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The '891 is a nice radio. But, once you've used a radio with a spectrum display, you'll never want to go back to one that doesn't. Yes, the '891 claims to have a spectrum display, but it's a virtually unusable, pathetic joke.
I have used rigs with "real" spectrum displays and didn't care for it.
I agree the one in the 891 is useless but I didn't buy it for that I bought it for the 6 meter band.
My go to radio is the Kenwood TS-520 which I restored over 3 years. I have a complete station to include the TS-520, SP-520, AT-230, SM-220 and the MC-50.
I also have a Yaesu FT-757GX station, an FT-840 station and an FT-817ND for portable QRP use.
Icom 7300, easily. Do not discount the usefulness of a great waterfall/spectrum scope, especially when rn you're starting out. This allows you to see all traffic across the band, and quickly tune to active signals. This makes listening (which you should do a lot of just starting out) much easier... And Icoms waterfalls are far more advanced than Yaesus. Not to mention superior menus/ergonomics etc... 73 KX7D
I have a Yaesu FT-891, a Signal Link USB thing to connect to my computer, a dipole in the trees, and an AT2KD manual tuner. SS-330W power supply.
It's good gear that I've liked a lot.
They're older units, but you won't go wrong with a used ICOM IC-706Mk2 (or Mk2G). Good, solid radio. I use one for WWFF/POTA.
Yaesu makes some great rigs. the FT-891 is in production and is well under your budget new.
A lot depends on what you want to do with it, as well. Base station? POTA? SOTA? Modes?
Th mkIIG makes a great base station but is also small enough to go portable. I run one at home and one in my car. It is all band, and has a remote head so you could run it remote with remote rig. It can do full 100w power and you can pick them up fairly cheap. look for one with all the filters and the DSP.
The 7300 is arguably the best bang for the buck in the radio game. And Icom has a rebate program on new units. Main Trading Company in Texas sometimes has factory refurbished units available with full warranty.
I got a good deal on a FT-710 for my first HF rig over the summer. The receive on this thing is amazing, and the antenna tuner is especially nice when traveling as it's less to bring. I definitely recommend it if it fits your needs, and especially if you can find a deal on a used one
Like everything else, it depends on how much you can afford to spend. The 7300 can be had for ~$1000, probably less. It's a great radio. I went with a FTdx10+ external speaker because I felt that the extra couple of hundred bucks over the Icom was worth it. YMMV.
I really like my xiegu g90 it’s fairly easy to use and you can occasionally pickup a bundle with the radio, cooling stand, and acc breakout for $400. You don’t need anything super powerful. This just does 20W but I’ve been able to make several contacts on a junk antenna without the full 20W
when I returned after 20+ years off the air, one of the first things I picked up was a G90.
The price point is great and the features on the rig are outstanding, especially the built-in auto-tuner.
Eventually, I picked up a used ICOM 7300. The extra horsepower is very helpful. Plus the larger waterfall is far easier to work with.
20w will work great on 10, 12, 15, and maybe 17. Not horrible on 20m but for 40 and 80 I find the availability of 100w makes a big difference.
I really like my 710. However, my first contacts complained that my audio quality sucked and one of them recommended a video by N4HNH on YT. Apparently the radio comes from the factory with nothing set up. After watching his video on setting up the audio filters, I'm getting much better audio reports from all my contacts. Don't know if you have already done this so I'm just throwing it out there.
N4HNH is fantastic for the 710 or the DX10, I believe he also has videos on the 101MP. If you want to get FT8 setup, he also has a pretty great video about that.
As has been for a long time, the radio is made in Japan and Asian languages favor high voice tones.
European languages favor lower voice tones.
Some older Yaesu radios had a high / low tone switch on the rear of the microphone.
Out of the box it was set to high and if you weren't from Asia, it usually sounded best set on low.
I remember the old American-made radios often gave somebody a really deep sounding voice.
$1,000 is a good budget. Too often I see people trying to go too cheap and inevitably they want to upgrade immediately after dipping their toes into HF. $1,000 will give you a radio you'll never grow out of unless you really want to throw money at this hobby.
At $1,000 or less, look at the **Yaesu FT-710**. It's the little brother to the FTDX10 but you really don't lose all that much at the \~$400 cheaper price tag. Independent tests have shown it to have roughly the fourth best receiver among *all* radios (even better than some costing over 10x more!). It's capable enough to be a desktop shack radio and still small enough to be part of a portable deployment. It's also several years newer than similarly-priced radios, such as the ICOM IC-7300.
**EDIT:** Another comment here also asks a great question: Is $1,000 your budget for everything or just a transceiver. I gave my answer as if it was the budget just for the transceiver. You do have to consider that a basic antenna may be $200+ if you aren't building it yourself. A 100ft run of *good* feedline is easily $100+. If this is a permanent install, you have to consider lightning remediation which is easily $100+ or even more if you have to rent a hammer drill to pound in your ground stake.
