so ive been running an old FT-450D for about 4 years now and its been fine, no complaints really but the waterfall on it is pretty garbage compared to what i keep seeing people post from their 7300s. been lurking on this for a while and i think im ready to upgrade but now that im actually about to buy one im starting to wonder if i should just stretch a little more and go for the 7610 instead.

the price jump is significant though, like almost double depending on where you look. my shack isnt anything fancy, just a random wire out the back window into a 9:1 unun, running mostly 40 and 20 meters, occasional 17m when the band cooperates. i dont do contesting or anything serious, mostly ragchews and some slow CW when im not lazy about it. does the 7610 actually justify that price for someone doing what im doing or am i just getting sucked into gear acquisition syndrome again

honestly for what you're describing the 7300 is more than enough radio. the 7610 is great but the main things you're paying for are dual watch, better roofing filters, and some improvements to the receiver that you probably wont notice on a random wire anyway. the SDR waterfall on the 7300 is genuinely good, way better than what you're coming from, and the interface is just nice to use day to day.

i ran one for two years before upgrading and the only reason i moved on was i started doing some SO2R stuff which you clearly arent. save the money and put it toward a better antenna situation down the road, that'll do more for you than the receiver improvements in the 7610 ever would on your current setup.

i went through the exact same thing last year lol. ended up with the 7300 and zero regrets. the waterfall alone made me realize how much i was missing with my old rig, kept finding signals i never would have tuned across manually. the built in tuner handles a 9:1 unun fine in my experience too at least on the bands you mentioned.