I'm thinking about selling several radios that I don't use much anymore.  Yaesu FT-991 was my first choice to replace the KX3 but one of the reviews popped up talking about operating remote with a new IC-7300. Hmmmm.... It appears that Icom sells $95 software package that allows a relatively simple remote control of the radio through the Internet. This really got me interested.
Any of you guys have a 7300? Do you like it?  Is the receiver noisy, like in Elecrafts? According to some Youtube reviews it's not as noisy but I learned not to trust reviews 100%.
The radio will be used mostly when camping so I can free up my FT-857 for VHF/UHF. I can no longer do much hiking and size / weight is not critical, as long as it fits in the trunk and weighs less than 15 lbs.  Having a band scope is nice and I like the simple controls, unlike many other Icoms, thanks to the touch screen interface.

Absolutely love mine - Best radio I've ever owned.

Just about the only thing I'd like to see changed is an option for a built-in switching AC power supply, like the FT-897 used to have. There's quite a bit of empty space inside, so it would haven't been all that hard for Icom to design one in. Bluetooth would have been nice, too.

The user interface is almost perfect - It's not quite as handy has having a dedicated knob or switch for every single function the radio has, but it's pretty close.

For the price, I really don't think you can beat it.

Is the receiver noisy? What have you compared it to?

Ac PS would be nice but it would raise the price. They consider it as an entry level radio. PS will make it heavier too. I bet he new IC-7610 will have a PS included, but who knows. They have a tight competition. I bet IC-7300 really hurt the Elecraft's SDR market. The Icom looks so much better. Unfortunately, Elecraft is still stuck in 1992 with their MFJ-ish enclosure design. You'd think they have sold enough radios to invest into building more modern looking radios.

The receiver is quiet as my KX3's - "Noisy" isn't a trait that I'd assign to either of them.

The AC power supply could be an extra-cost option (just like it was on the FT-897), so it wouldn't add any cost to the radio itself.

As for the noise issue, many of us power our radios with switchers sitting right next to them anyway. SMPS design has progressed to the point where noise isn't much of an issue nowadays (assuming proper design techniques are used). AFAIK, it was never an issue with the FT-897's power supply, either.

Most decent switch-mode PS have filters and generate no noticeable RF noise. I was referring to the internal noise in the receiver.

Have you tried using the remote control software that Icom designed for this radio? This is one of the main reasons I'm considering this radio over the Yaesu. Icom also sells a remote VFO knob. This feature alone is worth the purchase. I can't stand SDR computer based radios that have no VFO knob.

Of all of the knobified radios on the market, the 7300 is the flat out best performing radio with two exceptions:

1. Non-adjustable TX passband.
2. Lacking features for contesting (multiple subreceivers, etc.)

You can't beat it's value. The direct sampling recevier has instantly put it in the rarified top part of the Sherwood rankings.

When the 7610 comes out it'll still have the TX passband restrictions because that is an Icom philosophy. But I bet all the contesting features are there (if you care about that sort of thing).

The remote software is a bit clunky, but it works and is reliable. You'll need a mini-PC to plop on top of the radio as a server.

And you can buy handles for it

It is now my hands down, mic drop, no brainer recommendation as any ham's first radio. Yes, it's twice the price of a 718 or whatever. But any ham that starts with this radio will stick with the hobby and have a lot more fun.

Pretty sure Brundoggie has one, and a KX3, too.  




Don's article on the Noisy K3 might help.  He does much, if not most of the repair work on many of the early Elecraft products (K1, K2, etc), on a contract basis for Elecraft.

The 7300 was my first HF radio so I did not have a lot of comparison at the time.  Since then, I have used other HF rigs and come to appreciate the 7300 feature set.

Mine is used strictly portable since I am an apartment dweller.  One of the criteria was current draw at idle and it beats both the 897 and 991, especially the 991 which was my second choice.  Less solar panels to keep the batteries charged when operating truly field.

Speaking of field, I think it is a GREAT field / expedition radio.  You get features from radios twice the price in a compact unit that's easy on batteries.

The first time I fired it up and got on HF was during the last ARRL Sweepstakes.  I started listening to all the traffic and decided, what the heck, I'll join in.  Due to the number of stations packed in, I quickly had to learn how to use the filtering on the radio and it didn't take long even without looking at the manual too often.  I made lots of contacts that weekend with just the 7300 and a tripod mounted 13' vertical.  I have also made lots of NPOTA QSOs with guys running QRP and a wire so I know the receiver is good.

