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so i've been sitting on this decision for like three weeks now and im driving myself crazy. i currently have both on my desk, borrowed the FTDX10 from a club member to compare side by side before i commit to selling one off. my main thing is HF casual operating, some digital modes, maybe enter a contest here and there but im not a serious contester by any means. the 7300 i already know inside and out, had it for two years, the SDR panadapter is just so nice to use and everything is where you expect it to be. but the FTDX10 receiver honestly does seem a little cleaner to me on 40m when the band is busy, hard to tell if thats placebo or real. the roofing filter situation on…

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August 9Aug 9

so ive been running an IC-7300 for about 3 years now and honestly its been great, no real complaints, but ive got some birthday money burning a hole in my pocket and started looking at the TS-890S and now im going down a rabbit hole i cant escape from the roofing filter situation on the TS-890S is obviously a big deal on paper and the IF noise floor specs look impressive but im wondering how much of that actually translates to real world difference for a guy operating mostly 40m and 20m SSB with some casual CW thrown in. im not contesting seriously or anything, maybe a few hours a week on weekends. my antenna situation is a trap vertical in the backyard, nothing fancy, HO…

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August 9Aug 9

so ive had the 7300 for about three weeks now coming from an old Kenwood TS-450S that i ran for probably 12 years. figured id share some impressions since i spent way too long reading threads like this before buying. the waterfall display is the thing everyone talks about and yeah it really does change how you operate, like i actually catch openings now that i wouldve completely missed before because id just be spinning the dial hoping to land on something. the built in ATU handles my end-fed halfwave on most bands without complaint, 40m is a little sketchy sometimes but 20 and 17 are solid. audio quality on receive is noticeably better than the old Kenwood, though honest…

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[LMS QA] other

August 8Aug 8

so ive had the 7300 for about 6 weeks now, coming from an old FT-450D which i used for a few years and honestly thought was fine until i started reading too many forums and convinced myself i needed an upgrade. anyway figured id share some actual real world impressions since most of what you find is either a youtube unboxing or some review that reads like a press release. first thing i noticed is the waterfall actually makes operating different, not just prettier. like i was on 40m last weekend doing some casual S&P in a small contest and i could see a run station open up before i even heard the gap in the pileup. ended up making a few contacts i wouldve definitely missed…

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August 6Aug 6

so ive had my TS-590SG for going on 6 years now and honestly its been rock solid, no complaints really. but lately ive been eyeballing the IC-7300 just because everyone and their dog seems to have one and the waterfall display looks genuinely useful for contesting and chasing DX. my shack setup is pretty basic — the 590, an LDG tuner, and a dipole in the attic which i know isnt ideal but its what the HOA situation allows. the thing is i dont actually know if the 7300 would give me anything meaningful over what i have. like on paper the 590 receiver is still really competitive and ive never felt limited by it during field day or whatever. but that touchscreen and spectrum …

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August 6Aug 6

so ive had my TS-590SG for going on 6 years now and honestly it still works great but i keep reading about the IC-7300 and the 7610 and wondering if im missing out. the SDR waterfall stuff looks genuinely useful not just gimmicky. my main thing is contesting and some casual DX, not super serious about either just enjoy it. the 590 has always had solid rx in my opinion, noise floor is fine for my suburban QTH which already has its own issues anyway. but the UI feels dated now and i got to admit watching guys on youtube with the 7300 touchscreen makes me a little jealous. probably a stupid reason to spend money. anyone gone from the kenwood to the icom lineup recently? or e…

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August 5Aug 5

so ive had my TS-590SG for about 4 years now and honestly its been a great radio, no real complaints, but ive been looking at the IC-7300 and the 7610 and now i cant stop reading reviews at 2am like an idiot. the 590 does everything i need it to do for HF, i work mostly 40 and 20m, some 10m when the band opens up, mostly SSB with a little digital on the side using WSJT-X. the thing is i keep reading about the 7300's waterfall and how much easier it makes finding activity and honestly that sounds kind of nice. but is that actually worth like $800-900 more than what i could sell the 590 for? or am i just bored and this is classic gear acquisition syndrome talking. my antenn…

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August 5Aug 5

so ive had this thing for about three weeks now, coming from an old TS-480SAT that i ran for like six years. figured id share some thoughts since i spent way too long reading reviews before buying and none of them really answered my actual questions. first thing — the waterfall display is genuinely useful and not just a gimmick like i thought it might be. being able to see propagation open up on 17m in real time while im working 20m is something i didnt know i was missing. the touchscreen takes some getting used to, especially for menu diving, but after a week it feels pretty natural. RF direct sampling is the real story here though. the noise floor on this thing compared…

