ICOM
703
Icom America Inc.
2380 116th Ave NE
Bellevue, WA 98004
The IC-703 is Icom's answer for the QRP
enthusiasts. Focusing on QRP performance rather than an all-in-one
solution, the IC-703 covers the Amateur Bands 160m to 10m (703+ is the
only available model now and includes 6m) . The radio will output
5W @ 9.6VDC and 10W @ 13.8VDC. It has an internal antenna tuner, keyer,
and DSP.
The radio draws about 250ma at the lowest settings and about 350-400ma
in
normal use. Current draw on TX depends on power out to a max of
3a, but it is well suited for portable operation and is not
overly power hungry at 5w (under 2a).
I've had my 703 for a little over a year now (* actually it's my third
but see notes below*) and I really like it. The rig is fairly easy to
use, the display is large, buttons I can fit my large fingers on, audio
out is loud, and it can hear/rx extremely well. I usually
operate the radio off of a 4 or 7aHr gell cell and it is well suited
for this type of portable use.
As to the built in extras... The face plate can be remoted if needed.
The tuner works great on normal antennas ( not for end fed wire, though
I have matched some rez'ed lengths ) and will match up to about
3:1. The DSP functions well for notch reduction and noise
reduction and this is adjustable as to how aggressive you want
it. The built in keyer is fine and also has a memory function for
contests and such but I really can't say I've ever used it much(one of
those buried menu functions). There are
plenty of memories to store your favorite freqs in. In all, there's not
much I don't like about the radio.
The only change I've done to this radio is the addition of Power Poles
to the power cord.
The Icom 703 fills in the complaints I had with the FT 817 and does it
well. I rate this QRP rig a 9 of 10!
* as to the third 703; with the first release of the radio I jumped on
the 703 boat, but there were
a couple of quality / design problems. Problems were the final driver
burning out due to over stress or bad run of chips. Two radios in
three weeks! After a year ICOM came up with a fix. Later ICOM
started to phase out the 703 in favor of the 703+(with 6m). At this
time the dealers were heavily discounting the 703 hf only model.
I like the rig so much I purchased another for a great price, shipped
it right off to ICOM for the fixes and ended up with a great radio for
half price. BTW, the main fix was to run the final driver at 8v instead
of off the 12v line thereby dropping voltage/stress on chip... worked
fine and to my knowledge completely fix the final troubles.
In
the local State Park; IC-703
running into 33ft wire on 40m , matched by internal tuner
