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Author Topic: Why so many FT-DX10's for sale? Hello Previous owners?  (Read 1789 times)

N6YFM

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Why so many FT-DX10's for sale? Hello Previous owners?
« on: August 03, 2022, 05:57:25 PM »

I was curious why we are seeing a steady stream of the new FT-DX10 radios for sale.
I am curious what makes people try them and sell them in a short time?
It seems, at least at the store display and on paper, like a fine little radio.
If you have actually used one, or sold one, what are the main complaints?
What do people not like a about it?   I mean, with the newer tech, it must
mop the floor with the Icom 7300, and I still really like my IC-7300.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Standard Futile Disclaimer:  PLEASE, no opinions from those who have never
used one, never seen one,  and just like to bash the other brand :-)

73,

Neal
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K5BM

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Re: Why so many FT-DX10's for sale? Hello Previous owners?
« Reply #1 on: August 03, 2022, 07:02:07 PM »

I purchased mine with factoryMARS mod and it is a keeper. I have a 991A
and sold an IC-7300
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G4AON

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Re: Why so many FT-DX10's for sale? Hello Previous owners?
« Reply #2 on: August 04, 2022, 02:17:57 AM »

I was curious why we are seeing a steady stream of the new FT-DX10 radios for sale.
I am curious what makes people try them and sell them in a short time?
I don't have a Yaesu radio of any sort, but I have friends who bought an FTDX101 based on the high position it has on the list by Rob Sherwood.

Unfortunately, choosing a radio based on close in dynamic range on CW, which is the sorting shown on that list, is probably only applicable to the few 160m CW contest operators with large antennas. That table does nothing in terms of daily ragchewing on 80m SSB, or for FT8 operators on 20m.

A transceiver is a tool to communicate with, pretty much any currently produced transceiver will do just that for most amateur users. What the adverts and Rob's list don't show is how useable the radios are. Few of the forum posts asking about "what's the best rig I should buy" include details of what they want to use the radio for.

A friend recently bought an FTDX10 primarily to drive a transverter for home use, which seems to be rather odd, as the 10 doesn't appear to cater for transverter use at all. Something like a second hand Elecraft K3S would probably have been a better choice at a similar price, as they have dedicated low power/RX transverter I/O sockets and extend the frequency bands to seamlessly operate on higher bands with transverters up to a few GHz with the display showing the final transverted frequency.

Even trying a radio at a dealer doesn't always give the potential buyer a feel for the radio.

73 Dave
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GRUMPY2021

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Re: Why so many FT-DX10's for sale? Hello Previous owners?
« Reply #3 on: August 04, 2022, 04:16:05 AM »

I know you only want replies from people that own one but you can't always get what you want.   My answer will apply to any product.  It's all about fit.  How well does that radio fit people.  I think it's a testament by how many are for sale as to  how well the radio fits.  Did we see a lot of 73 hunnerts for sale because "it's just not for me"?   I would say the menu structure looks laborious. 

My question is the number of ads I see listed where they buy a radio for $1500 and it's only 2 weeks old and they want $1150 shipped and insured.  Makes me question the intelligence of the ham radio community and how well they manage money?   Never has made any sense to me. 

My next thought is you see so many for sale because the cult like worship of the Youtube used car salesmen.  You know the ones.  They get their products for free in exchange for a 10 minute review and make sure you click on my affiliate link to help support the channel, this is the greatest thing ever. 

2 cents from someone that doesn't blindly follow whats popular.  Carry on.

