IC-775DSP_review_CQ_1997.pdf
-riiiiiiim.I- TheICOMIC-775DSP Transceiver BYLEWMcCOY,WlICP TheICOMIc-nSDSPtransceiver. This closeup viewshows the right sideofthefrontpanel01theIc-nSDSP.Onthereadout dial, thetennNRattheleft indicates thatthenoisereductionoftheDSPactionisoperating_This viewshowsthetransceiversetupasDualwatch,wherebyboth usable frequenciesareshown. Theoneatthe leftisforthemain tuningandtheoneatthe far rightisthesettingofthe other VFO.Thetuning knobforthissetupisthelargeknob below.Alongthefarrightofthepanel are thefifter switchesjustabovetheTwinPSTtuningcontrol.AtthebottomistheRfrffXcontrol. authefeatures.Asa writer myself,Ihaveal- waysbeenirkedbytrcsewriterswhoassume thatthereaderautomatically understandswhat theyaresaying.Suchis notalwaysthecase. Forexample, I find that buying and using soft- warecanbeextremely frustrating. I boughta takessomegettingusedtobecausethere are somanyfeaturesavailable.Theinstruction manualis extremely detailed withmanyillus- trations included. IIs81/2 x 11and63pages. Ispent considerabletimestudying the manual andthe transceiver to familiarizemyselfwith The Basics Letstry to look at the IC-775 from a different viewpoint,oneIhopeeveryoneunderstands- that is, primarily from an operating standpoint. TheIC-77S0SPisanextremely exotic piece of equipment. Incidentally, DSPstandsfor Digital Signal Processing.Theterm1:lellsand whistles hasbeenmuchabusedbyreviewers, butin this case it isdeserved. Basically,the unitis a self-contained,200watt transceiver withabuiltinpowersupply.Thetransmitter covers the160through10meterbandsand in addition oilers a general-coverage receiver. Here are somemorebasics, andthenwell gointo the discussion of performance andtea- teresthat should appeal toeveryamateur,The transceiver is163/4Wx6HxlS1/20and it weighs37pounds.Uspowersupplyis self-con- tained. Ihaveincluded thepagefrom theman- uatthatshowsall the specifications (fig.1)- and thereareplenty-ifyou would like to study thedetails. Ialsomightaddtnattbetransceiv- er I testedmetorexceededallthespecsgiven byICOM. TheIC-77SDSP is realty ajoytooperate. It TechnicalEditor,CO,1500WestIdaho St, SilverCity,NM88061 e-mail:mccoyO T heICOMIC775DSPtransceiveris atop- ot-me-unelCOMproduct.Ihavehadthe 775forquitesometimeandhavereally givenita thorough lesting. Before getting into the review, however, I would like to say that I have been testing and reviewing equipment for articleslormore years thanIiiketo thinkaOOUt.Actually,Itwas40years ago when I first did reviews for051.I was employed intheTechnical Departmentofthe ARRLatthetime.Ourgoat inthosedayswas to reallywringout a piece of equipment, check- ing charactenstcs suchasease01use, bot pri- marily testing the technical aspects of gear. I notethat nowsomereviews tend to be very dif- ficult for todaysamateur to comprehend. Many of us do not even understand the terms used to describe thevarious aspects of modern equip- ment. In plain, simple language,ittakes a real hot-shot engineer to even begin to understand whatthe revieweristalkingabout.Inmanycases (inmyopinion) the reviewer completely misses thepoint.Numerous graphs and charts to show a products characteristics often will onlycom- pletelyconfusethereader,andIleeIsometimes they areunnecessary.Whyunnecessary? Simply becausemooemdesign has reached a point where one ooesnthavetobetoo con- cemed about stability,orthird-order distortion, orkeyingquality.Lets givecreditwhere it is due: The manufacturers areverycapableanddoa goodjob. 