FB NEWS Worldwide JULY 2020 issue http://www.fbnews.jp/world/ Hi there! We are the FB NEWS Worldwide editorial staff members. This is a Japan-originated web magazine for all amateur radio operators. The website includes not only technical tips about amateur radio, but also event reports, YL fun posts, travel diaries...and so on. Our information could be useful and enjoyable for your amateur radio activities. Visit our website to read some nice n' fun articles!! We also have a club station JL3ZGL, and most of the members are YLs. We hope to see you on the air! For this month, especially you have to check this article!! IC-705 and LC-192 Review by FB Girls http://www.fbnews.jp/202007/ww01/ 73
Hmmm, I guess I missed the review part. This reads like a child’s story. Not saying it’s bad just not really a review.
The story seems marketed to pre-teens, but there’s some good quality, new photos of the official Icom backpack in this article. Knowing ham radio accessories market, I’m guessing they start the pricing on the backpack at a cheap $199.
All I got out of this was that it fit into the back pack and there was a BNC connector for an antenna.
It comes off as "Look at these air heads walk around and pretend to play radio". They could be very intelligent and talented hams but it does not come off that way. It's kind of demeaning to them. Then again Japanese culture is much different than ours so it's probably just lost in the translation.
Yes, the Japanese culture is very different. Let's rejoice in the fact that the 705 is about to hit our shores soon.
I have a feeling these were just Japanese models for some marketing photo ops. I doubt they even know what the radio was.
Your "feelings" have betrayed you. They are both licensed operators which the article notes at the beginning of the third paragraph along with their respective call signs.
There are hundreds of thousands of licensed hams around the world that are not registered on QRZ.com, so just because it is not listed here does not mean the call sign is not valid. Both Erii and Masaco are licensed, active hams in Japan. When they get on the air there is usually a pile up, as they are well known among Japanese hams.
Two out of three of the call signs are legit and the descriptions of their operation seems realistic. I’m guessing ICom gave or lent them a 705 for review and promotional purposes and it isn’t out for sale yet. There will probably be a notice in QRZ when they are available in Japan.
QRZ.com is a great reference, but it is only complete and comprehensive for US call signs. For most other countries, individual hams have to manually add their call signs to QRZ. Japanese hams have never been comprehensively listed on QRZ or even in the days of the printed Radio Amateur Call Book because .... their database is in Japanese. While Japanese hams' call signs use Latin characters, their names and addresses appear in their own language and writing system. I held a Japanese call sign for a few years - JG1RSL - and it was only on QRZ because I put it there. So, please don't think QRZ is any sort of litmus test for the validity of a call sign from any country other than the US.
But these are the head people in the advertising scheme, would you think they would be registered. Is Icom afraid of the liability that kind of exposure has, including their address and what they are like on here? The Ham radio community is mostly composed of middle aged men and adding a bunch of teenagers to the mix it might be a recipe for disaster. Most of the HAM community people are honest hardworking, but I had too many encounters with creeps that use the anonymity of twoway radio to further their own needs.
I find the Ignore option on this forum to be a wonderful feature. I am definitely not missing anything from a select few. Now, if I can just find that particular button on my 590s...