MLS announce new portable

MLS has announced a new ICOM hand portable to coincide with ICOM's 60th anniversary. 

£619.99 for a hand portable? Hmm.  A lot more than I would pay, although I expect some will pay up for a fairly unique transceiver. Look for the ID-52 anniversary edition. 

See https://www.hamradio.co.uk/id-52-plus .

New ICOM HF transceiver?

On John's blog he mentions a new concept radio from ICOM called the X60. This is on show at the Dayton Hamvention this weekend. The main unveiling will be at the Tokyo Ham Fair later this summer.

The Dayton Hamvention is probably the biggest amateur radio show in the world. 

I have not yet heard if Yaesu will announce anything. Personally, I think they are in a total muddle and it would not surprise me if Yaesu and Kenwood leave the amateur radio market within 5 years.

See https://hamvention.org/

IC-7300 100000 sold!

This famous ICOM transceiver has now sold over 100k units since it was introduced in 2016 according to the ICOM Japan website and EI7GL's blog.

I wonder if a new version is coming?

ICOM IC-905 GHz transceiver review

The latest RadCom has a review of this ICOM microwave transceiver. 

At £3549.95 without the 10 GHz transverter I cannot see them selling many, let alone make a profit. It would not surprise me if this product quietly disappeared in 2024. There is a theory that this product is a free trial for a later commercial product. Watch this space.

It is an interesting product, but would you pay this much to cover essentially line of site and rain scatter QSOs? Perhaps "appliance operators" with deep pockets might buy as the latest toy.  This is not for me unless a fairy godmother waves her magic wand, HI.

Yaesu FT-710 and ICOM IC-705

Both are excellent radios. 

On the Sherwood tests the FT-710 came 4th, which is very good.  It is disappointing Yaesu has chosen to, effectively, ignore the QRP market it once dominated. It is almost as if Yaesu has given up. 

The FT818 was really about component obsolescence and really had none of the features expected in a modern QRP rig. To many, it was a total disappointment. 

Yaesu introduced the FT-710 which is SDR based. Personally, I found the ergonomics easier than on the IC-705. The FT-710 includes 4m, but does not do 2m and 70cm which I missed.  It also has an auto-ATU. 

ICOM launched the IC-705 some years ago. It is a 10W portable unit covering 160m-70cms, all modes, but it omits 4m and the auto ATU. It is also too expensive. Having tried 4m both in the Es season and before, 4m has proved a disappointment. Personally, I was expecting more from the band.

In the end, I went back to the IC-705 as I missed 2m and 70cm more than I missed 4m and the auto-ATU. It is a 10W radio and far smaller. As a QRPer, 10W is quite enough, especially on FT8 and WSPR. On its battery it is a 5W radio. Had Yaesu announced a new QRP rig, I might have traded my FT-710 in for one. Sadly, I see no new QRP rigs from Yaesu on the horizon.

Personally, I give Yaesu a maximum of 36 months in the amateur radio business. 

As a Yaesu fan of old, I very much hope I am wrong.  They have had chances and blown them.  To my mind, they are a company floundering.

ICOM future plans

On Amateur Radio Weekly there was a bit about the future plans of ICOM.

Amateur Radio Weekly comes to me each Saturday as a free email newsletter.

See https://www.icomjapan.com/api/download.php?post_id=3823&fl=JTJGdXBsb2FkcyUyRmNvbXBhbnklMkZJY29tJTIwSW5jJTIwTWVkaXVtJTIwVGVybSUyMEJ1c2luZXNzJTIwUGxhbiUyMDIwMjZfRU5HX01heTIwMjMucGRm. 

ICOM IC-705 transceiver

One of these was owned by me until last year when I traded it in for a Yaesu FT710. At the last minute ICOM dropped the internal auto-ATU and 4m in the European version. Personally, I find the auto-ATU feature in the FT710 useful as well as 4m. Sadly, the FT710 does not cover 2m and 70cm.

The IC-705 is a great rig, although it did have noise issues when a USB cable was connected between the rig and a PC. This issue was overcome with a decent, filtered, cable, but this was a design fault that should have been fixed.

I am still surprised Yaesu seems to have dropped out of the HF QRP market when they were clear market leaders at one time.

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

ICOM's IC-905 microwave transceiver price

MLS has just announced the expected price of the ICOM microwave transceiver , the IC-905. It is expected to be £3549.95.  It covers 2m,70cm, 23cm, 13cm and 6cm. 3cm needs another transverter.

At this price, I really cannot see huge sales.  Remember the GPS receiver and a 10 GHz transverter are extras on top. I cannot see change from £4000. This sort of price is only for the well off. Also, microwave antennas are on top as well!

No, I predict this will flop and be withdrawn within 2 years.

ICOM make some very good products and I really hope I am wrong. Sadly these manufacturers and dealers are, ultimately, in business to made profits. I just cannot see how this will make them money. They will sell a few to the well off, but I cannot see this ever becoming a mass seller.

