FTdx10 & IC-7300: SSB Comparison (Video #13 in this series)
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- Опубліковано 31 бер 2021
- My good friend Joel, KC4WZB, loaned me his brand new Yaesu FTdx10. When I say loaned, I mean he picked it up at Ham Radio Outlet and brought it straight to me, so I could unbox it and shoot a series of videos, exploring the capabilities of this latest offering from Yaesu.
This is the thirteenth video in a series of videos I will be producing to show the capabilities of the Yaesu FTdx10. Honoring a request by some of my viewers, this video compares the SSB receive capabilities of the Yaesu FTdx10 and the ICOM IC-7300. This video gives the FTdx10 the opportunity to prove that it isn’t just another pretty face.
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73, de N4HNH - Наука та технологія
I love how you started the video with the main subject within a minute rather than meaning- less rhetoric as most you tubers do!
Mine is a no-frills channel. But sometimes I do narrate a backstory, to provide context, before I get to the subject of the video.
Really well explained. Thank you.
Good comparison video. I have been looking for this. I have read all of the comments to date. By all means leave this video up! There are those that criticized it, but you gave them kind replies and explained why you did what you did and that these are two different classes of radios. I value your knowledge and experience with radios. BTW the Yaesu FT-991A has backlit buttons. A very nice feature but, like you said, not a deal breaker.
I think people think I hate the 7300. I don’t. In fact, I don’t like to like Yaesu, but they usually win in a contest for receiver selectivity and noise reduction. I think the 7300 has its place though.
I simply try the radios on air and see how each one does. Indeed they are two different classes of transceivers. Yes, the FT-891 and 991 have backlit buttons. FT-991A slipped my mind, and I even shot videos about it.
73, de N4HNH
Well hello my friend your videos have convinced me that for only 3 hundred more I can get the yaesu 10. So thankyou and keep up the good work and once again thanks for your outstanding content. Best regards. Ron z. The north American shortwave radio and toy robot museum. WA 3090 swl.
Hi Ron! The FTdx10 is a whole lotta radio for a low price. It’s an unbelievable price when on sale.
73, de N4HNH
Great Video! Learned quite a bit... thanks.
You’re very welcome! 73, de N4HNH
I some how got lucky and heard you this afternoon on 40, 11/28/21. I’m only a General so I couldn’t reach out. Maybe next time🤞
You said you may be removing this video from your library!?!?!? Please dont!! This info has been very helpful in my decision on purchasing a new HF. I’m sure other people have benefited too. My FTDX 10 came in the mail today and let me tell you… Your videos have straightened the curves on my learning experience for this radio. The value of your videos are priceless to us “less than capable” hams. Thanks a million and please continue to educate!
73 de W4MUD
It is an honor for me that you reached out to me. You know, it was quite by accident that I ended up there this afternoon. I just stopped by to say hi to Billy, AD4PF, and he had to step away.
Maybe we can have a sched in the General portion of the band sometime.
Thanks for contacting me!
73, de N4HNH
Just want to say thanks for all your videos on the FT-DX10. I find them extremely helpful. 73
Thanks for letting me know. It’s always nice to know that I helped someone.
73, de N4HNH
Very nice video!!! I own both. Both radios for general use are great. Contest conditions I use the FTDX10. Normal conditions checking into nets and ragchewing I use the 7300. The thing with the 7300 being all SDR I just have to use it differently than any other radio I've ever owned. I would be happy with just owning the 7300, but having the FTdx10 is a plus. I enjoy both radios on my desk, just in different ways
I like how you setup both radios for a good clean copy of the QSO going on, and you mentioned about the S meter not having to read high. A Q5 copy is a Q5 copy, doesn't matter the S meter reading.
Thanks for sharing
@GuitarSounds that IC-7300 is a old 2015 design. The FTdx10 is a all SDR Radio to, just with a more advanced front end to clean up what's going to it's SDR so you don't experience front end overload as all IC-7300 do , FTdx10 is a 5 years or newer design.
@@xjohn1970 I own both and there's virtually nothing in it in terms of real world receiver performance. The dx10 has better filtering and a bit more functionality, but the rig handles like a mule. The 7300 is more basic, but it's "fun" to use. What I would say is that when it comes to ergonomics, newer isn't always better. They're both great rigs for different reasons.
@xjohn1970 Actually the FTdx10 is a dual-conversion superheterodyne plus SDR, hybrid. It isn’t a pure SDR. You’re right that the superheterodyne front-end gives the FTdx10 an advantage. The DSP is also superior.
Great video!
Thank you very much! 73, de N4HNH
Doug, ....Your FTdx10 series, convinced me to lay my money-down on the 10, as of this morning!! WHAT A FANTASTIC RADIO!! 'Slicing-and-dicing'' of the received signals, is no problem AT ALL for it!! The buttons on the 7300 are there, on the panel, ....but they just seem to rather 'ineffective', when compared to the 10's pronounced ability!! ...And pushing some of the close-quartered buttons on the 10, with the aid of an eraser-end-of-a-pencil, will solve THAT problem!! All in all, your DX 10 series is MOST IMPRESSIVE!! A GREAT SERIES of DX10's hint- and -kinks to absorb!! Thank you, Doug!!
