Icom: Opinions on a ic 7600 v's an ic 7300
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I've got an IC-7600 I've never used an IC-7300, but I've followed the reviews and I know one person who has one.
The 7300 has a touch screen and incorporates the fancy new direct sampling receiver. It has favorable reviews just about everywhere you look and after 191 reviews on eHam.net it currently scores 4.8 out of 5. (The IC-7600 scores 4.7 out of 5 after 149 reviews).
What I don't like about the 7300 is that despite the technology, it comes in a very small simple package. When I first saw one, I thought it was a mobile like the IC-7000. If you look on the back, there's only one antenna connection. The rear of the 7600 has two antenna connections and a jack to connect a receive only antenna. (Google for images of the IC-7300 rear panel and IC-7600 rear panel and you'll see what I mean). The larger 7600 has room for real knobs and buttons, so you don't have to rely as heavily on the on-screen software adjustments.
One nice thing about the multiple antenna connections is that you can program the 7600 to automatically select to the the antenna you want as you switch bands.
So, on 20 through 10 meters, the 7600 connects to my SteppIR beam and on 80 it connects to my 80 meter inverted Vee.. For BCB and NDB listening, it automatically connects to my Welbrook Loop. With the 7300, you need to fiddle with an external antenna switch to use more than one antenna.
The 7600 is getting long in the tooth, (I've had mine 5 years) but it still is a very capable radio. It was going to be my last big purchase, but Icom has announced the IC-7610. It will have all the features of the 7300 in the same body as the 7600. So I don't know.... They may just pry a bit more money out of my pocket
The 7300 has a touch screen and incorporates the fancy new direct sampling receiver. It has favorable reviews just about everywhere you look and after 191 reviews on eHam.net it currently scores 4.8 out of 5. (The IC-7600 scores 4.7 out of 5 after 149 reviews).
What I don't like about the 7300 is that despite the technology, it comes in a very small simple package. When I first saw one, I thought it was a mobile like the IC-7000. If you look on the back, there's only one antenna connection. The rear of the 7600 has two antenna connections and a jack to connect a receive only antenna. (Google for images of the IC-7300 rear panel and IC-7600 rear panel and you'll see what I mean). The larger 7600 has room for real knobs and buttons, so you don't have to rely as heavily on the on-screen software adjustments.
One nice thing about the multiple antenna connections is that you can program the 7600 to automatically select to the the antenna you want as you switch bands.
So, on 20 through 10 meters, the 7600 connects to my SteppIR beam and on 80 it connects to my 80 meter inverted Vee.. For BCB and NDB listening, it automatically connects to my Welbrook Loop. With the 7300, you need to fiddle with an external antenna switch to use more than one antenna.
The 7600 is getting long in the tooth, (I've had mine 5 years) but it still is a very capable radio. It was going to be my last big purchase, but Icom has announced the IC-7610. It will have all the features of the 7300 in the same body as the 7600. So I don't know.... They may just pry a bit more money out of my pocket
Yes I looked up the 7610 I will be interested in hearing about it upon release and I went totally ham porn on the 7700, it depends on the reviews of which one I get ,the main draw on the 7700 is the ether net port with full single computer remote control , the 4 + antenna connections, the 200 watts out of the box, the individual filter control , double receivers and seperate large screen monitor output, seems like a total beast , but that also would bring into question how does it fair against the Kenwood TS 990 , they both are beautiful rigs, but which one performs best , currently my base rigs are mostly ICOM with my portables and mobiles being ICOM, Kenwood and a single Yaesu , the Kenwood 710g a and 74 handheld are great rigs with very visible screens, they replaced my ICOM 92AD barely used it because I can't see it , maybe 10 minutes of QSO time on the 92 AD, I waited a long time for a good cutting edge radio that could be seen , the 74 fits the bill , now I get to get rid of the ICOM, never could see the screen or use it with the back light because of eye problems, unfortunately when I buy a rig I buy everything available for it so later on I'm not scrounging for what I need, and nobody as far as dealers want to give me anything but peanuts for it a rig and accessories that i paid $1800 they want you give me $ 150 trade, I would rather throw it under the bus , I understand they want to make profit but offering nothing for a brand new rig is offensive at best.
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wqtz773
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It may be an older radio, but I still like my IC-7200. Good reliable radio, stable as a rock in concrete and a great CW radio. --... ...-- -.. . .-- .- ---.. .-.. --. -- ...-.-
I've only played with a 7600 but bought a 7300 based on reviews and on air comments. Right now its the best radio on the market for the price, bar none. You would have to spend another $1k or more to get even a slightly better radio.
I have other radios to compare the 7300 to like an Elecraft K3, Tentec Eagle, Tentec Omni VII and some high end Harris rigs. The 7300 can hang with the K3 in many ways except for maybe the last word in receiver performance and it has 10X the features and slightly better performance than my Eagle and much better than my Omni VII for much less $$.