Now that I have had the opportunity to use other radios on my antenna I would say the receiver in the 7300 is very good.  I hear stations that I can't on a 450 or 718 and setting up filtering on the 7300 is a lot more intuitive.  I like the fact that I can store radio setups on the SD card then recall them quickly.  I have ones for phone and digital that I switch back and forth.

On digital it is easy to connect to the laptop.  I have only done JT65 and JT9 so far but it was pretty much plug and play.  Had to research the proper radio setups online but since I can store the setups, going back and forth is a snap.

The only thing I think would make this a better radio wound be to build in 2m/440 like the 991/991A.  Then it would be the perfect field radio for me.

I'm planning on installing an AV-680 antenna on the roof of our office building so I'm also starting to look at the remote control options so I can run HF from home.

Keep in mind that if you are looking at the 991/991A, the spectrum display on the 991 is NOT real time.  It is on the 991A.

Thanks.
TX bandpass is not an issue for me. I already have two, good contesting rigs. I also take Sherwood's tests with a large "grain of salt".

I could not sleep last night and went ahead and took a leap of faith and placed an order for the radio. My dad needs a spare radio. I'll give it to him if I don't like it.

The order was placed with Gigaparts. They offer a lifetime warranty for an additional $9.95. I have not received  conformation and called them a few minutes ago. It turns out that they take their time with shipping. The shipping was scheduled for the middle of next week. Suckers. They want me to pay premium for shipping if I want it shipped the same day. They also put me on hold for 15 minutes when I called.
I have bought all of my other rigs from HRO and they always shipped everything promptly, communicated well and they ALWAYS had the best prices with free shipping. Most of the time I had the box on my door steps within 2 days.
O well, this is the first and last time I order anything from Gigaparts.

Being on hold 15 minutes would have made me cancel the order.

Q:  How long it takes to collect on the lifetime warranty.  

A:  A lifetime.

No kidding.  I wonder if they are planning on going bankrupt and are simply trying to collect as much "gravy" as they can before going down.

A couple day wait and a ten buck lifetime warranty sounds like a good deal to me.  I bought a 991 from Gigaparts last year when they offered a free three year warranty.  t took a few extra days compared to HRO but it was worth it to get a couple extra years of warranty coverage.

That sounds almost like the start of an Ambien Walrus adventure.  

The 7300 is supposed to be an excellent CW performer. The only downside I saw was not having separate jacks for the paddles and straight key/bug.

I've had pretty good luck with gigaparts both in the store and when ordering online.

I'll try to do  review once I get it.
I like having a CW jack on the front and the back of the radio, like on my primary FT3000 rig. I leave my paddle plugged in the back and my straight key plugged in the front jack. The ft3000 radio also has an IF output, RX antenna output and two antenna jacks in the back, plus a lot of great features found on high end radios. It's not en entry level rig like the 7300 either. The 7300 will do for a field rig as long as the radio performs like I think it should.

Thanks y'all for your replies. I probably should not have spent the money but I just sold a bunch of stuff and the

This is going to be interesting. You have a lot of great radios to compare to. Throwing caution to the wind, I'm going to bet that, given that you use the same speakers/headphones on each, and leaving aside contesting duties, the 7300 will become your favorite radio and that there is a 7610 in your future.

It is threads like these that make me want to repeatedly bounce my head off of something for buying the 7100 and not waiting for the 7300.

I have one but it is my first and only HF radio, so I have nothing to compare it to. To be honest I haven't opened up the manual except for once to look something up. I also have the remote control software, you do need a server it is not built in, but I have not tried that either.

It seems to be a fairly big radio for mobile or portable.

I have been making contacts as far away as Moscow and South Africa with a homebrew inverted V at 44 feet on 20m with it from the North East. I get great signal reports and great audio reports. I have been told the audio out of the box is outstanding.

But like I said, I am a newbie and this is the only radio I have.  The built in sound card for digital modes is nice. All you need is a USB cable and a computer.

I entered the WPX contest a couple of months ago on all bands, I used 15/20/40/80 and having never done it before and by myself placed in the top third of the country and world by raw score for all band solo low power, the results are not out yet, and I used the inverted V wire antenna. It seems like it is fairly sensitive in receive but I have nothing to compare it to.

It does seem like adjacent frequency rejection is annoying and I have played with the filters and sometimes I can take care of it, but I am not sure I am doing it right.

I look forward to your review..

I like it... I like it a lot.


