Fifty years ago, the February-March 1966 issue of Radio TV Experimenter magazine published a review of the Eico 753. This was a bare-bones SSB and CW (with AM tossed in as an  afterthought) transceiver for 80, 40, and 20 meters. I happen to own one of these monsters, and it’s actually a nice radio for what it is. I’ve worked DX with it, and I even took it with me on a mini-DXpedition to YV-land. I worked a few stateside stations from there, and even worked Europe on 40 phone.

The review was generally favorable, concluding that “so far, the EICO 753 stacks up as the best ham transceiver buy for 1966.

The radio is affectionately known as the “Seven Drifty Three” for its propensity to drift. The review covers this point:

After a 15 minute warmup the EICO 753’s stability was well within the specified 400 cycles–in fact, we were able to work relatively long contacts with but one or two tuning corrections (done with the receiver offset). We must allow for the other ham’s station having some drift.

In 1966, the radio sold in kit form for $179.95, $299.95 wired. Unless you had a power supply, you would need that as well. The AC supply with speaker sold for $79.95 in kit form, $109.95 wired. Mobile power supplies were available for the same price.

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