My man, Thom, W8TAM, just purchased and IC-7300. In preparation, he’s been watching YouTube videos. This really is a good way to learn about something, although if you’re not familiar with the author of the video, you have to take things with a grain of salt.
He sent me the links to the first two videos.
The lesson here is that when receiving, S/N ratio is much more important than the actual S-meter reading.
Someone at InRad must have owned an IC-735, because the IC-735 had exactly the same kind of setup. And, the jumper frequently went bad due to the flexing and whatnot.
I’ve just set my spectrum scope as described in this video. I like this setup, especially the green line, better than the default setup.
Dave New says
What, no waterfall? I guess on a tiny screen the waterfall doesn’t get much play, for lack of real-estate.
Much better display on the Elecraft P3, where the waterfall covers the previous 30 seconds of on-air activity. It is then much easier to see activity that might be almost invisible on the spectrum line, and the fingerprint will give a good idea of what kind of modulation it is (SSB, AM, PSK31, CW, etc.)
It gets even better if you get the SVGA adapter for the P3. Then you can drive an external display in high-res with a 2-minute waterfall. Really useful for finding signals on an otherwise ‘dead’ band, or holes that you might be able to call CQ in during a contest, or the next station (exactly), even if they aren’t currently transmitting, for a search ‘n pounce operation.
For those without an Elecraft, the P3 can be ordered for various IF frequencies, or you can use an N8LP panadapter with an open-source program like PowerSDRIF on your laptop.
You just need to find a way to tap the IF in your transceiver. Some manufacturers provide an IF output, others will require a bit of surgery to tap the signal and bring it out to the back panel.
Highly recommended.
Dan KB6NU says
Steve, N4LQ, the guy who produced the “IC-7300 With No-Fill Spectrum” video, doesn’t seem to find the waterfall useful for some reason. I do, however, and always display it, even on the tiny screen. I would love the ability to put the IC-7300 display on a big screen, but I guess that’s one of the features ICOM left out so they could sell it for less. Oh well.
Dinesh AB3DC says
I have the Icom RS-BA1 software and that does not do full screen either for the waterfall.
Neal KD8NVN says
Is there some way to output that RF signal, other than splitting the antenna feed, to input into an SDR and use a PC program (Linux or Windows) to view?
Btw, I’ve found TeamViewer a great tool for remote PC access, but it’s pricey.
Dan KB6NU says
No, there’s no access to the IF signal in the IC-7300.