I thought about upgrading to the IC-7610 but honestly, I have no justification in order to do so.  I'm far too casual to get my money's worth out of the damn thing.


Honestly, this rig should serve me well into the future.  I have been buying a new and different rig about once a year in the past, just for the sake of doing something different - no desire to get rid of this one.

The only inside station changes I can really see for the time being is to swap my tube amp for a solid state, and I'll be set for a good while, until I finally build my garage/workshop/ham shack... then I can have a whole stack of rigs to play with just for the hell of it.

I think you'll like it.

I love mine.

I did a side-by-side comparison to the 590SG a while back on here, but dropbox hosed the pics since then.  I can send you links to the pics if you want them.

You posted in that thread though, so I guess you read it.

I bought a cheap phone screen protector (plastic, not glass) and cut it to make a screen protector for the touch screen.  I would do that for sure if it was my field rig.

I have one but it is not on the bench anymore.   If you are into cw and want an if out for a panadapter or cwskimmer your out of luck.   Other than that it's a great rig.  Will probably sell the 7300 as i have tasted the sdr koolaid and its good.  

Prosise

I already have a nice, high performance base rig that has all the features I need, including RF OUT (used with a SDRPlay) and 9 Mhz IF OUT.I also have a Yaesu FT-1000MP-MK-V that despite the age performs very well and has a second receiver for DX ops that involve operating split and being able to listen to 2 receivers simultaneously. I'll never sell that rig.
The 7300 will be primarily used as a semi-portable rig and for remote operation (hopefully).

I called Gigaparts again on Monday and b*tched about their shipping. The offered to have it shipped "2-day air" UPS for an additional $6.
The box arrived today.
This hobby is a freaking disease.

Was there anything in it?

I'll find out in about an hour.

The box was full of radios! Well.......Actually only one radio.
Got it temporary installed in the shack. So far I made one contact with a guy in Arizona, running barefoot 100 Watts into my 3 element Yagi. The guy gave me a 57-59 report and said that my audio was very good. I have not changed any audio settings in the radio yet.
So far I like it. The radio looks great with a quality you would expect from the "Big Three". I like the intuitive touch screen. Great improvement over the other older Icom rigs I've owned and used. I have not done any side by side tests with my primary rig yet but I can tell that the 7300 is noticeably noisier than my FTDX3000. It's not as noisy as my Elecraft though.
DSP noise reduction works great, much better than I expected and much better than in the Icom 756Pro3 I've owned. Control buttons and the VFo knob are well positioned and easy to operate. I love the "fuzzy logic" in the VFO knob where if I spin it faster, it changes frequency faster too. My FT3000 does not have that feature and I have to use the FAST button often.
I think this radio will be a keeper. It's relatively compact for field ops.
I also purchased Icom RS-BA1 remote control software with the radio. Hopefully it works without major issues. It will be used with a year old Acer Win10 laptop as a server.

Thanks y'all for your replies.

73.


Dumbphone picture:

Oh, yeah - It also needs backlit controls, and the MULTI knob needs to be usable for quickly spinning through memorized channels.

Why would you use memory channels on an HF rig? I could never understand why they include memory functions unless it's a VHF/UHF memory channels for repeaters.

Yea, back-lit buttons, weighted VFO knob and additional buttons for split operation (like in a Yeasu) would be nice but it's an entry class radio. IMHO, this radio sure beats a K3.

Congrats!  

It sounds like a nice radio.

Turn on IP+ in the 7300 and leave it on. This turns on some ADC features (random and dither) that dramatically increase the IP3 of the receiver. Icom should have made that the default setting. After that it should be "quieter" than any other rig you have. You have to judge that by dynamic range, not by S-meter, although the 7300's S-meter is intentionally engineered to cheat and appear quieter below S8 just like all other Big Three S-meters.

I program the channels for 'starting points' for each mode and band.

So if I am working 40m SSB and suddenly want to work 20m digital, I just hit the up mem button a few times and I am in the right mode and on the right frequency.

Go look at the band edges feature also, really nice to be able to switch to 40m CW mode and then press that option to see only the CW portion of the band on the scope.

Ham nets, SWLing, AM broadcast listening. I have almost a dozen clear channel AM BCB stations in memory alone.

Being able to assign alpha tags to each memory channel is also handy - No need to remember what net or station is on what frequency.

