Have had my 7000 for just under three years and have had NO problems with the rig. Absolutely love it.

Only problem I have had just happened the other day. Apparently the HM-151 hand mic doesn’t like going for a “swim� in a large cup of coffee so am in the market for a replacement. (no, it didn’t happen on purpose....)

Ryan KB8RCR


From: Steve W3AHL
Sent: Tuesday, April 02, 2013 7:42 AM
To: ic7000@...
Subject: [IC-7000] Re: So what's the real deal on the 7000?


Some owners have had failures, some don't like the stock mic and some feel it gets too hot. Most are perfectly happy 7K owners, like me. I own two 7K's -- one is 7 years old and sees a lot of abuse. It had a UHF PA FET fail after 6 months, but I take the blame for that.

The 7K case gets a little warm in RX mode when the fan isn't running. I've taken thermal measurements of components that some identified as a problem and found the components to be within spec at ambient temperatures up to 40 degrees C. I haven't made any mods to improve cooling in either of my units. See the threads at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ic7000/messages/24319
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ic7000/message/24344

The mic rework done by some is overkill, in my opinion. Most of the benfit can be realized by enlarging the hole in the front mic case so it aligns better with the hole in the silicone keypad that leads to the mic element. This takes about 30 seconds to do. I did it to one mic, but use the other as stock. I have listened to OTA recordings of both mics and feel the audio quality is fine, especially for mobile use. For base station use, a desk mic or boom mic would be better.

There have been some Driver Board failures. Icom has made some changes I hear, but I don't know the details. I've never had a problem, nor have local hams I know with 7k's. It's hard to judge what the failure rate is across the global installed base of units.

I occasionally repair 7K's (and other radios) for local hams. Many of the problems were the result of poor installation practices (bad coax connections, poor power wiring, no lightning suppressor, poor or no system grounding, bad antennas, etc.) Some were random component failures.

I don't hesitate to recommend the 7K to friends, as long as they understand it's a very compact HF-UHF rig that isn't in the same class as a full sized base station (for that I recommend a K3...).

Steve, W3AHL

--- In mailto:ic7000%40yahoogroups.com, "k8rjl" <hkusp.40cal@> wrote:

I bought a Kenwood TS-590S about a month ago for my base station and mobile trips to the park. I am finding the 590 too big to take back and forth. I really like the 7000 but I hear so many complaints about bad audio, overheating and finals quitting. I like to research my major purchases yet I still come back to the 7000 as my choice.

I don't want to purchase the 7000 and then have to send out the mic for a mod or worry about the unit overheating. I don't want my audio to sould like I'm talking into a tin cup. I want something that just works as it should. Are the newer production units having any issues or has this been blown out of proportion? I don't like the new 7100 so that is not an option for me.

Thoughts?

Thanks,

Rob

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