Posted: 3/17/2010 5:49:44 PM EDT
Let me say first that I accept full responsibility for buying this radio. It was no one's fault but my own. 
My IC-703+ arrived today. I knew it was on the big brown truck out for delivery today, so I conveniently left work early so I could be at home when it got there. After unpacking it my initial impression is how small this thing is. I know it's not the smallest compared to Tony-Ri's new FT-817ND, but it's pretty darned compact. I had prepared in advance an UnUn and random wire antenna and strung it from my shack window out to a 20' crappie pole with the counterpoise laid on the ground directly beneath the sloping 26AWG black wire. I wanted a stealthy antenna, but this one was so hard to see that my Labrador managed to drag the counterpoise around the yard 3X before I even started. 
I powered it up and tuned around the bands some, familiarizing myself with the controls. Found some CW with a nice, slow, steady rhythm. What a rush that was to actually copy and comprehend what was being said with those dits and dahs! My 9YO daughter who has been my code learning partner said "I know what they are saying, Daddy!" It was a good day. 
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good stuff!
tune 14.300 USB and see if you can hear activity on the Marine Maritime net. there is usually a lot of activity just above and below there as well. and of course you should be able to hear the NIST time broadcast out of Ft Collins CO on 10.000 AM. don't forget that the 703+ requires periodic recalibration of the synchronous kinematic sequencer to maintain optimal performance. ar-jedi |
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good stuff! tune 14.300 USB and see if you can hear activity on the Marine Maritime net. there is usually a lot of activity just above and below there as well. and of course you should be able to hear the NIST time broadcast out of Ft Collins CO on 10.000 AM. don't forget that the 703+ requires periodic recalibration of the synchronous kinematic sequencer to maintain optimal performance. ar-jedi You're jerking my chain on this, aren't you? |
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Congrats! I would like to have a 703+, I've heard good things! Thanks. I read on the 703 Yahoo Group that they are being discontinued soon in favor of a QRP version of the IC-7000. Thought of waiting for that to come along, but I bet the price wouldn't have been to my liking. |
 I must say, I was very suprised how tiny the radio was. I mean, I knew it wasn't going to be a boat anchor, but there's no real way to feel just how small it is! My 817ND seems smaller than my 7800 for goodness sake! What I'm having issues with now is antennas. The one good antenna I have is too big, and I'm not having a good time rolling my own so far. I think I'm going to try the 80-10 Doublet, though I need a Balun apparently. |
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I must say, I was very suprised how tiny the radio was. I mean, I knew it wasn't going to be a boat anchor, but there's no real way to feel just how small it is! My 817ND seems smaller than my 7800 for goodness sake! What I'm having issues with now is antennas. The one good antenna I have is too big, and I'm not having a good time rolling my own so far. I think I'm going to try the 80-10 Doublet, though I need a Balun apparently. BuddiPole.... light weight and good quality but very expensive. |
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good stuff! tune 14.300 USB and see if you can hear activity on the Marine Maritime net. there is usually a lot of activity just above and below there as well. and of course you should be able to hear the NIST time broadcast out of Ft Collins CO on 10.000 AM. don't forget that the 703+ requires periodic recalibration of the synchronous kinematic sequencer to maintain optimal performance. ar-jedi You're jerking my chain on this, aren't you? fine. ignore the problem. don't re-cal it. it's not my fault(tm). eventually you'll think you are talking to Kazakhstan on 20 meters when you are really talking to Kansas on 10 meters. and that could get really embarrassing come the end of the year when you send in your HF logbook for ARRL/FCC review and QSO cross-checking. gawd, you probably don't grease the spindles on your tractor either. ar-jedi |
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Let me say first that I acc[j]ept full responsibility for buying this radio. It was no one's fault but my own.
I just ran this statement through my secret "Hoosier" decryption translation module and came up with a curious result. I don't think you finished that... Let me say first that I acc[j]ept full responsibility for buying this radio. It was no one's fault but my own.
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Made my 1st QSO today on 20m. KB5YQ in Floresville, TX.
1,020 miles on a random wire and 10w. 
The 20' crappie pole supporting the wire is hard to see against the fence, near the top of the slide. The counterpoise is on the ground going under the slide to the base of the fence. 
Mud on siding courtesy of our Lab "Sophie". 
