I was recently enjoying an afternoon in the shack, and while the HF bands were a bit flat that day, I still had fun looking at pictures of fellow amateurs’ stations as shown on the various ham radio websites. It’s always fun to see how various shacks are configured.
I tend to study the ergonomics of each layout, down to the vintage and models shown. Before long, I came across a picture of a guy’s re-staged novice day station. The receiver shown was far better than my trusty Hallicrafters S38, but it was this fellow’s novice transmitter that caught my eye! It was the mighty Ameco AC-1. This small-framed two-tube powerhouse featured crystal controls (novices could not use VFOs back then), two tubes (6V6 and 6L6) and plug-in coils for 80 or 40 meters–my choice (it did not cover 15). I spent my hard earned $20 on this baby, which may as well have been $2000 to this young op. Within minutes of my delivery, I had my soldering iron hot to the touch, and began building what was my very first kit project. The next day I completed the transmitter, plugged it into the AC outlet, and watched my new (and only) HF transmitter go up in smoke… a lot of very black, acrid, foul smelling smoke! My bedroom was spared the embarrassment and cost of a full-blown, working fire. I cannot recall there being actual flames, but I learned what burning insulated wire smelled like. My youthful and distressingly intrepid ego went up in smoke in that moment as well! The AC1 never fully recovered and my ego took a lot longer to be restored, such as it was for a 15 year old east coast kid.
Back to present day, I soon snapped out of this dastardly recall, focusing on the equipment that sat before me. The IC-9100 opened a whole new world of multimode VHF/ UHF operations. It is a breath of fresh air to my five decades of traditional HF operation. It reminded me of one of the great aspects of our hobby. There are always new interests to discover and venture into; always new and exciting challenges that can satisfy a lifetime of curiosity and achievement. My other ‘main rig’ in the shack, the IC-7610, also brought my competitive HF efforts to a new level. It is physically and functionally beautiful to use and behold!
Something was missing before my Icom-centric station was complete. I needed a nice, compact HF/6M rig–not the size of the venerable IC-703 (my QRP rig of choice), but not nearly as large as the 7610, either. I was also looking for a 100-watt transmitter. It needed to be full-featured, and be a stalwart performer. This new addition, along with the IC-9100, would be a nice extension, should I ever enter the ‘SO2R’ (single operator/two radio) class in the various contests. All this while leaving the IC-9100 focused upon the VHF and UHF bands. With this new three-rig combination, the opportunities and overall ‘fun factor’ seemed endless. This one ham’s station had evolved long and far from the days of plug-in band coils and crystal controls. But that said, I would not have traded those novice days for anything!
So, the decision to finish my shack upgrade with the IC-7300 made sense. Once the rig arrived and was installed at the station, I gazed at this lineup with sheer amazement. Compared to my humble beginnings in 1966, talk about quantum leaps and bounds in technology! And now the Icom trifecta is complete at W9WR.
It had been a lot of fun this late summer and early fall, as I realized my plans for a complete fully capable station coming to fruition. I was running my IC-7610 as the shack’s primary HF radio, my IC-9100 as a secondary HF rig, and a primary V/U multimode/weak signal radio. Both have performed well, even beyond my initial expectations. With the September VHF contest and both sweepstakes weekends behind me, I could tell what these rigs were made of. Icom’s renowned engineering, design excellence, and user-friendly interface are present in both of these RF jewels!
The way my station is configured, both of these rigs have been installed permanently, as opposed to being in the ‘grab and go’ category.
My Icom 703 has provided much joy as a QRP radio as well. But for my needs, it is a niche rig. The 703 will also be available for mobile use as well. Traveling the highway while operating mobile CW is a blast, and now the 703 had that covered. So, the IC7300 as a full-featured HF/6 Meter rig made sense to me–primarily as a mid power, 100-watt radio.
Our Field Day gang operated from my QTH as a 2D category. I had been loaned a 7300 for the event. While the 7610 and the 9100 took care of business for the most part, I spent some time listening on the 7300 while the contest was still going on. It was then and there, that so many of the positive user comments from various internet sites were confirmed. This was indeed a special radio, and the very first of its kind in the industry. With direct conversion and stand alone SDR design as the heart of this beauty.
The Icom 7300 was now poised to complete my goal of a fully complemented and functional shack, covering from 160 meters through 432 MHz, complete with Icom’s legendary top performance and operator-friendly ergonomics.