I did turn IP+ on. This is one of the first things I have done. I don't know why they leave it off by default. Yeasu also leaves IPO turned off on all bands by default for some reason.
I later hooked up both radios through an antenna switch to listen to weak signals. FT3000 does have a much "quieter" receiver and no I don't judge by an S-meter. Setting noise reduction on the 7300 to a setting of 4 brought the noise level to about the same level (noise reduction disabled on the 3000) Both S-meters were at zero on 40 meters, same on 20 meters (no legit signals or very weak signal on a frequency). 2 element Yagi @ 75 feet above ground, was used on 40 meters and 3 element Yagi  was used on 20 meters (same height). I only managed to work one SSB and several CW DX station on 20 meters because it was very late and the band was mostly closed. 40 meters was booming, with lots of DX.
Obviously 80 meters was full of terrible static that both radios struggled with. Both radios did well trying to copy a weak signal in close proximity to a strong signal. The FTDX3000 had less "trash" left over from the strong signal and was easier on the ears though. I'm not surprised. It's a tough contesting rig.

I have noticed a weird thing in 7300. Every minute (or close to it) I can see a strong signal that "sweeps" over the entire band. It only causes me to hear a quick carrier on a frequency I'm listening on but I can see it on the band scope. This happened on all 3 bands I was listening on. The FT3000 did not have it which causes me to believe it's generated internally in the IC-7300. It's really not a big deal but it's weird. I'm not familiar with SDR receivers enough to make a guess of what could cause it.

Overall I'm very happy with the 7300. Icom did a great job designing this rig. It's a lot more intuitive than many other Icoms I've owned. It's not perfect but none of the radios are.
The radio has everything I wanted in a relatively small radio that I can take with me when we go camping. This will free up my FT-857d for monitoring both FM and SSB frequencies on VHF/UHF. IC-7300 is too bulky and too heavy for backpacking though. Unfortunately my backpacking days are over.

Next step will be to make the remote control software to work. I also need to figure out how to control the HAM-IV antenna rotator, a relay based home made antenna switch and several power outlets. Perhaps an inexpensive PLC and a C-More 4 inch Ethernet IP touch screen HMI panel from AutomationDirect will do the job? Will see.

Got the remote control software (ICOM RS-BA1) working. It's pretty slick. This feature alone was the main reason I bought the radio and it was worth it.

Next step for me will be to test a remote control application from another location. If anyone wants to try accessing my radio remotely, let me know. You'll enjoy the 40m Yagi and a kilowatt.


So far, after a week of use, I think the radio is worth the money. It's receiver is almost as good as the FTDX300 and the touch screen interface is very intuitive.  I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone who is looking for a simple to use radio with great features and decent performance. I'm usually very picky about radios.


Here is a snapshot of the remote screen:

I use the memory for 6m repeaters (easy to store and recall the splits and PL tones) and the 60m channels.  I will also store pileups in the memories so I can check back every once in a while and hopefully break through.



I thought that was people doing some kind of wide band tuning - like starting at the bottom of the band and either tuning while VFOing to the top or doing a SWR sweep over the entire band.  I see it quite often but it's not a regular thing.  I saw someone doing it a couple of weeks ago back and forth - definitely human controlled back and forth with some randomness.


You mentioned the fuzzy logic VFO.  I use the point and tune on the touch screen to quickly jump around the band.  Tap, Tap, and fine tune.  I can zoom in under two seconds.  
Also remember that you can save entire radio setups on the SD card.  Perfect for switching between digital and phone modes.

I learn something new on mine every time I use it.  There's a lot of "hidden" features accessed by tap and hold.

I like the record feature.  Makes it easy to compile a best of 7200 collection!  I've also captured some great examples of creative jamming.  So many things the radio does and I'm sure they will be adding more.  I expect a new firmware around the 7610 release date as they add a few features from that radio into the 7300.

You could buy a mini PC, plop it on top of the rig, and use it as a dedicated server for the radio.

If you don't have a VPN capable router, now's the time to get one. It makes remoting in simple and safe.

You can hear something like that on your car radio when you are driving around an airport, and the one of the controller radars sweeps through your location.  Since I spent my entire adult life around airports, I've often wondered how much RF I've been zapped with.

I spent a few hours just dialing around the spectrum a while back in the non-amateur areas and listening to the various signals and looking up what they may be.  There are some funky over-the-horizon radars and such that make some cool looking patterns on the spectrum scope.

I didn't know the remote software had a spectrum scope built in... guess it's time to sell the 7200 and get a 7300.

