ICOM 706 MKIIG for cruising?
 

Anyone use this little mobile unit for cruising? What would be its
advantages/disadvantages over the 710? It seems to have a broader band
selection, and is smaller/lighter.

TIA

Padeen

ICOM 706 MKIIG for cruising?
 

In article
,
"Padeen" wrote:

Anyone use this little mobile unit for cruising? What would be its
advantages/disadvantages over the 710? It seems to have a broader band
selection, and is smaller/lighter.

TIA

Padeen



The 706 is a very popular rig in the mobile amateur population
downunder. The real question is how well it will last in the marine
environment but with the detachable head the main unit can be put in a
protected location. Also if you are usinging the AT-130 remeber that the
auto tune signal out of the 706 is at a slightly lower voltage level
than the IC-M710. Also you may find the limited memories (I think 110 or
near there) a little limiting when you start to load up all the ITU
maritime frequencies. Dare I also say it is not type approved so there
can be a minor problem there as well. But if you have an Amateur license
it is a great little rig.

--
John VK3JP

ICOM 706 MKIIG for cruising?
 

In article
,
"Padeen" wrote:

Anyone use this little mobile unit for cruising? What would be its
advantages/disadvantages over the 710? It seems to have a broader band
selection, and is smaller/lighter.

TIA

Padeen



The 706 is a very popular rig in the mobile amateur population
downunder. The real question is how well it will last in the marine
environment but with the detachable head the main unit can be put in a
protected location. Also if you are usinging the AT-130 remeber that the
auto tune signal out of the 706 is at a slightly lower voltage level
than the IC-M710. Also you may find the limited memories (I think 110 or
near there) a little limiting when you start to load up all the ITU
maritime frequencies. Dare I also say it is not type approved so there
can be a minor problem there as well. But if you have an Amateur license
it is a great little rig.

--
John VK3JP

ICOM 706 MKIIG for cruising?
 

Very good ! I use it (first model) on my boat with a SGC 231 coupler close
to the backstay. It is very helpful to have a remote panel to install the
unit where you want. Regards. Laurent.

"Padeen" a écrit dans le message de
...
Anyone use this little mobile unit for cruising? What would be its
advantages/disadvantages over the 710? It seems to have a broader band
selection, and is smaller/lighter.

TIA

Padeen

ICOM 706 MKIIG for cruising?
 

Very good ! I use it (first model) on my boat with a SGC 231 coupler close
to the backstay. It is very helpful to have a remote panel to install the
unit where you want. Regards. Laurent.

"Padeen" a écrit dans le message de
...
Anyone use this little mobile unit for cruising? What would be its
advantages/disadvantages over the 710? It seems to have a broader band
selection, and is smaller/lighter.

TIA

Padeen

ICOM 706 MKIIG for cruising?
 

It is illegal to use ham radio equipment on the marine bands. All
equipment must be at least "type accepted".....

However, lots of ham equipment is being used on the marine bands all
the time, these days.

The main disadvantage of the ham equipment is that the marine radios,
like our Icom M802 aboard Lionheart, is channelized for all the marine
frequencies, even to the point that the display tells you what special
purposes the current channel is used for, like the one the Coasties
are monitoring on this band. You COULD program the memories in the
better ham radios to the ITU marine channels with the list from
several sources, I suppose.

By the way, if you decide to go whole hog and get the beautifully
engineered, but poorly sealed, M802, you can switch from channelized
marine mode to "wide open" frequency mode by holding down MODE + 2 and
pressing TX buttons. This combo toggles it back and forth. When I go
aboard, I toggle it into open for use on the ham bands. When I leave
the boat, I switch it back to marine channels only to keep my
non-technical captain out of Federal prison, limiting his transmitting
to marine channels, only. It really is a beautifully-operating radio.

Oh, the ham rigs are, typically, 100W. The marine radios are 150
watts output. Power IS our friend....(c;

Sailnet has great prices on Icom Marine radios.....



On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 12:16:03 GMT, "Padeen"
wrote:

Anyone use this little mobile unit for cruising? What would be its
advantages/disadvantages over the 710? It seems to have a broader band
selection, and is smaller/lighter.

TIA

Padeen

ICOM 706 MKIIG for cruising?
 

It is illegal to use ham radio equipment on the marine bands. All
equipment must be at least "type accepted".....

However, lots of ham equipment is being used on the marine bands all
the time, these days.

The main disadvantage of the ham equipment is that the marine radios,
like our Icom M802 aboard Lionheart, is channelized for all the marine
frequencies, even to the point that the display tells you what special
purposes the current channel is used for, like the one the Coasties
are monitoring on this band. You COULD program the memories in the
better ham radios to the ITU marine channels with the list from
several sources, I suppose.

By the way, if you decide to go whole hog and get the beautifully
engineered, but poorly sealed, M802, you can switch from channelized
marine mode to "wide open" frequency mode by holding down MODE + 2 and
pressing TX buttons. This combo toggles it back and forth. When I go
aboard, I toggle it into open for use on the ham bands. When I leave
the boat, I switch it back to marine channels only to keep my
non-technical captain out of Federal prison, limiting his transmitting
to marine channels, only. It really is a beautifully-operating radio.

Oh, the ham rigs are, typically, 100W. The marine radios are 150
watts output. Power IS our friend....(c;

Sailnet has great prices on Icom Marine radios.....



On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 12:16:03 GMT, "Padeen"
wrote:

Anyone use this little mobile unit for cruising? What would be its
advantages/disadvantages over the 710? It seems to have a broader band
selection, and is smaller/lighter.

TIA

Padeen

ICOM 706 MKIIG for cruising?
 

It is illegal to use ham radio equipment on the marine bands. All
equipment must be at least "type accepted".....

However, lots of ham equipment is being used on the marine bands all
the time, these days.