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KA2DDX

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Re: Why so many FT-DX10's for sale? Hello Previous owners?
« Reply #4 on: August 04, 2022, 05:05:12 AM »

Are we really seeing a "steady stream" or a percentage of the total sold? My sense is the ftdx10 is pretty popular and has been purchased by a lot of hams, something like the ic7300 when it first came out. So, it's not unusual to see some hit the used market.
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W2DI

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Re: Why so many FT-DX10's for sale? Hello Previous owners?
« Reply #5 on: August 04, 2022, 05:11:28 AM »

I have an FTdx-10. Originally I had an IC-7300 but had to return it due to a problem with the transmit AGC. There were no 7300s available to replace it and it wasn’t known how long it would take for them to arrive. So I got the ‘10.
Actually, I see more ‘7300s for sale but I attribute that to the number owned.
I really like the FTdx-10 and wouldn’t part with it. It isn’t perfect but for the cost, it’s a bargain, as is the ‘7300. The ergonomics of the ‘10 with many buttons near the tuning dial is a downside but I really only use the band button on a regular basis and you get accustomed to using it without hitting the main tuning dial. Aside from that, I find everything on it easy to use and both receive and transmit quality are very high.
I also liked the ‘7300 but couldn’t get a replacement.
Why do you see so many FTdx-10s for sale? I can’t say there is anything significantly wrong with it to warrant that. Maybe it’s just that there seems to be many hams that must have a lot of resources and buy anything new that comes out. I can’t do that. I can only have one rig and it’s the FTdx10. I like it, it performs well, has many features other radios in the price class don’t and has been solid and reliable.
Also, the IC-7300 has not been available in large numbers over the past several months, so many ‘10s have been sold, and some of the ‘tire kickers’ who have several radios in the stable have put them up for sale.
I hope this helps.
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G8FXC

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Re: Why so many FT-DX10's for sale? Hello Previous owners?
« Reply #6 on: August 04, 2022, 06:59:39 AM »

I was curious why we are seeing a steady stream of the new FT-DX10 radios for sale.
I am curious what makes people try them and sell them in a short time?
...

I mean, with the newer tech, it must
mop the floor with the Icom 7300, and I still really like my IC-7300.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

...

Neal

I owned a 7300 for several years and then replaced it with an FTdx101D - which is pretty much two FTdx10s crammed into a single case, so I guess I meet your criteria for responding...

I would not say that the FTdx10 "mops the floor with the Icom 7300" - it outperforms the 7300 in a number of areas, but the 7300 is a very decent radio and will be a good option for many hams. The shortcoming of the 7300 which Yaesu fans leap on is its tendency to overload in the presence of very strong in-band signals. Plenty has been written about it - it is a genuine issue, but it is far less common than the 7300 haters will paint it. I ran a 7300 for about four years in the outskirts of London and never saw the overload warning light up. Undoubtedly, it can overload if you have high gain antennae hooked up and another station running a kilowatt half a mile away - but the number of hams for which that is an issue is probably quite small.

For me, the decision to replace the 7300 was based on a couple of factors - I really like dual receiver radios and I have a very high urban noise floor due to dozens of small man-made RFI sources dotted through my house and those of my neighbours. I've always found Yaesu noise reduction to be significantly better than Icom's version. I also wanted to be able to run a separate RX-only low noise antenna - and the FTdx101D has excellent functionality to support that. The FTdx10 has the Yaesu noise reduction, but does not have the RX antenna input socket or antenna management.

Why are second-hand FTdx10s coming on the market? I really don't know, I'm afraid. It's a very competent radio - arguably the best there currently is within the price point. Is it related to the COVID pandemic and subsequent recovery? That may well be the case - I talked to the owners of a couple of the big ham radio equipment dealerships a few months after COVID raised its head and they told me that sales had rocketed - most of the population was locked down and people were getting bored. Apparently quite a lot of hams who still had their licences but had let the equipment go decided to get back on the air to releave boredom and bought new radios. The FTdx10 would have figured pretty highly in those sales figures. Now, COVID is fixed and people can meet up to socialize or to go to work. It's inevitable that some of those impulse purchased radios will find their way back onto the market.

