| K2GW |
Rating:  |
2020-01-18 | |
| Excellent Radio |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I've owned and used this radio extensively since December 2017. It is superb, especially with the updated firmware. a few thousand QSO's confirms it.
I am always amused by folks who don't own a radio (nor obviously haven't read the manual) writing reviews.
I have had no issues with the display in 24 months of use as I use it with the out of the box settings, and don't try crank up the brightness to light up the room with it.
Also for folks complaining about the wobble of some of the knobs, they need to understand that those knobs with a little wobble in them also function as push buttons, something that the 7600 didn't have. For example, each of the separate receiver's volume knobs also push in and out to function as speaker mute buttons. The RIT button doesn't have a push in feature and thus is quite solid.
And the ability of this radio to pull signals out of noise is amazing.
This from some one who has owned 20 HF transceivers in 45 years as a ham.
|
|
| KQ4KK |
Rating: |
2020-01-12 | |
| A very GREAT SDR Transceiver with knobs |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I bought one over the holidays when they dropped below $2800 US. It does everything ICOM and Rob Sherwood said it would. Great audio with the speaker designed box mounting. 2 True dual receivers that are very sensitive. Easy to use, since our club has a 7300 for a couple of years and I have a 9700. Buttons and screen touches to adjust/manage the radio are very similar. I've used a YAESU new FT101 and a Kenwood 990. Both nice transceivers in their own right.
I've had a lot of ICOMs; 765, 706, 706mk2, 7000, 7100 756PRO. The 7610 tops them all of course.
The waterfall(s) are nice, have some adjustments you can do. I also have had a FLEX 6600 for a couple of years. The waterfall on the 7610 is no where near as flexible as the 6600. If you buy a SDR radio for its "waterfall" display, buy a FLEX. The FLEX is $1k more, and you need a computer. I like them both.
The 7610 is much easier to fire up and get working on a daily basis. |
|
| K6VOX |
Rating: |
2020-01-12 | |
| Amazing radio |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| One of the best purchases I have ever made. I too had one with the Display issue. ICOM told me they can replace it but I should wait for the new displays. Sent in anyway and boy was I treated very well. Radio was back in a week, replacement display is perfect and they went thru the whole radio and tuned/adjusted a few things. The radio is one of the easiest to use and configure and is very reliable. I have owned a 7300 as well and the 7610 is just that much better with a full plate of features. |
|
| VK4SX |
Rating: |
2019-12-12 | |
| WONDERFUL Base radio |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
just to reiterate, this radio has been in use EVERY SINGLE DAY since 4th of NOVEMBER 2017, WITH ABSOLUTELY ZERO ISSUES,
heat sink clamps fitted IN CASE for future,
as previous review a large % of screen issues are being reported for ABSOLUTE MINIMAL DEFECT with all SCREENS to the FAR RIGHT MAXXED OUT, when set to realistic NORMAL settings NO DEFECTS??
Human nature looking looking for faults as they do in life,
I have 7851,K3-S, 7300, ELAD, ANAN, this 7610 is amongst the top 10, In a big %, of returned radios, correct settings resolved issues.
ok well certainly bombarded with questions in regards this rig,
FIRST OFF, everything is separate,
TWO COMPLETE SEPARATE radios in one box,
DO NOT SHARE anything only the buttons & knobs to operate, as the other ham said, lacking some knobs but easy to use,
stepped attenuation from 3db, in 3db steps to 45db is fantastic, plus standard 6-12-18 db in normal mode,
screen is excellent, RX is very exceptional,
remember this is NOT two 7300's in one box,
tuning knob is light and cheap feeling compared to a 16oz brass on K3, menu operated BIAS ON / OFF is a bonus, shame they didn't address the Headphones Speakers menu system, eg' Like Elecraft,
a lot of radio, digs out CW as good as, if not better then my K3 (S) appears to do it easier then 7300,
this rig will cause a huge re-think in the hobby,
this morning I switched A, B, C, 7610, K3 S, ELAD FDM DUO, connected to ULTRABEAM V L 2-3,
the Tracking pre selector is the Cherry on top,
very very hard to NOT LIKE this radio, and YES separate Attenuators.