.... but maybe hams, with a license to lose, would be wise to avoid "common
practices"? OTOH, how is this enforced?

It looks like the main 706 drawback is power, as it's bandwidth is greater
and price lower. If I eventually get a boat that's already equipped with a
full marine radio, the 706 will be a good backup.

Please feel free to contradict!

Thanks,

Padeen

ICOM 706 MKIIG for cruising?
 

It is illegal to use ham radio equipment on the marine bands. All
equipment must be at least "type accepted".....

However, lots of ham equipment is being used on the marine bands all
the time, these days.

.... but maybe hams, with a license to lose, would be wise to avoid "common
practices"? OTOH, how is this enforced?

It looks like the main 706 drawback is power, as it's bandwidth is greater
and price lower. If I eventually get a boat that's already equipped with a
full marine radio, the 706 will be a good backup.

Please feel free to contradict!

Thanks,

Padeen

ICOM 706 MKIIG for cruising?
 

"Padeen" wrote in message
...
Anyone use this little mobile unit for cruising? What would be
its
advantages/disadvantages over the 710? It seems to have a
broader band
selection, and is smaller/lighter.

I have used one of the original 706 radios on Fundy for the last
6 1/2 years with
the AH-4 autotuner. For the ham bands it has been a great little
radio with the capability of being able to listen to a lot of
other things. Some day, we will upgrade, but for now it does all
we want.

Leanne

ICOM 706 MKIIG for cruising?
 

"Padeen" wrote in message
...
Anyone use this little mobile unit for cruising? What would be
its
advantages/disadvantages over the 710? It seems to have a
broader band
selection, and is smaller/lighter.

I have used one of the original 706 radios on Fundy for the last
6 1/2 years with
the AH-4 autotuner. For the ham bands it has been a great little
radio with the capability of being able to listen to a lot of
other things. Some day, we will upgrade, but for now it does all
we want.

Leanne

ICOM 706 MKIIG for cruising?
 

"Padeen" wrote in message ...
It is illegal to use ham radio equipment on the marine bands. All
equipment must be at least "type accepted".....

However, lots of ham equipment is being used on the marine bands all
the time, these days.

... but maybe hams, with a license to lose, would be wise to avoid "common
practices"? OTOH, how is this enforced?

It looks like the main 706 drawback is power, as it's bandwidth is greater
and price lower. If I eventually get a boat that's already equipped with a
full marine radio, the 706 will be a good backup.

Please feel free to contradict!

Thanks,

Padeen



How well does the 706 work for sending e-mail and receiving weather
fax information? Other then a laptop, what other equipment would you
need.

Thanks, I am just starting on my Ham license and plan on doing some
extended cruising with my family next year. I am looking at the 706 as
a means of keeping in touch with the nets, safety communication, and a
way to receive weather fax. E-mail is low in the priority list. It
just seems like the entire 810 set up is pretty expensive for a
technology that may soon (within 5 years) be replaced by am
inexpensive satellite network.
(Hope it's OK to pop a question in the middle like this, its my
first group question (yes I'm over 40))

John Pangea, Swan 38

ICOM 706 MKIIG for cruising?
 

"Padeen" wrote in message ...
It is illegal to use ham radio equipment on the marine bands. All
equipment must be at least "type accepted".....

However, lots of ham equipment is being used on the marine bands all
the time, these days.

... but maybe hams, with a license to lose, would be wise to avoid "common
practices"? OTOH, how is this enforced?

It looks like the main 706 drawback is power, as it's bandwidth is greater
and price lower. If I eventually get a boat that's already equipped with a
full marine radio, the 706 will be a good backup.

Please feel free to contradict!

Thanks,

Padeen



How well does the 706 work for sending e-mail and receiving weather
fax information? Other then a laptop, what other equipment would you
need.

Thanks, I am just starting on my Ham license and plan on doing some
extended cruising with my family next year. I am looking at the 706 as
a means of keeping in touch with the nets, safety communication, and a
way to receive weather fax. E-mail is low in the priority list. It
just seems like the entire 810 set up is pretty expensive for a
technology that may soon (within 5 years) be replaced by am
inexpensive satellite network.
(Hope it's OK to pop a question in the middle like this, its my
first group question (yes I'm over 40))

John Pangea, Swan 38

ICOM 706 MKIIG for cruising?
 

On Mon, 29 Dec 2003 21:43:17 GMT, "Padeen"
wrote:

It is illegal to use ham radio equipment on the marine bands. All
equipment must be at least "type accepted".....

However, lots of ham equipment is being used on the marine bands all
the time, these days.

... but maybe hams, with a license to lose, would be wise to avoid "common
practices"? OTOH, how is this enforced?

It isn't. FCC has better things to do, UNLESS there is a complaint.

It looks like the main 706 drawback is power, as it's bandwidth is greater
and price lower. If I eventually get a boat that's already equipped with a
full marine radio, the 706 will be a good backup.

It's bandwidth isn't greater than the M802. And its memories are FAR
less than the M802. Here's my comments to their M802 webpage:

Digital Signal Processing (DSP) virtually eliminates noise and interference.

Hogwash. The Guest battery charger EATS IT ALIVE with noise. So does
the dock AC power system noise. The damned NMEA input to it is an
UNBALANCED BNC connector, forcing you to hook NMEA B (-) to the
radio's GROUND! NMEA noise tears it up, too. The "noise blanker" is
moderately useful...but not the Holy Grail.

Pindrop clear voice reception
Digital processing improves data efficiency

Pindrop clear? On HF voice?!! It's SSB, not VoIP!....same as anyone
else.

Industry standard 4 x 8 inch size remote controller

It has a really nice human interface. A little cryptic, but not as
bad as most Japanese ham radios. With a little use, you don't need to
be staring into the thick manual to use it to find the sequence of
cryptic key sequences for normal use. Programming is another matter,
altogether.

