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Been looking at upgrading from my trusty IC-718 to something with a waterfall display and better DSP. Narrowed it down to the IC-7300 or the FT-710 Field (which is now under $1000). Both are 100W HF rigs with built-in tuners, but I'm curious about real-world experience from folks running these as base stations. Specifically interested in receiver performance on crowded bands and any reliability issues. The 7300 has been around longer but I've heard mixed things about battery problems and overshoot with amps. The 710 Field is newer but less proven in the field. What's the consensus from actual users? Are either of these worth the step up from basic rigs like the 718?

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Administrator

August 30Aug 30

so ive had my 7300 for about 3 years now and honestly its been a great radio, no complaints really. but ive been eyeing the 7610 for a while and im trying to figure out if its actually worth the price difference or if im just suffering from new radio syndrome. the dual watch thing is what keeps pulling me in because i do a fair bit of contesting and being able to monitor two frequencies at the same time would be huge. also the dual receivers mean you can run SO2R from a single box which would clean up my shack considerably. my current setup is the 7300 into an AL-811H, antenna is a trapped vertical for 80-10 and a 2el yagi on 20 that a buddy helped me put up last spring. …

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Guest

July 21Jul 21

so ive had my 7300 for about three years now and honestly its been a fantastic radio, no real complaints, but i keep looking at the IC-7610 and the Kenwood TS-890S and wondering if im leaving something on the table. mostly do CW and some SSB, occasionally dabble in FT8 when the bands are cooperating. the 7300 handles all of that fine but the dual watch on the 7610 seems really useful for contesting, which ive been getting more into lately. the 890S has that roofing filter setup that people seem to lose their minds over and i get it, when things get crowded on 40m during a contest the 7300 can struggle a bit with close-in interference. not terrible but noticeable. anyway m…

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Guest

July 20Jul 20

so ive been running a beat up old FT-450D for about three years now and its been fine but the waterfall is basically useless and i keep reading about how much better the 7300's SDR front end is for picking stuff out of the noise. found one locally for $850 with the original box and the guy says it has maybe 200 hours on it, no mods. seems like a decent deal but im not sure if thats the going rate right now or if i should try to talk him down a bit. anyway the actual question i have is more about setup stuff. my shack is in a basement room and i've got a dedicated 20 amp circuit but i'm running a cheap power strip right now not an actual power distribution setup. the 450D …

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Guest

July 11Jul 11

so ive had the TS-590SG for about four years now and honestly its been a great radio, no real complaints, but ive been reading a lot about the IC-7300 and more recently the IC-7610 and i keep going back and forth in my head about whether theres actually a meaningful real-world difference or if im just convincing myself i need something newer. my setup right now is the 590 into a LDG tuner, running into a fan dipole up about 35 feet, nothing fancy. i mostly do SSB and some digital, FT8 mostly lately. i dont do contests seriously, maybe a few times a year just to hand out points. the shack is in a fairly RF-quiet suburb but not totally clean, i get some line noise on 40m fr…

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Guest

July 9Jul 9

so ive had my IC-7300 for about 3 years now and honestly its been a great radio, no real complaints, but ive been eyeing the IC-7610 and also looked a bit at the Kenwood TS-890S and im starting to wonder if the jump is actually worth it for what i do which is mostly SSB and some digital on 40 and 20m, occasional 15m when the band cooperates the dual watch on the 7610 is kind of appealing and the roofing filters on the 890 seem like they'd help in a contest pile-up situation but i dunno, maybe im just having shiny object syndrome and the 7300 is doing everything i actually need it to do. my shack is pretty basic — the 7300 into an LDG tuner and a homemade fan dipole up abo…

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Guest

July 5Jul 5

so ive been running an old TS-450S for like 8 years and i kept telling myself i didnt need to upgrade but after borrowing a buddy's 7300 at a field day event last summer i just couldnt go back. finally ordered one in january and its been sitting on my desk for about 3 weeks now. first impression is obviously the screen, like everyone says. the panadapter alone has changed how i operate, i actually find myself just watching the band for a few minutes before i even key up which i never did before. the filtering is stupid good compared to what i was used to, especially crowded 40m conditions on weekday evenings when everyone and their grandmother is on. one thing that did th…

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July 4Jul 4

so ive been running the 7300 for about 3 years now and honestly its been a great radio, no real complaints, but ive been reading a lot about the 7610 and the dual watch thing is starting to sound really useful especially during contests when i want to keep an ear on a second frequency while im working a pileup. plus the roofing filters on the 7610 are supposed to be noticeably better right the thing is the 7300 already sounds pretty good to me and i dont do a ton of SO2R or anything serious enough to really justify the price difference. i picked up the 7300 used for like 850 and the 7610 is still sitting around 1700-1800 used depending on condition. thats a decent chunk o…