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August 4Aug 4

so ive been a tech for about 3 years doing mostly 2m/70cm stuff and i finally upgraded to General last month and just bought a used IC-7300 off a guy local to me. thing is in great shape, came with the stock mic and power supply. got it on the bench last night and was able to hear a ton of signals which was honestly kind of surreal after only ever doing VHF. my question is mostly about the panadapter display and how people are actually using it in practice. like i get what it does conceptually but when im sitting there tuning around do most people just watch it and click on signals or do you tune the old fashioned way and ignore it most of the time. also the noise floor o…

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August 3Aug 3

so ive had my TS-590SG for about four years and honestly it was a great radio but i kept seeing everyone and their brother talking about the 7300 and the waterfall display and i finally just ordered one last month. been running it for about three weeks now. first thing — the waterfall is genuinely as useful as people say, i was skeptical because i thought it was just a gimmick but being able to actually see propagation changing in real time and spot signals before you even tune to them is kind of a game changer for me, especially on 40m where things get crowded fast. second thing i wasnt expecting — the audio out of the box is kind of harsh on receive compared to the Kenw…

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July 31Jul 31

so ive been running an IC-706MKIIG for probably 12 years now, its been a great rig honestly, no real complaints, but im starting to feel like im missing out on some of the newer stuff. the noise floor on mine feels like its gotten worse or maybe i just notice it more now that ive cleaned up my antenna situation a bit. running a pretty decent dipole at about 40ft and an LDG tuner so its not the antenna side thats bugging me. been looking at the IC-7300 mostly because everyone seems to love it and the price has come down to where its not insane. also glanced at the TS-890 but thats a whole different budget conversation. my main thing is i do a lot of casual HF work, some di…

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July 28Jul 28

so ive had the 7300 for about three weeks now and figured id write up some thoughts since i spent forever reading threads like this before buying. background: i was running an old FT-450D for like 6 years and it did the job but the panadapter situation was always annoying with the external stuff i had bolted on. first thing — the waterfall on the 7300 is just stupid good for the price point. i know everyone says this but until you actually sit there at 0200 watching signals pop up on 40m you dont really appreciate it. tuning is so much faster now, i can actually see what bands are doing without just spinning the dial hoping. the built in ATU is decent, handles my end-fed …

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July 28Jul 28

so ive had the 7300 for about three weeks now and figured id share some impressions since i spent like two months reading threads like this before buying it so maybe ill save someone some time coming from an old TS-480SAT which honestly served me well for years but the display on it was just getting painful to use especially for quick band changes during a pileup. the 7300 waterfall is everything people say it is, like genuinely useful not just a gimmick, i can actually see whats happening on the band at a glance and decide if its worth sticking around or moving RF direct sampling is interesting — reception definitely feels different, not sure i can quantify it beyond tha…

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July 27Jul 27

so ive had my ts-590sg for going on 6 years now and honestly its been rock solid, no complaints really. but ive been eyeing the ic-7300 for a while and just wondering if anyone has actually made that switch and whether it felt like a meaningful upgrade or just kind of lateral. i mostly do ssb on 40 and 20, some occasional 10m when the band cooperates, and i dabble in ft8 but im not super serious about digital modes. the main thing pulling me toward the icom is the built-in waterfall display because right now im running an sdr dongle on the side just to get that visual which feels kind of janky. but i dunno, the kenwood receiver always felt really clean to me and im not su…

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July 26Jul 26

so ive had my IC-7300 for about 4 years now and honestly its been a great radio, no real complaints, but i keep looking at the IC-7610 and the Flex 6400 and wondering if im missing out on something. the dual watch on the 7610 seems genuinely useful for contesting and i do a fair bit of that but is it worth the price jump. the Flex stuff kind of intimidates me a little, i run a pretty traditional shack — dedicated monitor, logging PC, nothing crazy — and i feel like going full SDR might mean rebuilding everything around the radio instead of just dropping it in. also ran into someone at a hamfest last month who swore by his Kenwood TS-890 and said the roofing filters are in…

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July 26Jul 26

so ive been running an old FT-450D for probably 4 years now and always kinda wondered what i was missing. shack buddy kept telling me to upgrade but i was never really convinced the juice was worth the squeeze, you know? anyway i picked up a used IC-7300 off a guy in the club for a pretty decent price, he was moving up to an IC-7610 so the timing worked out. first thing i noticed honestly was just how much better the waterfall is. i know everyone says that but i didnt really get it until i sat down during a pileup on 17m and could literally see who was transmitting and where they were sitting in the passband. made s&p way more efficient than i was used to. the built in AT…

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July 24Jul 24

so ive been going back and forth on this for like two months now and i keep landing in the same place — paralysis. my current setup is a beat up kenwood ts-570 that i got off a silent key estate sale and honestly it still works fine but the display is starting to act weird and i figure if im gonna spend money on repairs i might as well just go new. the thing is i do a mix of stuff. mostly HF, some 40m and 20m phone, a little JS8Call and FT8 when the bands are dead and im bored, but i also have a 2m/70cm antenna up and it would be nice to not need a separate radio for local stuff. that's basically why the 991A keeps coming back up for me even though i know the HF receiver …

