| WA2PUX |
Rating:  |
2021-09-17 | |
| RF Bleed Through in Speaker Audio |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I REALLY like the radio in so many ways.
I have only found one unpleasantry so far: RF bleed through in the speaker audio.
If you listen to the speaker while transmitting SSB (even on a GOOD dummy load), you can hear the characteristic WAH-WAH-WAH of SSB RF bleed through.
I contacted ICOM. Their response?
It would require a redesign.
What are they willing to do for existing owners?
Too bad, so sad. It is what it is. |
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| K3GO |
Rating: |
2021-07-22 | |
| World Class 5 Star plus radio |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Just set the IC7610 up in my office. It has replaced my K3S with P3 adapter. I owned the Elecraft K-line for many years and love them, but this radio replaces it. IC 7610 is better in the weak signal, noise reduction and spectacular on the noise blanking. The receivers are amazing and quiet. Signals just pop up out of the noise floor. You hear weak signals on this radio and work them with amazing ease. The radio operates with MacLogger , FLDIGI and CocoaModem 2.0 perfectly. The touch screen tuning, control and logical setup is amazing. I cannot say enough good things about this radio but it’s top of the line performance exceeds all previous radios.
For those who unfairly reviewed the DVI connector on the back, please get a life and actually go purchase the radio, then plug in Monoprice DVI adapter and let us know.
Features which are really awesome are the PSK, RTTY decoder and transmitter. Plug in a mouse and keyboard and you are on the air. The bandstacking registers (3 per band) and the quick memory program and recalls are most excellent. The dual watch dual band receivers are matched and totally amazing. Controls and arrangement are logical and the modes enable touch screen mode selection options and are simple and easy to use. You get multiple USB logical connections on the USB2 port and I am looking forward to using the USB3 port for data applications. The VBT filters are sharp and exact with the most amazing feature being the Digi-Select filter totally eliminating overload as you tune around. The keyer is nice, fast with full break-in is seamless and quiet. Speaker audio quality is excellent and clear.
I will add more to the review as the radio is a keeper. Thanks, 73 de John
Well Its now several years later and the IC7610 continues to perform flawlessly. It's great on all aspects of noise reduction, 6 meters, all modes but the best thing is the dual receive for figuring out DX pileups and places to place my signal so I can get heard. The radio system works great on FT8 and WSPR. It's a true quality product. A real keeper. best regards 73 De John K3GO |
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| W4VR |
Rating: |
2021-06-28 | |
| Great Radio that keeps on trucking! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I've had a 7610 for well over two years and never had a single problem with it. I drive the PW-1 with the 7610 and that also is in great shape after 15 years of trouble-free service. The only radios that I've had problems with over the years were made by Kenwood. Although I do regret selling my 10-year old Yaesu FT-1000D, only because it lacked a spectrum display. |
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| OH7XM |
Rating: |
2021-06-28 | |
| Difficult to service! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Nightmare to repair!
Comparing IC-7300 and 7900 this is a way far from mechanical work
Just done over 30 years service so far
Arno
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| WB4OOA |
Rating: |
2021-06-07 | |
| Latest Technology |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
TWO DIRECT CONVERSION receivers; SDR Technology; and a beautiful Touch display.
This is one of the later models from Icom with the new display and corrected heat sink mounting.
Serial #12004594.
It has worked perfectly for almost 5 months now.
Just a few things that stand out for me, for what they are worth.
It is #20 on Rob Sherwood's list. The Elecraft K4 is #13.
All the front panel buttons work excellent. The MULTI and dual concentric knobs are functional as is the main tuning knob. They all have one unique feature. The finger surface is: KNURLED with a black highlight in the silver color. This is really unique and quite a nice touch.
