Anyone have any regrets on buying an IC-9700?

I have the 9700 and 9100 as well and I must say the 9700 is a purpose built radio that is optimized for the bands it has and one wouldn't or shouldn't expect the receiver to be opened up to out of band frequencies. Even with the 9100 I use an FTM-400XDR for general purpose in the shack.

There's no replacement for the 9100, that's why I'm keeping mine. Even with the 9700 and 7610, the 9100 has a spot on my bench.

 

Sadly Kenwood hasn't updated their line in many years, that's why I bought the IC-9100 instead of their offerings at the time. I'm a Kenwood fan and would love to see them make a digital replacement for the V71a, love that radio, it's bulletproof and just works, even got one on my motorcycle.

 

As a fellow motorcyclist I can understand though I have to say, these days (not that I can ride anywhere in the current circumstances) even an intercom can be a distraction when riding.

I used to be Yaesu based but also used Trio/Kenwood on HF. When I returned to amateur radio the new kit simply wasn't that great a build quality. I missed the IC9100 or I may have bought one when I bought Kenwood whilst still holding my 40 year old Yaesu VHF/UHF kit. The FT991a was a horror story and is still riddled with niggles and needing bug fixes that Yaesu can't be bothered to issue so that left just the 9700 which is why I bought it.

 

Funny, regarding your sturdiness comment - My 9100 is built like a rock (and as heavy as one too), the knob feels solid, buttons feel 'tight', etc. All my newer radios (7610, 7300, 9700) do feel much 'whimpier' as far as basic construction goes. They are a lot lighter also (than my 9100). If I compare the buttons and dials on my 7610 (not an inexpensive radio) (not just the tuning knob, but the volume, squelch, RIT, etc. knobs) they 'feel' much less sturdy than the knobs on my 9100. I guess they figure with a touch screen most of the controls are on it. Maybe I just like my 9100 too much. I'm waiting for the 9105 (A large color display update of the 9100 (9105 is made up)) but I almost worry it will not seem as sturdy as my 9100 if/when an update ever comes out.

 

Agree with the distractions on the bike. I have to say, even on 4 wheels my main and only priority is driving so I don't really get distracted.

I have to agree with you, Yaesu isn't known for quality. Many years back I had a lemon FT-8900 and it was a piece of excrement to say it politely. Been back to be fixed for the same problem four times. I swore I'd never buy another Yaesu product due to my bad experience with their repair department, but I ended up buying two FTM-400s when they had their sale. I don't have confidence in putting a Yaesu in a demanding environment like a car or motorcycle. Like I said, Kenwood never let me down, I now have three V71a radios. That said, I wouldn't now expect to have the high build quality in today's throwaway society. Sadly Icom is now the only game in town and the 9700 is fine for what it is, I really have no complaints or regrets about it.

 

Ernest,

I have to say I haven't had hands on an IC-9100 but when I realised I had missed it in my searches for new kit (it doesn't pop up often as discontinued) I was a bit annoyed that I may have missed an opportunity to save space and have everything simplified. There are, now I find, one or two about but quite high priced. I am glad that you find it more solid than the 9700, which is an Ok radio and I am getting used to it by accommodating its foibles. I haven't heard anything, probably because I am trying to manage 'GAS' Gear Acquisition Syndrome, of the IC9105 so if you 'must' then I hope that when it comes out it doesn't disappoint.

Ed\Edward,

I started HF with a FT101ZD Mk3, matching Tuner and for VHF/UHF had FT480r and FT490r sets all very solid kit and the VHF/UHF still works but needs some TLC, that isn't so readily available for these old radios these days. The FT101Zd had to go as it wasn't getting used as work took over play for may years, better for it to be used than dry out.

As I say I am getting to grips with the 9700, but it isn't a case of 'love at first sight' or anything like that. I am still trying to find out if the '.icf' settings files you can save to SD card from early firmware are safe to load in to the radio after updating the firmware. I had to go from v.1.06 to V1.21. Now when you load settings it asks questions about Ref data. From that I presume it is the factory calibration ref data. Icom aren't explicit enough to say what happens to this data when firmware updates if it is lost or overwritten with some generic default or to say whether its safe to load settings you saved from an earlier firmware configuration. I emailed their tech support team but have had no reply, possibly due to the current virus situation so I can't be critical on it as we are, but it would be nice to know.

Kind regards
Phil

 

I'm curious about the drift issue. I'm interested in 2m eme with this rig.
BUT I have a 400watt TE System amp. So I wouldn't be needing to drive it with full output of the radio.
Is the drift that much of an issue on 2m, AND that low of a drive?
It seems to be more associated with the 1296Mhz band.

If it IS that big of an issue, what are some "true" GPS locking options?

Ryan.

 

BG7TBL via a slow boat from China.



RRK

 

Why not include 220mhz it would have been a slam dunk for me?

 

No HDMI is silly I agree!