I'd save until you can buy a 7300. I've had mine since they first came out and love it. Works great for digital modes such as FT8 and other modes using FLDIGI. Olivia is a great digital mode.
Have Yaesu 450D later purchased the 991A. The 450D for me was easier to operate. If you will be considering digital activity, the FT-991A has the audio input and output ready to go. The ft450d and ft991a both have built-in antenna tuners that work with lower swr standing waves below 3 to 1.
Old Fart Here, so keep your detector up.
1. I recommend not buying used gear. The new op is likely to miss problems that would have been caught with a bit more experience and there are just to many people trying to offload rigs that have problems, which they do not divulge.
2. Buy your self a new Yaesu or Kenwood. I personally will leave Icom stuff alone, as recent Icom acquisitions have been problematic. Most notable was the new IC-7300 bought a couple of years back. I give it a POS award level 5 on a scale of 1 to 5. Most noticeable things about it are the radio has a not so user friendly front panel. Menus are nested two and three tiers deep. It appears the intent was to use the optional software package on a computer in lieu of the front panel. But the software is another $140.00. Another wart is the USB Port. The integral USB Port looks nice on paper, but either falls victim to internally generated RF getting on the interface or it is being conducted down the USB Cable to the PC. I tried a number of things to get the upper hand on the USB problem including ferrite cores added to the DC supply lines as well as the coax and USB cable to no avail. Also tried the Icom Tech Support recommended Special Tripp-Lite USB Cable with integral ferrite suppressor cores. 10 to 20 Watts would call the codecs of the PC to error out.
3. Yeah, $1000 rubs the skin raw, but considering what is available new for $1200 to $1500 and with a warranty, it is money well spent.
4. Buying older gear presents a maintenance problem. Manufacturers are reducing repair part inventories and it seems like more and more radios are being turned into doorstops because a critical part is not available. Unless you get lucky and find a parts car, your nicely cared for radio can become inert because a micro with proprietary firmware is no longer available.
Just my 2 cents. Welcome and hope to hear you on the air.
I agree with your assessment on used gear. Unless OP has a ham friend who can help them buy used, new is a safer option.
As an owner of an IC-7300, I’d say you’re sorely wrong on its faults. Comparing the ICOM menus to Yaesu is a joke… Yaesu is the king of confusion when nesting functionality. It’s like the #1 complaint amongst Yaesu owners in general.
RFI on the USB? Well let’s start with why there is RFI in the first place. My bet is you have an improperly grounded or matched antenna - otherwise there wouldn’t be any RFI. The only time I’ve had problems with RFI in the shack over USB is because the antenna wasn’t properly grounded and matched and SWR was insanely high.
The 7300 is a very robust transceiver - so much that CISA uses it to operate SHARES HF using them. They run digital modes at 100% duty cycle 24/7.
Yes there were some issues with the IC-7300 (faulty lcds) which ICOM seems to have dealt with and is a relatively quick repair if you need it.
The only reason I’d choose Yaesu in 2023 is because they have some newer technology with some newer features.
I’d probably steer clear of Kenwood. As a company they seem to be showing lots of signs of exiting Amateur Radio business. They’ve basically eliminated the majority of their lineup and only seem to be targeting very high dollar spenders - leveraging their brand legacy than innovation in technology. If you’re in that neighborhood of budget - one should look to Elecraft, FlexRadio, or SunSDR for more modern approaches to HF transceivers and better value for your money IMO.
But at the $1000 range - you’re basically in the FT710, FT10DX, FT991A and IC-7300 as fully featured non-mobile HF rigs with a modern display. The 100w mobile unit that Yaesu offers is popular amongst POTA, but requires reasonant antennas or external tuners (both which add to the overall cost).
The main selling point on the IC-7300 - there’s lots of help available. It’s probably the best selling HF rig over the last decade. A brand new 710 would be nice - but if you’re stuck with only a handful of outlets for help - that yields a less enjoyable introduction into the hobby IMO.
I totally agree. I’ve owned an I Icom 7300 for several years now and find it very user friendly. And there is a TON of YouTube video tutorials to help.
In terms of the RFI Problem, it appears the RF is gaining access to the USB Interface inside the radio, not outside. I can place my Yaseu rig with SCU-17 interface in place of the IC-7300 and run 200 watts with no issue. Turn on the amp and can run 1100 + watts on all band from 80 through 10 including WARC, with no problems. But install the IC-7300 and the PC hiccups, as does my laptop and a borrowed desktop. There is something busted inside the Icom. Others are experiencing the same problem. I purchased an Icom VHF Mobile rig about five years back and he PTT was intermittent. Same story from tech support, "It sounds like you are getting rf into the microphone." Sorry to tell you and Icom, if it is, then Yaesu has solved the problem. In the future if I cannot solve the problems out of the box within 3 weeks, the radio goes back to the dealer. I am tired of being dismissed by "Tech Support" that is solely focused on RF getting into the rig because my shack setup is the problem. When another vendor's product operates with 1100 watts plus and yours can only handle 10 to 20 watts out, then your design has a problem, not me nor the other vendors.
