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Amateur Radio: The Ultimate STEM Activity

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External display output on the IC-7610 makes instruction easy.

How time does fly. It seems like just last week I made a post about my Field Day adventures in and around the Atlanta area. I explored the concept of Field Day as Amateur Radio’s open house and spending time with several different groups to learn what makes Field Day special for them. In truth, of course, it’s been a full 12 months and yet another Field Day is in the log. This year, I took Field Day on the road and spent the weekend with a marvelous group of young men and women up in the Boston, Massachusetts area. Read More...

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IC-7300 – The Shack’s Newest Addition

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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. Read More...

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Amateur Radio and Scouting Intertwine at the 2017 Jamboree

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Over the years, I’m sure you have seen one thing about me that is very, very consistent — I feel strongly about getting youth involved in amateur radio. That is a big reason why we support amateur radio activities for Carol Perry’s Dayton Hamvention® Youth Forum and the Boy Scouts of America.

In doing so we provide radio stations through the Scouting Loan Stations for Scout Councils, support Jamboree-on-the-Air (JOTA) and sponsor the National Scout Jamboree as the exclusive amateur radio transceiver supplier. Plus, for clubs with a need for Amateur radios for a special event or for support of a radio merit badge outing, check out the Radio Merit Badge radio loan program. Read More...

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Dayton Hamvention® 2017 — Change for the Better

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They say that change is inevitable, but I was beginning to have my doubts about Hamvention®. I should not have.

The Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA) started the event in 1952 with 600 in attendance, and moved to HARA Arena in 1964, where attendance climbed to near 30 thousand.

Now they have moved to the Greene County Fairgrounds in Xenia, Ohio. What a fantastic venue and what a great job by DARA in getting this huge event up and running.

Hams to Japan – #H2JA

We’re really excited to hold the Hams to Japan Sweepstakes and wanted to incorporate it into the mix at the Hamvention® booth this year.  A kiosk was placed at the from of our booth, allowing visitors to sign up while at Hamvention®. We have had great participation so far and only expect more until our final drawing. The grand prize drawing, a trip for two to  2017 Tokyo Hamfair or an IC-7300, will announce the second week of July. Read More...

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Why Buy the Dynamic New IC-7300?

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In Icom’s 50+ years of providing communication solutions, our amateur radio products have always been on the leading edge of innovation. Our new IC-7300 HF transceiver continues that bold tradition by providing yet another amateur radio first – an RF direct sampling system.

And, it doesn’t stop there:

  • Real-Time Spectrum Scope
  • Audio Scope
  • Large Touch Screen Color TFT LCD
  • Multi-dial Knob for Intuitive Menu Selection
  • Built-in Automatic Antenna Tuner

Introduced at the Tokyo JARL Hamfair 2015, it’s now ready for your ham shack.

IC-7300 Brochure Image

RF Direct Sampling System

We’ve deployed a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) along with a digital signal processor (DSP) to essentially replace a traditional superheterodyne receiving system. In the bargain, we’ve eliminated the physical mixer. Read More...

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Wrap it up: Top Dayton Hamvention® 2016 Amateur Radio Community Highlights

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#IcomEverywhere turned out to be just that — absolutely everywhere. It was a true whirlwind of activities from one end of HARA Arena to the other. And, it also took in Contest University, the DX Dinner, Contest Dinner, and D-Star InfoCon.

Icom Booth

Icom America Amateur Radio tradeshow booth setup, personnel, and crew

The Icom America booth personnel

Each year we plan and focus on putting together a really fun experience for everyone who attends Hamvention®. It’s a massive effort and thanks to everyone on our staff and many, many others that helped out.

13227781_1233539586656388_721549799711453973_oAs part of our #IcomEverywhere campaign, we also showed off our extensive range of land mobile equipment as well as a sprinkling of marine and avionics products to engage with a broad range of radio enthusiasts at the show. Read More...

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#IcomEverywhere — Dayton Hamvention® 2016

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Last year I wrote all about the preparation for the Hamvention® in Welcome to the Big Show – complete with circus theme. I even spoke about trying to limit our activities to just three rings.

Well, this year we’re actually setting up the three rings: our main booth, the D-STAR booth, and new for 2016 our Land Mobile booth, where I’ll be spending some time.

We’re even bringing our own circus animal in Max, the Icom America mascot, star of the Zack and Max comic book adventures.

#IcomEverywhere — IC-7300 Front and Center Read More...

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IC-7300 — A Game Changer

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Many who have seen the preliminary information on the IC-7300 have used terms like “Revolutionary”  and “Game Changer”.  How could a radio in this price category generate the amount of excitement?  A new receiver design – Direct RF Sampling.  But before we go into the differences and benefits of a Direct RF Sampling receiver, lets get a basic understanding of this NEW design.

Direct RF Sampling

With the advances in RF design, a new series of semiconductors are available that digitize segments of RF Spectrum.  While traditional receiver designs utilize Local Oscillators, LO, these Analog to Digital converter, ADC, devices have become the heart of the IC-7300 receiver design.  As you read through this blog, you are taken through a topical review of this receiver, but nothing takes the place of an actual “on air” experience.  So, you will want to head to your favorite Icom dealer to “hear” this science in action! Read More...

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IC-7300: If King Midas was a Ham

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7300-b

We have all heard the stories of King Midas and the “Midas Touch” since we were young.  While we would all love the ability to touch something and turn it into gold, we feel we’ve done just that with the introduction of the IC-7300!

While it may not be financial riches, the IC-7300 allows you to actually “touch” spectrum.  As wild as that may sound, the touch screen gives you control of the 7300 much faster than a click of your mouse.

Had King Midas been a ham operating the IC-7300, we would hear tales in the ham world of the “QSO” touch — that every signal he touched, turned into a QSO! Read More...