ICOM IC-703

Before foolishly selling this to a friend, I owned this QRP radio some years ago. It had a very good internal auto ATU and ran 10W SSB. 

It is on my www.g3xbm.co.uk website. If you see one on the second hand market I can recommend it as a good QRP radio. 

ICOM IC-7300

Over the last few years this SDR based transceiver from ICOM has led the field and become very popular. It is a 100W transceiver covering from 160m-4m (in Europe) with a built-in auto ATU.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/commercial-rigs/icom-ic-7300 .

ICOM IC-705

This QRP radio has been on sale now for several months and is proving very popular. It has its own battery pack (5W) or can run off an external PSU (10W).  

Although I have had mine for several months now, I have only scratched the surface of what it can do.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/commercial-rigs/icom-ic-705 .

IC-9700

This ICOM radio covers 2m, 70cm and 23cm. It is an all-mode SDR transceiver. I do not own one, but know some who do. It has a lovely colour LCD which is touch screen as well as having good ergonomics. 

On 23cm it has a useful 10W pep. With a reasonable yagi some quite good DX should be possible as long as the coax run is short and the cable low loss. When runs are long or the coax is not too good, people put PAs and preamps up near the antennas.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/vhfuhfmicrowaves/vhfuhf-commercial-rigs/ic-9700 .

IC-705 goals this week

 This week, I have 2 main aims:

1.  To get D-star (DV) working;
2.  To get WiFi working.

Well, that is the aim!

ICOM IC-705 USB drivers

This afternoon I had every intention of loading the USB drivers for the IC-705 on my shack Window 10 PC. However, every time I tried recently it said the site for ICOM Japan was "not available" and I got pointed to the Wayback Machine.

This must be a temporary glitch as I managed to upgrade the firmware OK from this site recently. I can wait.

Perhaps I should learn a new schematics capture package instead!

IC-705 - getting to know you

There is so much to learn about my new rig, the IC-705. The firmware needs updating and I have yet to connect the PC. There are so many hidden features that I have hardly scratched the surface. I am taking my time.

First impressions are this is some radio. It can do so much!!

Antenna tuner for the IC-705

ICOM has released the auto ATU for the IC-705 (the AH-705) reports Southgate News. It is quite expensive and there are lower cost auto tuners that will work as well or better e.g. the Elecraft T1. This is also smaller and probably has a wider range. It is also, lower cost. 

The AH-705 is £309.60, which is expensive. The answer is use resonant antennas or lower cost tuners!

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2021/march/ah-705-hf-50-mhz-automatic-antenna-tuner-for-the-ic-705.htm#.YFYBKyuTLrc .

ICOM - IC-705: still tempted

The price of this rig, like the IC-7300 and IC-9700, is not going to fall any time soon. 

Clearly, if you want one from a UK dealer in the next few years it is very unlikely that prices will fall. It is definitely my kind of radio, but I do not like the price.  I like the connectivity options and the GPS.

The feeling you are left with is that this radio is market priced. Prices will not drop if we are prepared to pay the current price. Clearly many are.

If I get a decent trade on my FT991A, I might be tempted...

Several dealers are selling them ex-stock now.

Carry cage for IC-705

MLS (and perhaps others) are advertising a carry cage for the ICOM IC-705 portable rig.  At £139.95 it seems expensive. It has a handle and may be ideal for those that want to use the IC-705 out portable. 

This was featured in the latest "something for the weekend" email.

IC-705, IC-7300 and IC-9700 firmware updates

Southgate News reports that a firmware update to these ICOM products is due at the end of January.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2021/january/new-fimware-updates.htm#.YAmcZ_GTLrc

IC-705 warranty again

It appears that ICOM Australia offers a 5 year warranty if you ask whereas the standard UK ICOM warranty is just 2 years. If all UK dealers offered a 5 year ICOM underwritten warranty this might make buying decisions easier.

See https://icomuk.co.uk/IC-705/Mobile_Amateur_Radio_Ham

ICOM (UK) warranty?