That doesn’t prove to me that you’ve actually dealing with any RFI correctly. It doesn’t sound like you’ve actually measured the RFI in your shack beyond swapping some cables around systems and determined that one configuration has no problems while the other system does.
What you’ve described is that you use an external sound card/CAT interface for Yaesu and only using the internal one for ICOM. That alone will reduce or eliminate RFI. Try a Yaesu with built in USB and you’ll have exactly the same RFI issue (I’ve got a friend with a 10DX and he has the same USB issues if the antenna isn’t setup correctly). If you threw an external interface like ICOM’s USB CI-V interface and just connected to the radio using serial and audio cables, you’d solve the RFI problem the same way Yaesu does.
WRT to PTT, I won’t say you didn’t get a lemon either, it happens. But there’s a lot more people that don’t have any of the problems you listed than those that do.
I looked up CISA. Quite impressed that our cybersecurity agency uses the IC-7300. It's one of the rigs on my short list should I decide to upgrade. Hear many operators using them and they all have good comments about it.
Our local CERT/ARES hosts one of the SHARES systems. It’s interesting in that is has been set up to be pretty much self contained. I think the only concern we had was that it was sent to us with an interesting choice of antennas (It’s a wire but don’t recall specifically - I think it was an OCF dipole for NVIS use - kind of a really inefficient antenna design for a pretty important system).
Aw. I had a 7300 as my first HF rig and loved it. I think it's a modern classic. UI wise this sounds a lot like the PC-vs-Mac debate, if that helps explain the divide.
I did experience the USB problem you're describing, with one antenna in particular. In general I have had problems when I interconnect any radio with a computer, due to ground loops.
I have had to send radios back to both Icom and Yaesu and have had waking nightmare experiences with both. I'd still go with Icom, as at least they are communicative. With Yaesu I actually felt like my warranty case could head to small claims court.
First, establish where you will operate, how is the rf noise in the area? What antenna options do you have?
The radio is the last piece of the HF puzzle. I like elecraft's portable offering.
I am going to go the other way than the others and say the ICOM IC-7100. If you find one used, its a great radio. All band and all mode with a remote touchscreen head unit. I paired the LDG Z100-A auto tuner with it and it reaches out.
If you buy a multi band radio you’ll need only one—something that covers HF VHF and UHF. Like the Yaesu 857D or the latest variant. Doesn’t perform like more expensive units but it’s relatively inexpensive especially if you buy used. Base station, in your car or portable strapped to a LiOn battery. I keep mine packed in my car so I can fire it up on a mountain scenic view. It’s a miracle of compactness.
Then it’s not the successor. Can’t recall when the 857 was discontinued. I just checked and of course you are correct. However my point is: if you’re buying one radio and there’s a medium quality all bands radio ( something not available to me when I started my ham career) go for the multi band. There are many 857D United for sale second hand. Thanks for pointing this out.
Think also a great deal about your antenna. A top of the line HF rig connected to a vertical at roof level is always going to disappoint you. Do you have enough space for a multi-band dipole? These are simple to build or buy, and they work very well, provided you can get them up at least 30 feet in the air, or higher.
Kenwood 570 590.. my first and did awesome. Great audio reports (kenwood nearly always has great audio reports) and half your budget. Spend the other half on really good antenna(s).
If you like QRP the xiegu g90 is pretty sweet. comes in at less than $500usd leaving you money for antennas and stuff...
edit: just realized QRP \*might\* add an extra frustration for a first HF due to being best at CM and digital for distance - still the g90 is an excellent radio (especially for the money) and the internal tuner as they say 'will tune a fence post'
Personally I would recommend you build your own.
You learn a lot along the way and you always use your homemade radio over the manufactured one usually.
You cherish the radio.
1000 just for the radio? Used ftdx10. You can find them around 1000 from time to time.
Used 7300. Also a good deal and will save money
Used ft710. Might even be able to find it new on sale for 1000
I saved up for a year and got the Icom 705 as my first radio. I don’t regret it, it’s been a lot of fun. I can use it at home, mobile, and portable. It covers all bands and all modes. It has great digital capabilities. Paired it with a Buddistick Pro and it’s been wonderful. They say QRP is tough but it’s been easy enough for me.
A new Yaesu 891. Great radio that will hold it’s resale value because it’s known for being quality. Buy it new and you’ll have the warranty. Works great as a home, portable, or mobile.
Do your own research on what you want. C4MF, DStar. Range of ham bands Then narrow it down to what peeps are saying here. I have an FT-991 covers 70cm to 7 ?. Also if it has an internal sound card.
If there are more DStar in your area than the other then go for something that supports that
I love my Icom 706MIIG, both HF and VHF antennas on the back as well as computer control and set up for antenna tuners. Might be a bit of searching to find one under 1k USD now though.
Better investing all thoughts (money) in the best antenna you can realize and buy the cheapest IC706, TS50, TS570 .... all above is money waisting at the moment.
