Evolutionary, Not Revolutionary

Late last Friday evening (US Eastern Standard Time), the new Icom IC-7110 was revealed at the JARL Ham Fair in Tokyo. This is what until Friday was referred to by the internal Icom project name, X-026. 

Of course we don't know everything about this radio, but what we do know indicates that Icom has a solid hit into deep left field. Is it a home run? Perhaps, but right now we just don't know enough about this rig to make that call. What we do know makes it seem like a winner, and you can read about the good stuff in the brochure at the attachment below. 

But what about what we don't know, or doesn't sound so good? Right off the bat, no internal tuner. What? Icom's historically had an on again, off again relationship with the idea of built-in tuners. When they do it, they do it very well. The tuner in the IC-7300 is a great example. On the surface the 7300's tuner looks ho-hum, only able to handle a 3:1 mis-match. But put the rig into Emergency mode, and the tuner can handle up to 10:1 mismatches at reduced output. That's exactly the tuner design that belongs in the 7110, and shame on Icom for not building it in. I think Icom's plan is to name the new AH-6 external tuner as the 'official' tuner solution, but that thing is $650, likely 1/3 or more the cost of the radio itself! I'm sure the aftermarket will step up with cheaper solutions.

The tuner is the only obvious negative about the radio at this point, so let's talk about the unknowns. Of course we don't know anything about pricing or shipping dates. My guess is $2k and February 2027. I've never known Icom to make a Christmas shipping date for a new product; they never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

There are a lot of questions right now regarding wi-fi capabilities. The literature says the rig has wi-fi, but little else. Can I remotely connect the head to the main unit via wi-fi? Can I get the main unit on wi-fi similar to how the IC-705 works? Is the server software built into the radio firmware the same way it is on the new IC-7300 Mk II? 

Speaking of connectivity, hey Icom, can we finally get drivers for ARM-based processors? They are not going away.

Can you outboard video via the USB-C port(s). There's two of them - one on the main unit and one on the remote head. Does one of those support video out?

There's a built-in GPS receiver, there mainly for DSTAR, but will the radio all you to outboard the NMEA data stream for location and time synchronization for applications like WSJTX?

Speaking of DSTAR... naaah, I'm over it. I couldn't care less if it was there or not. To me, at this point, DSTAR is just a parlor trick. 

How easy is it to do a MARS mod? Will it operate in the 'silent scan' mode for use with ALE applications?

Is there a remote head stand included in the box?

I expect the usual digital mode capabilities. Icom has always done an excellent job here.

Let's spend a minute considering capabilities and pricing. Nothing about this radio is revolutionary. This is an evolutionary product that builds on the SDR radios Icom has been selling for over 10 years, and that's a good thing. It means that Icom repurposed already mature hardware and firmware designs. The R&D costs for this radio were likely quite low. My hope is that this repurposing and low R&D costs (and the lack of an internal tuner) means Icom will hold the line on pricing. The 7110's direct competitor is the Yaesu FTX-1, in its full- up Optima configuration. While the two radios represent different design philosophies, they both target the same audience with very similar features. Icom has to know that if there's more than $100 in daylight between retail pricing many hams will reflexively pick the Yaesu. Icom has been loafing in this mobile all-mode market segment for a while now, and every FTX-1 sold is a lost 7110 sale. So I think Icom has a lot of motivation to set the retail price to right at, or just below, what the FTX-1 is currently selling for. 

You will find the the pre-release IC-7110 brochure at this link. It's a little thin on details, but it provides a good overview of the radio and its capabilities.

And hey, we finally get back-lit buttons!

W8BYH out

Finally, A Backlit Keyboard!

I picked up a Framework 12 laptop earlier this year, mainly out of frustration that the otherwise excellent Surface Pro line was (and largely still is) unrepairable. I've had about eleven Surface Pro and Surface Go models, and a few Surface laptops, pass through my hands over the last decade. We standardized on them at work and it was my job to spec them out and support them post-purchase. It took Microsoft a few years to get the Pro and Go lines figured out, but from at least the Surface Pro 7 generation they were great machines. As long as the batteries held up. And... they didn't. The batteries were too small in capacity, and Microsoft struggled to get the hardware and firmware dialed in to keep power draw reasonable. We never saw the advertised runtimes in real-world use. New units with fresh batteries were OK, but within a year we would see a significant drop in battery performance. That was OK for business use - we were never far from a charging port. For my personal use, however, I felt I could never really trust them since I couldn't replace the batteries.

I wanted something that I could easily upgrade or fix myself - something designed from the ground up to be user repairable. There was (and still is) only one company offering this kind of a product - Framework. I focused on the new Framework 12. When I wrote about the computer back in February, I had two major complaints. First, the battery capacity is too small. Second, no backlit keyboard. But I bought the Framework 12 on faith - faith that the company would address these issues in a refresh. And they have!

Yesterday Framework announced the next generation of the Framework 12 line, and it offers a backlit keyboard and improved battery life. Too bad I don't need a new laptop. But this is Framework, and everything is backwards compatible. When the new generation is released, the company will also make the backlit keyboards available as a drop-in replacement for first generation owners like me. The power pins for the backlight are already built into the first generation motherboard. Framework was thinking ahead.

As to the power issue, that's a bit more involved. They didn't release a higher capacity battery. Better battery performance requires a motherboard swap for a new motherboard that has lower power draw. Again, there is backwards compatibility with the first generation units - pull out the old, drop in the new. You even get to re-use your old system memory and RAM. The lower power draw of the new motherboard is supposed to provide up to a 50% improvement in battery life. I think I'll wait on this to see what impact the backlit keyboard has on my current battery power draw.

I know these Framework computers are expensive compared to a similarly spec'd Dell or HP. I've already discussed this in earlier posts. My going with Framework is more a statement of support for their philosophy of owner repairability. I'm more than willing to pay a little extra for that. Plus, this is a hobby, and if you can't spend money on your hobbies what's the point?

W8BYH out