so ive had the 7300 for about 3 years now and honestly its still a great radio, no complaints really, but ive been eyeing the IC-7610 and im trying to figure out if the jump is actually worth it for how i operate or if im just convincing myself i need it

most of what i do is casual HF, some contest operating on SSB and a bit of FT8 when the bands are dead. i do have two antennas id occasionally want to use at the same time which is the main thing pulling me toward the 7610 since it has the dual receiver setup. but is that actually useful day to day or is it more of a contest-specific thing

the other part is i built out a pretty decent shack over the last year, got the station wired up nicely with a good ground system and a linear amp, so the rig feels like the one thing that hasnt been upgraded in a while. which i know is totally backwards reasoning lol. anyway has anyone made this jump and do you actually use the dual watch functionality or does it just sit there

made that exact jump about 18 months ago and honestly the dual receive is something i use more than i expected. during contest weekends running S&P on one band while monitoring another for openings is genuinely useful, not just a gimmick. the noise floor on the 7610 also feels a bit cleaner to me but that could be placebo, hard to A/B test when youre swapping rigs not just toggling a setting

that said if youre doing casual HF and FT8 the 7300 is not holding you back at all. the 7610 is a nicer radio but its not a transformative upgrade the way going from like a 100w barefoot to a decent amp is. if the dual RX is genuinely solving a problem you have then go for it, but if youre just looking at the spec sheet and dreaming, the 7300 will keep doing the job fine

GAS is real man. i went through the same thing with my shack last winter. ended up buying a 7610 and dont regret it but i also cant tell you the 7300 was the limiting factor in anything i was doing. the panadapter on the 7610 is wider and smoother which i do appreciate, especially on 40m when its busy. but my honest take is if you have a good amp and a good antenna system thats where the money does more work