Martin (G8FXC)
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K4FMH

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Re: Why so many FT-DX10's for sale? Hello Previous owners?
« Reply #7 on: August 04, 2022, 07:34:35 AM »

Hi Neal,

I own an FTDX10 along with a 7300 (now in a Gator Case for portable ops). I favor the FTDX10 over the 7300 at this point but I also have a Flex 6400 and TS-590SG in my shack right now for HF, too.

I haven't tried to put any numbers to it...only educated guesses at sales numbers for each rig and even they vary in reliability between rigs...but note that there has been a big slew of IC-7300s for resale since the FTDX10 has been on the market. The comment above about the % of each rig offered for resale is likely the most valid comment.

Nonetheless, note that ergonomics has played a role in the narrative complaints in eHam reviews of the FTDX10...as well as the 7300 for a number of owners.

You can see some analyses of many rigs at my Sherwood Tools page here: https://foxmikehotel.com/hamography/studies/rigs-price-and-satisfaction-studies/

73,

Frank
K4FMH
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VE3WGO

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Re: Why so many FT-DX10's for sale? Hello Previous owners?
« Reply #8 on: August 04, 2022, 11:28:00 AM »

Thanks for sharing the link to your web page, Frank.  It's a treasure trove of excellent information!

I looked at the excel version of Sherwood's data, and in my experience with a local time signal just outside the ham bands (CHU) I was interested in wide spaced (or 100 kHz) dynamic range/blocking) and so that matters a whole lot more than close spaced dynamic range to me.  There isn't always a close correlation between the narrow and wide dynamic range.

I also found your Golden Quadrant analysis very revealing...  user satisfaction is fairly independent from Sherwood's ranking for most radios!

73, Ed
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KX2T

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Re: Why so many FT-DX10's for sale? Hello Previous owners?
« Reply #9 on: August 04, 2022, 01:49:13 PM »

I have owned both the 7300's and the FYDX10 and were I found the Ten worked better for me was during a busy weekend on 75,40,20 and even 15 but on 15 meters it doesn't show up until contest time. The both will hear the same station and you may find that the 7300 is set up for more simplified operating were the Ten take a little bit of time before you start to learn how to get the most out of this radio. I also had a 7601 next to a FTDX10 for 9 months, not some flash in the pan weekend tryout and it also bested the RX section in even the 7610 when it came to never once being overloaded.

The point of when a RX section starts to get overloaded really depends on were you live like east coast ham's have to contend with allot more QRM plus multipath signals compared to lets say in the middle  of the country or out in the wester parts of the USA lets say Colorado or further west so here is another thing to consider as far as what type of operating you do as well as geographic area's. What may work fine for someone in Arizona or Colorado may not cut the mustard here on the east coast.

In my operating both the Icom's and and Yaesu rigs I find the Ten just did a tad better, why so many are for sale is a trick question. Some bought the Ten and then liked it and went to a FTDX101D cause the Ten gave you a taste of what the 101D was like. Some didn't like the control layout cause of its smaller size or its display didn't averaging on the spectrum scope and that they were spoiled by the 7300 but personally I go with the better RX section and really don't care that much about the GUI. Also some like to try a new radio about once a month, I personally try and own a radio for at least a year or two before it hits the chopping block. Also the Ten has been selling better these days and the 7300 sales have dropped off so just like when it seemed like everyone was buying a 7300 there will be others that will say they wanted something else. Still for how the FTDX10 handles itself for todays investment dollar its a dam good radio, it is a cut above the 7300 but at the $1K mark the 7300 is still an very good buy, I feel the Ten is above good to excellent buy in todays marketplace.
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KD7RDZI2

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Re: Why so many FT-DX10's for sale? Hello Previous owners?
« Reply #10 on: August 04, 2022, 03:34:59 PM »

Being the Ten a keeper, people replace it with a new one to have it under warrenty  ;D
« Last Edit: August 04, 2022, 03:37:04 PM by KD7RDZI2 »
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WC4R

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Re: Why so many FT-DX10's for sale? Hello Previous owners?
« Reply #11 on: August 04, 2022, 04:07:57 PM »