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July 2Jul 2

so ive had this thing for about three weeks now and figured id write up some impressions since i spent forever reading threads like this before buying. coming from an old TS-570 which honestly served me well for years but the display was starting to act weird and i wanted something with a built in scope. first thing — the waterfall is genuinely useful, not just a gimmick like i half expected. picked up a few weak stations on 40m that i probably wouldve scrolled past before. the real time spectrum display takes some getting used to in terms of scaling but once you find settings that work for your band conditions its hard to go back. audio out of the box is a bit harsh on S…

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July 2Jul 2

so ive been going back and forth on this for like two months now and i keep landing in the same spot which is basically nowhere. my current setup is a pretty basic shack, got a decent ground mounted vertical outside and a longwire in the attic that i mostly use for 40m at night. right now im running an old Kenwood TS-440 that a friend gave me which honestly still works great but i want something modern with a built in tuner and ideally a waterfall display because i got addicted to using one at a club station. the IC-7300 seems like the obvious choice and pretty much everyone online says just get that but then i keep reading about the 991A covering VHF/UHF too and since i …

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Guest

July 2Jul 2

so ive been running an old TS-570 for probably 8 years now and it still works fine honestly but i kept seeing people rave about the 7300 and finally last month i just bought one. figured id share some thoughts since i spent way too long reading comparisons before pulling the trigger. first thing — the waterfall. i knew it was supposed to be good but actually using it day to day is a different thing. found a few stations on 40m last night just by watching signals pop up that i would have completely missed scanning by ear. thats probably the biggest practical difference for me so far. audio on receive is noticeably better than the kenwood, cleaner somehow, though i suspect …

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Guest

July 1Jul 1

been looking at these two for my first hf radio and cant decide. the icom seems more popular but the yaesu has vhf/uhf built in which might be handy. both are around the same price used. anyone have experience with both? im mostly interested in ssb and maybe some digital modes eventually

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Guest

July 1Jul 1

Just passed General and ready to dive into HF! I've narrowed it down to the IC-7300 or FT-891 as my first rig. The 7300 seems to be the gold standard for beginners at around $1100, but the 891 at $650 is tempting for the budget. My main question is about power supplies - I'm seeing conflicting info on current draw specs. The 7300 shows 22A max but what's the realistic operating current for 100W output? Same question for the 891 at 20.5A max. Also curious about the built-in tuners - how well do they handle random wire antennas or do I need to invest in an external tuner right away? Any other gotchas between these two rigs I should consider?

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Guest

July 1Jul 1

so ive been running an old FT-450D for about 4 years now and honestly its served me fine but the waterfall on it is pretty rough and i keep hearing everyone rave about the 7300. was basically set on buying one this weekend but then my buddy at the club meeting last night goes 'well have you looked at the 7610' and now my brain is spinning again. my actual use case is mostly casual HF, some 40m and 20m ragchewing, occasional contests when i feel like it, nothing serious. i dont do any serious DX chasing or anything. the 7610 feels like overkill for what i do but i dunno maybe future proofing is worth the extra $700 or whatever the difference is right now. also my shack is …

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Guest

July 1Jul 1

so i had been running an old TS-450S for like eight years, which honestly never gave me problems but i wanted to get into digital modes more seriously and the waterfall on the icom just seemed like it would help a lot with finding signals, especially on 40m where things get crowded fast. picked up a used 7300 from a guy locally about three weeks ago and overall yeah its pretty great but there were a couple things that caught me off guard. first the real signal scope is way more addictive than i thought itd be. i literally just sit there watching it sometimes instead of actually operating, which is kind of embarrassing to admit. second thing — and this surprised me — the r…

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Guest

June 29Jun 29

so ive been running an IC-7300 for about three years now and honestly its been great, no complaints really. but i keep seeing the 7610 pop up in conversations and i started wondering if im leaving something on the table. my shack is pretty fixed, not doing portable ops, just sitting at the desk working dx and the occasional contest. i have a decent antenna situation — G5RV up about 35 feet, nothing fancy but it gets the job done on most bands. the dual watch thing on the 7610 is what keeps catching my eye. i do sometimes want to monitor two freqs at once during a pileup situation and the 7300 obviously cant do that. but is that worth like what, an extra $600-700 depending…

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Guest

June 29Jun 29

so ive been going back and forth on this for like two months now and im just gonna ask. i currently run a baofeng on VHF/UHF for local stuff but i want to get into HF seriously and build out a real shack. my budget is around $1000-1100 and i keep landing on either a new IC-7300 or a used FT-991A that a guy in my club is selling for about $750. the 991A is appealing because it covers 2m and 70cm too so id basically have one radio for everything, and the price is obviously lower. but ive heard the 7300 is just... better? like the SDR-based receiver and the touchscreen waterfall is apparently really nice to use. the guy selling the 991A says its in great shape but its a few …