The single knob with a silver skirt in the lower right corner; labeled: RIT/TX is like no other knob I have ever encountered. It is completely SOLID and VISCUS damped. It also has a knurled finger area and amazing feel. I am enjoying the radio very much. |
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| KO1C |
Rating: |
2021-05-27 | |
| Excellent Radio |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
The first day I owned my 7610, it developed a green bar on the screen, from top to bottom. This was NOT the fogging/clouding issue many have had with older units.
The third day I owned my 7610 I shipped it back off to Icom for a warranty replacement of the screen. They replaced the screen and while they were at it, they made sure the radio was properly aligned.
I love the receiver in this radio. It's incredible, you have to hear it, play with the controls to really appreciate it.
The touch screen is beautiful and very good. You can easily customize it's layout.
I've owned Flex's, Ten Tec's, Yaesu's and other Icoms, I keep coming back to this radio.
This radio is easily worth the screen problems I had in the beginning.
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|
| 2E0EUG |
Rating: |
2021-05-12 | |
| Icom still the best |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I love this radio, I should have bought it first but was concerned about the legendary display issues with the 7610 so bought the FTDX101MP however I hope and feel pretty confident Icom have now slain that Dragon !
I traded in my FTDX101mp for this radio after a lot of issues and I am glad I did even though I lost out financially, that's my cross to bear, this radio sums up Icom technical expertise and design, the thing just works, no glitches no error no issues, it has such simplicity in its layout and function and is a pleasure to use, the 101mp has vc tune this has digi select which is better easier and also can be automatic. The waterfall has more detail better resolution and fully custom colours, the ftdx series has a set of terrible stock colour with poor resolution and has a make do interface where you have to choose the best of a bad lot, the Yaesu noise reduction is better but not by much, plus this radio is £1500 cheaper if you include the 1.2 roofing filters for the main and the sub on the 101mp, also the 101mp has 200w which this doesn't but who cares, I had lots of hardware issues with the 101 which I won't go into in this review but suffice to say was not expected from a Japanese company, Yaesu UK were fantastic with help but sadly they have been let down by poor design and engineering faults by Yaesu Japan,
Icom still leads and others try to follow !
UPDATE: Not sure the 101 Noise reduction is better, after using the 7610 on number 5 not much in it, both as good in their own way. |
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| K3MD |
Rating: |
2021-05-04 | |
| Very easy to use and competitive radio |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I have had the IC-7610 now for one month. My old computer bit the dust, got a new Dell, and it did not want to work with any interface to talk to the FT5K on DB9. So used that as an excuse to buy a new radio.
I have had many Icom radios over the years, IC-701, 756 Pro II and III, 7800, 7600, 7300. As far as I can tell, this beats them all. As far as inadequate input filtering on the IC-7300, that is corrected, especially with digi-sel, which on Yaesu costs considerably extra. I have not had any problem at all getting the ovf light to go out. The built-in audio modem works well. I do not do diversity reception, so that is not a problem. Hopefully, the screen issues have been resolved by now. Have yet to run in a contest, except for the CWT and the New England QSO party. We will see how it does on the bottom end of 40 in the CQWW CW….. that is the true test. The simplicity of setting transmit audio with a bass and treble control, rather than the complicated Yaesu system, is refreshing.
I do not use the built-in RTTY/ CW decoders, so I cannot evaluate them. Use of CW decoders is increasing rapidly, even in CW contests, and, unlike may old-time CW operators, I do not oppose this trend.
The Icom user interface is very intuitive, and easy to use. The waterfall is effortless, and can be used to good advantage by those operating in the non-assisted class of ARRL contest (this class has been largely eliminated in contests sponsored elsewhere than the US). I often turn the waterfall off in the assisted class, and just go by the bandmap on the computer with the calls of each station listed. The various filters to be used with an RBN or manual-type telnet node are discussed ad nauseam in our contest club.
CW selectivity is excellent. I have been having to open up the bandpass a bit, because the skirts are so steep. Nice! There is a less-steep skirt setting, which I do not use. Also, the AF peak filter operation is effortless and quite effective, with the frequent very weak QRP signals on the bands.
