Icom IC-756 HF / 50 MHz Amateur Ham Radio Transceiver

The IC-756, is a handsome looking rig, with a nice finish. The bottom side is also the same finish as the top side. It has a "drop lip", in the front, and flip-down legs to tilt the rig up at an angle. This unit did NOT have any rubber on the feet, so, the rig will slip easily on a smooth tabletop. A nice set of "grippy" rubber feet would really help keep this rig in place when I plugin or out the headphones or paddle keyer. KEYER plug on the front of a rig! WOW!, but it’s not a new concept, that’s the way rigs were back from the beginning of amateur radio up till about the ’50-the ’60s. It’s about time the modern manufacturers got back to it.
The displays;
High contrast, hi res. LCD, backlit, and "LOADED" with info. A feature I liked right away, is the fact that you can see in one look, all the frequency info you need, VFO, memories, sub recv. All in a single glance! The Spectrum Scope is highly useful, and has a wide enough span, to see if a band is active at a quick look. The lowest span could have been lower, to allow for a more critical analysis of signals. The vertical gain & sweep should have been calibrated with S-meter readings, but it’s not, this would have been even more useful. A variable refresh rate on the sweep would have been a nice feature too. The keypad is a little "tight", for those of us with big American fingers. It’s a pretty standard layout, and functions. Noise Blanker, First of all, I got to say that I found this function to be mostly "useless", not able to blank noise of any type. It had little or no effect on noise for which this function was designed to remove or decrease. Comparing it to the NB, on my YAESU FT-990, the 990 can blanker nearly any noise, even at extreme levels. Of course, the 990, has a variable level NB setting, something that is missing from the 756. If I had designed the 756, I would have made a menu setting for both level and width for the NB. The most noticeable effect of the NB is the distortion it creates by being turned on. A disappointing look at the NB function.
Speech Compressor
This function works well, but can easily be overdone. I was puzzled by why the control is taking up valuable front panel space. Comps are usually "set & forget" type settings, in my view. it should have been another "menu" setting, and limited to a max of 15db compression. This would prevent most of those distorted "DX" guys, from getting too wide. Anything over 15db compression is DISTORTION!
Mic Gain
About 10db short of having adequate gain level. With the hand mic in use, I found I had to use nearly all the mic gain range to get enough drive for full output. When I used the SM-20 desk mic, which is amplified, I was able to lower the mic gain setting on the rig, to about halfway up, for my style of operation. The mic plug has a pin providing 8 VDC @ 10ma MAX. ! This is to power the amp in the mic, but for many non-ICOM amplified mic will exceed the current limit.
NR Noise Reduction
Works much like the AF outboard units, in the removal or reduction of random noise, with a bit of a difference. There is a level adjustment, that allows you to set the level of aggressiveness of the NR.
This allows less audio "echo", reverb distortion on the signal. I found that the NR did very well, and outperformed my TIMEWAVE DSP-599zx in the random noise removal area. A very good system.
CW Memory Keyer
There is a nice "texture" to the RX audio, smooth sound. On SSB the 756 is totally digital, in the detection of signal, shaping & processing too. I find the 756 to be a pleasure to listen to, with little or no listener fatigue. But I did have to run at least 6db of attenuation, and slightly less than full RF gain. This receiver is "HOT", one of the hottest I’ve ever encountered, so it’s required to run the receiver at less than full strength, to keep from overpowering it with noise and strong signals. This is only true on the HF bands, on 6 meters the receiver is "HOT", by design, to pull in those weak signals found there. Six meters is probably the only band that the receiver can be run full out at max. sensitivity.
The ICOM 756 is a very good rig, a significant improvement over "older", analogue rigs. If your serious about your SSB and want a rig that can really "dig" in the dirt and pull out the weak signals under nasty conditions, then it’s for you.
SSB is the primary design concern that ICOM put into the rig, and it does it very well indeed.
In the end, I’m pleased with my purchase of the 756, and I think it will have a place in my shack for many years.