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Made my 1st QSO today on 20m. KB5YQ in Floresville, TX. 1,020 miles on a random wire and 10w. good job. 100miles/watt for your first contact is something to be proud of. now you have to get used to balancing the RF gain control for the best receive performance. too high, lots of white noise. too low, hard to hear the other station. if you have enough RX signal from the other end, you should dial the RF gain back as much as possible and the QSO will be just like FM. well, sorta. 
keep the DSP NR set at about 5 for now, or try 4 or 6. don't go nuts with it. on the transmit side, if you know someone who is local, have them listen to your output. you should sound, more or less, like you. if the mix gain is up too high it will sound like crap. if the gain is too low, you'll never bust those DX pileups with 10W. btw, when you are calling CQ you can sometimes hook more fish with "CQ QRP". also, never ever answer a CQ DX call from a US station. instant lid status... 
have fun. ar-jedi ps: btw that's a good lookin' station! |
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btw, when you are calling CQ you can sometimes hook more fish with "CQ QRP". But don't ever ever tell an OM on 75m you're running 10w. Heck, don't even tell 'em you're 'only' running 100w. You can have the nicest conversation in the world for 30 minutes and then you let it slip you're QRP, instantly you'll be told how weak your signal is and other mockery .
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How do you have that antenna hooked up? What are you using for ground and how are you feeding it? 
The 50' wire tied to the top of the 20' crappie pole slopes down to the shack window. There it is connected to the UnUn's red banana jack. The 50' counterpoise wire runs on the ground, from the base of the crappie pole to the shack window. There it is connected to the UnUn's black banana jack. The output of the UnUn is a BNC cable connected to the antenna input on the radio. The radio's built-in antenna tuner finds a match for the 50' wire on whatever freq you choose. (10 thru 80 meters) |
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Made my 1st QSO today on 20m. KB5YQ in Floresville, TX. 1,020 miles on a random wire and 10w.
Dang! And my first QSO was 20 meters, but I only did 1016 miles with 100 watts with a proper dipole. You got me beat all to hell.
Yeah, but the Saints still beat the Colts in the Superbowl.  Thanks AFM.
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Reduced power(!) from 10w to 5w QRP and made another QSO on 20m to KB5YKO in Taylor TX. 909.2 mi 181 miles per watt –– more good stuff! ps: couple of thoughts/questions... 0) there is a 0.1W setting on the 703+.
1) have you noticed any difference in RX noise level when running from battery vs running with the AC plugged in? 2) have you weighed your box? 3) have you measured and recorded the current consumption for each of the two radios? 4) which Signalink interface cable did you finally settle on? 5) do not detach the 703+ faceplate with the radio power on. bad things can happen. 6) a desk mike for use at home QTH is your next expenditure to blame someone else for.
ar-jedi |
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Reduced power(!) from 10w to 5w QRP and made another QSO on 20m to KB5YKO in Taylor TX. 909.2 mi 181 miles per watt –– more good stuff! ps: couple of thoughts/questions... 0) there is a 0.1W setting on the 703+. Getting there slowly.
1) have you noticed any difference in RX noise level when running from battery vs running with the AC plugged in? Have not tried only batts, yet. 2) have you weighed your box? Not yet. 3) have you measured and recorded the current consumption for each of the two radios? Not yet. 4) which Signalink interface cable did you finally settle on? SLUSB6PM - For 6-pin mini DIN Data / Accessory Port Connector 5) do not detach the 703+ faceplate with the radio power on. bad things can happen. 
6) a desk mike for use at home QTH is your next expenditure to blame someone else for. Kinda looking at Headsets and CW Dual Lever Iambic Paddles, too.
ar-jedi |
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Reduced power(!) from 10w to 5w QRP and made another QSO on 20m to KB5YKO in Taylor TX. 909.2 mi. 
I'm really impressed with this radio / antenna combination. http://home.comcast.net/~gregbell/HF%20Radio%20Mounted.jpg Still tweaking the radio and antenna. Reduced power again and made another QSO on 20 meters to KB5YQ. 5-5 signal report. 1020 miles with 3w on a random wire. 340 miles/watt.
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Build a GAIN wire antenna and watch how well it works. Material for a Carolina Windom antenna on the way.
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