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July 23Jul 23

so ive been going back and forth on this for like two months now and i need to just pick something. currently running a baofeng on 2m/70cm and a crappy little sdr dongle for HF listening, which obviously isnt a real setup. finally have a budget around $900-1000 and im trying to decide between getting a new IC-7300 or hunting down a used FT-991A in decent shape. i know the 7300 has that waterfall display which everyone seems to love and the DSP is supposed to be really good. but the 991A does HF plus VHF and UHF all in one which would let me ditch the baofeng at least for home use. the thing is i mostly want to do HF, some SSB and probably mess around with FT8 once i figur…

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July 17Jul 17

so ive had the IC-7300 for about three years now and honestly its been a great radio, no complaints really. but lately ive been doing more contest work and some DX chasing and i keep running into situations where i feel like 100w just isnt cutting it, especially on 40m when the band is crowded and everyone else seems to be running amps anyway. ive been looking at either adding a linear amp to the 7300 setup or just jumping ship to something like the IC-7610 or maybe the TS-890S. the 7610 appeals to me because of the dual watch and the second receiver for SO2R type stuff even though im not really doing full SO2R yet. the 890 i keep hearing good things about the roofing fil…

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July 16Jul 16

so ive been running the 7300 for about three years now and honestly its been a great radio, no real complaints. but ive been eyeing the 7610 for a while and the dual watch / dual receiver thing keeps calling to me especially during contests when i want to monitor a second band without swapping vfos constantly. the panadapter on the 7300 is already pretty solid so im not upgrading for that. my main operating is ssb and some digital, occasionally cw but im not a hardcore cw guy. i run a hex beam at 35 feet and a 40m dipole in the attic which yeah i know isnt ideal. anyway the question is basically does the second receiver actually change how you operate day to day or is it …

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July 15Jul 15

so ive had the 7300 for about three weeks now and figured id share some stuff for anyone sitting on the fence about it. came from an old FT-450D which honestly served me pretty well for years but i was getting real tired of fussing with the filtering and the waterfall on that thing is basically useless compared to what the icom gives you. first thing i noticed was how much easier it is to find activity on 40m at night, just watching the spectrum and clicking around is kind of addictive honestly. the built in ATU handles my off-center fed dipole reasonably well on most bands, had a bit of grief on 80m but i think thats more my feedline situation than the radio. audio out o…

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July 15Jul 15

so ive had the 7300 for about three weeks now and figured id share some impressions since i spent like two months reading threads before buying and some of them were pretty outdated coming from an old TS-570 which honestly served me well for years but the 7300 is just... a different world. the panadapter alone is worth it if youre doing any kind of band hunting or just trying to figure out whats going on across a chunk of spectrum. i caught a VP8 that i wouldve completely missed on the 570 just because i saw the signal pop up on the scope while i was doing something else the touch screen took some getting used to and i still accidentally tap the wrong thing sometimes but …

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July 14Jul 14

so ive been running an old TS-590SG for about four years and always kind of wondered if the 7300 hype was justified or just icom fanboy stuff. well my 590 developed some weird intermittent TX issue that i never fully tracked down and rather than sink money into diagnosing it i just... bought the 7300. not a totally rational decision but here we are. anyway after a few weeks on it i have to say the waterfall display alone is worth a lot. i know that sounds shallow but being able to actually see whats happening on the band in real time changes how you operate. i was always kind of flying blind before, just spinning the VFO and listening. now i can see a pileup forming befor…

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July 13Jul 13

so ive had my TS-590SG sitting on the desk for going on 6 years now and it still works perfectly fine, no complaints really. but ive been eyeballing the IC-7300 for a while just because everyone seems to love the waterfall display and the DSP on it is supposedly really good. my 590 has decent filtering but honestly i think im just getting bored and looking for an excuse to spend money lol the thing is i mostly do SSB on 40 and 20, occasionally 15 when the band opens up, and some 10m during contests. i dont do digital at all. so im wondering if the 7300 even makes sense for my use case or if im just chasing a shiny new radio. anybody gone from a 590 to the 7300 or vice ver…

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July 12Jul 12

so ive had my IC-718 for probably 8 or 9 years now and it still works fine honestly but ive been eyeballing some of the newer stuff and wondering if its worth the jump. main thing i use it for is general HF work, some casual contesting, bit of digital on 40 and 20. i run it into an LDG autotuner feeding a dipole up about 35 feet so nothing crazy. the thing is i keep going back and forth on whether to get something like the IC-7300 which everyone seems to love, or stretch a bit further and look at the 7610. i know the 7300 is basically the gold standard recommendation at this point but i dunno, feels like id just be getting a slightly shinier version of what i have in term…

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July 12Jul 12