Use of AFSK RTTY or FT8 is extremely easy with this unit. Personally, I use the audio modem in the IC-7610 for receive, and a West Mountain Radio SoundBlaster for transmit. There are those who insist that the USB cable must be used for transmit also, but since I have been using the SoundBlaster for years, and have it converted for my backup IC-7300 also, I stick with it for transmit. I attempted to do direct shift RTTY, now thought to be obsolete, once high tech, however, that did not work with two programs so far, even with use of the RTTY pin on the 10-pin acc socket rather than the USB cable.
Apparently, according to my friend Scott K0MD, the USB cable tends to get damaged by lightning often. For this I must make up a 50V MOV special cable, but have not gotten around to it quite yet. Apparently, this is a very common problem with USB cables, although I do not have any personal experience with this periblem.
So, if you do decide to go with a proven unit that corrects any deficiency of the IC-7300 and is on a par with the FTDX-5000, FTDX-101D, TS-890S, and K3, go ahead and get one. You will find that the user interface on the IC-7610 is 100 times more intuitive and easy to operate than that on the K3 (I sold mine). As far as the the Flex radios… I do not know, I do not have that much money for a transceiver. I would rather get an Elecraft KPA1500, but, if I did, I might be cursed for life by my excellent Alpha 8410, which will loaf at 1 KW CCS all day without getting even slightly warm. I have not found the separate 2nd VFO knob to be necessary for my contest operation… for a dedicated SO2V’er, it would be.
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| GW3YDX |
Rating: |
2021-01-15 | |
| Pretty good but not quite 100% |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
This is a pretty good radio but there are a couple of irritations that wont allow me to give it five stars. I've had it for just a month so may come back and do a subsequent review if either ICOM update their firmware appropriately or I find something else of note to mention.
First of all, the receive performance is excellent. The receiver is above all very quiet and not fatiguing during long contest operations. I also have a TenTec Orion and a TS890S. After a lot of testing between the three on very weak and noisy CW signals on 160 and 80, the Orion is No1, the 890 No2, and the IC7610 No3, but the differences are really really marginal and would only make a difference in 0.1% of signals if that. How important that is to you depends on how much you really need to copy those difficult signals or can just pass them by.
The DSP noise reduction on the 7610 is streets ahead of the other two radios, and outstanding. It is indeed quite amazing and I often switch it in on a noisy signal to see how very very good it is. The Audio peak filter is also excellent, on a par with the Orion and just a bit better than the TS890.
Less good are a couple of features that are really rather dumb. The first is a schoolboy-type ergonomic error. It is absolutely silly to put the RF/AF gain controls for the main RX above those of the Sub. Unless one has giant hands ones hands fall naturally to the level of the RIT control at the lower edge of the front panel. To use the main RF/AF gain one has to reach up and then one also encounters the obstacle of the jack plug for the CW key. Yes one can use a right-angle plug to minimise the obstruction but that is hardly the point. The main RF/AF gains are those mostly used and therefore should be readily and instantly accessible, just like the RIT. Sure, the AVC is pretty good and one doesnt often need to adjust the AF or RF gain, but it is mightily annoying when one does. Yaesu has it right with the FTDX101's. Main is at the bottom, Sub is above it. Why cant all manufacturers see issues that are so obvious ?
The second problem (how could one call it a feature ?) is that like with the TS890S it is not possible to independently set the preamp and the attenuator for a receive antenna referenced to the settings for the main TX antenna. Typically I use a Beverage RX antenna on the low bands with the preamplifier in, attenuator out, to compensate for feedline losses to the Beverage feedpoint and the low gain of that antenna. Using the TX antenna for receive such settings result in RX overload, but it is not possible to set the preamp and attenuator “per antenna”. My recent review of the TS890 illustrates the same problem with both “flagship” transceivers. For the operator with receive antennas it drives you nuts. NB – some manufacturers have it right. The K3 and the TenTec Orion can both configure RX and main TX antennas seperately. ICOM, please note – this could surely be easily fixed in a firmware revision.
