[IRCA] Brief Icom R-75 Review

I bought a new "stock" Icom R-75 from Universal Radio 7 days ago and have been putting it to rigorous use on LW, MW and SW. I used a 120-11 meter doublet (all band dipole) up at 35 feet and fed with 50 feet of 450 ohm window line to a tuner.

My subjective findings are as follows:

The rig is very small and light weight and would make an excellent DXpedition rig.

It's a surprisingly good receiver, very impressive actually for $570.

On the longwave band I have had easy copy of European and African longwave broadcast stations from France on 162 kc, and Germany on 183 kc, with no IMD.

On the MF AM broadcast band it's very sensitive with easy copy of Norway on 1314 kc and BSKA Saudi Arabia on 1521 kc, with no IMD.

On SW broadcast it's very sensitive with no IMD, including the ham radio bands. Yesterday evening I listened on the 20 and 80 meters SSB ham bands where many strong signals existed and could detect no IMD. I had recoverable audio on AIR 4760 kc Port Blair, Andaman Islands around 0000 UTC two nights in a row. Also easy copy on 90 meter Papua New Guinea stations around 0700 UTC and Australia stations on 120 meters at 0830 UTC.

Seems to me that if I made the Kiwa sensitivity mod which would improve sensitivity by 1.5-3 db, the rig would probably begin showing IMD on LW and SW and would then require a passive preselector. The mod. would probably improve LW sensitivity performance though, albeit with IMD.

I added the INRAD 1.8 kc SSB filter which has a real good shape factor. The stock AM filter is a to wide at -40/-60 db but the stock 2.1 kc SSB filter seems to have a pretty good shape factor.

BTW I usually DX using USB for easier carrier detection then I switch to over to AM. Synchronous AM detection drops out to easily during fades but I've never owned a rig with good ECSS, including my Yaesu FT-1000MP Mark V.

I can't really say much either way about the performance of the adjustable NB because I have an S0 noise level on all bands, as all power lines are buried within 3 miles of my QTH. But the AF DSP is surprisingly effective in making weak stations pop up above the lightning static, as good as my Mark V.

I've owned the following receivers:

My current modern receivers include a Sangean ATS-909, ATS-818, ATS-505P, Grundig S350 and Eton E10.

Older receivers include a Zenith Transoceanic H500 and Royal 7000, Realistic DX-60 and DX-100, Hallicrafters WR600 and S120, Sony ICF-6500W, Kenwood R-1000 and R-2000 and Collins R-390A.

Ham rig's that I've owned with general coverage receive include a Yaesu FT-840, FT-990 and FT-1000MP Mark V Field.

I have been an SWL for 40 years and also a ham for 17 years and have never owned such a good receiver for SWLing as the R-75. But I preface that statement by saying that I've never owned a Drake R-8 series receiver. Owners of the Drake R-8 series and Icom R-75 can comment on how the two receivers compare performance wise.

Comparing the $570 Icom R-75 to my $1800 Yaesu FT-1000MP Mark V Field ham transceiver-

On the LW band the R-75 is better than the Mark V Field as far as sensitivity and IMD.

On the MF band the R-75 is much better than the Mark V Field as far as sensitivity and IMD.

On SW including excluding the ham bands it's equal with the Mark V Field as far as sensitivity and IMD. On the ham bands the Mark V Field has a small edge.