Easy to install
Same faceplate proportions as many other marine electronics devices
Family look with Icom IC-M502 marine VHF:

Same as our M602, too. They really look great installed into the
fine, French mahogany panel in Lionheart. Very impressive.

Only about 4 inches deep, the remote controller fits in nearly any nav station. The cabinet is designed to self flush-mount, hiding the hole cut for the remote controller. Hide the compact main unit
Mounting bracket for the remote controller and the speaker is included, in case you choose not to flush mount the radio.
Mounting bracket for the main unit is also included. With its small footprint (less than a foot square), you can mount the main unit in more out of the way places, like under the navigator’s seat

But, alas, the main unit is built just like the ham equipment....OPEN
TO THE SEA AIR. They even have a FAN pulling sea air INTO the cabinet
because the heat sinks are INSIDE, not outside like the VHF marine
radios. Dumb, very dumb. "Marine" equipment my ass....You MUST
install the main transceiver in a very protected place. Ours is at
the nav station behind a panel, but with lots of cooling to let the
air into it. It must NEVER see a water splash!! That would totally
destroy it. NOTHING is "sealed" in the M802.

Separate external speaker (required and included) allows you to place the sound where it’s needed most
Works great, VERY loud and clear....even the noise.

150 watts of power, 100% duty cycle
Forced air cooled. Sea Air is pulled into the inside of the cabinet
by a fan to cool the INTERNAL heat sink. It doesn't get warm, but how
dumb in a BOAT can they be?

All modes, including RTTY
Yep. I've worked 20 countries on PSK-31 on 14.070 Mhz with the
notebook and 20 watts output. Homebrew interface to the mic jack
works great. Teletype machines are kinda clunky and loud for the
captain...(c;

100% E-mail ready, with one touch button access on the front panel. A SSB first! No filters required.
Push the Email button and it automatically goes to the email
frequencies and modes. Don't use it but it looks like it would work
fine.

Receive 500 kHz - 29.9999 MHz
Monitor all 976 ITU voice and data channels, HAM bands and aircraft WX
1355 channels
THERE'S a difference to your ham equipment. ALL ITU channels are HARD
CODED into it. And, if you go to an ITU channel, press the RX button,
you have a full-spectrum, all mode, receiver that DOESN'T mess up this
hard-coded memory. Press Rx again and it locks back on the channel.
Also has a great digital "clarifier" if the other station is a little
off frequency. The M802, itself, came DEAD ON frequency. On 15 Mhz,
the beat note to WWV is in CYCLES!

It also comes encoded to the popular marine frequencies on the ham
bands....the nets.

Transmit: IC-M802 includes HF HAM RADIO TRANSMIT & RECEIVE. Appropriate HAM license required to transmit on amateur radio frequencies.
AND, unlike other marine rigs, you can TOGGLE back and forth from
all-freq transmit to ITU marine channels ONLY really easy. Turn on
the rig, hold down RX and MODE buttons and press the number 2 key and
it toggles in and out of all-freq transmit THAT easy. No diodes to
clip, no wiring to do....it's MADE for this. Very nice.

I toggle it into wide mode to use my ham license, but toggle it back
when I leave to keep my non-technical captain locked so it will ONLY
transmit on the ITU channels his marine license covers, keeping him
out of trouble. The receiver operates all freqs in either mode.

160 user programmable memory channels, each identified by either alpha characters, channel number or frequency
Yep....60 more channels for YOU than the ham rig has TOTAL.

GPS interface port, NMEA 0183 version 2.0 = version 2.0 or later. Turn your IC- M802 into a long-range GMDSS emergency service radio
Now, here is an important difference. The M802 has a GMDSS HF scanner
on a SEPARATE antenna from the regular transceiver. (I'm using our
stainless handrail around the deck for this receive antenna. Works
great!) The M802 scans the GMDSS freqs on all bands listening for a
distress or its own MMSI code digital call. It's a good
implementation. Although I HATE the stupid way NMEA data goes into
it, through a stupid BNC connector, unbalanced, it does display our
position/time/data and is ready for full GMDSS/DSC emergency
transmission, in a fully automated mode. It will call, listen, scan,
call, listen, until the batteries go out or it gets an answer. Very
nice. No ham radio has this feature and emergency capability.

Multiple scanning modes
Many. Done listening to BBC? Press the DSC button and the radio
reverts into scanning the HF GMDSS channels, on the display,
continuously monitoring for a call. Just leave it running 24/7.

Rugged main unit metal chassis
What a stupid statement. The damned main unit is wide open, has cheap
connectors, ESPECIALLY THE DAMNED LITTLE PLASTIC TUNER CONNECTOR, and
is wide open to all the marine elements, water/water vapor/salt
air/mildew/spray...all of it. The box is the same cheap sheet metal
as the ham rigs....one on top, one on the bottom, held on with a few
screws. If anything were to hit it, it would simply crush into the
electronics, rendering it useless. It MUST be kept dry, and
protected. It's NOT build like the sealed marine VHF radios, at all.

Direct keypad entry
Yep....very nice and works great. F key for all the
secondary/tertiary functions well marked.

Large backlit, dot-matrix LCD display with 10 selectable lighting levels
Very easy to read, even in direct sunlight. I hate the damned
cellphone S-meter. Shows big receive and smaller transmit freqs on
duplex channels.

Large tactile knobs, easy to use in rough boating conditions
The large tactile knobs are WEARING DOWN on FREQ and BAND. They are
made of way-too-soft plastic your finger wears. Someone also forgot
to put in a little depression for your tuning fingertip to fit in so
you have to spin-the-dial around the outside. To set frequency, you
can key it in, directly, or switch to VFO mode where the left knob
picks which number position on the display you'll change and the right
knob changes it. LUCKILY, for hams, the right knob going past 9/0
also is carried over so it DOES act like a VFO on a ham rig. I
usually cruise around on 1Khz steps then fine tune on its lowest
resolution, only 100 Hz steps. (No ham-preferred 10Hz steps so it's a
little jerky tuning in)

Channelized is easy, too. The left knob selects the band/section you
want. The right knob switches channels inside that band. The display
displays the ITU channel or you can switch modes to show the frequency
the channels are on.