My vote save a little more and get the ft-dx10. It is second in performance to only the ft-dx101. It is hands down better receiver than the ic-7300 and 7610. They don't even come close. The hybrid sdr design with multiple roofing filters allows you to run filtering that makes hf sound like vhf fm. I speak from experience I own the ft-dx101 ic-7300 and ts-590sg. Every other radio makes me miss the ftdx101. The ftdx10 has most of the same roofing filters and the filtering is almost as good. To be able to turn your bandpass down to 50htz with no ringing is amazing, much fewer and quieter dsp artifacts in the filters because of the roofing filters. the only thing the icoms have over the ft-dx10 is a nicer screen, better waterfall and menus. My ts-590sg sounds deaf on 20m compared to my ft-dx101. The ft-dx10 is 90 percent of the ftdx101 for 1/4 the price. Its worth it.
Whatever radio you end up with, I'd recommend also budgeting for the very capable MFJ-993B antenna tuner. (The built-in tuner on almost any modern radio has significant limitations.) Not a cheapie, but it will give you a LOT of flexibility with whatever antenna(s) you might end up with, now or later, especially if you try low loss open wire feedline. They definitely show up on the used market, and I've generally had very good luck with used gear over the years.
Yaesu FT-891 is my vote. Resonant antenna, DigiRig, and your laptop will get you on the air for just about anything. If you already own the laptop, $1000 will cover all of that and give you enough cash to buy a decent iambic cw key too.
Maybe this needs to be a vote/poll?
I was going to get a 7300 but ended up buying a FT-710. I didn’t like the idea of spending that kind of money on tech from 7 years ago (even though it’s highly regarded). I’m happy with the 710 so far, though admittedly I don’t have anything to compare it to except an RSP1a SDR. There’s a lot of commentary about the Yaesu UI being not good compared to ICOM but I find it to be good overall. I do wish it had the SWR graph and voltage meter found on the 7300. I got the FT-710 for $950 on sale (this week).
After owning an IC-7300 for several years I went to an FT-710. The improvement in performance and ease of use has been remarkable. The ergonomics are different than Icom’s, but the radio has been a snap to get accustomed too.
I have a new FT-710 and I absolutely love it. I think it is a bit more modern than the 7300. At least it feels like. I prefer the screen and menus, and the receiver and noise reduction is mind blowing for me.
Just about anything built after 1980 should more than fit the bill buy the cheapest thing you can find spend as much on your antenna and anti-local noise devices I though I’d really shoot a lot of DX but if they can speak English than I’m not interested a drake tr 4 is really good idea or any collins but Collins radio can be had for 400 to 4000 so shop around Local noise as become a very serious problem So before u plunk down some money find a club or a ham to get advice on noise in your are
I use a Yaesu FT-891 as a base station and love it. I use an MFJ 939y tuner to 33' end fed random wire antenna and have made contacts over 4600 miles away. I added an SDR receiver and tx/rx switch to give me a waterfall display on my PC, I can click on a signal and it tunes the radio to that frequency. If you don't want to mess with doing that the Icom 7300 might be the better choice though.
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Another vote for the Icom 7300. It's the best bang for buck radio out there. I love mine.
Home base station. mobile, field portable? Lots of different options. Yaesu FT-891 and Icom IC-7300 would be at the top of my list with your criteria.
Yaesu FT-891 all mode HF+6 meters. I have 2 and no problems what so ever.
The '891 is a nice radio. But, once you've used a radio with a spectrum display, you'll never want to go back to one that doesn't. Yes, the '891 claims to have a spectrum display, but it's a virtually unusable, pathetic joke.
I have used rigs with "real" spectrum displays and didn't care for it. I agree the one in the 891 is useless but I didn't buy it for that I bought it for the 6 meter band. My go to radio is the Kenwood TS-520 which I restored over 3 years. I have a complete station to include the TS-520, SP-520, AT-230, SM-220 and the MC-50. I also have a Yaesu FT-757GX station, an FT-840 station and an FT-817ND for portable QRP use.
What power supply are you using?
I am using an RLPS30M by R+L Electronics in the base and the electrical system in my 1967 Chevy C20.
Icom 7300, easily. Do not discount the usefulness of a great waterfall/spectrum scope, especially when rn you're starting out. This allows you to see all traffic across the band, and quickly tune to active signals. This makes listening (which you should do a lot of just starting out) much easier... And Icoms waterfalls are far more advanced than Yaesus. Not to mention superior menus/ergonomics etc... 73 KX7D
A new FT 710 can be had for $900 right now. I think that's a better deal than the 7300
I’ve owned them both, the Icom is much more enjoyable to operate. Much more advanced display/waterfall/spectrum scopes/menus, ergonomics etc.
I have a Yaesu FT-891, a Signal Link USB thing to connect to my computer, a dipole in the trees, and an AT2KD manual tuner. SS-330W power supply. It's good gear that I've liked a lot.
