{"id":18642,"date":"2016-05-15T06:56:57","date_gmt":"2016-05-15T10:56:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=18642"},"modified":"2019-04-09T11:48:26","modified_gmt":"2019-04-09T15:48:26","slug":"a-review-of-the-icom-ic-7300-direct-rf-sampling-transceiver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/05\/a-review-of-the-icom-ic-7300-direct-rf-sampling-transceiver\/","title":{"rendered":"A review of the Icom IC-7300 direct RF sampling transceiver"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Icom-IC-7300-Front\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In August 2015 at the Tokyo Hamfair, Icom debuted a new type of transceiver in their product line\u2013\u2013one featuring a direct RF sampling receiver. Essentially, it was an SDR tabletop<\/em> transceiver.<\/p>\n

At about the same time that the IC-7300 started shipping around the world, Icom pulled their venerable IC-7200 off the market. Yet the IC-7200 was established as a well-loved product,\u00a0due to\u00a0its\u00a0highly sensitive receiver, its relatively robust front end, and its quality audio. Moreover, it\u00a0was simple to operate, which made superb\u00a0as a\u00a0Field Day or radio club rig.<\/p>\n

Therefore,\u00a0even though the IC-7300 promised much more versatility than the IC-7200, for its price point it had a tough act to follow.<\/p>\n

So, of course\u2013\u2013even\u00a0more so than with any other radio Icom has introduced in the past few years\u2013\u2013I was eager to get my hands on a\u00a0IC-7300. \u00a0I\u2019m very fortunate that my good friend, Dave Anderson (K4SV) was one of the first purchasers of the IC-7300, and that he didn\u2019t mind (after only having the rig perhaps one week!)\u00a0allowing me to borrow it for a several\u00a0weeks for\u00a0evaluation.<\/p>\n

Note: \u00a0I should state here that since this rig was loaned to me, I evaluated it\u00a0based on the firmware version it shipped with, and made no modifications to it.<\/p>\n

\"Icom-IC-7300-Front\"<\/a>This review primarily focuses on the receiver’s performance, functionality and usability.<\/p>\n

Introducing the Icom IC-7300<\/b><\/p>\n

In recent years, the \u201cbig three\u201d ham radio manufacturers have been using color displays,\u00a0and\u2013\u2013Icom most especially\u2013\u2013touch screens. While I\u2019m no fan of backlit touch screens in mobile applications, I \u00a0think touch screen displays make a lot of sense in a base radio. If carefully designed, a touch screen can save an operator from heavily-buried menus and decrease the number of multi-function buttons on the front panel.<\/p>\n

The challenge, of course, is making a display with intuitive controls, and one that is large enough, and with sufficient\u00a0resolution, to be useful to the operator. In the past, I\u2019ve been disappointed by many displays; the most successful have been incorporated in DX\/Contest-class (i.e., pricier) transceivers, meanwhile, entry-level and mid-priced transceiver displays often seem half-baked. While\u00a0the graphics may be\u00a0crisp, spectrum displays at this price point are often too compressed to be useful, and if not a touch display,\u00a0force the user to pause operation in order to find the correct knob or button to change settings. In such\u00a0cases, I find myself wondering\u00a0why the manufacturer went to the expense of a color display at all\u2013\u2013?<\/p>\n

\"Icom-IC-7300-Display\"<\/a><\/p>\n

But what about the\u00a0C-7300 display? \u00a0I\u2019m thoroughly pleased\u00a0to report\u00a0that Icom did a fantastic<\/i> job of balancing utility and function in design of the IC-7300\u2019s color touch display and front panel. There are \u00a0number of ways you can chose to display and arrange elements on the screen–since I’m an SDR fan, I typically chose a display setting which gave the waterfall the most real estate. Of course, one can chose to give the frequency display priority or a number of other arrangements.<\/p>\n

User interface<\/b><\/p>\n

I can tell that Icom built upon their experience with the IC-7100\u2013\u2013their first entry-level touch screen display transceiver.<\/p>\n

I was able to get the IC-7300 on the air in very<\/i> little time. Within five minutes of turning on the IC-7300<\/em>, I was able\u00a0to:<\/p>\n