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10 Ways the ICOM 7300 Has Impacted Ham Radio — 5 Years Out

Discussion in 'Amateur Radio News' started by K8QS, Sep 29, 2020.

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  1. K8QS

    K8QS Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    A video review of the impact of the highly successful ICOM 7300 now 5 years after it was introduced at Tokyo Ham Fair 2015. The latest episode of "Ham Radio Perspectives."

     
    M1WML, W1YW, K7TP and 13 others like this.
  2. PY2NEA

    PY2NEA Ham Member QRZ Page

    Let me guess, not having watched your analysis, yet...
    #1 When a commercial antenna is hooked to the rig, all shacks now look like they were cloned.
    #2 A whole generation of radio-amateurs now forget that hobby's magic was not necessarily about watching a screen.
     
    US7IGN, NO4E, N1DUN and 9 others like this.
  3. K8QS

    K8QS Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    Good guesses. Sounds like you also might want to view our video on the history of HF rig design, including classic vs. cloned visual design. Here's the link on that one, in which we do say some things about ICOM design and the 7300.

     
    M1WML, AJ6KZ and PY2NEA like this.
  4. KC2RGW

    KC2RGW Ham Member QRZ Page

    Just getting into AM and learning vintage rigs and their history and it is kind of a shame how similar everything is becoming...though the leap in technology is pretty incredible.
     
    PE1KWE and M1WML like this.
  5. K5EMG

    K5EMG Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    For me the IC-7300 greatest thing is the visual scope. I can see how much activity is on the bands in just one look, and it showed me that really there’s s a lot of activity on the bands and HF is far from being dead.
     
    M1WML, N1VAU, EA2ELS and 2 others like this.
  6. K8QS

    K8QS Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    Yes, imagine yourself as a visual designer. How do you make a rig and a brand distinct without merely tweaking existing designs? We users want rigs to look like rigs, too, not so much as appliances or works of art. Yet some of the classic designers like Hallicrafters and Collins did create some amazingly distinctly and classic looks. Q
     
    PE1KWE, WA4NJY, M1WML and 4 others like this.
  7. K8QS

    K8QS Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    The scope is nice, but of course no longer a very distinctive feature. And the scope is small on the 7300. I use the N1MM logging software to project the scope on a larger screen. Maybe that's my age/vision. Q
     
    M7KWM, M1WML, WA0RDP and 1 other person like this.
  8. K5EMG

    K5EMG Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    You can limit the band edges and it’s more useful, a brief touch on the area in the scope with activity jumps directly into that frequency. For me as a visual person it’s very useful. I don’t have to “waste” time going up and down through the band looking for activity.
     
    M1WML, KK1N, ZL1API and 2 others like this.
  9. GI0AQD

    GI0AQD Ham Member QRZ Page

    Thats half the fun of ham radio looking for stations on the bands, but whatever works for you go for it, if you looking at a scope you may miss that little q r p station way down in the mud, 73s.
     
    KA2K, M1WML, M0VMT and 8 others like this.
  10. K5EMG

    K5EMG Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    I do manually scan bands regularly looking for stations and other “signals”, but a scope is another tool and a good one for seeing band openings.

    Amateur radio is a little science, lots of experience, good tools and not always pay attention to the band opening reports. My best contacts were made in the most crazy conditions.
     
    PY2NEA, K1XJ, M1WML and 6 others like this.
  11. NU4R

    NU4R XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    Thank you!
     
    Last edited: Sep 29, 2020
    M1WML likes this.
  12. K3IK

    K3IK XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    So now we have to depend on a scope to work someone. 64 years of hamming and never used a scope to find a contact. Ask any old timer and you will learn the true magic of ham radio. Put out a CQ on a "dead" band and get answered by a DX station. A frequent occurrence on the HF bands. Lots more folks listening than transmitting. Have also spent time "scanning" a dead band and picked up the only station on the band sending that CQ. It is often a DX station. Sure I would have seen it on a scope, but that's what ears are for, if you are fortunate enough to have them in working order. Lots of ham operators are visually compromised or even blind, wonder how they use the scopes.
    BTW, often hear lots of activity on the bands labelled closed on the pretty propagation charts. Nice colors and fun to look at, but nothing like checking it out for yourself.
    Some of the best auroras I've seen come from VE stations on 75 or 80 or 160, late at night, telling me to go outside and look north, aurora overhead or even to south for them.
    Ham radio is GREAT!
     
    N3UIQ, M1WML, VK6APZ/SK2022 and 5 others like this.
  13. K5EMG

    K5EMG Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    You don't need the scope if you don't want to use it, in the IC-7300 you can hide it completely, it's just another tool to help you with the hobby, like a tuner or other devices (Who needs a tuner with a resonant antenna, or amplifier, or an antenna analyzer? let's go back to sparks!! ;-) ).
     
    M1WML, VK6APZ/SK2022, KK1N and 6 others like this.
  14. K8QS

    K8QS Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    Our pleasure and honor. Q
     
    M1WML likes this.
  15. K8QS

    K8QS Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    Great points. There is skill and art in the hobby that will never be fully transcended by technology. Q
     
    M1WML likes this.

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