Backlit keypads offer information silk-screened right on the backlit keys, eliminating much guesswork when operating in a dark cabin.
That works good. Not sure how long it will last on the soft plastic
keys, though, before it rubs off.

New automatic antenna tuner AT-140 matches the transceiver to a long wire antenna.
Ah, here's a big GOUGE! The AT-140 is NOT a good antenna tuner the
way it comes from Icom. Some COMPLETE IDIOT that has NEVER been to
sea decided that we could save a few bucks by ELIMINATING the screw
terminal strip INSIDE the sealed tuner so the lazy idiot boater
wouldn't have to open the sealed tuner to install the CONTROL CABLE.
What this IDIOT did was to SOLDER a pigtail to wire loops soldered
into the main board of the
hard-to-impossible-to-dismount-main-PC-board, saving Icom a few Yen.
This pigtail leads out through the plastic sealing stuffing tube OUT
INTO THE SEAWATER SPRAY. Now, out here in the SEAWATER SPRAY, there
is a TOTALLY EXPOSED TINY BOARD PIN CONNECTOR that costs a few
pennies. You get a mating 6-pin TINY EXPOSED BOARD PIN CONNECTOR to
plug into it WITH ONLY 4 TINY CRIMP-ON PINS because you don't need 6
pins on 4 wires.....LEAVING ZERO ROOM FOR ERRORS crimping or soldering
on your consumer-provided control cabling. HOW UTTERLY STUPID!

Just think how much money we saved by NOT providing SEALED MARINE
CONNECTORS built INTO the tuner's CASE! The sealed connectors on all
the Icom VHF radios are NOT on the AT-140 tuner!

I opened the case, carefully unsoldered the damned pigtail and, to my
captain's amazement, THREW IT OVERBOARD CURSING LOUDLY. I purchased
cabling that would seal with the stuffing tube and HARD WIRED the
tuner into my control cabling, eliminating this OBVIOUS failure mode.

DUMB, ICOM, VERY DUMB!

ANOTHER unprotected RG-58A/U cable terminates in a CRIMP SO-239
connector sticking OUT OF THE STUFFING TUBE that SHOULD have been a
sealing "N" connector. What can you do? Plug in a mating PL-259 CB
connector and seal it up with RTV and shrink tubing....praying it
won't leak. Now, you have two HEAVY connectors hooked to FLIMSY RG-58
cable flopping around about 4" from the stuffing tube, which you just
KNOW will break the cable right at the stuffing tube. I have it
tywrapped to the ground cable to try to keep it from moving.
.....Whatever happened to CHASSIS-MOUNTED CONNECTORS?....They have
them on the VHF transceivers!! IDIOTS.....

New, pre-wired cable connection points makes installation easier than ever.
See? BOTH ENDS of the control cable....outside at the antenna tuner
and inside at the unprotected main chassis....uses this STUPID tiny
connector....the same one that plugs the interior wires into the radio
PC boards.....Yes, THAT tiny connector. The one in the main radio is
simply stuffed into a square hole with the tiny plastic fingers
catching it....It has already failed because the cable got pulled
on....It needs the multiconductor chassis connector on the VHF RADIOS,
IDIOTS!!

DUMB, ICOM, VERY DUMB!

"Pass-through tuning" automatically tunes for reception.
Once you get the obvious cabling problems patched up, the tuner WILL
tune our 55' long insulated backstay way down to the bottom of the 160
meter ham band at 1.8 Mhz.....and it works if you got a great ground
on the tuner so there's some antenna CURRENT. Trail 100' of cable
behind the boat with a little cup to pull on it and signals out are
amazing!

Simple electrical connections for easy installation
See rant above....idiots.

Easy to read and understand owners manual
Owner's manual lacks multi-key sequences like those to open up the
frequencies. No test modes, no troubleshooting key sequences, only
basic operation. No schematic is included so your technician in
Belize has anything to go by.....

2 year warranty
Yep....but where?

Please feel free to contradict!

I love the radio. Some of the engineering needs COMMON SENSE and a
few Yen of profit to make it better. Operationally, it's a great
working HF radio for the small boater....much more useful than
cheaping out with some ham rig.

There's even room for me to program in all the BBC HF frequencies for
my English captain to use.....(c;

ICOM 706 MKIIG for cruising?
 

On Mon, 29 Dec 2003 21:43:17 GMT, "Padeen"
wrote:

It is illegal to use ham radio equipment on the marine bands. All
equipment must be at least "type accepted".....

However, lots of ham equipment is being used on the marine bands all
the time, these days.

... but maybe hams, with a license to lose, would be wise to avoid "common
practices"? OTOH, how is this enforced?

It isn't. FCC has better things to do, UNLESS there is a complaint.

It looks like the main 706 drawback is power, as it's bandwidth is greater
and price lower. If I eventually get a boat that's already equipped with a
full marine radio, the 706 will be a good backup.

It's bandwidth isn't greater than the M802. And its memories are FAR
less than the M802. Here's my comments to their M802 webpage:

Digital Signal Processing (DSP) virtually eliminates noise and interference.

Hogwash. The Guest battery charger EATS IT ALIVE with noise. So does
the dock AC power system noise. The damned NMEA input to it is an
UNBALANCED BNC connector, forcing you to hook NMEA B (-) to the
radio's GROUND! NMEA noise tears it up, too. The "noise blanker" is
moderately useful...but not the Holy Grail.

Pindrop clear voice reception
Digital processing improves data efficiency

Pindrop clear? On HF voice?!! It's SSB, not VoIP!....same as anyone
else.

