IC-7300 - Software Defined Radio

[VK4ABW]

Started a topic as this radio is almost due for release in Australia. I know that some out there are 'chomping at the bit' to get their hands on one...and at 1st glance it does present well, but.....

IC7300

my reasons for not choosing one are:
a. It is a small radio with a 4" screen (too small in my opinion - 6" screen would be a minimum for me) lets face it....you hold your finger on the screen to get a 'zoom' effect.. how much does this tell you about trying to see it properly?
b. No guarrantee of 100w full duty cycle (unless someone has more info about it at this stage)
c. Too many features 'buried' under other menus which take time if you need to change something in a hurry...even thou i must admit that Icom do arrange their menu systems quite well.
d. The receiver is on a par with their current top line radios...so your not getting some magical benefit...but i doubt it has the same level of quality filters as a 7600/7700/7800 series
e. No external video out...so that you don't have to squint all day
f. Touch screen...need i say anymore (a more practical approach would be wireless mouse control)

I do however...give it 2 thumbs up for pricing, if you are looking for the latest whiz bang small radio.

Flame suit zipped up
de Gary
VK8AW / VK4ABW

[VK4TI]

I am reserving judgement as you have several relevent comments , and I hated the 7100 which failed after an hours use and I sold the replacement quickly . TheIcom radio maybe ok though and I wait until a friend gets his , certainly the price is indeterminant atm thanks to the failing au$ , my current Yaesu an FT991 performs very well and the screen although small is fine with glasses so the new Icom needs to be a major step up imho , I would be considering the 50 watt radio as thats more than enought to drive a modern amplifier

http://ic7300.blogspot.com.au/

[VK3BQ]

It will have its first public showing in Australia at the EMDRC hamfest. 28th Feb! (You might even be able to buy one on that day!)


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[VK2XAX]

Its the first new radio that's piqued my interest in a long time. I'm waiting patiently for all the relevent parties to publish tests on it.

A secret wish is that one might make an appearance at Wyong this year for us to poke at

Icom Japan have it on their web site for Y139,800 regardless of power output.

https://translate.google.com/translate? ... &sandbox=1

I'm miffed that there's still no Freq ref in, its a simple thing to do.

regards

Tim

[VK2XAX]

English brochure has popped up here...

http://www.dxzone.com/icom-ic-7300-english-brochure/

Interestingly this is for a 100w out unit.

[VK3ALB]

It would be nice for manufacturers to include IP connectivity. Remote connectivity to radios will become more important as the noise in the burbs increases.

[VK3BQ]

Icoms low end radios do the IP connectivity off radio in the rsba1 software. The expensive models have this software built in http://www.icomamerica.com/en/products/ ... fault.aspx


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[VK5PJ]

Hi Lou,

It would be nice for manufacturers to include IP connectivity. Remote connectivity to radios will become more important as the noise in the burbs increases.

I was only pondering this yesterday, that if the radio did indeed have an Ethernet port on board and a small micro to produce a java or similar web page of controls for the radio... Oh bliss. Back to reality I guess.

Looking forward to hearing real world usage reports on the 7300 and maybe there will be a sister rig that has up converter for 144, 430 and 1296 then I would have died and gone to heaven.

Regards,

[VK3ALB]

Yes Peter now you're talking. That's what I meant. Sadly the manufacturers see this as salable options.

Good to know Andrew but nowadays having a PC at the remote site to deal with the radio is poor. You might as well communicate using a fax machine.



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[VK4OE]

Greetings, gentlemen.

I was intrigued by your recent comments on this thread that it would have been attractive if the SDR and on-screen features of the '7300 were available on bands VHF and above.

Such thinking was behind my 'feeler' posting a couple of months ago in which I proposed the value of using the 10 Watt 'S' version of this radio as a glorified tunable IF for external VHF and UHF transverters.
[See: http://www.vklogger.com/forum/viewtopic ... 23&t=13314 ]
Such an arrangement greatly appeals to me due to not needing to attenuate huge amounts of RF power when connecting up a transverter, not to mention the low powered radio's much lower DC current draw on transmit.