See https://www.hamradio.co.uk/icom-ic-905-vhf-uhf-shf-transceiver-deposit-only .

ICOM IC-703

This is one of the best QRP transceivers I have ever owned. The best was the Yaesu FT7, but the IC-703 is very considerably smaller and covers more bands with speech processing and an auto ATU. Many years ago, I sold this to a local amateur, Ted  G4NUA. Ted is now a silent key sadly. He was a keen experimenter, especially with 20m WSPR.

ICOM IC-905

This is the new radio announced by ICOM. I have serious doubts about it ever making it to market. 

It is meant to cover 2m-3cm with a control head based on the IC-705 and an RF unit that could be mounted next to the antenna. 

It looks expensive and I just can't see it selling in huge volumes. Also, I cannot imagine it being low cost.

If it ever gets to market I can see this being a flop. Nice idea, but unlikely to make them rich. 

ICOM announces SHF transceiver at Tokyo Hamfest

This is the IC-905. I am extremely sceptical.  I cannot see them selling that many or making a profit. Maybe it is a lost leader, really they are aiming to make a profit on something similar in the commercial market. 

It seems unlikely to be available much before late 2023 and at what price? The price has to be very keen or they risk a total flop.

If I was ICOM, I really would not bother. Mind you, I am not ICOM!

Nice concept, but in this tough world will it make them any money?

ICOM AH-5000 antenna

This antenna has just come to my attention. Like all things ICOM it is expensive. It is meant to cover all HF bands (maybe with a tuner on some frequencies). I have no idea how it performs. 

It looks like a Rybakov style antenna, but I have no idea. 

There are other, similar commercial antennas around which are far less expensive. 

Of course, you can roll your own and save a packet!

See http://g0kya.blogspot.com/2009/02/rybakov-vertical.html .

See https://amphenolprocom.com/media/pdfdocs/hf-5000.en-GB.pdf?timestamp=1660739714.

IC-705 out of band?

As you may recall, I have an 8m UK permit for a year. Currently, I use my widebanded FT817ND on 8m FT8, but it would be good to use the IC-705 instead.

Many were disappointed when 4m was not included.

I am wondering if there is a wideband mod (possibly allowing 4m and 8m access, although maybe not to spec) that can be accessed via keyboard presses only, so the inside is untouched?

Having been in production for over a year, I am sure this will have been published if possible.

BTW, after misplacing my Radiotoday Guide to the IC-705 after many months I found it again..... on my shack bookshelf!

ICOM prices going up

Steve G1KQH tells me that ICOM is raising prices from September 1st.  I have no idea of the prices in future, but they are all suffering.

IC202 - remember these?

Back in the late 1970s (I think) these became very common on 2m SSB. They were the successor to the Liner-2 and far cleaner. I had one for several years and it served me well. Even today, they are still in use driving microwave transverters.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/vhfuhfmicrowaves/vhfuhf-commercial-rigs/icom-ic-202

I hope the links on the link still work as they were created some time ago.

ICOM SHF transceiver?

The EI7GL blog has quite a bit about this. 

Sadly, I cannot see this ever coming to market. Surely the big manufacturers are only really interested in making money. I can only see this selling in low numbers, hardly covering development costs.

See https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/2022/04/icom-shf-microwave-project-for-24-ghz.html .

ICOM at Dayton 2022

This is a video of the ICOM stand at the Dayton Hamvention. I am underwhelmed. 

The VHF transceivers look "same as", the linear looks big, and the SHF concept looks like it will never happen. Where is the truly handheld version of the IC-705? 

If Yaesu is similar I can see them both leaving this market within 5 years. I suspect they both can see the writing on the wall. 

IC-705 and FT8?

The ICOM IC-705 is a great 10W radio with many wonderful features. I love the waterfall and many of the things it has as standard.

It is regularly used on 2m and 70cm (FM and USB, but I have not used it on FT8. Instead, I have used my FT817ND on 8m and other bands for FT8. Why? With the USB lead (even choked) I get desensitisation. I believe the simple solution is to use the IC-705 with wi-fi (yes it has this too!), but I have been too lazy to set this up yet. I am sure there are YouTube videos showing how to set this up! One of my projects in the coming weeks must be to set this up.

If you can point me in the right direction this might save me time. What is the simplest and clearest please?

SHF rig from ICOM?

ICOM may be developing an SHF rig. 

They have been doing some experiments at 5.6GHz and have asked for inputs.  At one time microwave bands seemed far too high to be of interest from the major Japanese manufacturers. 

Back in the 1970s we were amazed when the Liner 2 transformed 2m SSB for the masses.

See https://www.icomjapan.com/lp/shf/ .

ICOM IC-7300 transceiver

Although you get the impression (I may be wrong) that all UK dealers have been instructed to hold the price, it looks like there are special "gifts" being given away with the intention of attracting buyers. This is a 100W HF, 6m and 4m SDR transceiver with auto ATU.  It has (at last) some competition from Yaesu. It has proved very popular in the last few years.