I quickly got busy with this exciting new radio that is all the buzz throughout the industry and on the air!
When I look at any rig with real evaluation in mind, I hold ‘basic radio performance’ as the platform from which I make my observations. How is the receiver’s audio? Is the front end quiet? How about selectivity and the ability of the Rx to not fold on crowded bands? Is the transmitter keying clean and crisp, with no truncation of the CW characters at the higher speeds that I tend to enjoy? Is the Tx phone audio clean? Does it have the required ‘punch’ necessary to break through a pile up?
Ergonomics also deserve special consideration. This can be very subjective, but to me, the 7300 does not disappoint! The vital and most often used controls are easily accessible. The less used features are in the menus but not hidden there–again, easy to find and adjust.
The 7300’s Rx audio is very pleasing, even on the internal speaker. And the Rx noise floor is uncommonly quiet. I owe this to the SDR design of the 7300. It is the same quality audio as the 7610, which is a pleasure to listen to over extended periods of time during contesting and while waiting out DX pileups.
Rx selectivity is offered via three easily chosen positions, which are assigned from a menu of various bandwidths selected by the user. Those assignments change per mode–a sensible approach!
On the transmit end, the phone operator can assign three audio bandwidths: wide, medium, and narrow enhancement, which are user-tailored to various applications (DX pileup/’conversational’, etc).
The price point of the IC-7300 can be somewhat deceiving. One might think at first blush that this RF masterpiece is surely lacking some features many of us are used to. Not so with the IC-7300! Its full-featured spectrum scope makes spotting band openings and activity a snap! The 7300 also includes both CW and voice built-in memory keyer. The speech compressor is very effective with various microphones, as well, providing that necessary ‘punch’ to pierce through a pileup. And the radio’s built-in auto tuner does a nice job with antennas that are not so resonant.
It didn’t take me long to buy the IC-7300, once I realized that my considerations were met and even exceeded.
For me, the 7300 will be my go-to radio for portable operation, primarily on my back deck. I have a feed line patch panel in my shack that can route to any one of eight different antennas on my deck. About seven months out of the year, it is often comfortable enough to enjoy the nature of the outdoors combined with our great hobby! I also often travel to my ‘adopted family’, the Ushers, who live on a pristine five acres in the heart of the Illinois farm belt. I call it ‘The State Park’. It is low noise, which is great for DXing, and especially low band (160M) activity. I can’t wait to try my new radio there! The 7300 is also a very capable ‘back-up’ radio in any shack. As I already have the 9100 for that task, it will be nice to have the 7300 parked on the 6M calling frequency, freeing up the second receivers on my other radios for other things. I have it positioned on a top shelf at my desk for quick and easy disconnection. This makes it a true grab-and-go top- performer.
As a final note, when I think back to my novice days out on Long Island in 1966, I was only 15. Shoveling a long snowy driveway fetched $2 and a paper route got me $15 per week. Then came the college years, followed by entry-level jobs, and a new and growing family. At that point in my life, were it present day, I could justify the very reasonable price of the full-featured IC-7300. From young hams to older folks on fixed incomes, and perhaps even a well-equipped ham seeking a second rig–the Icom IC-7300 answers that need with a fully capable, top- performing design. This model is selling like hotcakes. Perhaps a local ham or fellow club member has one that you can spend an afternoon or evening in front of. Try it out yourself, and prepare to be hooked!
During the next few weeks, I’ll be hosting a good friend of mine who presently has a nice station, but is running competitive gear from two other manufacturers. He is interested in the IC-7300 as a grab-and-go rig to take to his daughters’ home on the east coast. It is compact, full-featured and a proven top-performer. He is also considering the IC-7610 as a replacement for the primary workhorse transceiver in his shack. He’s been hearing the on-air excitement about these two beauties, and has heard the keying and transmitted audio during his HF contacts over the past few months. He has become impressed with what he’s heard. Soon we’ll meet for lunch, followed by a trip up the hill to my QTH where he can spend some unhurried, quality time evaluating both rigs. He’s is a sharp engineer, with years of HF experience–both DXing and contesting. I’m looking forward to learning his impressions of both rigs, and am pretty confident that he will not be disappointed. Part of the fun of our wonderful hobby is sharing experiences with each other.
What a hobby! And with the 7300, what a great transceiver to enjoy it with!
73
John / W9WR
