The IC-211 Tell me what you think!
Jason Baack
The subject says it all.
Just picked up an IC-211. Looking to see what others think of it.
Plus I am looking for a manual as well as a service manual.
Can anyone photocopy one?
BTW: has anyone had one of those Mutek ltd. replacement boards
installed ( RPCB 251ub I think..) in their IC-211?
What diference did it make?
Jason N1RWY
ba...@maine.edu
Sven, Maria, Anton och/eller Johan Wijk
>
> The subject says it all.
>
> Just picked up an IC-211. Looking to see what others think of it.
>
Had one about 10 years ago and was quite pleased with it.
I have no experience of the mutek front-end, but it was quite popular.
Sven, SM5PXK
Gary Coffman
On Tue, 31 Mar 98 23:04:45 GMT, ba...@maine.edu (Jason Baack) wrote:
>The subject says it all.
>
>Just picked up an IC-211. Looking to see what others think of it.
I liked mine. The stock radio has a pretty dismal noise figure,
but the Mutek board fixes that. It doesn't have provision for
narrow filters or passband tuning like newer radios, so an
aftermarket DSP box can be useful. But otherwise I liked
the way it worked. (I used it for Oscar 10.)
>Plus I am looking for a manual as well as a service manual.
There was no separate service manual, but the owner's manual
doubled nicely as a service manual in the tradition of most older
amateur gear. I'm sorry to say that sort of manual has become
a thing of the past.
>BTW: has anyone had one of those Mutek ltd. replacement boards
>installed ( RPCB 251ub I think..) in their IC-211?
>
>What diference did it make?
I put one in mine. It made a *dramatic* difference in the weak signal
performance of the radio. It brought signals that were buried in the
receiver noise up to armchair copy. This board is a must for any
IC-211owner who wants to hear weak signals. It puts the radio on
a par with the much newer IC-275 in terms of noise figure (but the
IC-275 is still nicer in other ways, that's what I have now).
Gary
Gary Coffman KE4ZV | You make it |mail to ke...@bellsouth.net
534 Shannon Way | We break it |
Lawrenceville, GA | Guaranteed |
Peter Bealo
But is the Mutek board still available anywhere??
Peter
WB2MJG
Dean Denter
In article <3523c452...@news.atl.bellsouth.net>,
Is there a Mutek board available for the IC-251A? If so what's the
source for one of these beasts?
regards,
Dean.
--
Dean Denter work -> dde...@nortel.ca
VA3CDD play -> dde...@ottawa.com
Current Wants: 70cm transvertor, 2M Amp 10Win/?Wout
[[[[[[[[[[[[[[I speak only for myself]]]]]]]]]]]]]]
Gary Coffman
On 2 Apr 1998 17:45:49 GMT, dde...@ecars147.nortel.ca (Dean Denter) wrote:
>Is there a Mutek board available for the IC-251A? If so what's the
>source for one of these beasts?
Yeah, it's the same board. There is also a board for the IC-271 (different).
I got mine direct from Mutek, but I notice that SSB Electronics USA is also
a distributor. They still list the board for the IC-211/IC-251 on their webpage,
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/mutek/rpcb.htm
Dave Eckhardt
> >
> >Just picked up an IC-211. Looking to see what others think of it.
>
> I liked mine. The stock radio has a pretty dismal noise figure,
> but the Mutek board fixes that. It doesn't have provision for
> narrow filters or passband tuning like newer radios, so an
> aftermarket DSP box can be useful. But otherwise I liked
> the way it worked. (I used it for Oscar 10.)
>
> >Plus I am looking for a manual as well as a service manual.
>
> There was no separate service manual, but the owner's manual
> doubled nicely as a service manual in the tradition of most older
> amateur gear. I'm sorry to say that sort of manual has become
> a thing of the past.
>
> >installed ( RPCB 251ub I think..) in their IC-211?
> >
> >What diference did it make?
>
> I put one in mine. It made a *dramatic* difference in the weak signal
> performance of the radio. It brought signals that were buried in the
> receiver noise up to armchair copy. This board is a must for any
> IC-211owner who wants to hear weak signals. It puts the radio on
> a par with the much newer IC-275 in terms of noise figure (but the
> IC-275 is still nicer in other ways, that's what I have now).
>
> Gary Coffman KE4ZV | You make it |mail to ke...@bellsouth.net
> 534 Shannon Way | We break it |
> Lawrenceville, GA | Guaranteed |
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
I once owned an IC211 way back when they were a new radio. I used it
for weak signal work. Yes, it REQUIRES a good preamp. Now, let's talk
transmitter, mainly, the synthesizer. Using the radio for weak signal
work, I had a pair of 4CX250B's on its output when needed. They have a
gain of just over 20 dB (biased properly). I could never understand why
other hams in the area (radius of roughly 50 miles) complained of
"birdies" every 10, 5, . . . kHz (even, heaven forbid, outside the
band). The birdies were weaker by the gain of the "afterburner" when it
was out of the circuit, but they were still there. Well, it turns out,
the IC211, contrary to popular belief of the time, was just another FM
radio with SSB and CW tacked on for good measure (and price). On the
narrow bandwidth modes, Icom did NOT shut off all the frequencies the
synthesizer used to accomplish the smallest tuning step on FM. Even
though the narrow band modes did not use them, whenever some gain was
"attached" to the output of the transmitter, all these "PLL" frequencies
were amplified as well. And, remember, if it is there on transmit, the
PLL also serves as the receive LO, and will admit all the "stuff" on the
"birdie" frequencies as well as the main LO frequency, like LO noise.
If you want the radio for FM, it gets a qualified "OK". But for SSB/CW
and general weak signal work, continue to look.
Dave - W6LEV
Rich
On Thu, 02 Apr 1998 13:49:39 -0500, Peter Bealo <Peter...@iis.varian.com> wrote:
>But is the Mutek board still available anywhere??
>
Yup - try SSB Electronics at www.ssbusa.com
- Rich
--
Rich Mulvey
My return address is my last name,
followed by my first initial, @mulveyr.roc.servtech.com
http://mulveyr.roc.servtech.com
Amateur Radio: aa2ys@wb2wxq.#wny.ny.usa