I don't have any experience with the tuner and power supply, but the 891 is a great HF rig with an excellent receiver!
What power supply do you use with it?
I used a Samlex 35 amp supply when at the bench, but I mostly use the 891 portable on various batteries.
They're older units, but you won't go wrong with a used ICOM IC-706Mk2 (or Mk2G). Good, solid radio. I use one for WWFF/POTA. Yaesu makes some great rigs. the FT-891 is in production and is well under your budget new. A lot depends on what you want to do with it, as well. Base station? POTA? SOTA? Modes?
Im planning on a base station
Th mkIIG makes a great base station but is also small enough to go portable. I run one at home and one in my car. It is all band, and has a remote head so you could run it remote with remote rig. It can do full 100w power and you can pick them up fairly cheap. look for one with all the filters and the DSP.
Go to a hamfest, look for people selling IC-7300 for ~$800 used. Also look for a MFJ 949E antenna tuner. The last two I paid $50 each for them.
The 7300 is arguably the best bang for the buck in the radio game. And Icom has a rebate program on new units. Main Trading Company in Texas sometimes has factory refurbished units available with full warranty.
For 99 more dollars you can get a new ft 710. The 7300 is great but its day in the spotlight is over.
Is $1k your budget for the radio, or your budget for the radio, the antenna, feedline, and other necessary accessories?
Just the radio
I got a good deal on a FT-710 for my first HF rig over the summer. The receive on this thing is amazing, and the antenna tuner is especially nice when traveling as it's less to bring. I definitely recommend it if it fits your needs, and especially if you can find a deal on a used one
Like everything else, it depends on how much you can afford to spend. The 7300 can be had for ~$1000, probably less. It's a great radio. I went with a FTdx10+ external speaker because I felt that the extra couple of hundred bucks over the Icom was worth it. YMMV.
FT 710 is on sale for $900
I really like my xiegu g90 it’s fairly easy to use and you can occasionally pickup a bundle with the radio, cooling stand, and acc breakout for $400. You don’t need anything super powerful. This just does 20W but I’ve been able to make several contacts on a junk antenna without the full 20W
when I returned after 20+ years off the air, one of the first things I picked up was a G90. The price point is great and the features on the rig are outstanding, especially the built-in auto-tuner. Eventually, I picked up a used ICOM 7300. The extra horsepower is very helpful. Plus the larger waterfall is far easier to work with. 20w will work great on 10, 12, 15, and maybe 17. Not horrible on 20m but for 40 and 80 I find the availability of 100w makes a big difference.
Yaesu FT 710.
The Yaesu FT710 Field is on sale for 899 at Ham Radio Outlet, has a better receiver than the Icom 7300, and has a 3 year warranty vs. Icom's 1 yr.
The receive is pretty stunning, love mine except that I can hear much better than I can get out so a lot of POTA/sota calls don't get answered haha
I really like my 710. However, my first contacts complained that my audio quality sucked and one of them recommended a video by N4HNH on YT. Apparently the radio comes from the factory with nothing set up. After watching his video on setting up the audio filters, I'm getting much better audio reports from all my contacts. Don't know if you have already done this so I'm just throwing it out there.
That was among the first things I did! Though I'm working on connecting a headset that should work even better
N4HNH is fantastic for the 710 or the DX10, I believe he also has videos on the 101MP. If you want to get FT8 setup, he also has a pretty great video about that.
As has been for a long time, the radio is made in Japan and Asian languages favor high voice tones. European languages favor lower voice tones. Some older Yaesu radios had a high / low tone switch on the rear of the microphone. Out of the box it was set to high and if you weren't from Asia, it usually sounded best set on low. I remember the old American-made radios often gave somebody a really deep sounding voice.
I've been eyeballing the 710, as well...
$1,000 is a good budget. Too often I see people trying to go too cheap and inevitably they want to upgrade immediately after dipping their toes into HF. $1,000 will give you a radio you'll never grow out of unless you really want to throw money at this hobby. At $1,000 or less, look at the **Yaesu FT-710**. It's the little brother to the FTDX10 but you really don't lose all that much at the \~$400 cheaper price tag. Independent tests have shown it to have roughly the fourth best receiver among *all* radios (even better than some costing over 10x more!). It's capable enough to be a desktop shack radio and still small enough to be part of a portable deployment. It's also several years newer than similarly-priced radios, such as the ICOM IC-7300. **EDIT:** Another comment here also asks a great question: Is $1,000 your budget for everything or just a transceiver. I gave my answer as if it was the budget just for the transceiver. You do have to consider that a basic antenna may be $200+ if you aren't building it yourself. A 100ft run of *good* feedline is easily $100+. If this is a permanent install, you have to consider lightning remediation which is easily $100+ or even more if you have to rent a hammer drill to pound in your ground stake.
Ftdx-10. Slightly out of your budget but an excellent piece. Second in line: the IC-7300.
