When/is Yaesu going to come out with their answer to the Icom 7300?

The Icom 7300 is probably the best selling HF transceiver for last several years...

Is Yaesu ever going to offer an SDR rig similar in price range i.e. 1000 dollars or less given that new icoms now sell for around 900 dollars?

Are any manufacturers paying attention to what the 7300 has done and the direction ham radio transceivers are going? namely: people will be expecting a good SDR transceiver that doesn't cost a down payment on a house

 

we will never see a new rig without a display like the 7300 and it is a terrific display. yaesu could whip the world if they did as good a display in the 991a,at 1000 bucks.

 

Probably.

Yes.

Yes we will.

 

I just hope the NEXT HF rig in production has a MODE switch on the front panel, and a full time CARRIER POWER adjustment knob... you know, an outgoing volume control ?

 

I was thinking the same about Kenwood.

 

I just picked up a new 7300 from R and L and I love it! They took cues from Yaesu and made the menu keys also the adjustment keys. Short press, it engages or disengages, long press, it goes into the sub menu for adjustment.
The display is great, the audio RX and TX is outstanding for a sub 1k priced rig. The touch display is fantastic and very intuitive to use.
I don’t think anyone can come close to this radio, but I bet ICom can top it by offering the IC-7300 Mark IIG!!

Mind you, I have tons of HF stuff and was never much of an ICom fan back in the day, but this little guy (the 7300) is fun to use.

I also have some older analog Icoms I now cherish as I found out how good they are on RX.

 

When I bought the 7300 I retired my 756 Pro III. When I bought an old Flex 5000 I retired my 7300. I still have the 7300 and still like it but it’s now a back up.

 

had to fumble to adjust power out on my 450d, the 7300 is a knob away. very ez...

 

Based on the FT3DR, there is no sign of Yaesu giving up on their archaic menu system.

The need a new a huge makeover in order to innovate.

Sure there WAS value in similar menu structure, but now it's looks like the avacado green kitchen my Mom had in the '70s.

 

Why do you think they have to answer the same question in the same way? (how to sell more entry level radios to the biggest market segment of buyers - and play "up" to mid-range buyers) Yaesu is competing where Icom is not, in all mode, all-in-one HF/VHF/UHF/Digital radios, with the FT-991A. Which is finally doing quite well after an early FT-991 internal grounding flaw was corrected.

Not as popular yet as the IC-7300, but THAT boat has sailed. Not as much gold to be mined there anymore - it's a tough legacy to compete with, in the inexpensive, intuitive and reasonably performing entry level radio market. They need a differentiator. Today, it's the FT-991. Tomorrow... well... ask marketing. (or Dilbert!)

Regardless, as DSP (software/FPGA firmware defined) radios become the norm, and as suppliers become smarter, they WILL take advantage of simplified DSP radios to bring down complexity and unit cost, as Flex and Icom have done (and with Icom, only with the IC-7300). At that point, price will be set by demand (as with Flex), NOT unit cost or development amortization. Welcome to capitalism and the "laws of supply and demand"

The IC-7300 is NOT a radio with stellar performance. It is a compromise radio that makes the right compromises and leverages DSP to do so. But its main features are golden when taken as a package: 1. Good (but NOT stellar) performance, 2. Intuitive interfaces and 3. A great price point. It's the best value entry level radio to come along in years - so much so that it "plays up" into use by hams who normally buy mid-range or higher radios, though in the latter case its often a 2nd or 3rd radio.

Brian - K6BRN