Third Time's The Charm?

Another day, another Icom IC-7100. Wait, what?

A month or so back I picked up my third IC-7100. No, I don't have three of them in my shack, I just buy them, use them for a while, then sell them or trade them off for something different. In all this trading around I never lost my respect for the 7100. It's just that I'm something of a crow, and shiny new objects catch my attention. To get something new I need to sell something old, and the IC-7100 is an easy sell, particularly to those who understand what this rig is capable of.

The path to this new (used) 7100 was pretty straight. I wanted a rig that I could take camping that offered 100 watts on HF, 50 watts on VHF, has a built-in sound card interface and is easy to run on digital modes via USB. Oh, and I also wanted back-lit keys for use in low light conditions like at night in the outdoors. The Japanese seem to have forgotten about this important feature, the Americans never did get it, and I don't buy Chinese. As far as I know, the IC-7100 is one of the last 100 watt HF rigs currently manufactured that has back-lit buttons. The Yaesu FT-991a and the FT-891 are the other two. The 991a offers the VHF and UHF capability I'm after, but I much prefer Icom's command set. 

Before you laugh at me over this button thing, go read product reviews of currently manufactured laptop computers. If one doesn't include a backlit keyboard (like the new Apple Neo) the reviewers and fanboys start bitching, loudly. Backlit keys seem to be vitally important to laptop computers, so why not modern HF rigs? No back-lit keys means the manufacturer has gotten lazy. Screw DSTAR and C4FM, I want back-lit keys.

Ever try to work the world from a darkened campsite? You'll come to appreciate back-lit buttons and keys.

Can the IC-7100 compete in the world of modern SDRs? Sure, it competes just fine. I admit that I've become as addicted to multi-color real-time band scope displays as the next ham, and the 7100's monochrome display looks dated. However, if you are OK working without a band scope, the radio's information display is quite well done. It follows Icom's well proven command set layout, so if you've operated any of the current generation of Icom HF rigs, you can easily and quickly find your way around the IC-7100.

I'd been casually haunting the QRZ.com used equipment pages for a few months, watching IC-7100's pop up and almost immediately get sold. My frustration peaked when I went camping back in early March, and took along my IC-705. It became a huge PITA as I tried to get it working properly with a new laptop. Actually, the radio was fine. It was Icom's RS-BA1 software and wi-fi settings that frustrated me. I've beaten Icom up enough over the issues with the IC-705 and RFI in the past. I'll just say this - I'll never go through what I experienced on that camping trip again. My IC-705 is now on a short list of rigs to sell for some quick cash.

Last month I got a message on one of the Groups.io sites I follow. A member was selling an IC-7100 in great condition, along with the accessory Icom HM151 microphone, something I already knew I wanted. The price was good, we struck a deal, and I was the owner of yet another IC-7100. The user interface on the IC-7100 is so intuitive that I didn't even bother to open the manual when I set it up for HF digital modes and programmed in the local repeaters. 

When I bought this radio, I already knew Icom would be announcing its replacement at the upcoming Dayton Hamvention. I also knew that whatever it was, its release in the US was still at least a year off. I wanted the IC-7100's capabilities now. At Dayton, Icom did tease out what's known as the X-026 (certainly an in-house design designation), and it will be the 7100's replacement, but all Icom had on display was a plain plastic box and a mock-up remote head. For details we'll have to wait for the radio's official release at the Japanese Ham Fair in late August. Then we go through final product design, FCC certification, manufacturing, and shipping delays. I'm sure it'll be a crackerjack product and I may even buy one, but in the meantime the still very relevant and generally outstanding IC-7100 is in my shack handling digital traffic and repeater calls. A bird in the hand and all that.

W8BYH out.