Industry standard 4 x 8 inch size remote controller

It has a really nice human interface. A little cryptic, but not as
bad as most Japanese ham radios. With a little use, you don't need to
be staring into the thick manual to use it to find the sequence of
cryptic key sequences for normal use. Programming is another matter,
altogether.

Easy to install
Same faceplate proportions as many other marine electronics devices
Family look with Icom IC-M502 marine VHF:

Same as our M602, too. They really look great installed into the
fine, French mahogany panel in Lionheart. Very impressive.

Only about 4 inches deep, the remote controller fits in nearly any nav station. The cabinet is designed to self flush-mount, hiding the hole cut for the remote controller. Hide the compact main unit
Mounting bracket for the remote controller and the speaker is included, in case you choose not to flush mount the radio.
Mounting bracket for the main unit is also included. With its small footprint (less than a foot square), you can mount the main unit in more out of the way places, like under the navigator’s seat

But, alas, the main unit is built just like the ham equipment....OPEN
TO THE SEA AIR. They even have a FAN pulling sea air INTO the cabinet
because the heat sinks are INSIDE, not outside like the VHF marine
radios. Dumb, very dumb. "Marine" equipment my ass....You MUST
install the main transceiver in a very protected place. Ours is at
the nav station behind a panel, but with lots of cooling to let the
air into it. It must NEVER see a water splash!! That would totally
destroy it. NOTHING is "sealed" in the M802.

Separate external speaker (required and included) allows you to place the sound where it’s needed most
Works great, VERY loud and clear....even the noise.

150 watts of power, 100% duty cycle
Forced air cooled. Sea Air is pulled into the inside of the cabinet
by a fan to cool the INTERNAL heat sink. It doesn't get warm, but how
dumb in a BOAT can they be?

All modes, including RTTY
Yep. I've worked 20 countries on PSK-31 on 14.070 Mhz with the
notebook and 20 watts output. Homebrew interface to the mic jack
works great. Teletype machines are kinda clunky and loud for the
captain...(c;

100% E-mail ready, with one touch button access on the front panel. A SSB first! No filters required.
Push the Email button and it automatically goes to the email
frequencies and modes. Don't use it but it looks like it would work
fine.

Receive 500 kHz - 29.9999 MHz
Monitor all 976 ITU voice and data channels, HAM bands and aircraft WX
1355 channels
THERE'S a difference to your ham equipment. ALL ITU channels are HARD
CODED into it. And, if you go to an ITU channel, press the RX button,
you have a full-spectrum, all mode, receiver that DOESN'T mess up this
hard-coded memory. Press Rx again and it locks back on the channel.
Also has a great digital "clarifier" if the other station is a little
off frequency. The M802, itself, came DEAD ON frequency. On 15 Mhz,
the beat note to WWV is in CYCLES!

It also comes encoded to the popular marine frequencies on the ham
bands....the nets.

Transmit: IC-M802 includes HF HAM RADIO TRANSMIT & RECEIVE. Appropriate HAM license required to transmit on amateur radio frequencies.
AND, unlike other marine rigs, you can TOGGLE back and forth from
all-freq transmit to ITU marine channels ONLY really easy. Turn on
the rig, hold down RX and MODE buttons and press the number 2 key and
it toggles in and out of all-freq transmit THAT easy. No diodes to
clip, no wiring to do....it's MADE for this. Very nice.

I toggle it into wide mode to use my ham license, but toggle it back
when I leave to keep my non-technical captain locked so it will ONLY
transmit on the ITU channels his marine license covers, keeping him
out of trouble. The receiver operates all freqs in either mode.

160 user programmable memory channels, each identified by either alpha characters, channel number or frequency
Yep....60 more channels for YOU than the ham rig has TOTAL.

GPS interface port, NMEA 0183 version 2.0 = version 2.0 or later. Turn your IC- M802 into a long-range GMDSS emergency service radio
Now, here is an important difference. The M802 has a GMDSS HF scanner
on a SEPARATE antenna from the regular transceiver. (I'm using our
stainless handrail around the deck for this receive antenna. Works
great!) The M802 scans the GMDSS freqs on all bands listening for a
distress or its own MMSI code digital call. It's a good
implementation. Although I HATE the stupid way NMEA data goes into
it, through a stupid BNC connector, unbalanced, it does display our
position/time/data and is ready for full GMDSS/DSC emergency
transmission, in a fully automated mode. It will call, listen, scan,
call, listen, until the batteries go out or it gets an answer. Very
nice. No ham radio has this feature and emergency capability.

Multiple scanning modes
Many. Done listening to BBC? Press the DSC button and the radio
reverts into scanning the HF GMDSS channels, on the display,
continuously monitoring for a call. Just leave it running 24/7.

Rugged main unit metal chassis
What a stupid statement. The damned main unit is wide open, has cheap
connectors, ESPECIALLY THE DAMNED LITTLE PLASTIC TUNER CONNECTOR, and
is wide open to all the marine elements, water/water vapor/salt
air/mildew/spray...all of it. The box is the same cheap sheet metal
as the ham rigs....one on top, one on the bottom, held on with a few
screws. If anything were to hit it, it would simply crush into the
electronics, rendering it useless. It MUST be kept dry, and
protected. It's NOT build like the sealed marine VHF radios, at all.

Direct keypad entry
Yep....very nice and works great. F key for all the
secondary/tertiary functions well marked.

Large backlit, dot-matrix LCD display with 10 selectable lighting levels
Very easy to read, even in direct sunlight. I hate the damned
cellphone S-meter. Shows big receive and smaller transmit freqs on
duplex channels.