I'm fairly critical of DSP noise reduction being spoiled by the K3 and until the 7300 came along nothing even approached the noise reduction in the K3. I just turn on the K3 DSP and use no RF gain and let it run all day with no loud fatiguing noise to deal with. The DSP in the 7300 is the closest thing I've found to the K3's noise reduction.
The 7300 is an "entry level" radio, so its missing some features you might find on a 7600 or other more expensive radio, but it has more features than many radios made to date. The 7610 sounds very interesting but it certainly won't have an entry level price.
prcguy
I have other radios to compare the 7300 to like an Elecraft K3, Tentec Eagle, Tentec Omni VII and some high end Harris rigs. The 7300 can hang with the K3 in many ways except for maybe the last word in receiver performance and it has 10X the features and slightly better performance than my Eagle and much better than my Omni VII for much less $$.
I'm fairly critical of DSP noise reduction being spoiled by the K3 and until the 7300 came along nothing even approached the noise reduction in the K3. I just turn on the K3 DSP and use no RF gain and let it run all day with no loud fatiguing noise to deal with. The DSP in the 7300 is the closest thing I've found to the K3's noise reduction.
The 7300 is an "entry level" radio, so its missing some features you might find on a 7600 or other more expensive radio, but it has more features than many radios made to date. The 7610 sounds very interesting but it certainly won't have an entry level price.
prcguy
Your 7600 is twice the price of a 7300. Add too many features and the 7300 is no longer an entry level radio. Personally I would much rather have two 7300s over a single 7600.
prcguy
prcguy
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I just think it odd that the 7300 is so well equipped for RTTY and PSK with decoding and all but has no provisions for using a keyboard. Using the built in macros is fine for DX pile up working and 599 TU contacts but they don't accommodate normal ragchewing very well. It is the only thing I think I would miss so they don't need a whole LOT of other features for me, just that one. But then I use RTTY a lot. If you don't it is not an issue.
Would I buy a new 7600 now, since the 7300 is out there? No, but when I bought the 7600 it wasn't out there and there was not even a hint of it. No doubt the 7300 is killing the remaining sales of the 7600. Maybe there will be some steep discounts soon if not already. I haven't looked.
As popular and successful as the 7300 is, it may keep a lot of people from buying the 7610 and steam roll right over it in sales and popularity.
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The 7300 has set a precedence with Icom and if they keep all the good stuff the 7300 has and expand on its performance and features in the 7610, I think it will have its own following and record sales.
I have not explored the optional software for the 7300, but doesn't it allow for complete operation of RTTY and PSK via the computer keyboard?
prcguy
I have not explored the optional software for the 7300, but doesn't it allow for complete operation of RTTY and PSK via the computer keyboard?
prcguy
Well the 7600 is around $2500 , but was is really puzzling is I see a lot of 7800 for sale foe around $5000 they all mention a recent trip to Icom for new roofing filters (that's an expensive proposition for a rig of its size and weight in shipping alone, yet can't find anything about a recall or defect or anything) that makes me suspicious , the thing I don't like about the 7600 is the lack of external display which I think the 7300 suffers from as well, I was hoping that the 7600 would have a significant advantage over like the 7300 but it appears they are almost a dead heat and the 7610 little is known least of all premier date or specs , so I guess it would be the 7700 if i want keyboard external display and program ability from USB or chip , that gets into a lot more money than I wanted to spend,and begins the question of going flex or something, which I also did not want to really do. Why can't they make a simple rig with display and keyboard port as standard instead of playing model bingo looking for the stuff we need, but I guess it all comes down to capitalism and being in a big transition period on radio styling and redefining necessary features .
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I've briefly played with a 7800 and its a beautiful radio to operate, but I feel sorry for those who paid upwards of $11k new and now some are selling in the $4k range. When it first came out the specs were pretty good but its been long surpassed in critical performance by some fairly inexpensive radios.
About the time the 7800 came out there were some newer and better ideas that were implemented by Elecraft and others that pushed the bar way past the 7800 in contest type specs.
prcguy
About the time the 7800 came out there were some newer and better ideas that were implemented by Elecraft and others that pushed the bar way past the 7800 in contest type specs.
prcguy
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With a computer yes I believe it does have it's own built in soundcard for AFSK. But it is also nice to just use a rig and keyboard. I go either way depending on what I am trying to do. I use soundcard RTTY for contesting on RTTY with MixW but use just the 7600 and maybe the keyboard for DX pile ups or rag chewing on RTTY. PSK doesn't interest me.
Using the rigs own FSK I can utilize the better filtering the rig has to offer.
The Icom RS-BA1 software is the solution for that. It's a program that runs on your computer and interfaces with the radio, either IC-7300 or 7600. I've heard good things about it.
Don't forget that the IC-7600 has two antenna jacks and the keyboard USB port that the IC-7300 lacks. I suspect that the IC-7610 will have those features.
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