Hi Ron; Sorry to hear about the 706 difficulties. I have seen a number of used ones at reasonable prices on arrl.org. I guess you will have to dust off the ts450. Rich ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ron Canazzi" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Tuesday, September 13, 2005 6:57 PM Subject: Icom 706 MK2G Problems Hi List, I am new to the list and thanks for the easy to follow instructions from the list server manager. I do have an issue to report and a request for some suggestions as to my alternatives if any. In 2000 I bought an Icom 706 MK2G transceiver. I liked that transceiver a lot and I used it quite easily for almost 5 years. I noticed that earlier this year, I was having occasional power drop problems on UHF/VHF, but they were so intermittent that I figured I would wait until they got a little more predictable before I sent the radio in for repair. Eventually by August, they did become more regular. In addition, I began having problems with my AT-180 antenna tuner wherein it simply would not tune my 80 Meter Windom antenna. My Kenwood TS-450 with its internal tuner tunes the antenna very well and the match on the antenna is no worse than 1.2 to 1 on all bands. Yet the problem with the AT-180 persisted. I sent the radio back to Icom's Bellvue Washington repair center and waited. After about 3 weeks, I received the shocking news that they simply couldn't repair the radio--that is short of replacing the main board and charging for at least 2 hours of work--a total cost of $750 US plus shipping. The radio sells for only a few tens of dollars more brand new and even the tech people said that they didn't recommend a repair. They admitted to not being able to locate the defective components on the board that would cause either the gradual power drop on UHF/VHF and could not determine the cause for the malfunctioning AT-180--other than the fact that it had something to do with the radio itself. They tested the tuner on a variety of other rigs and antennas including other versions of the 706 and it worked just fine. so apparently it's clean of imperfections. In addition to the problems that Icom couldn't fix, I sent out a radio for repair--a radio that had a fully functioning speech board. When I received the radio back, this speech function no longer worked. I am still waiting for Icom's response on this matter. My first admonition is to those of you who have Icom equipment to realize that this is the treatment you might receive from Icom tech support if you have a problem that is complex with your unit. In addition, I would wonder if anyone on the list would have a suggestion as to any third party that might be willing to repair the unit--take a bit of time with it--and perhaps not charge an arm and a leg for the repair or suggest an uneconomical board swap. Sorry for this rather lengthy post, but I am considerably disappointed with a company which I know 20 years ago used to have superior technical support for such receivers I own as the Icom R-7000 and the Icom R-71 A. Thanks for your patience.