Happy Ham
Cheers
Dennis vk4sx
|
|
| WJ3Z |
Rating: |
2019-12-12 | |
| Wonderful Radio!! |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
| I purchased my 7610 at Dayton 2019. I already own the 7851, 7700, 7600 and 7300 so I really didnt need it but wanted to get one. I have to say Im glad I did! I have had zero issues with it and really enjoy operating this radio. I have had no display issues at all. One thing I did do was to run the display at reduced brightness and sharpness settings as was suggested by others who own the radio. I have run this radio many many hours now since I have owned it and there is no sign of display issues. |
|
| 2E0MSD |
Rating: |
2019-12-07 | |
| Flimsy controls |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| For the required standard in terms of noise reduction,sensitivity it can’t be faulted.Lovely screen with no issues during my ownership. However the control knobs are awful,loose or excess movement and not befitting on a radio of this value. |
|
| LA5MIA |
Rating: |
2019-11-27 | |
| Outstanding performance |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
In my ownership I have two IC-7610, only one thing to say is a radio with outstanding receiver performance, its beat my IC-7700 and 7600!!!! one example is the noise reduction, greate TX audio too.
The display working well at both of my 7610 without any fault and problems so far.
Icom should improove the NB, little hard to do the adjustment on it without detortion of a strong RX signals, but finally I found a good setting. The 7700, 7600 and 7410 is more easy to do the NB setting on.
The spectrum scope should be able to work continiously from the receivers lowest band edge to the higest, some settings for the band edges can be done in one of the menues for it, one example is 5 MHZ band there sow it scope out of range.
Tere is some + and - with all radios, but all over eveluation I will absolutly recommand this radio, you will not regret!!, I guess my complains can easyly be improoved by goodwill from Icom with the software upgrade.
Harald, LA5MIA. |
|
| WM1G |
Rating: |
2019-11-25 | |
| 15 month review |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I got my Icom 7610 about 15 months ago after I retired a 756 Pro II. I am at a new QTH and working to put up a tower again, so I am presently using a dipole. With the lack of sunspots, I decided to start using ft8 and I am on the air daily. It took a while to understand the rig and ft8. It seemed as if I called Icom tech support, weekly trying to figure out all the software. At one point, after about three months of ownership, I encountered some noise. I thought it was local since I had an RFI problem with an ATT microcell previously. So when this new noise came up, I figured it was another local source of RFI. After about a month of trying, i was getting no where. I called tech support and the guy didn't want to listen to anything I had to say. Ultimately, I took the rig to a second location and realized then that the noise was internal to the rig. I took the rig back to HRO in Salem, NH. They packaged it up and the rig got a new main board. Now all is fine. I have had no difficulty with the screen. The difference in receiver sensitivity is amazing between the old 756 and the new rig. I was not able to receive much with the 756 at the new QTH and dipole. But with the new rig, I've logged 2700 QSO's, so to down grade the rig over one problem is not fair. I have to admit after 54 years of hamming, I can't wait for the tower to get up and for a few sunspots to get back to contesting and a few more modes. Like I said earlier I use the rig daily and it is on for hours at a time without any difficulty. I know some folks down grade the rig due to screens, knobs and software, but I have fun with the rig. That is what is important.
Mark
WM1G |
|
| N4UE |
Rating: |
2019-11-24 | |
| Just an update 'review' |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
There has been LOTS of complaints of screen failures, some multiple times.
Clearly, there IS an issue. I have been very happy with my 7610 and had no issues of any type.
I recently did some rearranging of my shack. The 7610 has it's own 19" monitor and the PC and my TS-890 share another, identical monitor.
