{"id":633,"date":"2016-02-13T14:15:59","date_gmt":"2016-02-13T18:15:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ab4bj.com\/wordpress\/?p=633"},"modified":"2016-03-19T21:10:24","modified_gmt":"2016-03-20T01:10:24","slug":"first-impressions-of-the-icom-ic-7300-hf-6m-transceiver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ab4bj.com\/wordpress\/2016\/02\/first-impressions-of-the-icom-ic-7300-hf-6m-transceiver\/","title":{"rendered":"First Impressions of the Icom IC-7300 HF + 6M Transceiver"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have been having a great time at Orlando Hamcation <\/a>that this year features the ARRL National Convention.\u00a0 One of the highlights was getting a first hand look at the brand new Icom IC-7300<\/a>.\u00a0 Icom had a demonstration model on display that was shipped from\u00a0Japan just for\u00a0this show.\u00a0 As far as I know, it’s the one and only IC-7300 on display in the USA at this time.\u00a0 This radio has generated a lot of\u00a0interest on the Internet since it was announced.\u00a0\u00a0Many\u00a0in attendance in the big crowd on Friday made a bee-line for the Icom booth to get a first look at the IC-7300.\u00a0 FCC approval is pending, and the radio is expected to be in production and available for sale by the end of March, 2016.<\/p>\n

\"Icom<\/a>
Icom IC-7300 At 2016 Orlando Hamcation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I had a little bit of time at the show to take a look at the radio.\u00a0 It is the perfect size for a ham shack or a portable\u00a0operation.\u00a0 The big\u00a04.3 inch LCD color touch\u00a0screen is bright, crisp and clear.\u00a0 The many features of this radio activated by a simple\u00a0touch of the screen were fast and\u00a0responsive, and the menus are intuitive and very easy to navigate.\u00a0 A long press of buttons and certain touch screen functions bring up secondary controls that are also easy to navigate and operate.\u00a0 This is not a full review,\u00a0but I found the entire front panel to be well laid out with good ergonomics in mind.<\/p>\n

The IC-7300 weighs just under 10 pounds, with dimensions of 9.45 x 3.7 x 9.37 inches.\u00a0 It includes an SD card slot on the front, and connections for USB, antenna, external tuner (although it has a built in auto tuner), key, ALC, accessory, CI-V, speaker and others.\u00a0 As I stood and played with the rig, I thought how great it would be on the desk, but also how perfect it would be for portable operation for Field Day, NPOTA<\/a>, and other similar activities.<\/p>\n

Of course, one of the great features\u00a0of this radio is the big real-time spectrum scope with waterfall.\u00a0 It also has a great\u00a0 real-time audio scope.\u00a0 These scopes look fantastic on the 4.3 inch TFT LCD screen.\u00a0 One great feature of the scope is the ability to use your finger to touch and tune to a signal displayed on the scope.\u00a0 This feature is responsive and quick.<\/p>\n

Icom in the brochure for the IC-7300 touts the great receiver in this radio.\u00a0 The specs indicate a RF direct sampling system with 15 discreet band pass filters, with “class leading RMDR and phase noise characteristics”.\u00a0 Icom also states that the IC-7300 has a new “IP+” function that greatly improves 3rd order intercept performance.\u00a0 All of the hams I spoke with at the Icom booth were very excited about the potential for this receiver, but there was no signal connected to the radio at the booth to hear how good it really performs.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, after the show was completed for the day, Will (AA4WJ) and I were able to take the IC-7300 with us in order to test it out on an antenna.\u00a0 We did not use the transmit functions on the radio, but were able to test out the receiver at my campsite with a Budipole antenna on 40 meters.\u00a0 Following are the short videos we took as we listened to the radio and worked through some of its many features and functions.\u00a0 Unfortunately, time would not permit us to video all of the menus and features, but we hit the highlights.\u00a0 The audio you hear is from the radio’s internal speaker.\u00a0 From our quick run through, I came away with the opinion that the receiver lives up to the expectations I have heard from many hams.\u00a0 I’m very excited about this new addition to the Icom lineup and look forward to having one in the shack.<\/p>\n

Enjoy the videos.\u00a0 A big thanks to Ray Novak, N9JA and Will Jourdain,\u00a0AA4WJ of Icom America\u00a0for allowing me to test out this great radio.<\/p>\n