Hello, I wanted to get into portable operations from picnic tables in parks. I don't hike or want to run QRP from the field.
I have an original IC 706 that I got back around 1994 or so, maybe 1995. It has a serial number of 6xxx, so it was one of the originals. I put in a narrow CW filter. I run 100% CW, but might want to try SSB someday.
I set up my IC 706, which I have used probably only 10 or 20 times, in my kitchen and feed it to an end fed half wave and it works really well. I really enjoy having a radio set up on the counter as I can now play radio instead of watching TV whenever I have a few minutes free and don't want to go to the radio shack. I have been more active with the IC 706 on the kitchen counter than I have been for years than with the FT-1000D in the shack.
I have a FT 891 on order and it supposed to come in a month. But, I was thinking that since the IC 7300's are now $999, I might be better off having one of those for the kitchen counter and then use my IC 706 for portable. Once again, portable will be picnic tables and probably only a few hours at a time, so I don't think that using the IC 706 will use up the 16 amp Lifepo4 battery I have at any one sitting. I probably will go out to the parks once every couple of weeks.
So, what do you think? Should I get the FT 891 for portable and continue to use the IC 706 as a base station, or get the IC 7300 for the kitchen counter and use the IC 706 as portable for CW work? Is the IC 7300 as nice as everyone says? The FT 891 looks nice too, but fairly complicated to operate and I don't know if it would do much more than my IC 706.