AmateurRadio.com

Today, through the post, I got my November 2015 copy of Practical Wireless. Suspiciously I could find no pictures or mention of the ICOM IC7300 transceiver in any advert at all. It is almost as if all the dealers have been told in no uncertain terms to sell the current products and, on pain of death, do not under any circumstances mention the IC7300. I am not saying this as fact, but it is all rather odd. A month ago everyone was full of the news and products were expected to ship by the year end. Perhaps ICOM have had second thoughts or were losing sales of current products?

There were plenty of adverts for the Yaesu FT991, although even the best published prices have since been bettered. No, I am very suspicious about why there is no mention of the IC7300. Just one dealer OK, this I could believe, but all of them tight-lipped???

ICOM what is behind this? Is there a story we are not being told?

The FT817 successor may be announced at Dayton next year. If correct, this is about 3-4 years too late.

The ICOM IC703 is not being replaced by the 10W version of the IC7300 outside of Japan. Personally, I do not understand the major Japanese manufacturers. Surely there is a worldwide demand for a 5-10W SDR based, radio?

It seems the huge world-wide QRP market is not being well addressed by the Japanese. It is their loss.  I think they are all nuts!

Ten-Tec seem to be struggling with their latest Argonaut judging by recent price cuts. See http://www.rkrdesignsllc.com/products/transceivers-receivers/ten-tec-model-539-argonaut-vi-qrp-1-10-watt-transceiver/ .

No, personally I think we are seeing QRPers getting a rough deal of late.

Yaesu FT991

MLS are advertising a time limited offer of the FT991 and a bundled SMPSU at £1149.95. Now there will soon be an ICOM competitor albeit with no 2m/70cm but with 4m in the European version (and arguably a better radio?) at less than £1000 in the form of the IC7300.

No, I confidently predict the FT991 will sell for less than £1000 before the year is ended.  If you are in the market for a 100W radio it is a toss-up between the IC7300 (SDR based) and the FT991. At the moment, the IC7300 looks better value.

Yaesu may announce a (long awaited) FT817 replacement at Dayton next spring but don’t expect to see units in Europe before autumn 2016 or later, is my bet.  The Yen exchange rate has vastly improved (making Japanese goods less expensive to buy) and now the FT991 has a serious rival – result is Yaesu has to drop its price for the FT991 or they lose out. My advise is wait a few months.

At the moment I am looking for a new rig, but I am prepared to wait some time. I have never been keen on running high power and 5-10W would serve me well. I like that the new IC7300 is SDR based, but I like that the FT991 includes 2m and 70cm.

At the moment I think I’ll just wait for the FT817 replacement. I hope this includes 4m, but it sounds like it uses the same IF as the FT991, so I guess 4m is unlikely. Ideally I think the IC7300s (10W version) would be a good bet, especially if this comes out with 4m too.

I dislike fans, so I assume the IC7300S and FT817 replacement will not have these? Lets hope ICOM market the IC7300S as a QRP radio in Europe. 10W pep is a decent power. Certainly enough power for most occasions.

UPDATE 0934z:   It would not surprise me if the FT817 replacement stayed at 5W but they also had a companion booster amplifier, maybe 20-50W. As we will be on the way down in the solar cycle next year (2016) this may be a reasonable compromise. What would they do about the auto ATU? I guess any bolt-on amp would have to have its own. I still think Yaesu seriously misjudged the market for this rig and the timing. There are so many FT817s out there and people have been gagging for a replacement/enhanced version for years. Now Yaesu is playing catch-up rather than leading. As I said yesterday, this new radio will need some seriously good features if it is to sell as well as the FT817 has done. Oh, expect some very good deals on the FT817ND early next year. The dealers will want to clear shelves in readiness of the new one.