I’m glad you are finding the series helpful. There are around 100 videos for the FTdx10. I always suggest watching them in order. And yes, Yaesu basically crammed one receiver from a FTdx101D into a smaller enclosure, less the extra antenna ports and the variable preselector (aka VC-Tune). So, with the smaller enclosure, some features that were controlled by buttons or knobs on the FTdx101D had to be moved to the Function menu while others were jammed around the VFO knob. But I’m glad they chose to carry those great features forward into the FTdx10. I’ve become accustomed to the jammed buttons and it no longer bothers me.
73, Doug
Great video! the FT-450D also has back light buttons
I thought there might be another. Thanks for that! The 450 is a great radio. It doesn’t get enough press.
72, de N4HNH
As does the FT-991A.
For a new ham, this explains a lot on how to use the filters, attenuator and gain. Thanks!
I’m glad you found it helpful. 73, de N4HNH
@@n4hnhradioI am a week old baby ham and I agree, this was very helpful to understand the filtering process. Thanks😊 still don’t know what radio to start with though. Kq40pk
I’m glad you found it helpful. First radio? The FTdx10 is available for the lowest price ever right now, through 2-12-2024. $1139.95, after mail-in rebate, from Ham Radio Outlet. The additional $60 discount ends at midnight tonight. It’s $1199.95 from DX Engineering.
terrific review very good 73 from kb2uew
Thank you! It’s good to know that my time is worth it.
73, de N4HNH
For most people on hf ultimate sensitivity is a non issue due to chinese phone chargers etc spewing out interference, I'm waiting for a rig with auto noise eliminator built in to get rid of my s6+noise from my neighbours . Great demo!
It makes me glad that I like CW so much.
Both radios sounds good...but to my ears, the FTdx10 has superior audio.
Hi ,i.did find when using noise reduction the waterfall and noise on spectrum scope doesnt reduce at all, how do u find on your yaesu dx 10? When switching pream 1, 2 or ATT on my radio waterfall sensibity doesnot change at all
The digital noise reduction is in the DSP stage of the receiver. The scope is driven from the SDR stage. Adjustments performed at the DSP stage do not affect the waterfall.
Eliminate the noise using ATT, IPO, etc., ahead of the SDR stage. Also, there is a scope sensitivity adjustment in the menu, at top left, called Level. You can assign this to the MPVD control by long-pressing the C.S. button.
73, de N4HNH
@@n4hnhradio hi, thanks for replay! For me this is very bad, its not logik! On icom 7300 this not happening, i think is perfect normal when you reduce a signal trough ATT or moving from preaamp 2 to no preamplifier the spectrum scope should reduce the noise on the screen directly as you do, decrease signal or increase signal!
Yes, that of correct. When you reduce the actual noise coming into the front-end of the receiver, the waterfall will show that reduction in noise. You must use ATT and IPO for this. The DNR is in the DSP stage, which is after the SDR stage. The DNR doesn’t actually reduce the noise coming into the receiver. It digitally masks/hides it.
As I said before, the waterfall is getting its feed from the SDR stage, not DSP.
73, de N4HNH
Dnr and rf gain are magic on yaesu !
Yes, they are. The DSP of the FT-891 allows it compete with the big boys.
Hi Doug, thats very interesting video ! At the end i could say that the ftdx10 has more ability to extract a signal from the noise.
But in the 7300 playing with rf gain you can achieve remarkable results as well.
Strangely from the pleasant audio point of view the 7300 sound better for me..smoother. Thats very strange. The 10 has more clear sound but just a little bit aggressive. 73 de IT9JCB.
Yes, for a budget radio, the 7300 does fine. I see these two radios as serving different needs. The 7300 is the casual operator radio. It’s intuitive, which makes it good for those who are just beginning in amateur radio. The FTdx10 is a contest class radio. It’s the one I would want for emergency communications, when the bands are likely to be very crowded. Basically the same band conditions as a contest. I will need maximum selectivity under such conditions.
73, de N4HNH
@@n4hnhradio speaking of emergency, the 12 volt operation is a plus. How much current does it draw on receive and what's the lowest break even xmit current? I know the 891 seemed to have a high current draw on xmit
The FT-891 draws 1A during receive. Not the most efficient. IC-7300 draws 0.9A on receive at lower audio setting, but 1.25A with loud volume setting.
The IC-7300 maximum transmit current draw is 21A. The FT-891 draws 23A at maximum power.
73, Doug
The 7300 doesn't output full 100w without generous mic gain and processor which might result in lesser current draw.
I can get 0.8amp draw on the 891 by turning down the led brightness for the buttons and the backlight.
The 891 has a brilliant receiver with really good receive audio with headphones which have to be high impedance.
The 7300 has very harsh audio and it's hard on my ears, it needs NR on all the time but it's typical of SDR receivers that don't allow AGC to be adjusted. When I got the panadapter for the 7300 and connected up my airspy HF+ the difference in audio while listening through the HF+ was immediately noticeable in SDR Console and when I adjusted the AGC in sdr console the audio was much much better again and it completely changed my experience with the 7300 not to mention having a gigantic waterfall and being able to click anywhere on the screen, see the whole band etc. But, the RX audio on the 891 is just so natural sounding. The filters on the 891 are a lot better also and it doesn't suffer from bleedover as much.
