Also known as: IC-718, 718
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The Icom IC-718 spent 25 years as the archetypal budget first HF rig: 100 W on 160–10 m, a knob, a keypad, an amber display, and almost nothing to misunderstand or break.1 Icom Japan now lists it discontinued, and that changes the buying math: at the ~$930 new-old-stock price it competes head-on with a used IC-7300 — and loses. At $400–550 used, it’s still one of the most honest radios ever sold.
Key takeaways Simple, tough, and beloved — but buy it used, not NOS. 100 W SSB/CW/RTTY/AM on 160–10 m; no 6 m, no FM, no tuner, no USB, no scope. The 1999-era receiver is merely adequate without optional filters. Discontinued (Icom Japan); remaining new stock runs ~$930, where a used IC-7300 is the smarter spend — the IC-718’s sweet spot is $400–550 used. Part 97 license to transmit; none to listen. Rankings: best ham radio base stations.
Overview
Launched in 1999, the IC-718 was designed to be the cheapest serious HF transceiver on the market, and it held that role for a generation: the radio elmers handed to new Generals, the club-station workhorse, the field-day loaner that always came back working. The recipe is a single-conversion superheterodyne (64.455 MHz first IF), a big front-firing speaker, and a control set you can learn in an afternoon. Many later units carry the optional UT-106 DSP board, and optional CW filters help a lot — without them, selectivity and dynamic range are distinctly last-century.
The 2026 situation is what moves it down our list. With production ended, US dealer new-old-stock sits around $929 — a price the radio grew into during the post-2022 price rises, not one it was designed for (it was a $600–700 radio for most of its life). Spend that money on a used IC-7300 and you get direct sampling, a waterfall, a tuner, 6 m, and USB. Spend $450 on a used IC-718 and you get exactly what it always was: a simple, repairable, hard-to-kill first radio with a huge supply of used units and parts knowledge.
License note: you need an FCC amateur license to transmit (Part 97; Technician at minimum, with General unlocking most HF phone). Listening needs none — the general-coverage receiver hears everything from shortwave broadcast up.
Bands, modes & power
- TX: 160–10 m, 100 W (40 W AM), adjustable down to 2 W. No 6 meters.
- RX: 0.030–30 MHz general coverage.
- Modes: SSB, CW, RTTY, AM. No FM.
- Tuner: none built in — pair it with an external tuner (AT-180, LDG) or a matched antenna.
- I/O: CI-V CAT jack; no USB, no soundcard — digital modes need a cheap CI-V cable plus an audio interface. 13.8 V DC at ~20 A; the fan cycles audibly.
What owners praise and gripe about
The praise is character: easy to use, easy to repair, a front-mounted speaker that sounds better than radios costing triple, and a “works forever” service record. The gripes are architecture: mediocre selectivity without the optional filters, no 6 m, no FM, no tuner, no USB, and a receiver that a strong neighboring signal can walk over. Every gripe was forgivable at $600. At $930 NOS they aren’t — which is the honest core of this review.
If you do shop used, the options matter more than cosmetics: a unit with the UT-106 DSP board (fitted to many later radios) and an optional CW filter is meaningfully better on the air than a bare one, and those boards are harder to source separately than the radios are. Ask specifically; sellers often don’t know what’s inside.
Programming & software
CI-V CAT works with the standard ecosystem (WSJT-X, fldigi, loggers) through a CT-17 or an inexpensive USB CI-V cable. There’s no memory-programming story worth having — CHIRP isn’t meaningful for an HF radio like this — and no firmware updates to chase. That’s part of the appeal: nothing to maintain.
GopherTrunk alternative
GopherTrunk receives; it cannot transmit — so it’s not an IC-718 substitute, it’s the step before one. A ~$30 RTL-SDR running free GopherTrunk lets you hear your local ham activity — repeaters, digital voice, band openings — and records and logs all of it, before you commit to a transceiver or a license. If a $930 budget is the constraint, a used rig plus an SDR for monitoring beats NOS 1999 architecture. Dongle picks: best SDR for GopherTrunk; HF-focused receivers: best HF SDR.
Who it’s for
- Buy the IC-718 used ($400–550) as a rugged, dead-simple first HF radio or backup rig — with the optional CW filter if you can find one. View on Amazon →
- Skip the new-old-stock price — at ~$930, a used IC-7300 is better in every way, and a new Xiegu G90 (~$450) adds a tuner and waterfall if 20 W is enough.
- Want 100 W new for less? The FT-891 (~$650). Full rankings: best ham radio base stations.
Amazon note. With production ended, the IC-718’s Amazon listing may be third-party and intermittent — check price and availability against the big ham dealers before assuming the button is the best deal.
Sources
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Icom IC-718 product page — Icom America, on band coverage, modes, power, and the CI-V interface; Icom Japan’s site lists the IC-718 among discontinued products. ↩
Frequently asked questions
Is the Icom IC-718 discontinued?
Yes — Icom Japan lists it as a discontinued product after a roughly 25-year run that started in 1999. US dealers were still shipping remaining new stock into mid-2026, so what you’re buying now is new-old-stock or used.
Is the IC-718 still worth buying in 2026?
At the ~$930 new-old-stock price, honestly, no — a used IC-7300 costs about the same and is better in every measurable way. At $400–550 used, the IC-718 remains a fine simple first HF radio that’s easy to use and hard to break.
Does the IC-718 have a built-in antenna tuner?
No. It expects a matched antenna or an external tuner (Icom’s AT-180 or an LDG autotuner are the usual pairings). It also has no 6 meters, no FM, and no spectrum display — it’s deliberately minimal.
Can the IC-718 do FT8 and digital modes?
Yes, but not out of the box — it predates USB, so you need a CI-V CAT cable plus a soundcard interface. Once cabled it runs FT8/RTTY fine at 100 W (dial the power back for long transmissions).
Do I need a license to use the IC-718?
Transmitting requires an FCC amateur license (Part 97 — Technician minimum, though HF voice privileges mostly come with General). Listening on its 0.030–30 MHz general-coverage receiver requires no license at all.