The extra RF power of the 7800 comes in useful as i do not use an amplifier. Signals that would normally be in the noise are now fully readable, even when compared to the 756 pro3 performance. When the antennas were connected my first impression was, where has all the band noise gone? Really the difference is outstanding. I would not recommend transmitting until the manual had been consulted - Would you? Physical size of the IC7800 is quite a lot bigger than the 756 but the desk had plenty of room to accomodate.Īnyone familiar with ICOM 756 will have no trouble setting up the 7800 out of the box, without the manual. I unpacked the radio once at home and set it up in place of the ICOM IC756 Pro3. The outer box is very big, however we did manage to load it into my car with the rear seat folded down. I collected the radio from the dealer myself, rather than have another carrier handling the goods. I have owned the radio since December 2007.Īs everyone seems to report, the radio came very well packaged from ICOM. I have tried not to rush in to writing this review, as first impressions are not the complete story. Perhaps my biggest concern about IC-7800 ownership was how long would ICOM continue to provide service for this transceiver? Without the necessary replacement parts the IC-7850 can easily turn into an expensive doorstop.Įventually the IC-7850 and IC-7851 came out with improved RMDR specs, along with a much brighter screen. Two years later my IC-7800 was collecting dust so I sold it now use my Flex transceiver pretty much exclusively, although I do also own a IC-7300.

I purchased a Flex-6700 but also kept my IC-7800 because I wasn't 100% convinced yet that I wanted to shed the 'knob & button' type rigs.

Cost was a bit over $1,000 plus shipping/insurance costs both ways. I only had to send my IC-7800 back for repair once for a board replacement. And since this is a very heavy transceiver, shipping and insurance to ship it back for repair can be costly, and repairs can also be costly. Also the IC-7800 has limited spectrum display settings, although this issue wasn't apparent until I purchased a Flex 6xxx series transceiver. First, it's display always seemed too dim (even with settings turned all the way up). It performed excellent for its day, with almost lab test instrument precision.

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