30.COMaV 1997 SayYouSawItInCO .GENERAL Frequency coverage: Receive100 kHz - 29.990 MHz Transmit1.800-1.999999MHZ 3.500 -3.999999 MHz 7.000-7.300MHz 10.100-10.150 MHz 14.000-14.350MHz 18.068 -18.168MHz 21.000 - 21.450MHz 24.890 - 24.990MHz 28.000 - 29.700MHz ., .830-1.850lorSpain verllion; 1.810-1.850lorFrance version; 1.815-1.8351.a50-1.890 lor Germany version .3.500-3.800lorSpain, Franceand Germanyversions 7.000-7.100lor Spain. Franceand GermanyveBions Mode:sse.CWoATTY, AM, FM Numberofmemory: 101 (99 regular, 2 scan edges) channels Antenna impedance :50Qnominal Usable temperature : - 10-c10+60C: range+14Fto+140F Frequency stability:lessthan200 Hz from 1mn.to 60min. after powerON. AMerthaI.,rate 01stability changeisless than1:30 Hz/llr. at +2SC:+771=. TemperaturefluctuationslOC10 +50C:+32F10+122F1kt$lnan 350Hz. Powersupply requirement: 120Vtypel00- 12OVAC 230Vtype220-240VAC Powerconsumption : Transmitmax. power760VA Receivesquelched140VA max.audiooutput150VA Dimensions:424(W)( 150(H) x390(0)mm 1611/n(Wx521f32(H)x1511/:)2(0) (projeclions nol included) Weight:16.5kg;36.4Ib (withoul OSPunit) 16.7kg;36.8 Ib (with OSP unit) lessthan2.0uV lessthan0.16uV less than13.0uV l essthan2.0uV lessthan0.5ov : VSWR1.5:1or less :Lessthan1.0dB FM CW,RTTY AM MODESSBCW,RnYAMFM I. 69.011569.010669.010069.0100 2nd9.01159.01069.01009.0100 3rd0.4550.4550.4550.455 h10.695010.695010.6950 Minimumoperating Inputpower Tuningaccuracy Insertion loss (anetluning) AITILJTX variablerange ANTENNATUNER Matching Impedancerange: 16.7-150Qunbalanced (Less than VSWR 3:1) : 8 W Sensitivity(Preamp 1 ON): SSB,CW,RTTY100-500kHz (10dBSIN)1.8 - 29.99MHz AM(10aeSIN)0.5-1.8MHz 1.8 -29.99MHz FM(12dBSINAD)28-29.99MHz Squelchsensitivity (PreampION): SSB.CW,RTTY.lessthan3.211Vatthreshold AM FMlessthan0.32uvatthreshold Selectivity (Normalfiller saleclion): SSBMorethan2.4kHZ/-6dB Lessthan4.0kHz/-60dB Motethan500HZ/- 6dB Lessthan1.0kHZ/-60dB Morethan6.0 kHZ/ -6dB lessthan20.0kHZ! -60dB Morethan15.0kHZ/-6dB lessthan30.0kHzl-60dB Spuriousandimage:Morethan70dB rejectionratio Aud1Ooutputpower: Morethan2.6 Wat10%distortion withan8Qload : 9.999 kHz RECEIVER Receive system SSB,CW,RTTY,Quadruple-conversion AMsuperheterodyne FMTriple-93% efficient, with NO traps,3KWrating and a single Ieedltne. TheBlue LineZR-2Misa vertical dipolefor2 mtrsthatis15 MHzwide 2:1(i.e.135-150MHz).Ithasanintegratedbalun andis only29 M tall.TheBlueLineZR2M1440isatwobandmodel for2 mtrsand440.AnBlueUne antennasarecommercial quality, WIthblueanodizedaluminumandstainlesshardware. Force12manufacturesmoreHFantennasthananycompanyintheworld.Multi-monobandersforallcombinations, awide variety of monobandersandevenrotatable160mtrdipoles.Efficientverticalsfrom160mtrsonup.Asmallsampling includes: C.318boom Vagi, 20-15-10(+17InfofTechnical:(408)720-9073;FAX(408)720-9055Internethttp:/www.QTH,comJforce12 WORLDWIDEdealers/distributors include: Canada, Italy, Spain,Portugal,Russia, Japan,U.K,Sweden. Finland, So.America.So.Africa. FORCE12.partofBUYU.S.A.,Inc. 3015-BCopperRoad, SantaClara, CA95051 Say YouSaw It In CO CIRCLE 46ONREAOER SERVICE CARO May 1997CO35