As I finished, I was shocked to see an ugly blue-gray background on my 7610's screen. Both monitors had a jet black background as did the 7300 and TS-890.
Thanks to the 7610-tech Groups.io, I had several suggestions to check the 'Display Type'.
That was it, 'somehow' (?) I had switched Types.
I felt better, because subsequent posts showed I was not the only operator unaware of the difference between 'Type A and Type B'.
All is well, again.
I must add this caveat....I only have between 5-10 hours total on the 7610.
Why? I always go to the 7300 first.
ron
N4UE
I'm NOT trying to change the 'score' of the 7610, just my honest observations as both a ham of almost 60 years and as EE.
This 'Display' issue is very troubling. There have been multiple examples of screen failures on the same radio.
Recent info has postulated that the failures were somehow (?) related to site/RF issues. Remember, that whatever failed displays were returned to Icom Engineering for 'Failure Analysis' were removed from THAT environment.
I did Failure Analysis for IBM/Lexmark and needless to say, this multi-faceted issue is VERY complicated.
My opinion (worth ZERO) is there is a combination with the lowest cost supplier AND a radio issue. My Serial # 2X, Yes, TWENTY something (!!), still is perfect (as are the heat sinks), BUT, I have VERY low POH. So, as a life issue, my radio is not in the fold.
However, I must state that all my antennas are very close to resonant and all non-used feedlines coming into the shack are grounded.
I know that Bill (W1BG) has had multiple issues with his 7610, but he has also had issues with his W1 headset, etc. Perhaps, there is where the common thread is?
Sorry Bill, we worked through the W1 headphone/adapter issue!!! ha ha
You must wonder why my 7300 and Kenwood TS-890 have perfect displays? There are MANY millions of 'displays' that never have ANY issues. My old cell phone and all the PCs out there. How come?
Unless Icom purchased the VERY bottom of the barrel of displays (mfg out of business), how can this happen without multiple causes?
Bottom line for this OF?
I'll wait until Icom has a DOCUMENTED good replacement supply in stock. I will then purchase it and replace it myself, if, and when, my original supply craps out.
However, for Icom to be still replacing displays (and building NEW radios from these 'suspect' displays) is INACCUABLE from all perspectives!!
In the meantime, I still have the external 19" display!!!
Such a bad "SIGMA" for such an AWESOME radio!!!!
ron
N4UE |
|
| K4BNC |
Rating: |
2019-11-05 | |
| Good performance; some interface annoyances |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I have had the 7610 for a couple of months now. I have used it for casual operaating, a little DXing (VP6R) and some severe contest environemnts (40m during CQWW SSB). I also used it on FT8 on both HF and 6M. I am thoroughly satisfied with the performance.
Therefore my comments are mainly about the user interface - both good and bad.
The obvious - the display is beautiful and clearly shows all the needed data.
In general, the physical buttons are dedicated to a single function - no shift to an unrelated function. I like this choice. However, it does mean that the band buttons do not double as a numeric keypad. This means no physical buttons for direct frequency entry (which I do not miss) or for direct memory channel selection (which I do).
There are multiple menu buttons - the multi-function button, the quick menu and the regular menu - with no obvious logic as to why a given item resides on which menu. For example, power level is on the multi-function menu while drive level is on the quick menu. Incidentally, the power level is settable separately for 6M versus HF; I found no mention of this in the manuals. Otherwise, I found the manuals readable and quite complete although it is again not obvious how basic versus advanced was selected. Having the manuals online prior to purchase is a big plus.
Although an external keyboard is connected; it cannot be used for all cases where text needs to be entered (e.g. memory labels).
Finally I find it very annoying that some often used functions do not have physical buttons. Adding an inch to the height could have prevented this. This is my list of what I would have liked to see buttons for.
VFO/Memory select
Mode select - I got around this a bit by having the 3 band stacking registers set to the most used modes - one each for CW, SSB and Data.
Why are notch and Digi-sekect less worthy of a button than Noise blanker or noise reduction. |
|