I did not even know there were VPN routers available although I do understand the basic VPN concepts since I've used it extensively at work when one of the factories was down and they needed help with PLC process controlls.  Unfortunately my IT knowledge is very limited although I know enough to be dangerous. One thing I learned is to never let IT professionals make control engineering decisions without consulting with me first. LOL.

If you don't mind, could you suggest a VPN capable router that is not PITA to setup and use?
I have never messed with mini PCs either. I currently use a cheap Win10 Acer laptop in the shack. This was my 20th year anniversary gift from work. It is a dedicated ham radio laptop. It took me a long time to make it work with a long range WI-FI adapter because my shack is about 100 yards from the house and Internet is only available at the house.

The bandscope does work but I had to set baud rate to the highest setting. The scope window can't be resized though.
7300 has a far superior receiver than a 7200. It will be like "day and night" when you compare both rigs. DSP on 7200 "rings" badly at narrow CW bandwidth setting. On 7300 you can dig out individual CW signals from a large pile-up without affecting signal readability and clarity. If you think 7200 is good, wait till you try using a 7300.

This was my first thought too. I used to fly single engine planes. VFR only and sometimes IFR (I Follow Roads). LOL.

Navigation radars are not that powerful. I'd be more worried about Gamma radiation you are subjected to at high flight altitudes. BTW, have you ever seen UFOs? I did once, about 30 miles NW of Phoenix AZ.

Ooh, that's a tough one! If you are not IT savvy, setting one up could be daunting. Using one is easy, but setting one up...hmmmm.

Because of the current trend towards using a VPN to access the internet, and thereby hiding all of your traffic from "the man", much of what you will find on the internet is associated with setting up this type of VPN connection. That is not what you want. What you want is the ability to use the built-in Windows (or Android or iOS) VPN client capability to make a secure connection to your home from anywhere on the planet, which, once made, will have your PC/tablet/phone looking and acting as if you were sitting on the couch at home. All VPN routers can do both, but finding good instructions for what is generally called "client access" can be tough. You will also need to sign up for dynamic DNS services (yes, I know I probably just spoke Greek to you, sorry).

The other thing you will find a lot of on the internet is how you can use your home PC/Raspberry Pi/drink mixer/etc. to set up a VPN. That's a dumb way to do it. Buy a VPN capable router. It will be easier and no more expensive.

If you seriously want to go down this road and learn how to do it, I'd suggest you take this discussion over to the "urban commandos" arfcom subforum.

FWIW, this is a good inexpensive VPN router:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GK6402W?tag=vglnk-c102-20

You have to use a separate Wi-Fi access point on the home side of it. You can usually turn any normal wireless router into a plain old Wi-Fi access point. <Sigh> Sorry for all the geek speak. This IT stuff can be a steep learning curve and may not be your cup of tea. Not the right forum for it...

Thanks for your advice.
Well, it's not Greek. I know more than I let people know about it. Of course I know what dynamic DNS is although I have never setup a VPN router before. I just don't like to complicate things in the shack. We'll see how this works with the current setup.

If he can use a HAM radio, I'm sure he can set up a VPN with a little help

I was calling CQ on 40 meters this night on 40 meters. Propagation was not the best but I managed to work about a dozen of European stations while only getting 57-58 reports. Propagation got real bad at the end and I had a hard time copying anything although many stations were calling. I had the 7300 and FT3000 connected to the an antenna switch. It was a lot easier to copy weak signals on the 3000 simply because it has less RX noise. Both radios had DSP noise reduction turned on and IPO and IP+ enabled. The FTDX-3000 will definitely remain my primary station. I still love the IC-7300 though.

There are aftermarket "tactical handles" available for the 7300 ($90). This will be the next purchase.  I also want to get a Pelican 1450 case for it. Is there anything else the radio needs to make it more tactical?
The handles alone should add at least two S-units on the receiving end.

I was told by my son, don't know how he knows, that the sweep we see on the scope is a military radar.

Anyway, I have taken my Radiation Monitor on trips with me and in CONUS, gamma radiation exposure is 3.5-5.0  uSv/hr.

The further south you go it drops to 3.5 and the further north you go it goes to 4.0 with spikes at 5.0 every so many seconds depending on solar activity I think.  While that is not a lot, it does accumulate to a lot if you fly a lot like I do. Going across the pole or the northern atlantic routes to the EU it will be much higher because you are higher in altitude and closer to the pole, but I don't know what the numbers are.

Take the top and bottom covers off and paint them OD green. That should make a few heads explode