Icom 740

[KF5BET]

I have the chance to pick up an ICOM 740 radio. It is being offered by a local guy whose father is a SK. There is also a swan 700 cx radio.

They are cleaning out the estate, and have contacted the local club here to sell the equipment.

What do you think of the radios? Are they worth looking at? I looked on Eham.net and the reviews seemed fairly favorable for both radios. Is there anything I should be leary of with these radios? (as you can tell..I am lost here...I told you I would be asking some stupid questions...)

What do you guys think would be a fair price range for them.

I am waiting to hear back from the son (he is trying to locate a 2 meter ht that he knows his father had).

Thanks in advance for any input.

Galen KF5BET
(btw...still waiting for my study books to arrive GRRRR)

[Andy N1ORK]

Galen,
From what I can find, the Icom 740, if clean and in good working order, should run from $350 to $450. The Swan which is all tubes, probably goes for about $150 to $250 depending on condition. You would also need the HV power supply.
Good Luck!
73
Andy - n1ork

[wa8yxm]

I will say this about the old Swan... Listen to the receiver,, Just listen to it.

There is a sound quality to tube type radios that these modern all transistor/IC jobs just can not touch..... Very pleasing to my ears

Wish I had the buck fifty to 200 to buy it, I'd love a vintage Swan.

[One Country Boy]

The old Swans in their day were good radios. I can remember when I wished I had one. If I recall, they were bad to drift off frequency, even after having warmed up sufficiently. E-ham is a good place to get price comparisons. That's what I've done in the past to see what certain rigs were going for. Without checking, I would think also that Andy is on target. I have bought a couple of radios from estate sales and that's normally a way to get a fair deal. Good luck with it Galen.

73,
Jim

[KF5BET]

Well, I am now the owner of two radios. I purchased both the Swan and the Icom (actually, the guy sold me everything for an unbelievable price!!!).

The Icom has the fm module as well as the elect keying module. I don't see where it has the added filter crystals. All in all, the radio looks to be in very good condition.

The son also gave me a frequency counter and a vertical antenna. I have no idea about the antenna (see antenna post). Hopefully someone can shed a little light on that.

The wife did raise her eybrows a little when I brought everything in. I think she thinks I have gone off the deep end!

[bnmcgraw]

And you were expecting us to argue with her?

I have some old Drake equip, my wife looked the same.

Hope you enjoy the new gear!!

73 AE5FH Mac