In 1987, as first past president of the Atlanta Radio Club, I helped host the ARRL National at our HamFestival. After the show concluded, I 'sweet talked' the ICOM rep into selling me the IC-761 setup that ICOM had 'loaned' the club for use as the special events station. I've had and enjoyed it ever since.
Last year, it developed what I now understand is a common problem with a small DC/DC converter module on the "Display Board" involving a part which is no longer available. The service rep in Anderson, SC told me that what I now owned was a rather large boat anchor.
A little 'digging' and I located, on the Internet, a blurb on how this could be repaired and the 761 was repaired my me. If anyone has experinced the disappearing freq display / pegged S-Meter problem, I'll help you right out. Took me about an hour to fix it.
My 761 later developed a problem wherein SSB audio on LSB became somewhat distorted. It was still readable, but I knew it should be better. USB audio was unaffected. So I placed a call to Anderson and, I'm sure, got to speak with the same service tech as before.
This guy lit into a tirade offering to recite a litany of design errors, consistent problems and other reasons why my friend and favorite HF rig for over 20 years wasn't worth the UPS charges to ship. He flatly stated that his removal of the covers would yield a 20+ year-old pile of junk in a fancy cabinet that certainly represented the worst financial decision I had ever made. The only thing he missed was to say that the ICOM nameplate on the front was super-glued over the word "YUGO" (easily done as both contain 4 letters).
Has anyone else run into this guy? Does he actually work for ICOM or is he merely a plant working for Kenwood or Yaesu having hacked the ICOM telephone number to trash the competition? Does ICOM know they have hired possibly the worst P.R. nightmare on the planet?
I worked in 'computers' as Technical Support for nearly 40 years and, when I got a call... no matter how grim the situation appeared, I stressed that, regardless what was awry, it could be fixed and I was just the one to make things right again. I no longer had an irate individual on the line, I had a friend who was more than willing to work WITH ME and my "problem solved" rate was top notch. I'd love to have a look at that guy's.
That now on the table.. can I expect to call Bellevue, WA or the center in St Joseph, MI and get someone who might even give the appearance of faith in the products produced by his employer? I can't wait to find out but I wanted to post this ahead of time just to get a 'heads up' from someone.
LouisSchubertK4NYK@schubie.com
PS: I spend only a minimal time on either 40 or 80 meters and, when I have the need to be there, I use (yep) my ICOM IC-701 (an even older radio which -> knock on wood <- has NEVER GIVEN ME A PROBLEM since purchased brand new)... so I'm covered anyway.