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Guest

June 29Jun 29

so ive had my TS-590SG for going on 7 years now and honestly it still works great, no complaints really, but i keep reading about the IC-7300 and the IC-7610 and the new Icom stuff and wondering if im missing out. the SDR waterfall display stuff looks really useful for contesting and just general DX hunting. my shack is pretty basic — 590 into a LDG tuner, 100w into a fan dipole up about 35 feet, nothing fancy. i work mostly 40 and 20m, some 17m when the band cooperates. i do a handful of contests a year, nothing serious, and just ragchew otherwise. the question is whether the 7300 is actually a meaningful upgrade from the 590 or if im just falling for the shiny new thing…

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Guest

June 29Jun 29

so ive been going back and forth on this for like two months now and i cant make up my mind. currently running an old FT-450D which has been fine but the display is just terrible and i want to upgrade to something with a proper panadapter or at least a decent spectrum display built in. the 7300 seems like the obvious choice because everyone and their dog has one and the spectrum scope is genuinely good from what i can tell on youtube videos. but a few guys at the club keep telling me the 590SG just sounds better on receive, cleaner audio, better roofing filters out of the box. one of them ran both side by side at a hamfest a while back and said the kenwood just felt more …

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Guest

June 28Jun 28

so i've been running an IC-706MKIIG for probably 12 years now and it's served me well but the display was getting weird and i was tired of fiddling with it every time i wanted to do anything on 40m. picked up a used 7300 from a guy at our club's hamfest last month and honestly i dont know why i waited this long. the waterfall alone is worth it for me, i can actually see whats happening on the band instead of just spinning the dial hoping to find something. noise reduction is noticeably better too, at least on 40 and 80 where i spend most of my time. my shack is nothing fancy, just an end fed halfwave into a 9:1 unun, MFJ tuner on the bench, feed the 7300 off a 30A regulat…

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Guest

June 27Jun 27

I'm considering adding an external linear amplifier to my IC-7300 setup but I keep reading about power overshoot problems. Most Icom's have a tx power overshoot problem when feeding an amplifier. Its rarely a problem but its there. Can anyone explain exactly what this means and if there are any practical workarounds? I run 100W on 20M and 40M mostly SSB with occasional FT8. The amp I'm looking at is the AL-811H. Should I be concerned about this overshoot affecting the amp or is it something I can just ignore?

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Guest

June 27Jun 27

so ive been running an old FT-450D for like 6 years and honestly it served me well but the receiver always felt a little mushy on crowded bands, especially 40m during contests when everything gets wall to wall. a buddy of mine kept telling me to just get the icom and i kept putting it off because 1100 bucks is not nothing. anyway picked one up last month from a local ham who was upgrading to a 7610, got it for around 800 which felt fair. first thing i noticed was the waterfall — i know everyone talks about it but until you actually sit there and watch signals pop up in real time you dont really get it. found a few dx stations i would have just tuned past on the 450. the b…

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Guest

June 27Jun 27

so ive been running an old FT-450D for about 4 years and honestly it served me well but the waterfall was always kind of an afterthought on that thing and i got tired of squinting at it. picked up a used IC-7300 a few weeks back from a guy in the club who was upgrading to a 7610 and figured id share some thoughts since i spent like 3 months reading threads like this before buying. first thing — the touchscreen took some getting used to. i kept accidentally changing stuff when i was just trying to rest my hand on the desk near it. had to move my mic stand. small thing but nobody mentioned that anywhere. the real time spectrum scope is genuinely useful though, not just a gi…

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Guest

June 27Jun 27

I'm experiencing the well-documented TX power overshoot issue with my IC-7300 when using it with my Heathkit SB-1000 amplifier. The 7300 produces RF to the amplifier after PTT drop when going from transmit to receive, causing large RF sparks on the relay and potential damage to the amp itself. Has anyone found a solid workaround for this besides avoiding amplifiers entirely? I've read about bandpass filters helping but looking for specific recommendations on interface solutions or timing adjustments that actually work in the field.

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Guest

June 25Jun 25

so i had been running an old TS-570 for years and it did its job but i finally got tired of fighting with the IF filtering and just ordered a 7300 last month. been about 6 weeks with it now and thought id share some thoughts since i was reading these forums obsessively before i bought it the waterfall is honestly better than i expected and worse than the youtube videos make it look, if that makes sense. in a quiet band it looks incredible but once things get noisy on 40m in the evening it turns into this kind of smear and you end up just using your ears anyway. still useful for spotting activity but its not magic the thing that actually surprised me was the audio. i had r…

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Guest

June 24Jun 24