Large tactile knobs, easy to use in rough boating conditions
The large tactile knobs are WEARING DOWN on FREQ and BAND. They are
made of way-too-soft plastic your finger wears. Someone also forgot
to put in a little depression for your tuning fingertip to fit in so
you have to spin-the-dial around the outside. To set frequency, you
can key it in, directly, or switch to VFO mode where the left knob
picks which number position on the display you'll change and the right
knob changes it. LUCKILY, for hams, the right knob going past 9/0
also is carried over so it DOES act like a VFO on a ham rig. I
usually cruise around on 1Khz steps then fine tune on its lowest
resolution, only 100 Hz steps. (No ham-preferred 10Hz steps so it's a
little jerky tuning in)

Channelized is easy, too. The left knob selects the band/section you
want. The right knob switches channels inside that band. The display
displays the ITU channel or you can switch modes to show the frequency
the channels are on.

Backlit keypads offer information silk-screened right on the backlit keys, eliminating much guesswork when operating in a dark cabin.
That works good. Not sure how long it will last on the soft plastic
keys, though, before it rubs off.

New automatic antenna tuner AT-140 matches the transceiver to a long wire antenna.
Ah, here's a big GOUGE! The AT-140 is NOT a good antenna tuner the
way it comes from Icom. Some COMPLETE IDIOT that has NEVER been to
sea decided that we could save a few bucks by ELIMINATING the screw
terminal strip INSIDE the sealed tuner so the lazy idiot boater
wouldn't have to open the sealed tuner to install the CONTROL CABLE.
What this IDIOT did was to SOLDER a pigtail to wire loops soldered
into the main board of the
hard-to-impossible-to-dismount-main-PC-board, saving Icom a few Yen.
This pigtail leads out through the plastic sealing stuffing tube OUT
INTO THE SEAWATER SPRAY. Now, out here in the SEAWATER SPRAY, there
is a TOTALLY EXPOSED TINY BOARD PIN CONNECTOR that costs a few
pennies. You get a mating 6-pin TINY EXPOSED BOARD PIN CONNECTOR to
plug into it WITH ONLY 4 TINY CRIMP-ON PINS because you don't need 6
pins on 4 wires.....LEAVING ZERO ROOM FOR ERRORS crimping or soldering
on your consumer-provided control cabling. HOW UTTERLY STUPID!

Just think how much money we saved by NOT providing SEALED MARINE
CONNECTORS built INTO the tuner's CASE! The sealed connectors on all
the Icom VHF radios are NOT on the AT-140 tuner!

I opened the case, carefully unsoldered the damned pigtail and, to my
captain's amazement, THREW IT OVERBOARD CURSING LOUDLY. I purchased
cabling that would seal with the stuffing tube and HARD WIRED the
tuner into my control cabling, eliminating this OBVIOUS failure mode.

DUMB, ICOM, VERY DUMB!

ANOTHER unprotected RG-58A/U cable terminates in a CRIMP SO-239
connector sticking OUT OF THE STUFFING TUBE that SHOULD have been a
sealing "N" connector. What can you do? Plug in a mating PL-259 CB
connector and seal it up with RTV and shrink tubing....praying it
won't leak. Now, you have two HEAVY connectors hooked to FLIMSY RG-58
cable flopping around about 4" from the stuffing tube, which you just
KNOW will break the cable right at the stuffing tube. I have it
tywrapped to the ground cable to try to keep it from moving.
.....Whatever happened to CHASSIS-MOUNTED CONNECTORS?....They have
them on the VHF transceivers!! IDIOTS.....

New, pre-wired cable connection points makes installation easier than ever.
See? BOTH ENDS of the control cable....outside at the antenna tuner
and inside at the unprotected main chassis....uses this STUPID tiny
connector....the same one that plugs the interior wires into the radio
PC boards.....Yes, THAT tiny connector. The one in the main radio is
simply stuffed into a square hole with the tiny plastic fingers
catching it....It has already failed because the cable got pulled
on....It needs the multiconductor chassis connector on the VHF RADIOS,
IDIOTS!!

DUMB, ICOM, VERY DUMB!

"Pass-through tuning" automatically tunes for reception.
Once you get the obvious cabling problems patched up, the tuner WILL
tune our 55' long insulated backstay way down to the bottom of the 160
meter ham band at 1.8 Mhz.....and it works if you got a great ground
on the tuner so there's some antenna CURRENT. Trail 100' of cable
behind the boat with a little cup to pull on it and signals out are
amazing!

Simple electrical connections for easy installation
See rant above....idiots.

Easy to read and understand owners manual
Owner's manual lacks multi-key sequences like those to open up the
frequencies. No test modes, no troubleshooting key sequences, only
basic operation. No schematic is included so your technician in
Belize has anything to go by.....

2 year warranty
Yep....but where?

Please feel free to contradict!

I love the radio. Some of the engineering needs COMMON SENSE and a
few Yen of profit to make it better. Operationally, it's a great
working HF radio for the small boater....much more useful than
cheaping out with some ham rig.

There's even room for me to program in all the BBC HF frequencies for
my English captain to use.....(c;

ICOM 706 MKIIG for cruising?
 

On 29 Dec 2003 19:32:58 -0800, (John) wrote:



How well does the 706 work for sending e-mail and receiving weather
fax information? Other then a laptop, what other equipment would you
need.

Software works great, these days, with the soundcard plugged into mic
and earphone jacks.