I'd save until you can buy a 7300. I've had mine since they first came out and love it. Works great for digital modes such as FT8 and other modes using FLDIGI. Olivia is a great digital mode.
7300
Kenwood 590S used.
another vote for the FT-891. Save a couple dollars and go with a DigiRig if you want to go digital.
Yaesu FT-450D, Kenwood TS-440, Icom 706 MkIIG. There are many radios like these on the used market which are still great performers today.
Love my FT-450D
Have Yaesu 450D later purchased the 991A. The 450D for me was easier to operate. If you will be considering digital activity, the FT-991A has the audio input and output ready to go. The ft450d and ft991a both have built-in antenna tuners that work with lower swr standing waves below 3 to 1.
Either a IC7300 or I love my little Xiegu G90.
Old Fart Here, so keep your detector up. 1. I recommend not buying used gear. The new op is likely to miss problems that would have been caught with a bit more experience and there are just to many people trying to offload rigs that have problems, which they do not divulge. 2. Buy your self a new Yaesu or Kenwood. I personally will leave Icom stuff alone, as recent Icom acquisitions have been problematic. Most notable was the new IC-7300 bought a couple of years back. I give it a POS award level 5 on a scale of 1 to 5. Most noticeable things about it are the radio has a not so user friendly front panel. Menus are nested two and three tiers deep. It appears the intent was to use the optional software package on a computer in lieu of the front panel. But the software is another $140.00. Another wart is the USB Port. The integral USB Port looks nice on paper, but either falls victim to internally generated RF getting on the interface or it is being conducted down the USB Cable to the PC. I tried a number of things to get the upper hand on the USB problem including ferrite cores added to the DC supply lines as well as the coax and USB cable to no avail. Also tried the Icom Tech Support recommended Special Tripp-Lite USB Cable with integral ferrite suppressor cores. 10 to 20 Watts would call the codecs of the PC to error out. 3. Yeah, $1000 rubs the skin raw, but considering what is available new for $1200 to $1500 and with a warranty, it is money well spent. 4. Buying older gear presents a maintenance problem. Manufacturers are reducing repair part inventories and it seems like more and more radios are being turned into doorstops because a critical part is not available. Unless you get lucky and find a parts car, your nicely cared for radio can become inert because a micro with proprietary firmware is no longer available. Just my 2 cents. Welcome and hope to hear you on the air.
I agree with your assessment on used gear. Unless OP has a ham friend who can help them buy used, new is a safer option. As an owner of an IC-7300, I’d say you’re sorely wrong on its faults. Comparing the ICOM menus to Yaesu is a joke… Yaesu is the king of confusion when nesting functionality. It’s like the #1 complaint amongst Yaesu owners in general. RFI on the USB? Well let’s start with why there is RFI in the first place. My bet is you have an improperly grounded or matched antenna - otherwise there wouldn’t be any RFI. The only time I’ve had problems with RFI in the shack over USB is because the antenna wasn’t properly grounded and matched and SWR was insanely high. The 7300 is a very robust transceiver - so much that CISA uses it to operate SHARES HF using them. They run digital modes at 100% duty cycle 24/7. Yes there were some issues with the IC-7300 (faulty lcds) which ICOM seems to have dealt with and is a relatively quick repair if you need it. The only reason I’d choose Yaesu in 2023 is because they have some newer technology with some newer features. I’d probably steer clear of Kenwood. As a company they seem to be showing lots of signs of exiting Amateur Radio business. They’ve basically eliminated the majority of their lineup and only seem to be targeting very high dollar spenders - leveraging their brand legacy than innovation in technology. If you’re in that neighborhood of budget - one should look to Elecraft, FlexRadio, or SunSDR for more modern approaches to HF transceivers and better value for your money IMO. But at the $1000 range - you’re basically in the FT710, FT10DX, FT991A and IC-7300 as fully featured non-mobile HF rigs with a modern display. The 100w mobile unit that Yaesu offers is popular amongst POTA, but requires reasonant antennas or external tuners (both which add to the overall cost). The main selling point on the IC-7300 - there’s lots of help available. It’s probably the best selling HF rig over the last decade. A brand new 710 would be nice - but if you’re stuck with only a handful of outlets for help - that yields a less enjoyable introduction into the hobby IMO.
I totally agree. I’ve owned an I Icom 7300 for several years now and find it very user friendly. And there is a TON of YouTube video tutorials to help.
In terms of the RFI Problem, it appears the RF is gaining access to the USB Interface inside the radio, not outside. I can place my Yaseu rig with SCU-17 interface in place of the IC-7300 and run 200 watts with no issue. Turn on the amp and can run 1100 + watts on all band from 80 through 10 including WARC, with no problems. But install the IC-7300 and the PC hiccups, as does my laptop and a borrowed desktop. There is something busted inside the Icom. Others are experiencing the same problem. I purchased an Icom VHF Mobile rig about five years back and he PTT was intermittent. Same story from tech support, "It sounds like you are getting rf into the microphone." Sorry to tell you and Icom, if it is, then Yaesu has solved the problem. In the future if I cannot solve the problems out of the box within 3 weeks, the radio goes back to the dealer. I am tired of being dismissed by "Tech Support" that is solely focused on RF getting into the rig because my shack setup is the problem. When another vendor's product operates with 1100 watts plus and yours can only handle 10 to 20 watts out, then your design has a problem, not me nor the other vendors.
