Icom IC 781 top of the line HF SSB transceiver from the Nineties

This is the Icom IC-781 transceiver, which entered the ham market in 1990 (not 1980 like I said in the video, sorry for that). The IC-781 was the top of the line radio in those days, it kept that title unil the IC-7800 came out almost 15 years later. It had a price tag of over $8000 at its introduction, which is worth over $15k in 2019 dollars. The one you see here has been used only lightly, with no CRT burn-in and excellent performance. The Icom IC-781 was the first transceiver using a direct-digital synthesizer (DDS), the first radio to use a digital display and the first radio to have dual-receive capability. And it was the first ham radio having a dynamic receiver range of 105 dB, which is still an impressive number today. And the transmitter IMD is better than 35dB, a number that most modern transceivers cannot match. The IC-781 set the standard for many years to come, almost al transceivers today have features that were first made available to hams by the IC-781. As a result, the IC-781 has become a highly desirable collectors item, especially when they are in original and pristine condition like this one is.