Totally agree!! The 718 is truly excellent for digging out weak signals. It's my go to receiver for hunting 4 milliwatt HiFer beacons on 22 Meters. I will never call it a "bare bones beginner's rig." I've been a ham for 52 years, and the little rig continues to impress!
I'm not sure that having the G90's AGC turned on was the best way to test it on receive. I've tried all of the settings many times but I keep returning to simply leaving it off for the best reception. I've never gained anything through turning the noise blanker on either. The G90 seems to receive best in it's 'raw' state, with the RF gain set to around 15% to 20% (or up to 30% for very weak signals) and then adding the pre-amp in if necessary. 73 & good DX! Chris, M0JZD.
I agree Chris, I only left it on [fast] since the IC-718 is always on fast in SSB, you can't change it without modding it. I simply wanted all the settings the same on both radios to make it an apples to apples comparison. I always leave it off otherwise
ich hab den IC718 seit 2003 . Aufgerüstet mit DSP. Externer Spulenfilter für CW weil der original Cw einmal teuer und schwer zu haben war. jedenfalls binich sehr zufrieden . Will mir jetzt noch ein Volkstrx ic7300 anschaffen das ist erste wahl Preis Leistung . 73, Matthias DG5MJ
I have 2 G90´s, one for /p ant the other one at home. Nice little radio ans it´s 20 watts is enough power for me. Don´t have any 100 watter only another low power TRX (ALT-512) for the use at 6 and 4 meters. It also has 160 to 10 meters and 10 Watts. After SK of it´s constructor not longer availible. Former it was sold by Aerial51.
I try to be unbiased... Although both are great entry level radios, they're very different from one another. The ICOM I'd say is better suited as a base station radio due to the 100w output and tank-like build quality. The G90 has tons of great features, but with the lower 20w output and small form factor it's better suited for mobile, portable and backup radio roles. Hope that helps, thanks for watching 👍
Neither radio is equipped with Noise Reduction, however they both have Noise Blanker enabled. It's hard to see the little icon on the top row of the G90, but I promise it's there. I really tried my best to make their settings equal
I have the same two radios. The xiegu has an unnatural S3 background with no antenna connected. My 718 has DSP module too. My preference is the Xiegu for overall audio quality and readability under QRM.
My "toy" is ultra-portable and the tuner tunes my 71' EFRW which consistently gets me contacts 6,000 miles away with decent signal reports. A fun "toy" for sure!
The multi-function knob on the G90 (bottom left) can be used to directly adjust the RF gain. (The ability to do so was added with firmware update v1.75). Long-press the button to access its menu and then turn it to get to 'RF Gain'. Press 'Save'. From the on, turning the button will let you adjust the RF gain between 0% and 100%. I use it that way all of the time. 73 & good DX! Chris, M0JZD
I have 'big gun' contest radios, and an IC-718 I purchased just for the hell of it. I'm often impressed at what the 718 can receive weak signal-wise!
Totally agree!! The 718 is truly excellent for digging out weak signals. It's my go to receiver for hunting 4 milliwatt HiFer beacons on 22 Meters. I will never call it a "bare bones beginner's rig." I've been a ham for 52 years, and the little rig continues to impress!
Love the IC-718 💯👍👍👍 Happy New Year & 73 de Uncle Guenter 🙋♂
Happy new year!
I'm not sure that having the G90's AGC turned on was the best way to test it on receive. I've tried all of the settings many times but I keep returning to simply leaving it off for the best reception. I've never gained anything through turning the noise blanker on either. The G90 seems to receive best in it's 'raw' state, with the RF gain set to around 15% to 20% (or up to 30% for very weak signals) and then adding the pre-amp in if necessary.
73 & good DX!
Chris, M0JZD.
I agree Chris, I only left it on [fast] since the IC-718 is always on fast in SSB, you can't change it without modding it. I simply wanted all the settings the same on both radios to make it an apples to apples comparison. I always leave it off otherwise
718 is a legend. Do you really want to compare it to a Xiegu? The result is quite predictable.
The G90 is a go to radio for emergencies, but the ICom and Yeasu radios have much more refined receive. You get what you pay for in radios.
ich hab den IC718 seit 2003 . Aufgerüstet mit DSP. Externer Spulenfilter für CW weil der original Cw einmal teuer und schwer zu haben war.
jedenfalls binich sehr zufrieden . Will mir jetzt noch ein Volkstrx ic7300 anschaffen das ist erste wahl Preis Leistung . 73, Matthias DG5MJ
I have 2 G90´s, one for /p ant the other one at home. Nice little radio ans it´s 20 watts is enough power for me. Don´t have any 100 watter only another
low power TRX (ALT-512) for the use at 6 and 4 meters. It also has 160 to 10 meters and 10 Watts. After SK of it´s constructor not longer availible. Former
it was sold by Aerial51.
ICOM IC-718 Nice Receive
I agree
Good headphones fix the problem
The G90 loudspeaker is the problem. Low bass is too weak. An external speaker solves the issue.
Spot on. Also headphones make a world of difference
Hi there is the IC718 a 100 watt rig and how is it on power consumption when running QRP
It is 100w output, yes. I couldn't tell you about it's power consumption unfortunately, it's been adopted by a new loving home.
What about available CW filtering?
Sorry, can't help with that, I don't participate (yet)
Dude, wish u would give opinion at end
I try to be unbiased... Although both are great entry level radios, they're very different from one another.
The ICOM I'd say is better suited as a base station radio due to the 100w output and tank-like build quality.
The G90 has tons of great features, but with the lower 20w output and small form factor it's better suited for mobile, portable and backup radio roles.
Hope that helps, thanks for watching 👍
I notice you have the Noise Reduction engaged on the 781.Hardly a fait comparison !
Neither radio is equipped with Noise Reduction, however they both have Noise Blanker enabled. It's hard to see the little icon on the top row of the G90, but I promise it's there. I really tried my best to make their settings equal
I have the same two radios. The xiegu has an unnatural S3 background with no antenna connected. My 718 has DSP module too. My preference is the Xiegu for overall audio quality and readability under QRM.
They're both good, A headset helps me a lot with the G90 in particular, the speaker isn't my favorite
You aren’t comparing the 718 to anything. That thing on top is junk really.
Interesting and predictable result 😊
A toy vs a good amateur radio
My "toy" is ultra-portable and the tuner tunes my 71' EFRW which consistently gets me contacts 6,000 miles away with decent signal reports. A fun "toy" for sure!
Icom is better. It have rf gain knob, which can adjust if gain. Rf noise tired operator hardly in g90
The multi-function knob on the G90 (bottom left) can be used to directly adjust the RF gain. (The ability to do so was added with firmware update v1.75). Long-press the button to access its menu and then turn it to get to 'RF Gain'. Press 'Save'. From the on, turning the button will let you adjust the RF gain between 0% and 100%. I use it that way all of the time.
73 & good DX!
Chris, M0JZD