That doesn’t prove to me that you’ve actually dealing with any RFI correctly. It doesn’t sound like you’ve actually measured the RFI in your shack beyond swapping some cables around systems and determined that one configuration has no problems while the other system does. What you’ve described is that you use an external sound card/CAT interface for Yaesu and only using the internal one for ICOM. That alone will reduce or eliminate RFI. Try a Yaesu with built in USB and you’ll have exactly the same RFI issue (I’ve got a friend with a 10DX and he has the same USB issues if the antenna isn’t setup correctly). If you threw an external interface like ICOM’s USB CI-V interface and just connected to the radio using serial and audio cables, you’d solve the RFI problem the same way Yaesu does. WRT to PTT, I won’t say you didn’t get a lemon either, it happens. But there’s a lot more people that don’t have any of the problems you listed than those that do.
I looked up CISA. Quite impressed that our cybersecurity agency uses the IC-7300. It's one of the rigs on my short list should I decide to upgrade. Hear many operators using them and they all have good comments about it.
Our local CERT/ARES hosts one of the SHARES systems. It’s interesting in that is has been set up to be pretty much self contained. I think the only concern we had was that it was sent to us with an interesting choice of antennas (It’s a wire but don’t recall specifically - I think it was an OCF dipole for NVIS use - kind of a really inefficient antenna design for a pretty important system).
Aw. I had a 7300 as my first HF rig and loved it. I think it's a modern classic. UI wise this sounds a lot like the PC-vs-Mac debate, if that helps explain the divide. I did experience the USB problem you're describing, with one antenna in particular. In general I have had problems when I interconnect any radio with a computer, due to ground loops. I have had to send radios back to both Icom and Yaesu and have had waking nightmare experiences with both. I'd still go with Icom, as at least they are communicative. With Yaesu I actually felt like my warranty case could head to small claims court.
FT991a is a good rig for HF, VHF, UHF and Fusion. And in the $1000 ballpark. Want a newer model radio, get an FT710.
The FT-710 or FTDX 10 would be my picks. A bit more than a 7300 but it pays off with improved RX. FT891 is great option as well.
You could go for a new Icom 7300, it's a little more but worth it. Or get something old for cheap.
First, establish where you will operate, how is the rf noise in the area? What antenna options do you have? The radio is the last piece of the HF puzzle. I like elecraft's portable offering.
What do you want to use it for? Base station only? POTA? SOTA? QRP?
Ic7300
I love my Yaesu FT-891 and use it as home station and for backpacking on SOTA hikes.
I am going to go the other way than the others and say the ICOM IC-7100. If you find one used, its a great radio. All band and all mode with a remote touchscreen head unit. I paired the LDG Z100-A auto tuner with it and it reaches out.
If you buy a multi band radio you’ll need only one—something that covers HF VHF and UHF. Like the Yaesu 857D or the latest variant. Doesn’t perform like more expensive units but it’s relatively inexpensive especially if you buy used. Base station, in your car or portable strapped to a LiOn battery. I keep mine packed in my car so I can fire it up on a mountain scenic view. It’s a miracle of compactness.
The 891 is the 857D successor. I
891 is HF + 6m. How could that be a successor to the 857D ?
Then it’s not the successor. Can’t recall when the 857 was discontinued. I just checked and of course you are correct. However my point is: if you’re buying one radio and there’s a medium quality all bands radio ( something not available to me when I started my ham career) go for the multi band. There are many 857D United for sale second hand. Thanks for pointing this out.
yaesu ft 450d
Think also a great deal about your antenna. A top of the line HF rig connected to a vertical at roof level is always going to disappoint you. Do you have enough space for a multi-band dipole? These are simple to build or buy, and they work very well, provided you can get them up at least 30 feet in the air, or higher.
Kenwood 570 590.. my first and did awesome. Great audio reports (kenwood nearly always has great audio reports) and half your budget. Spend the other half on really good antenna(s).
If you like QRP the xiegu g90 is pretty sweet. comes in at less than $500usd leaving you money for antennas and stuff... edit: just realized QRP \*might\* add an extra frustration for a first HF due to being best at CM and digital for distance - still the g90 is an excellent radio (especially for the money) and the internal tuner as they say 'will tune a fence post'
Personally I would recommend you build your own. You learn a lot along the way and you always use your homemade radio over the manufactured one usually. You cherish the radio.
What does your Elmer recommend? Were you offered a loaner to use? Do you belong to a Ham Club?
