Portable random wire antenna which, I must say, is a superb shortwave listening antenna for the field.

Since you can’t see the antenna in the first photo below, I marked up the second one. The blue line represents the 73′ radiator, and the green line the counterpoise:
Here’s the short video I made around the 22 meter band:

I had planned to make a few audio recordings via the built-in digital recorder but I left my MicroSD card at home. No worries, though, as I plan to make some recordings for readers to compare in the coming days if time allows.

If you have any questions about the IC-705, feel free to ask in comments.

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Reading an interval signal in the waterfall

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I’ve been doing a lot of SWLing with the new Icom IC-705. I suppose I’ve not much to post here other than to simply say: I think Radio Exterior de España‘s interval signal looks brilliant on the ‘705 waterfall. I captured this at the end of their scheduled broadcast around 22:02 UTC today.

Of course, the audio was pretty nice, too. Their interval signal is unmistakable:

I’ll admit: I’m loving the native recording capabilities of the IC-705. This came straight off of the MicroSD card. Bandwidth was set to 9 kHz.

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Taking the Icom IC-705 to the field for a battery endurance test

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I recently posted results from my listening endurance test with the new Icom IC-705 QRP general coverage transceiver. I’ve been on a mission to see just how long the supplied BP-272 Li-ion battery pack can hold up with a full charge in real-world conditions.

Thursday, I took the IC-705 to the field and activated a park using only the charged battery pack. After nearly 2 hours of constant operation (calling CQ and working stations) the BP-272 still had nearly 40% of its capacity.

That’s better than I expected, especially knowing the BP-272 is the slim, lower capacity battery pack.

I have to admit: that was a particularly fun activation because propagation finally gave me a break and I worked stations from the Azores to Oregon on a mere five watts of power.

Click here to read my full field report at QRPer.com.

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