Sunday, March 16, 2014

W2ENY AM Filter for the IC-756



I've been looking for an AM filter for my IC-756 for many years, and just stumbled across a filter from W2ENY. I think he used to offer these, and went out of production for some number of years. He has brought a limited number of these back for sale. I emailed him, he replied almost immediately that he still had some, and I ordered one. I'm happy to have finally found one of these babies. I work AM from time to time on 160 thru 10, and usually operate one of my boatanchors due to the w-i-d-e passband on AM. His page is:

http://w2eny.com/6kc_filter/
I received the 6khz AM filter from W2ENY for my IC-756. The instructions were EASY to follow and the mod was quick and simple. I LOVE it! I've been working AM on 80, 40, and 15m with the 756 and have great selectivity on AM. I replaced the 15khz filter in the 455khz I.F., and have noticed no issues with working FM on 10m, listening to broadcast stations, etc. My 18 year old IC-756 is now perfect in my opinion, and everything is working great. This is the filter the rig should have come with from the factory, as all modes are well behaved, now.

UPDATE: 3/16/14... After using the filter for about a year, I felt the need to make another change. The instructions from W2ENY mentioned to replace the 15khz filter in the 455khz I.F. with the 6khz AM filter. I found, when operating AM on 10m, it is desirable to have access to the 15khz filter to open up 



the receiver a bit for the broadcast audio often heard on AM. Also, when working 10m FM, the 9khz filter in FM narrow is a bit too narrow for good audio and clipping would occur. I never found a need for the 9khz filter in AM or FM operation, but I constantly found the need for the 15khz filter. So, I reinstalled the 15mhz filter and installed the AM filter (6khz) in the place of the 9khz filter, and all is now well. Just my $01 worth, but it sure works out better at my QTH in this configuration. 

You can visit my website at www.WB4IUY.net for more mods for the IC-756 pre-Pro (analog) model, and lots of other ham radio stuff :-)