One UK dealer is selling the ICOM IC-705 with a 5 year warranty at extra cost. At one time (still?) these were "grey" imports that would not be serviced (I understand) by ICOM (UK) but by ICOM (Europe) if the dealer could not fix the issue.

Another UK dealer is making a "thing" about the IC-705s it is selling being "genuine" UK versions with 5MHz enabled.

My question is what is the standard ICOM (UK) warranty?

Should I buy one, I want to be assured the product could be repaired by ICOM (UK) should the dealer leave the market or go bust.  In these troubled times these things could happen.

UPDATE 1847z:   A quick check on the ICOM (UK) webpage suggests it is 2 years for amateur gear. See https://icomuk.co.uk/Icom-UK-Warranty.

More IC-705 videos

These are now coming think and fast as more dealers around the world are seeing samples. Only today I saw videos today from Finland, Wimo in Germany and the USA.

New ICOM IC-705 video

Southgate News has a piece linking to the new ICOM video about the SDR based ICOM IC-705 QRP rig.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2020/july/introducing-the-ic-705-qrp-sdr-transceiver.htm#.XxK49YjYq00

See also https://icomuk.co.uk/IC-705-HF-VHF-UHF-Mobile-Transceiver/3977/1338/14/

ICOM IC-705

Apart from the price (too high), this is "my" sort of radio.

It produces 5W with the supplied battery pack and 10W with an external power supply. It covers all HF bands, 6m, 2m and 70cm with all modes. It may support 4m in a later firmware update. 5W is enough to work the world, even more true with FT8, even with simple wire antennas.

It also supports wireless LANs, D-STAR and Bluetooth. It has a built-in GPS receiver and micro SD slot. It is now on sale in Japan and soon will be across the world. Often there are a few bugs in early releases that are corrected with hardware or firmware changes. It is worth waiting for these to be corrected.

If I have missed any recent videos try searching for IC-705 on YouTube.

I am quite surprised that other manufacturers have not announced a rival. At the moment ICOM have this world beating marketing scoop all to themselves, so they set the market price. If Yaesu made their version the price would drop. It seems Yaesu have yet again missed the boat. The ICOM product was announced a year ago and Yaesu would appear to have done absolutely nothing. The FT818, when it eventually appeared, was a huge wasted marketing chance. In my view Yaesu have become followers and not the leaders they once were.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/ic705

IC-705 unboxing

As my Japanese is non-existent, I just had to watch the pictures, but it looks like the IC-705 is now on sale in Japan. According to ICOM Japan the IC-705 will be on sale in Japan from mid-June, with international markets following type approvals.

See https://www.icomjapan.com/news/2707/

ICOM response on lack of 4m on IC-705

I wrote to ICOM UK about 4m not being included and asked if it would be in a letter firmware update. I got a reply that looks like it was generated by a computer. BTW, I did not ask about previous models!

"Thank you for taking time to write to us regarding the 4mtr band on the new IC-705 as well as your comments on previous Icom models.

We apologise for the news released recently regarding the band not being included in our new radio. As passionate Radio Hams and keen users of the band, we share your disappointment.

We are passing all messages back to the sales, production and design teams at our HQ in Japan

We remain at your service and any news regarding this subject or other information will be transmitted via our web and social media channels

Kind Regards

ICOM UK LIMITED.
HAM RADIO DEPT."

ICOM IC-705 delayed?

OH8STN reports that the long awaited ICOM IC-705 SDR QRP transceiver has been delayed. Apparently he saw this in a post by ICOM.

ICOM IC-705 transceiver

Many were hoping this would be on sale in the USA at the Dayton Hamvention. Most of us have been thinking about other things and Dayton may very well be cancelled this year like many amateur events. It is meant to happen not too many weeks away.

Personally, I think the IC-705 will be released in the USA and Europe much later, possibly Christmas 2020 or even in 2021. It would not surprise me to see prices rise too.