Thanks, I am just starting on my Ham license and plan on doing some
extended cruising with my family next year. I am looking at the 706 as
a means of keeping in touch with the nets, safety communication, and a
way to receive weather fax. E-mail is low in the priority list. It
just seems like the entire 810 set up is pretty expensive for a
technology that may soon (within 5 years) be replaced by am
inexpensive satellite network.
(Hope it's OK to pop a question in the middle like this, its my
first group question (yes I'm over 40))

Welcome to ham radio, John! I've been a ham since 1957. I was 11.
It's been a helluva ride....(c;

Be sure the boat has a 50 watt, 2 meter FM rig to chat on the local
repeaters with local hams when you get there. A dual-band 144-440 Mhz
rig is an even better idea, if you have the money. In ham equipment,
noone beats Yaesu. I've had 'em all...(c; The local hams on VHF or
UHF can be a treasure trove of local information and help most any
port you'll come to. Be informed of the foreign regulations for ham
radio in any countries you visit out of country, however. Most
require you have a "reciprocal license" to operate within their
borders, INCLUDING from your boat inside their territorial limits,
unlike your ship license on the marine bands. Some countries have
them, others do not. If you do not have a local license, DO NOT
TRANSMIT from the boat. That's asking for equipment confiscation.
Ham radio doesn't come under maritime law protections.

By the way, the BEST digital HF mode ever invented was invented by
hams. It's called PSK31. Phase shift keying, 31 Hz bandwidth.
Listen to USB on 14.070 Mhz and you'll hear lots of tiny warbling
signals of it. In one SSB receiver bandwidth, centered on 14.070 by
gentlemen's agreement of the PSK users, there can be as many as 30 or
40 QSOs going on at once! You can copy them now by downloading a
program like WinWarbler from:
http://www.qsl.net/winwarbler/
Winwarbler will copy and QSO with three stations you choose on its
waterfall spectrum display SIMULTANEOUSLY! Way cool communications
the commercials haven't discovered, yet. Far superior to
Pactor/Amtor/RTTY/Sitor. PSK31 or PSK63 will print perfectly when the
signal is so weak you can hardly see its trail on the spectrum display
and you can't even hear it in the receiver's noise. Simply amazing.
Anyone with an HF SSB receiver and a Windoze computer can listen in on
the fun. Don't let any hardware dealers sell you a piece of equipment
for it, either. It's all just audio in and out of your soundcard.
There is a little interface box the computer uses to key the
transmitter automatically. Read all about it from the website....

73, DE Larry W4CSC (Charleston, SC)

ICOM 706 MKIIG for cruising?
 

On 29 Dec 2003 19:32:58 -0800, (John) wrote:



How well does the 706 work for sending e-mail and receiving weather
fax information? Other then a laptop, what other equipment would you
need.

Software works great, these days, with the soundcard plugged into mic
and earphone jacks.

Thanks, I am just starting on my Ham license and plan on doing some
extended cruising with my family next year. I am looking at the 706 as
a means of keeping in touch with the nets, safety communication, and a
way to receive weather fax. E-mail is low in the priority list. It
just seems like the entire 810 set up is pretty expensive for a
technology that may soon (within 5 years) be replaced by am
inexpensive satellite network.
(Hope it's OK to pop a question in the middle like this, its my
first group question (yes I'm over 40))

Welcome to ham radio, John! I've been a ham since 1957. I was 11.
It's been a helluva ride....(c;

Be sure the boat has a 50 watt, 2 meter FM rig to chat on the local
repeaters with local hams when you get there. A dual-band 144-440 Mhz
rig is an even better idea, if you have the money. In ham equipment,
noone beats Yaesu. I've had 'em all...(c; The local hams on VHF or
UHF can be a treasure trove of local information and help most any
port you'll come to. Be informed of the foreign regulations for ham
radio in any countries you visit out of country, however. Most
require you have a "reciprocal license" to operate within their
borders, INCLUDING from your boat inside their territorial limits,
unlike your ship license on the marine bands. Some countries have
them, others do not. If you do not have a local license, DO NOT
TRANSMIT from the boat. That's asking for equipment confiscation.
Ham radio doesn't come under maritime law protections.

By the way, the BEST digital HF mode ever invented was invented by
hams. It's called PSK31. Phase shift keying, 31 Hz bandwidth.
Listen to USB on 14.070 Mhz and you'll hear lots of tiny warbling
signals of it. In one SSB receiver bandwidth, centered on 14.070 by
gentlemen's agreement of the PSK users, there can be as many as 30 or
40 QSOs going on at once! You can copy them now by downloading a
program like WinWarbler from:
http://www.qsl.net/winwarbler/
Winwarbler will copy and QSO with three stations you choose on its
waterfall spectrum display SIMULTANEOUSLY! Way cool communications
the commercials haven't discovered, yet. Far superior to
Pactor/Amtor/RTTY/Sitor. PSK31 or PSK63 will print perfectly when the
signal is so weak you can hardly see its trail on the spectrum display
and you can't even hear it in the receiver's noise. Simply amazing.
Anyone with an HF SSB receiver and a Windoze computer can listen in on
the fun. Don't let any hardware dealers sell you a piece of equipment
for it, either. It's all just audio in and out of your soundcard.
There is a little interface box the computer uses to key the
transmitter automatically. Read all about it from the website....

73, DE Larry W4CSC (Charleston, SC)

ICOM 706 MKIIG for cruising?
 

Thanks Larry. I've been looking for something like this!

Padeen



"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
On 29 Dec 2003 19:32:58 -0800, (John) wrote:



How well does the 706 work for sending e-mail and receiving weather
fax information? Other then a laptop, what other equipment would you
need.

Software works great, these days, with the soundcard plugged into mic
and earphone jacks.

Thanks, I am just starting on my Ham license and plan on doing some
extended cruising with my family next year. I am looking at the 706 as
a means of keeping in touch with the nets, safety communication, and a
way to receive weather fax. E-mail is low in the priority list. It
just seems like the entire 810 set up is pretty expensive for a
technology that may soon (within 5 years) be replaced by am
inexpensive satellite network.
(Hope it's OK to pop a question in the middle like this, its my
first group question (yes I'm over 40))

Welcome to ham radio, John! I've been a ham since 1957. I was 11.
It's been a helluva ride....(c;

Be sure the boat has a 50 watt, 2 meter FM rig to chat on the local
repeaters with local hams when you get there. A dual-band 144-440 Mhz
rig is an even better idea, if you have the money. In ham equipment,
noone beats Yaesu. I've had 'em all...(c; The local hams on VHF or
UHF can be a treasure trove of local information and help most any
port you'll come to. Be informed of the foreign regulations for ham
radio in any countries you visit out of country, however. Most
require you have a "reciprocal license" to operate within their
borders, INCLUDING from your boat inside their territorial limits,
unlike your ship license on the marine bands. Some countries have
them, others do not. If you do not have a local license, DO NOT
TRANSMIT from the boat. That's asking for equipment confiscation.
Ham radio doesn't come under maritime law protections.