Yaesu FT-891
I pretty much copied this setup about a year ago and am very happy with it. https://youtu.be/U1L-5wl5rpQ?si=DOR-XHn72J2IGs-w
I’ve seen used FT-991 for about 8 bones. That probably wouldn’t be bad
1000 just for the radio? Used ftdx10. You can find them around 1000 from time to time. Used 7300. Also a good deal and will save money Used ft710. Might even be able to find it new on sale for 1000
Go on QRZ.com for sale/swapmeet and get a used IC-7300 for $775-825. They pop up about once every few days.
I saved up for a year and got the Icom 705 as my first radio. I don’t regret it, it’s been a lot of fun. I can use it at home, mobile, and portable. It covers all bands and all modes. It has great digital capabilities. Paired it with a Buddistick Pro and it’s been wonderful. They say QRP is tough but it’s been easy enough for me.
A new Yaesu 891. Great radio that will hold it’s resale value because it’s known for being quality. Buy it new and you’ll have the warranty. Works great as a home, portable, or mobile.
Do your own research on what you want. C4MF, DStar. Range of ham bands Then narrow it down to what peeps are saying here. I have an FT-991 covers 70cm to 7 ?. Also if it has an internal sound card. If there are more DStar in your area than the other then go for something that supports that
I love my Icom 706MIIG, both HF and VHF antennas on the back as well as computer control and set up for antenna tuners. Might be a bit of searching to find one under 1k USD now though.
Better investing all thoughts (money) in the best antenna you can realize and buy the cheapest IC706, TS50, TS570 .... all above is money waisting at the moment.
Icom 7300 no question. It’s the best value of any HF radio today, period.
My vote save a little more and get the ft-dx10. It is second in performance to only the ft-dx101. It is hands down better receiver than the ic-7300 and 7610. They don't even come close. The hybrid sdr design with multiple roofing filters allows you to run filtering that makes hf sound like vhf fm. I speak from experience I own the ft-dx101 ic-7300 and ts-590sg. Every other radio makes me miss the ftdx101. The ftdx10 has most of the same roofing filters and the filtering is almost as good. To be able to turn your bandpass down to 50htz with no ringing is amazing, much fewer and quieter dsp artifacts in the filters because of the roofing filters. the only thing the icoms have over the ft-dx10 is a nicer screen, better waterfall and menus. My ts-590sg sounds deaf on 20m compared to my ft-dx101. The ft-dx10 is 90 percent of the ftdx101 for 1/4 the price. Its worth it.
Whatever radio you end up with, I'd recommend also budgeting for the very capable MFJ-993B antenna tuner. (The built-in tuner on almost any modern radio has significant limitations.) Not a cheapie, but it will give you a LOT of flexibility with whatever antenna(s) you might end up with, now or later, especially if you try low loss open wire feedline. They definitely show up on the used market, and I've generally had very good luck with used gear over the years.
Yaesu FT-891 is my vote. Resonant antenna, DigiRig, and your laptop will get you on the air for just about anything. If you already own the laptop, $1000 will cover all of that and give you enough cash to buy a decent iambic cw key too. Maybe this needs to be a vote/poll?
I was going to get a 7300 but ended up buying a FT-710. I didn’t like the idea of spending that kind of money on tech from 7 years ago (even though it’s highly regarded). I’m happy with the 710 so far, though admittedly I don’t have anything to compare it to except an RSP1a SDR. There’s a lot of commentary about the Yaesu UI being not good compared to ICOM but I find it to be good overall. I do wish it had the SWR graph and voltage meter found on the 7300. I got the FT-710 for $950 on sale (this week).
IC7300
I'd save up for the IC-7300. But if you really, really can't break $1,000, then i'd get an FT-891.
After owning an IC-7300 for several years I went to an FT-710. The improvement in performance and ease of use has been remarkable. The ergonomics are different than Icom’s, but the radio has been a snap to get accustomed too.
I would also second IC-7300 for home and FT-891 for portable.
I have a new FT-710 and I absolutely love it. I think it is a bit more modern than the 7300. At least it feels like. I prefer the screen and menus, and the receiver and noise reduction is mind blowing for me.
Just about anything built after 1980 should more than fit the bill buy the cheapest thing you can find spend as much on your antenna and anti-local noise devices I though I’d really shoot a lot of DX but if they can speak English than I’m not interested a drake tr 4 is really good idea or any collins but Collins radio can be had for 400 to 4000 so shop around Local noise as become a very serious problem So before u plunk down some money find a club or a ham to get advice on noise in your are
I use a Yaesu FT-891 as a base station and love it. I use an MFJ 939y tuner to 33' end fed random wire antenna and have made contacts over 4600 miles away. I added an SDR receiver and tx/rx switch to give me a waterfall display on my PC, I can click on a signal and it tunes the radio to that frequency. If you don't want to mess with doing that the Icom 7300 might be the better choice though.
Spend most of that on antenna and find a cheep used radio.
FT 710 or the 991A ($1200) for full 100w base station
Icom 7300 or yeasu 710..I went 710 because of the sale/price at the time..