My love affair with radio has been a part of most of my 47-plus years on this Earth. I still have the bakelie 1945 Philco 5-tube AM BC receiver my parents received as a wedding gift that played every night in the bedroom my two brothers and I shared. I wouldn't part with that radio for any price … until today.
Today I first spied the newest HF+6 rig from Icom, the IC-7700. So far, the IC-7700 seems to incorporate all the changes I would have added to my IC-756PROIII if I were an Icom product engineer.
One of the things that I found frustrating on the PROIII was its ability to copy RTTY but not transmit it. The built-in modem copies very well, and its a breeze to copy RTTY. Unfortunately you still need a RTTY setup (unless you plan on contesting by programming the memories to send the contest exchanges). The IC-7700 lets you plug in a USB keyboard and work RTTY and PSK31 — just the ticket for those of us who would love to work digital modes but don't have a laptop or a spare desktop (or room for one at the operating postiion).
I like the look of the new rig as well. The S-meter moves to the 7″ TFT color LCD display. The multi-function spectrum scope has adjustable resolution bandwidth. You can connect an exterior monitor for the display, a very very cool function, but again, I wouldn't have room for it in my current configuration.
There's a separate 6 meter receiver front end from what I read. I think the PROIII does fine, but then again, I'm not an operator who is pushing the envelope in frequent contests.
The IC-7700 offers 200 watts output, which seems to be a growing trend these days. I wonder if they'll have a lower power version at a reduced cost? This rig has a built-in power supply, which means no extra cost for a special supply to handle the extra output power.
There are some subtle changes that I think are good moves, and probably based on feedback from users who have used the PRO series and the 7800 rigs. Compared to the PROIII, they've moved some buttons and controls around, and improved the layout of the front panel. The small adjustments that are in a row on the bottom of the front panel below the display are now adjustements that you seldom need to change — anti-vox, display brightness and contrast, vox gain, etc. On my 746PRO and PROIII, I dislike fooling with this miniature adjustments. CW speed and output power are not the best controls to adjust when you have big fat fingers trying to adjust little teeny knobs.
I'm sure the folks who made Dayton are getting a look at this rig up close and personal. I'm curious what the retail price will be. I'll guess it will be about in the $5,000 range, but I'm probabaly low. If Icom plans to keep the PROIII on the market, then this rig will probably be placed as a “tweener” — between the $3k PROIII and the $10k 7800. With the “IC-7700” designation, my guess is that it won't be on the cheap side of the range. Please Icom — prove me wrong!!!
If the rig happens to be affordable, i.e., in range if I sell my PROIII, my car and cash in my life insurance policy, I will likely begin looking about the shack and asking “Do I really need to keep this (fill in the blank with the surplus radio goodie of your choice)?” My shack may wind up much less cluttered — perhaps I can convince my wife that a new IC7700 is the answer to improving the look of my shack … no, no, I tried that on the PROIII.
NEW YAESU RIG. The new FT-450 is an interesting low-end rig that's so new that Yaesu doesn't even have its Web site updated with all the information yet.
The FT-450 is (as I understand it) priced in the $1,000 range as a compact HF+6 Meter rig. I wish I had been at Dayton to see one, but I'm wondering if it's “all that” or not.
The buttons look like they are rubber-type buttons with lettering printed on them. I can only guess that with use, the lettering will soon rub off the commonly used buttons. I hope that's not the case.
It's hard to judge its size. I kinda like the white figures on the black background for the display, but something about the rig just doesn't look sexy. Perhaps its the phones and key jack on the left side of the front panel. The rest of the front panel looks like it was designed with some thought, the two aforementioned jacks appear to have been stuck there for lack of another way to handle them, or something better to put there.
I'm interested in hearing reports about any other hardware that's at Dayton. The new German rig that is advertised in QST looks so unusual — compared to the typical IcoYaeWood offerings that its damn near sexy.
The price won't be cheap for this one either, but its always interesting to look.
Another rig that looks pretty nice is Elecraft's new K-3.. It too offers RTTY, CW, and PSK31 modes without the need for a computer. The rig's interface looks very attractive, and it comes as a modular kit or fully assembled.
I've read internet postings of kit builders complaining the new Elecraft is no longer a true kit. While true, the complexity of making a small rig using surface mount technology puts the skill level required beyond that of the general ham population. It's exciting to me to be able to consider an Elecraft already built. It's a great small rig that looks like its well laid out.
All this talk about rigs, I need to better use the ones I have now. I should be chasing DX instead of blogging about pining for a new rig. I'm off for now, where's my camera? I have eBay auctions to prepare!
73 de KY4Z SK … dit dit …