If many are sold, then statistically, many will be on the used market. Couple that with a good number of FTdx10's are sold by owners that step up to the bigger FTdx101. In my nearly 50 years on HF, there are only three radios I can say were the best-spent money. The FTdx10 is one of those.
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AF5CC

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Re: Why so many FT-DX10's for sale? Hello Previous owners?
« Reply #12 on: August 04, 2022, 04:15:40 PM »

If many are sold, then statistically, many will be on the used market. Couple that with a good number of FTdx10's are sold by owners that step up to the bigger FTdx101. In my nearly 50 years on HF, there are only three radios I can say were the best-spent money. The FTdx10 is one of those.

What were the other 2?

73 John AF5CC
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N3ZP

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Re: Why so many FT-DX10's for sale? Hello Previous owners?
« Reply #13 on: August 05, 2022, 10:45:39 AM »

I am a fairly new owner of an FTDX-10. I bought it as a second radio as an alternative to my FLEX 6400 after selling off some other gear. I have also owned an IC-7300. I am sure part of the reason there are FTDX-10s for sale is that with IC-7300s unavailable, many buyers of radios in the $1000 to $1500 price choose to buy the FTDX-10 with current pricing at $1399.95, which is comparable to the non-rebate list price of the 7300. After trying out the FTDX-10 some buyers may get frustrated by the buttons close to the main tuning, short screen duration for setting menu changes and the very deep selection of menu options. I admit it took a bit to get used to some of these quirks but I don't find them a deal breaker. Since getting the FTDX-10, my 6400 has seen minimal use. I have made QSOs on CW, SSB and FT8 with it and find it a very pleasant radio to use. I have used N4PY rig control software for several radios and have now set it up with the FTDX-10. It does simply some of setting changes and does add some ease of operation. I believe adding the external monitor and a mouse, which are added features of the 10, would overcome some if the front panel complaints.

In comparison to the 7300 I would consider the 10 a significant upgrade in performance. Although I sold my 7300, it was to finance an IC-705, not for any failings of the 7300. When the 7300 first came out there was a frenzy of buyers but many of those also ended up for sale in a very short time. They are still easy to find and hot sellers on the used market. Touch-screens and multiple level menus are not for everyone and those are two reasons some buyers sell their new radios. I can't see spending that kind of money on a new radio and not spending the time to get comfortable with it but there a ops who choose to do it.

Phil N3ZP
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K7JQ

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Re: Why so many FT-DX10's for sale? Hello Previous owners?
« Reply #14 on: August 05, 2022, 11:41:22 AM »


I am sure part of the reason there are FTDX-10s for sale is that with IC-7300s unavailable, many buyers of radios in the $1000 to $1500 price choose to buy the FTDX-10 with current pricing at $1399.95, which is comparable to the non-rebate list price of the 7300. After trying out the FTDX-10 some buyers may get frustrated by the buttons close to the main tuning, short screen duration for setting menu changes and the very deep selection of menu options.

Phil N3ZP

Yes, I agree that a valid reason that the FTDX-10 is selling well, and also showing up in the classifieds, is due to the IC-7300 not being available. The '10 is always in stock, and when shipments of 7300's get to the vendors, they're gone in a couple of days. Seems that Yaesu is producing/providing greater supplies of their radios.

I played around with a '10 at my local HRO, and while it has a great performing receiver, the ergonomics completely turned me off. The buttons, especially crowded around the tuning knob, 3D scope, and menu accessibility leaves the radio, for me, difficult to operate. Especially being a contester. If you're gonna make a physically small radio, you have to keep the front panel uncluttered, with only the most used controls on it. And mostly set-and-forget stuff in easily accessible menus. The 7300, although not as feature and performance laden, seems to be a better fit for me in that price point range.

Maybe those that haven't played with it first, before getting it in their shack, are relying on the Sherwood numbers for their decision. Then when they get it, become disappointed with its physical ability for smooth operation..
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