Originally when I first started using the 7610, I thought I would miss the separate tuning knob for the second VFO, as I was used to that configuration on the K3 and the Orion. But the single VFO knob, coupled with the “Change” button is very easy to use and I have gotten very used to it now.
This radio is a keeper and a delight to use, but I do hope ICOM reads these reviews and takes note of the issues I raise.
Added Jan 15th 2021 --
This is a follow-up to my previous review, and covers particularly the issue of diversity reception. Well, the IC7610 certainly does it, BUT there is a problem that some potential buyers with a need for diversity reception should be aware of.
One can put the radio into “tracking mode” which when the MAIN/SUB front panel button is pressed will cause the two VFO's to track, with the LED by “MAIN/SUB" then flashing.. Great for searching the bands, but if you are calling CQ with diversity reception, beware, as the RIT does not track with the VFO's. This means that if one is in diversity and a station calls off frequency, the RIT witll tune that signal on the main VFO, but it does not automatically RIT-tune the signal on the other VFO. One can press the CHANGE button to reverse the VFO's and then set the RIT on the second VFO, but it is rather fiddly. What a shame that ICOM didnt include RIT tracking in the firmware.
Strangely enough, the preamp switching IS independent, so one can boost the gain of a lower gain RX antenna to equalize it with the TX antenna. What a pity that preamp switching is not independent for RX and main antennas on a given VFO, as described in my previous review.
Some work for ICOM to do. Pity they dont seem to have a way for users to give them feedback about such issues.
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|
| K4TB |
Rating: |
2020-10-26 | |
| Another in the Fine Icom 7xxx Series |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I have to change my original rating down to 4 Stars. After the first review the radio developed a problem of a receiver preamp failing, which Icom fixed for free under warranty, although it cost me to ship it to them. Then, it slowly started developing the notorious display problem. I kept using it for a while and eventually the radio started doing some various quirky things like locking up with no receive audio. I sent it to Icom and they determined it was a CPU problem and the main board would need to be replaced for over $1800 since it was out of warranty. I asked them to simply dispose of it which they did for free. I then bought an Icom 7300.
I enjoyed the Icom 7610 initially and it performed excellently while everything was working. Hopefully there are no problems with the new 7610's Icom produces now.
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Previous review from 2018-12-30:
I've owned most of the IC-7xxx series, starting with the 756, then the 756 Pro III, the 7600, and now the 7610. All of them set the mark in their times for a fine, general purpose, state-of-the art transceiver with leading-edge features. The IC-7610 certainly continues the tradition.
As soon as I turned on the IC-7610 for the first time I was immediately impressed by the clarity of the audio. Signals that were not even moving the S-meter and buried in the mud were still Q-5 copy! Stronger signals were studio quality copy.
Since the 7600 I've been hooked on the dual watch feature for working DX on split operations. Now the 7610 carries it a step farther with a fully separate second receiver. Instead of just using the same band and antenna, each receiver can be used separately for things like monitoring 6 meters with one while operating 20 meters with the other. The tracking function allows full space diversity reception which can really enhance intelligibility. Minor nits: The volume knobs are wiggly but I can live with that; the new touch screen layout for accessing many features takes some getting used to but eventually makes operating more efficient it seems; and when a speaker is plugged into audio out jack #1 both receiver audios go to the outboard speaker instead of #2 going to the internal speaker. You have to plug in speakers to both audio jacks to get full audio separation.
An idea I have for Icom if it's feasible would be to take advantage of the dual SDR receivers and add a software revision to provide a noise cancellation capability digitally, emulating the analog technique used in the Timewave and MFJ external noise cancellers on the market. After all, (at the risk of hearing growls from software programmers everywhere), "it's only software, right?" :)
Another great radio - thank you Icom!
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