22 Aug 2015

ICOM IC7300

At this stage I don't yet have any details, but ICOM launched the IC-7300 at the Japanese Ham Fair. It looks a bit like a Yaesu FT991 on steroids!

At this stage I don't know price, power, bands or availability outside of Japan, but I expect these will soon be known. I wonder why this was released so soon after the IC7100? Perhaps people did not like it? Maybe this will force a price cut for the FT991?

In Japan there will be 50W and 10W versions. I hope the 10W version is available in Europe as this might be a good replacement for the IC703.  10W pep SSB is a useful power level.

And we are STILL awaiting the FT817 replacement or a competitive offering from Kenwood or ICOM. After all these years I find this barely credible.

See http://qrznow.com/new-icom-ic-7300-toyko-hamfair-2015/

9 comments:

Dick said...

"And we are STILL awaiting the FT817 replacement or a competitive offering from Kenwood or ICOM. After all these years I find this barely credible."

I agree, especially with the end of this cycle now in progress. That other 10/50 watt rig will most likely be aimed at entry and intermediate Japanese license-class holders. Think it would find a good market in the UK too, no ? 73.

Roger G3XBM said...

Dick, I would expect the 10W version to sell well worldwide, especially if they get the price right. I gather the IC7300 rig is HF-6m only with no 2m or 70cm. This make it less competitive than the FT991 unless it retails for much less.

Anonymous said...

Roger says - "At this stage I don't know price, power, bands "
But the link you included in your blog contains that very info!

For the hard of hearing it says..

IC-7300 that Icom has been announced, in SSB / CW / RTTY / AM / FM transceiver of HF ~ 50MHz band, “IC-7300″ of 100W output, “IC-7300M” of 50W type, of 10W type “IC- 7300S “me to line up.

Sigh...

Roger G3XBM said...

At least you read the blog then Mr Anonymous! Unlike some I am just human.

Razvan M0HZH said...

This is probably one of the best things that has happened to amateur radio this year, one of the big three finally treying to keep up with technology. I've gethered all the data I could find on the IC-7300 in a blog post: http://yo9irf.blogspot.com/2015/08/icom-reveals-first-sdr-ic-7300.html

PS: as for the FT-817 replacement, I had a talk with Yaesu at Friedrichshafen and they said "keep your eyes out at Dayton next year." Apparently internal Li-Po should be one of the improvements ;).

Mike M0SAZ said...

Hi Roger, I have just purchased an FT-991. On paper, its the ideal radio for me but there has been some QA issues on its early months, I just hope they are resolved now. I did a silly thing and recently purchased another FTDX-5000MP which is amazing but is not compatible with my "do more with less" mentality. A flagship rig always leaves one feeling like there should be some result because of the $$$'s. With my modest antennas, I really want to do some good radio with the '991 but will sell it and keep the FTDX-5k if not. 73 Mike M0SAZ

Roger G3XBM said...

Hi Mike, I have just found your village on Google Maps.

Unknown said...

Rumour is in Europe it will be sub €1000, I heard €930.

European model will have 4m so hopefully a better RX than the IC7100 is!

73 Fred G4BWP

Steve G4HTZ said...

Yep I hope the sensitivity is better on 4m than on 7100 ...I use a mast head pre amp on 4m and makes a huge difference ...anyway paid a deposit on a 7300 so we shall see