And, given that I have zero interest in operating such a radio on the HF bands, the on-screen 'waterfall' facility for identification of the presence low level signals would be of huge benefit when operating portable and when adding an external computer is either cumbersome or undesired (or both). Such operating would be on VHF/UHF and/or microwaves through the external transverter arrangements already mentioned.

But, like others, I am disappointed that there is no provision to introduce an external 10 MHz frequency reference.

Nevertheless, my interest in the '7300 has also been 'piqued' and I am looking forward to its forthcoming availability here in VK.

Best 73,

--Doug Friend, VK4OE.

[VK3MEG]

Doug have a look at the Elad fdm duo sdr quite a capable radio i'm enjoying mine has some great features for transverter use and can be used as a standalone radio.
cheers


http://ecom.eladit.com/epages/990298944 ... FDM-DUO%22

[VK3BSF]

There's plenty of remote control software..have a look at the site below.

http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Technolo ... ontrol.pdf

[G3ZPF]

User manual available on the Martin Lynch UK dealer website

http://www.hamradio.co.uk/userfiles/fil ... asic_0.pdf

and I even found a reference to exactly what ADC, FPGA, and CPU the 7300 allegedly uses on the I0GEJ site

[FPGA] Altera Cyclone IV EP4CE55F2317N

[IF DSP] TI TMS320C6745

[MAIN CPU] R7S7210000VC

so the people with smarts can work out how well this should perform.

[VK4OE]

Greetings again to all readers.

Responding to Steve VK3MEG's suggestion that I consider an ELAD radio instead of the '7300, the chief reason I'm still attracted to the '7300 is that I can have a waterfall display (albeit an abbreviated one) of weak signals without connecting an additional computer. This has advantages in terms of total power required to run a portable station, as well as it representing less mass and volume of gear to be carried around the place.

And, contrary to the popular trend, whilst I use computers in many ways these days, they simply don't appeal to me as a part of operating amateur radio equipment, home or portable. That's not a criticism of anyone else, it's just that I don't like them!

The IC-7300 seems to blend the SDR computing technology into the radio itself and that seems to be a clever way to go - sort of like using a computer without having a box there that looks like a computer!

Cheers and 73,

--Doug, VK4OE.

[VK4ABW]

I hear that deposits are being taken for this radio in Australia...

Can't be too far away now

Gary
VK8AW/VK4ABW

[VK3BQ]

was good to play with in at emdrc hamfest sunday.

its impressive and looks like its pretty powerful in a couple of mins exploring, it DID NOT have an antenna connected however,,

and.. the waterfall (when using the new version of the icom RS-BA1 software and USB3) will display in real time. not sure how icom are doing that over CI-V!..

Icom Australia have offered a real world "demo" at emdrc ham club in early april when they get the sample back, ill let people know when this is to happen, we will connect the SPE amp and fire up the bbq and make a day/night of it..

[VK3BQ]

I read elsewhere the Australian price is rrp$2915 and market price $2650. Crazy


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[VK5PJ]

Hello Andrew,

was good to play with in at emdrc hamfest sunday.
its impressive and looks like its pretty powerful in a couple of mins exploring, it DID NOT have an antenna connected however

that appears to be a slot for a SD card under the AF gain or am I dreaming?

Regards,
Peter.

[VK3BQ]

Yes. Has an SD card slot. For memories. Not sure if it saves the audio like the dstar radios can.


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[VK3ALB]

Hello Andrew,

that appears to be a slot for a SD card under the AF gain or am I dreaming?

Regards,
Peter.

It is indeed a SD slot. You can read about it in the manual page 6-1

It says

You can save the following data onto the card:
•• Data settings of the transceiver
Memory channel contents saved in the transceiver.
•• Communication contents
The transmitted and received audio.
•• Communication log
The communication and receive history log.
•• Voice audio for the Voice TX function
Voice audio to use with the Voice TX function.
•• RTTY decode log
The transmitted or received RTTY decode history
log.
•• Captured screens