The IC-751 and IC-751A HF transceivers, mid-range rigs when introduced, still offer excellent value to new hams as a first rig, and seasoned hams as a backup, or even a primary rig. I personally still have my IC-751, bought in 1992.

Both cover 10m-160m, including WARC bands, and run 100 watts CW/SSB/FM, 40 watts AM. Both rigs sport excellent receivers, quad conversion, if memory serves me right.

The '751A had a few improvements over the '751, most notably a CW keyer. Both were available with optional internal switching power supplies. My '751 was powered most of the time by an Astron RS-35M linear power supply, although it had the built-in switcher. I found the rig ran pretty warm when using the internal supply.

There are a couple of inherent problems with these rigs ... one being the problems with the capacitors in the PLL circuit. Any authorized Icom repair center can perform a PLL circuit upgrade. There also seems to be problems with a voltage regulator IC that powers the display. Mine currently suffers from this issue, and I have to turn it on about 30 minutes before I use it, and recycle the power after that short wait before the display will work.

Additionally, the BIOS and ROM in both rigs is battery-backed. Allowing the backup battery to completely die causes the rig to be totally non-functional. I believe there are aftermarket BIOS/ROM boards available for these rigs that solves the issue. On the factory BISO/ROM board, the battery replacement procedure isn't for the feint of heart. When I replaced the bias, driver, and final amplifier transistors in my rig, I also replaced the backup battery. It basically consists of soldering the new battery in place before removing the old one!

In spite of these issues, the radios are readily available at reasonable prices, and if they have been taken care of, they still are capable of providing years of service. Again, on the receiver, after 16 years of operating, I have yet to locate another HF rig that has a more sensitive, and quiet receiver. The transmitter is quite capable, and if the cooling fan is in working order, the duty cycle is quite high. The only reason I had to replace my finals was due to an amplifier malfunction that obviously threw some DC current back via the antenna connector.

I'm no rocket scientist, so forgive the rather simplistic review. If I can locate the owners manual for the rig, I'll post the specifications later.

73,
Luke