Subj : New toy To : All From : Warlord Date : Sat Nov 13 2004 01:28 am I purchased an Icom 703 (not the PLUS) and have been having the time of my life with it. I have it packed into plastic hand gun case along with 2) 3000 ma 9.6 volt NiMi batteries, 20 feet of cableXperts RG-8m, an LDG 1.1 to 1 balun, an LDG 4 to 1 balun, a PAR 20/40 meter end fed verticle, a PAR 17 meter verticle, some monofiliment fishing line and a new Bencher BY-1 key. I was going to take it out and operate last Sunday but it was raining here in Santa Monica so I stayed home and operated on SSB. Useing the 9.6 volt batteries (5-watts output) with an A-99 verticle on 10-meters, a Cushcraft R-6000 12-20 meters and a Butternut HF-2V on 80 and 40 meters I was able to work almost anybody that I heard during the daylight hours. 80 meters SSB was tough though at night and San Francisco was about the best I could do with 5 watts. Noise level was S9. The built in antenna tuner works VERY FB and the Noise Reduction / audio DSP is just great. Switching back and forth between the 703 and my Icom 746 PRO was a surprise because they were about the same normally. In a really crowded band the 746 has those nice filters already installed but I have never really needed them. So here is what I have for a station... The 706 in a GO-PACK with a Yaesu VX-7 HT, an Icom 706 Mk II-G in the living room feeding a TE systems 200 watt amp on 2-meters with the A-99 10-meter verticle, a dualband Diamond 2m-440 colinear and a pair of 2-meter 11 element yagis vertically polarized. I have the Icom 746 PRO in my bedroom and it feeds a pair of PAR horizontal loops for 2-meters, a single Par horizontal loop for 6-meters, a Cushcraft R-6000 verticle that covers 20-6 meters and a Butternut HF-2V with radials for 40 and 80 meters. I live within 1/2 mile of the Santa Monica airport so I can't get the crazy 100 plus foot towers that Frank (W6BBS) aka TommyKnocker has up and he has 3 of them, !!! But I find after being a Ham for 36 years, well, just running a 5-watt battery powered 703 is just as much fun as running a KW into a yagi. The whole thing is that I enjoy it a whole lot more now. P.S. My other rigs here are Heath HW-7 and HW-8, a TenTec Argonaut 509 and an imported Yaesu FT-7. But for QRP / portable work NOTHING beats the 703. For the record I am 52 years old, a retired Police Sergeant, a Ham since 1968 (WN6DJK) and a member of the QRP/ARCI since 1979. Hope to CU all later. Hope to see you all on the bands. And don't forget that ECHOLINK is out there too. I use it alot to talk to friends around the world when the band is closed or just to set up skeds. It's totally cool. Best wishes and VY 73's. Bob KA6HGT Sometimes known as Warlord, the former Sysop of the Highway-99 BBS from many years ago....... --- þ Synchronet þ Highway-99 BBS - 24.130.87.122 .