ora@mun02.DEC (Ora Jaervinen, CSC Munich) (10/28/85)
Some time ago I posted a question to get some help in choosing an HF rig. I received quite a lot of negative feedback about Icom product quality (but very little on performance!). Of course, if the rig spends half of its life in repair shop, super performance won't make you happy... Nevertheless, I have one more question on the Icom IC-735: it is supposed to have a 1200 Bd serial port. The brochure doesn't tell what you can do with it; one would assume that you can at least control the frequency, maybe some other operating parameters via it. I then asked the local Icom dealer, and he didn't know. Then I asked Icom European HQ, and the didn't know either. WHO KNOWS????? Are there any IC-735 owners here? Have you ever really used the serial port? Can anyone call Icom America to find out? Having received so much negative feedback on Icom, I started reconsidering a Yaesu FT-757GX. Any comments on its performance?
carpenter@nbs-vms.ARPA (CARPENTER, ROBERT) (10/31/85)
A posting from Munich asks for comments on small HF rigs. A fine palce (place) to look for product reviews in "Radio Communication", published by the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSBG). Peter Hart, G3SJX, has a continuing series of very technical reviews, as well as comment from on-the-air use. Two reviews which aply to the above message are: FT757GX in the May 1985 issue TS430S in the June 1985 issue These rever back to earlier similar reviews by Hart as follows---- IC740 November 1983 IC720A February 1982 FT102 January 1983 FT77 June 1984 Perhaps you will find these to be interesting.. 73, Bob W3OTC ------
ai2q@ky2d-2.UUCP (Alex) (11/09/85)
> Some time ago I posted a question to get some help in choosing an HF rig. > I received quite a lot of negative feedback about Icom product quality > (but very little on performance!). Of course, if the rig spends half of its > life in repair shop, super performance won't make you happy... > > Nevertheless, I have one more question on the Icom IC-735: it is supposed to > have a 1200 Bd serial port. The brochure doesn't tell what you can do with it; > one would assume that you can at least control the frequency, maybe some > other operating parameters via it. > > I then asked the local Icom dealer, and he didn't know. Then I asked Icom > European HQ, and the didn't know either. WHO KNOWS????? Are there any IC-735 > owners here? Have you ever really used the serial port? Can anyone call Icom > America to find out? > > Having received so much negative feedback on Icom, I started reconsidering > a Yaesu FT-757GX. Any comments on its performance? *** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE *** Aside from the pros and cons of japanese-made rigs (I have a Ten Tec Argonaut and an old pair of heathkit Twins - the SB401/SB303), the inclusion of aserial I/O port allows control of the rig from a remote. A recent article in QST Magazine outlined a short BASIC program for doing this with the new Yaesu FT757GX xcvr. (I've actually been toying with acquiring one of these so I could rig it up with my Model 100 lap-portable). The feature was written by Kjell Strom, SM6CPI and appears on page 38 of the October 1985 isse. The article also references the following publicat- ions: QST, July 1984, p.34, Low Cost Computer Control for the ICOM IC-720; QST, August 1982, p.19, control of an ICOM IC-701; QST, May 1981, p. 30, re IC-701; The 1985 ARRL Handbook for The Radio Amateur, 62nd Edition, C. Hutchinson (ed), ppgs. 19-24, Fig. 26; and Compute! Magazne, August 1982, J. Butterfield and J. Law, VIC Communications: the RS-232 Interface, p. 99. So there! I hope this is of interest and I would be quite interested in learning how others are making out with similar systems of control. My ideal system would allow the MiniMUF program to pre-set the rig at the appointed hour for either AMTOR or packet transmissions with automated message store/forward nodes! I'd also like to find out if anyone has experienced any problems/solutions with emi/rfi while using these rigs under program control. Vy 73, Alex AI2Q, Freeport, Long Island, New York >>AR>>