Early Sunday morning, July 19, 2020
I finally checked in on my Georgia CW net from Studio C, using a full 100 watts. The issue I think has been the level of static crashes at the NCS’s QTH … I decided to put the fire in the wire to combat the noise, and that apparently worked. I had my IC-746 running, and again, I found what a sweet rig it is — even if it is a non-PRO version.
The rig has a 500 Hz filter installed, and it works well. Some features I never used before are the Audio Peak Filter feature, which is like adding additional narrow filtering to your Collins Mechanical filter. Its really impressive how well it works. And while many people assume the IC-746 lacks DSP, that’s not the truth — the PRO version adds additional DSP features similar to those found on the IC-756PRO.
I always found the IC-746 variants to be ideal for Field Day; large knobs, large display and ease of use. Much more user friendly than say an FT-817 or FT-897. I considered keeping this rig for future Field Day use, but decided that should I need a Field Day rig in the future I’m sure I’ll still own a rig suitable for that purpose.
FEEDLINE BOOGIE PART IV. While mowing the yard with my zero turn mower, I inadvertently snagged my feedline, pulling it apart at one of the repair points. It was really hot and humid today, and I nearly put off repairs until later. I decided that with the forecasts predicting hotter and more humid conditions tomorrow, repairing the issue today was my best bet.
The repairs didn’t take long, but it took me some time to get the materials together. My son was playing games with his sister who lives out of state, and he didn’t want to help me, which made things take a little longer. I’m not sure what the hell is going on, but I kept feeling AC on the feedline coming from the shack. I don’t have a clue what’s up with that, but I sure as hell got bit while handling the bare feedlines from the shack. Of course, I felt it most when my ass was grounded on the truck tailgate, hi hi! Not a big jolt, but enough of a zap to know there’s fire in the damn wire.
I’m next going to take my FT-950 transceiver upstairs and prep it for eBay. I’ll list it and the IC-746 on eBay next.
NEW RIG SHOPPING? I’ve mentioned my desire to get an IC-7610 as my next rig. I’m also going to have to consider the new Yaesu FTDX-101. Theres some YouTube videos of the rigs compared, and I’m going to check those out. They’re both priced in the same general range. I would really like to do a hands-on trial of both rigs; right now I’m thinking the Icom receive is tops over the Yaesu, but having never listened to either rig, I’m basing my assumptions on my experiences of 20 years ago.