As amateur radio operators, we often take for granted our ability to easily reach out to the far corners of the globe. A late evening QSO with Europe, while exhilarating, is by no means uncommon. We’ll regularly trade ‘fish stories’ about that crazy contact that we made on low power with a ramshackle antenna but rarely stop to think about just how strange a notion this would be to someone not familiar with our hobby. Double this effect for anyone not familiar with the principals of RF communication, and HF communication in particular.
Amateur Radio: The Ultimate STEM Activity
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.
A Winning Combination
Ding. The sound rang through the house. I was up in the kitchen, my shift for the day having come and gone, but the small sound from downstairs could have been a gunshot for the immediate effect it had. All conversation stopped and every set of eyes in the room snapped over to the small computer monitor glowing in the corner. The screen showed the combined logs for the weekend and the top line showed highlighted text. The small ding, the source of our excitement, was from one of a set of call bells, like what you might find at the front desk of a hotel, placed at each of the six stations downstairs, poised to be struck each time a new multiplier entered the log.
IC-7300 – The Shack’s Newest Addition
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.
New Challenges / New Rig! IC-9100
In some ways, 1966 seems like a week ago! I vividly recall a sunny Sunday afternoon out on Long Island at a schoolmate’s house, as I prepared myself for what would be my very first QSO. I had not yet assembled a station of my own, but Donny had a pretty nice one, so I was slowly tuning his receiver on the 40 Meter Novice Band. I had a handful of crystals that would establish my transmit frequency, as transmitter VFO’s were not allowed to be used by Novice Class operators.
I had slowly called CQ and before long, I received a response from a fellow in Paducah, KY. I had an instant case of ‘key fright’, and, armed with a Boy Scout Morse Code guide, used it to decipher letters that I was unsure of. It was a very intense few minutes as we traded the needed information for a complete QSO. The memory of that on-air encounter was worth every awkward second, and destined to be high on my list of firsts.
The New Icom Rig In My Shack: IC-7610
When it comes to Amateur Radio, I am an HF “meat and potatoes” guy. When I was first licensed in the mid-sixties CW and “phone”-along with some RTTY, was the “main event” for most.
We each have our favorite modes. Mine has always been CW. I see it as a language fluency–an art form, if you will.
CW is still my personal preference. Using this mode, I enjoy random QSO’s “rag chewing” with like-minded acquaintances and new friends about various topics such as family, geography, weather and the like. I also like chasing DX as well, and will switch to S SB on six meters to increase my grid square count.
Why Buy the Dynamic New IC-7300?
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.
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.
Wrap it up: Top Dayton Hamvention® 2016 Amateur Radio Community Highlights
#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
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.
As 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.
IC-7300 — A Game Changer
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!
IC-7300: If King Midas was a Ham
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!