ic-7300

IC-7300

The IC-7300 transceiver, an aesthetically, attractive looking base station, features a 4.3 inch touch screen colour TFT LCD screen with a high performance real time band scope.

A first for an Amateur radio transceiver, the IC-7300 uses a RF Direct Sampling System, a technology normally seen in Software Defined Radios. RF signals are mostly processed through the FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), rather than by physical devices enabling high performance real-time spectrum scope in a compact body.

The IC-7300 also includes a built-in integrated wide-frequency Automatic Antenna Tuner making the unit ideal for field operation. The radio provides 100 watts output power on HF/50MHz bands and 50 watts on 70MHz (European versions only).

So, it appears that more than 12 years after SDR technology became commercially available for amateur radio users and after dozens of smaller companies have used it successfully in their products (some of which are now on the third generation SDR products), one of "the big three" amateur radio equipment manufacturers finally decided to move their technology to the 21st century, too.

Although details are currently scarce and the majority of them are in Japanese, we know the internal architecture of the Icom IC-7300 is a direct sampling, Software Defined Radio that uses a 124MHz ADC - Icom hasn't yet decided on the exact ADC model for mass production. With no details about dynamic range, noise floor, other ADC, FPGA or DSP specs available thus far, it's hard to speculate about the performance.

The IC-7300 is a medium sized-radio (240x238x95), in the Yaesu FT-991 class as far as size and weight goes, and Icom appear to be advertising it it as a field radio. Has all the functions of a base-station, but can also be used mobile as it has an internal antenna tuner and kits compact size means it doesn't take much space in your car's boot while travelling.

The Icom IC-7300's display is a quality 4.3" TFT - and that is indeed necessary since it's an SDR, so you have the benefit of a large spectrum display.

Besides the 100W HF+6m+4m IC-7300, the local Japanese market will get two other models: the 50W IC-7300M and the 10W IC-7300S.

RF Direct Sampling System — A First in Amateur Radio*:

Instead of the conventional superheterodyne system, the IC-7300 utilizes the RF direct sampling system — a first in an amateur radio transceiver. This technology is seen in Software Defined Radios and other radio equipment. RF signals are mostly processed through the FPGA (Field-Programmable Gßate Array), making it possible to eliminate physical mixer and filter devices and offer a high performance real-time spectrum scope in a compact body.

* Researched by Icom, among major amateur radio manufactures.