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Do these radios make ham radio better?
Three new radios were introduced last month at this year’s Japan Amateur Radio Leage (JARL) Ham Fair, including:
- the Icom IC-7760
- the Yaesu FTX-1F
- a new mobile VHF/UHF transceiver from Kenwood
Icom IC-7760
Icom tried to get hams talking about the new IC-7760 by displaying a bunch of prototype board under a plexiglass case at the Dayton Hamvention. It generated some buzz, but in general, most hams here in the U.S. took a wait-and-see attitude.
When it was finally unveiled, many were disappointed, mostly because of the price, I think. DXZone reported that “the initial price in Yen was approximately $6000 or 5400 €. Just a few weeks later, European dealers began publishing the official IC-7760 price at around 6650 €, significantly higher than the original estimate.” None of the U.S. dealers has published a price for the radio yet.
The radio does have some interesting features, including:
- 200 W output
- Separable control head and RF deck
- In-house remote operation through a wired LAN
- Two displays, 7-inch wide and 2.4-inch
The question is whether theses features justify the high price. Members of the IC-7610 mailing list don’t seem to think so. One of them noted, “I think the biggest competition to the 7760 will be the 7610, at nearly half the price and with very similar features, my guess is that few will opt for a 7760 unless they ‘just have to have one….'”
Yaesu FTX-1F
The FTX-1F is Yaesu’s replacement for the very popular FT-817/818. Its features include:
- SSB, CW, AM, FM and C4FM digital modes
- SDR technology and 3DSS (3-Dimensional Spectrum Stream) on a 4.3-inch high-resolution full-color touch display panel
- Two independent receivers for true simultaneous dual-band operation, whether in the same band or in different bands.
- USB ports support CAT operation, audio input/output and TX control
- 9 hours battery life on HF bands, 8 hours on V/UHF bands
Like the IC-7760, it’s not currently available from U.S. dealers, so the pricing isn’t set yet, but the word is that it’s going to cost around $2,000 when it’s finally released sometime in 2025. That’s quite a bit higher than the price of the FT-817/818, but it does have more features, and presumably, better performance.
Like the IC-7760, the question is whether these features justify the higher price. There are lots of interesting comments about this on qrper.com.
Kenwood mobile transceiver
The last announcement from the JARL Ham Fair is a new mobile radio from Kenwood. Details on this radio are sketchier than for the other two, but hamlife.jp reports the following:
- Compatible with D-STAR and APRS.
- Separate controlunit and RF deck.
- Built-in GPS receiver
- USB ports on both the control panel and the radio body.
- Currently developing it for release in 2025.
They also report that, “Price is expected to be higher than the TH-D75.” That puts the price north of $750.
The question that I have with regard to these new radios is are they making ham radio better? This is only a partly-baked idea, but please stick with me on this. I can see where these new radios might make Icom, Yaesu, and Kenwood more money, but I don’t really think that they make ham radio better.
First, how many hams can actually afford a $6,000 radio? And of those, how many will actually buy one? I’d love to see Icom’s marketing study for the IC-7760. Same goes for the Yaesu FTX-1F and the yet-unnamed Kenwood radio.
Second, I teach a lot of ham classes, and work with a lot of new hams, so I have a particular point of view here. That being the case, I’m not so sure that I’d counsel a new ham to buy one of these three radios. These are not radios for people just getting started in the hobby.
I think that what we need are more radios like the HF Signals sBitx. The sBitx is a reasonably-priced radio that offers reasonable performance at a price that’s affordable. And, it’s hackable, too! It’s not the perfect radio, but it’s certainly more accessible.
As I say, this is just a partly-baked idea, so I’d love to hear what you think. What features should a radio have to make the hobby better for all radio amateurs.
