Pactor with 100 Watt radio?

[GWB]

Does anyone have any experience with this? I'm a ham and would like to purchase an Icom-718, but of course this is a 100 watt radio.
Does the Pactor modem require the full 150 watts....? I guess it would just make it a bit more reliable...? This is on a sailboat that will be sailing for Hawaii next year.
Thanks for any input

[SoonerSailor]

The extra 50 watts would not make a big difference. Your IC-718 should do just fine for Pactor and Winmor. You should probably make sure it is equipped with the optional "High Stability Crystal" (about $80 if you need to add it).

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by GWB

Does anyone have any experience with this? I'm a ham and would like to purchase an Icom-718, but of course this is a 100 watt radio.
Does the Pactor modem require the full 150 watts....? I guess it would just make it a bit more reliable...? This is on a sailboat that will be sailing for Hawaii next year.
Thanks for any input

Absolutely not a problem!

We've been using Pactor for years on an Icom 746, and I rarely run more than 30 or 40 watts, often less. We operate in the western south Pacific and have no problems with connections when out of marinas. For the run to Hawaii there should be a plethora of base stations to contact.

The issue of max power is way over rated amongst neophytes... it is seldom an issue.

Edit: I agree about the high stability crystal... a very useful option.

73 de Jim n9gft/vk4gft

[ato]

Originally Posted by GWB

Does anyone have any experience with this? I'm a ham and would like to purchase an Icom-718, but of course this is a 100 watt radio.
Does the Pactor modem require the full 150 watts....? I guess it would just make it a bit more reliable...? This is on a sailboat that will be sailing for Hawaii next year.
Thanks for any input

The IC718 will work perfectly fine with a pactor modem. Lots of cruisers have this setup.

[Rhapsody-NS27]

I have an IC718 that I used with a Pactor modem for MARS and ham work a couple years ago. The radio itself will work out fine. No problem with 100 watts. Even working with an IC706g works out too. I haven't seen anything to say 150 watts was required. Just as any mode, use the maximum power needed to maintain communications.

Thanks to others about the high stability crystal, I don't think I have that but the radio still works fine for me.

[GWB]

Thanks for the help

[GWB]

Another question, which antenna tuner would best compliment this radio? AT-130 or AT-140 ... I have also read that the SCG-230 is a very good tuner maybe better that the Icom product?
Thanks again

[btrayfors]

The Icom AH-4 or AT-180 are the tuners usually fitted to the IC-718, as decribed in the Instruction Manual. The AT130 or AT140 would probably work, too....I haven't checked the voltage specs.

The SG-230 has been the "gold standard" of tuners for the past 20+ years. It will work with ANY transceiver, not just Icoms. It costs about the same as the AT-130 or AT-140.

The Icom tuners are a bit easier to use with Icom radios since the radio sends a signal over a control cable to begin tuning and stop tuning...and since power to the tuner is sent over this control cable.

By contrast, the SG-230 is powered via a separate 12VDC line, requiring less than 2A to work. It has built-in circuitry which senses the transmitted RF signal, determines the frequency, and initiates tuning.

The SGC also has non-volatile memories, i.e., it retains the settings for a number of matches. The Icom tuners' memory is powered by a capacitor which works for a week or two, but with no use soon loses the memory contents and has to start over.

Bill

[Greg4cocokai]

We've been using an Icom 718, AH-4 and Pactor 3 for the past 8 years, full time cruising with no problems.

[GWB]

Thanks for all of that, it is very much appreciated. I have come across what looks to be a very good deal on a IC-700pro ($760) I think this will make sense over the 718 as the 700 pro is designed for the marine environment... although the Icoms are probably all built to a very high standard. Is the software to program the 700 readily available?

[Rhapsody-NS27]

For the 718, I've actually been using an LDG tuner that works great and I believe much less costly too. Otherwise, on a IC706, I have an AT180 that works pretty good too.

I'm not familiar with the 700 but looks like a Marine radio rather than a Ham radio, although I believe it can still be used on the ham bands easy enough.

[roverhi]

Had email and gribs all the way from SF to Hawaii with a 718 and a Pactor II with the III upgrade. Was using Winmor/Winlink and Ham sites. Always got through though sometimes had to try several different Ham providers. Probably a propagation issue. Originally tried to use an AH-4 tuner but it wouldn't tune because the radio wasn't sending a needed signal to the tuner. An issue with the used 718 that I bought. Bought an SG230 tuner and no more problems, plug and play.

FWIW, you can easily up the 718 to 150 watts or even more. Understand it may not be a very clean signal, however. Probably not a good idea since you gain very little from the extra power and may lose something due to possible distortion. Better to work on the ground plane and antenna than tweaking the radio.

[matauwhi]

G'day, Mate. Icom-706MIIG, SGC tuner and Pactor 3 modem here. Typicaaly use just 20 watts to connect down here in the South Pacific. As an FYI, the 706 will give you the 2 meter option (which means a SPARE marine VHF to use as a back-up, should your main VHF "pack a sad"). All the best. Cheers

[Cpt Pat]

I'm using a PACTOR modem with my Kenwood 100 watt SSB near San Francisco, and it works fine with Sailmail and Winlink stations in Panama and Hawaii. The difference between 100 and 150 watts is less than 3 dB.

I often dial down the power to 20 watts to save power - and keep my PC from rebooting and my LED navigation lights from flashing on and off when I transmit (sometimes I wish I had a steel boat).

I recommend you spend the extra money on a good tuner instead. Like the others above, I've had good results from my SGC tuner.

[jstevens]

RE: The Icom 700 Pro.
I used to own an Icom M700, not the Pro version. The basic M700 does not have a TNC interface for the Pactor modem. A friend of mine modified the radio to provide the TNC inteface and I used it for over 4 years with a Pactor IIe modem before replacing the radio with an M802.
The pro version may have the TNC interface, but it is something check out before going that route.

John