ICOM IC-7610
In August, Icom Japan announced during the Tokyo HamFair the IC-7610 HF transceiver, a new mid class amateur radio product.
Successor of the Icom IC 7600, it presents some interesting features like dual watch SDR Receiver, Touch interface and real time FFT.
Icom declared the new radio, hosted in a transparent case, prototype in the R&D phase and the final release date, till today is unknown. As expected, no information on the IC-7610 price range was given.
A good Marketing Choice ?
Practically Icom just announced the intention of a new product, like to say “we are coming” and “works are in progress”.
Ok this can make sense, but, this is not a completely new product. The new transceiver infact is merely a new version of the IC 7600 with the new IC-7300 features in.
This make me a little bit disappointed, since I will never buy an end-of-life IC 7600 today. Although I’m not a marketing expert, the announcement will not reveal to be a good business choice.
Usually, new product announcements includes the expected release dates, that are usually close to the presentation event.
In example in these days, Apple announced the new iPhone 7, that will be available the shops starting next week !
In conclusion, what’s the sense to announce a product in August, that will be available in the store maybe next year in September ?
Who will spend today 3300 euros for an Icom IC-7600 today ?
The real news is that, Icom is clearly working in the direction to deploy SDR technology in all their products.
Probably they had a few bullets to be used for the Tokyo HamFair and they decided to show something in any case, but probably they did not considered the side-effects of a drop in IC-7600 sales.
Love the 7600, but if the 7600 is way out of my realm of affordability, then the new 7610 is not even worth my time to read about it, since I could never afford one. I’m really thinking about trying to trade for a mint used 7410 right now.
The new I have been seeing is that it will be released in Feb 2017, March at the latest.
Also whats a IC-7310?? If you mean a IC-7300, I think your way off base stating its a 7600 with 7300 features in it. Its a totally new platform. Get your facts straight.
Hi Nick, it was a typo. I mean IC-7300 of course. Fixed.
This is for Bill (wb4tjh). I see your new to the HAM world, affordability is a word that varies based on the amateurs life style. Saying its not affordable is not a fair statement in the world of HAM radio. The 7600 and the 7610 are in the mid range price point of radios. If you thought this hobby was going to be cheep, you should re-think your involvement. As with most hobbies, they are not cheep and to think any is, your kidding yourself.
The 7610 will be in the range of $3k to $3500 which is a decent price for a mid range radio. Given the technology thats going to be in the 7610, its a great deal.. You think the 7300 is a great rig, wait till you see the 7610! So to say its not worth reading about, then you are not a HAM.
A nice radio but far too expensive here in South Africa. I don’t think there will be many sold at that price. I have the IC-7300 and do not needs all those other fiddelly bits at twice the price.
I work at a factory where there are literally hundreds of touch screens. They simply don’t hold up over time. Is Icom looking at a durability issue down the road? Until proven, I would prefer to stick with buttons.
The 7600’s AGC suffers from transient spikes. I hope this is not so with the 7610.
Granted, I’m looking at images and have never used one but I’m already concerned with the 7610’s spectrum scope. The 7600’s scope cannot see weak signals in the grass. I hope this issue hasn’t continued. The ProIII, although analog, could. The Elecraft P3 is the best I’ve seen. And the Flex, Anon scopes can as well. I pray in a future 7600 firmware, there is an option to display more of or the entire vertical section of the display. I suspect the 7610 does not offer this either.
Why do transceiver manufacturers cling to 13.8V rigs? We all know 50V designs are cleaner. Has anyone ever gone mobile with a rig as big as a 7600? I hope I live long enough to see a 50V Astron in every shack.
Why only two accessory jacks? I’ve been complaining about this for years. I require three and I’m not alone. I’m tired of wiring multiple devices into a single plug. When my contest group goes portable, the K3 looks like an octopus but it has all the jacks and ports we need.
This may seem trivial but it’s a very nice feature. The K3 allows you to listen to a headset as well as the speaker simultaneously. I wish Icom would do this.
Dear Icom, please put the RF Power adjustment on a large knob. This request has fallen on deaf ears for many years. Many of us are constantly adjusting power levels to drive amplifiers and change power for various digital modes. Why is this on a tiny knob or worse yet, in a menu?
On a positive note. The 7610 won’t exibit the limitations of a 69Mhz 1st IF. Roofing filters should be more effective.
I think many ops today are looking for a K3 performance and feature set with a nice big display. Icom has some of the nicest displays. If they would add some things to their new SDR type rigs, a large Icom could possibly become a primary rig for serious DXer’s and Contesters.
KY3W
Your statement about being a 7600 with 7300 guts is not correct. The IC-7610 uses newer A to D technology and also improvements have been made to the DSP. I think you will find that receiver performance and selectivity are better than the IC-7300 and that the IC-7610 has more features than the IC-7600. I currently own a 7600 and it is a good radio but I am looking forward to getting a 7610.
Seems a nice Radio. But I think those having to earn their money, will find greater value elsewhere.