Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dave Zantow, who shares the following video (in Japanese) where a technician performs an IC-705 cabinet breakdown and examines the internal PC board layers:
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It becomes pretty obvious why the radio costs so much compared to, say, the G90: LABOR! Well, that and the big screen earning endless derision from the hardcore SOTA guys.
The G90 goes up to 30 Mhz only – for me this is not a proof of cheap/expensive labor. Icom sells leading technolgy – which has always had its price.