By the way, the BEST digital HF mode ever invented was invented by
hams. It's called PSK31. Phase shift keying, 31 Hz bandwidth.
Listen to USB on 14.070 Mhz and you'll hear lots of tiny warbling
signals of it. In one SSB receiver bandwidth, centered on 14.070 by
gentlemen's agreement of the PSK users, there can be as many as 30 or
40 QSOs going on at once! You can copy them now by downloading a
program like WinWarbler from:
http://www.qsl.net/winwarbler/
Winwarbler will copy and QSO with three stations you choose on its
waterfall spectrum display SIMULTANEOUSLY! Way cool communications
the commercials haven't discovered, yet. Far superior to
Pactor/Amtor/RTTY/Sitor. PSK31 or PSK63 will print perfectly when the
signal is so weak you can hardly see its trail on the spectrum display
and you can't even hear it in the receiver's noise. Simply amazing.
Anyone with an HF SSB receiver and a Windoze computer can listen in on
the fun. Don't let any hardware dealers sell you a piece of equipment
for it, either. It's all just audio in and out of your soundcard.
There is a little interface box the computer uses to key the
transmitter automatically. Read all about it from the website....

73, DE Larry W4CSC (Charleston, SC)

ICOM 706 MKIIG for cruising?
 

Thanks Larry. I've been looking for something like this!

Padeen



"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
On 29 Dec 2003 19:32:58 -0800, (John) wrote:



How well does the 706 work for sending e-mail and receiving weather
fax information? Other then a laptop, what other equipment would you
need.

Software works great, these days, with the soundcard plugged into mic
and earphone jacks.

Thanks, I am just starting on my Ham license and plan on doing some
extended cruising with my family next year. I am looking at the 706 as
a means of keeping in touch with the nets, safety communication, and a
way to receive weather fax. E-mail is low in the priority list. It
just seems like the entire 810 set up is pretty expensive for a
technology that may soon (within 5 years) be replaced by am
inexpensive satellite network.
(Hope it's OK to pop a question in the middle like this, its my
first group question (yes I'm over 40))

Welcome to ham radio, John! I've been a ham since 1957. I was 11.
It's been a helluva ride....(c;

Be sure the boat has a 50 watt, 2 meter FM rig to chat on the local
repeaters with local hams when you get there. A dual-band 144-440 Mhz
rig is an even better idea, if you have the money. In ham equipment,
noone beats Yaesu. I've had 'em all...(c; The local hams on VHF or
UHF can be a treasure trove of local information and help most any
port you'll come to. Be informed of the foreign regulations for ham
radio in any countries you visit out of country, however. Most
require you have a "reciprocal license" to operate within their
borders, INCLUDING from your boat inside their territorial limits,
unlike your ship license on the marine bands. Some countries have
them, others do not. If you do not have a local license, DO NOT
TRANSMIT from the boat. That's asking for equipment confiscation.
Ham radio doesn't come under maritime law protections.

By the way, the BEST digital HF mode ever invented was invented by
hams. It's called PSK31. Phase shift keying, 31 Hz bandwidth.
Listen to USB on 14.070 Mhz and you'll hear lots of tiny warbling
signals of it. In one SSB receiver bandwidth, centered on 14.070 by
gentlemen's agreement of the PSK users, there can be as many as 30 or
40 QSOs going on at once! You can copy them now by downloading a
program like WinWarbler from:
http://www.qsl.net/winwarbler/
Winwarbler will copy and QSO with three stations you choose on its
waterfall spectrum display SIMULTANEOUSLY! Way cool communications
the commercials haven't discovered, yet. Far superior to
Pactor/Amtor/RTTY/Sitor. PSK31 or PSK63 will print perfectly when the
signal is so weak you can hardly see its trail on the spectrum display
and you can't even hear it in the receiver's noise. Simply amazing.
Anyone with an HF SSB receiver and a Windoze computer can listen in on
the fun. Don't let any hardware dealers sell you a piece of equipment
for it, either. It's all just audio in and out of your soundcard.
There is a little interface box the computer uses to key the
transmitter automatically. Read all about it from the website....

73, DE Larry W4CSC (Charleston, SC)

ICOM 706 MKIIG for cruising?
 

On Wed, 31 Dec 2003 20:59:55 GMT, "Padeen"
wrote:

Thanks Larry. I've been looking for something like this!

Padeen

You're quite welcome....(c;

Oh, my head....room still swirling....New Years Eve with friends from
docks....lost at poker....won at blackjack....loud music....ears still
ringing.....what have I done?

I don't know but LET'S DO IT AGAIN TONIGHT!.....(C;

Thank you, Australia, for the great Shiraz......Kelie loved it.....

ICOM 706 MKIIG for cruising?
 

On Wed, 31 Dec 2003 20:59:55 GMT, "Padeen"
wrote:

Thanks Larry. I've been looking for something like this!

Padeen

You're quite welcome....(c;

Oh, my head....room still swirling....New Years Eve with friends from
docks....lost at poker....won at blackjack....loud music....ears still
ringing.....what have I done?

I don't know but LET'S DO IT AGAIN TONIGHT!.....(C;

Thank you, Australia, for the great Shiraz......Kelie loved it.....