Listen to some of the better Kiwi SDRs with good antennas and those that use linear power supplies then play with the agc and see the difference, the 7300 really needs control over AGC as it would eliminate a lot of the harshness in the audio.
Now I have the Sun SDR DX 2 and it's an amazing radio and the remote operation is just fantastic, great audio and noise reduction, it actually greatly reduces the intermittent powerline noise I have at my QTH where as the 7300 NB was useless, I mean completely useless compared to the SUN which blew me away when I first used the Noise blanker function and it even eliminates the noise from the waterfall.
The 7300 is sold but the 891 will never leave me.
Thanks for the review. My takeaway was that the Yaesu (half again more $$) is a slightly better receiver, but most folks will be very happy with the Icom if they don't want to spend another $500. I wish, when running audio comparisons, that you fed the two radios into an audio mixer rather than use your vocal mic as the pickup point. The reason being that radio placement and room coloration will differ greatly for everyone. Many of us use external speakers or headphones also, so direct audio feeds would allow for a more apples-to-apples test.
I’m not trying to do a scientific analysis. It’s just a casual observation of one radio and another.
The recorded audio playback does sound the same as when I recorded it live. My room has no reflections. Actually I wish it did. I like the room to influence transmit audio a bit. But my shack is low ceiling and carpet. It is also a music rehearsal studio.
The two radios really should not be compared at all. They are two different classes of radio. One is a great casual use radio for beginner to intermediate operators. The other is a contest class radio. Based upon its receiver capabilities, it is amazing that it costs less that $2,000.
73, de N4HNH
@@n4hnhradio
Regular contest operator using IC-7300 will bit casual operator with FTDX 10 , ITS ALL ABOUT experience, modern radios all about the same.
1 Operator
2 Antennas
3 Radio
Modern radios are close but not the same. When dealing with interference up and down the band, the FTdx10 is superior to all receivers, except the FTdx101D or MP. Sherwood Engineering and the ARRL bear this out. The Yaesu DSP adds the finishing touches. I don’t even like to like Yaesu but I must give credit where credit is due.
You’re right about experience. But with the same experienced operator, same antenna and feedline, at the same location, the FTdx10 beats the IC-7300 for pulling weak signals out of the noise floor and combatting QRM.
73, de N4HNH
@@n4hnhradio
Sherwood ONLY ranks on 2k dynamic range… mostly useful in CW contest conditions.
There are a bunch of other tests, he just chooses to rank by 2k 3rd order dynamic range.
Those other tests are there for good reason…not everyone is a CW contester.
The FTDX10 is kind of deaf (turning the gain down on the 7300 makes it similarly deaf) without the preamps on.
Anyone who thinks a Kenwood 990 sucks because of its Sherwood ranking doesn’t know radios.
Thank you very much for the comparison, I have not seen a better and more sophisticated video. It answered exactly what I needed. 7300 is still a great radio, for me personally more attractive appearance and control logic. Unfortunately, it is already an older machine and therefore it is surpassed in reception by the FTDX10, at least due to the architecture of the way the radio is built. I'm thinking about which one to buy myself, but I guess I'll have to put up with the not very attractive design and logic of YAESU.
I think beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I also like being able to directly output to a large display device. Of course the performance is superior, but it’s a superheterodyne/SDR hybrid with superior DSP.
The volume was not same on the two radios....
loving the DX10 but the IC7300 is just as good and cheaper too :D
Yup. It seems Doug didn't know how to set up the 7300. The scope was on the slowest setting and sensitivity (REF) wasn't set. The 7300's scope is much superior when set-up correctly. The only thing the 10 has going for it is it's DNR. It is superior to the Icom. Ergonomics, menus, TX audio quality... all superior on the 7300. The reason 20,000+ 7300's have been sold and you see lots of used FTdx-10's for sale is when you weigh all the elements that give you joy in operating a radio- the 7300 beats the FTdx-10 - and it is 50% cheaper.
Bless your heart.
The dynamic range is 13 dB better on the FTDX10. It matters in some conditions during contests or chasing weak signals with strong ones nearby.
But for many the IC7300 will do a great job.
I saw Ham Radio Concept’s video on the FTDX10 vs 7300 and way back then in October I realized that comparing the two radios was comparing apples to oranges... where they are both fruits and both round... that’s where the similarities start and stop. The FTDX10 is a whole different type of radio built for a completely different kind of use than the Icom 7300.
Thank you for comparing the two radios. People need to see the difference between a general use radio and a contesting grade radio.
Also like you said over and over through this series Doug, The FTDX10 is rated number three for selectivity and ability to reject adjacent frequencies. How can the t7300 which is rated 20 on the Sherwood list compare to the FTDX10.
By the way this is coming from a guy who knows the 7300 very well and just purchased a FTFX10.
They are both single receiver transceivers; how is that comparing apples and oranges? The fact is that the 7300 needs a significant upgrade, with proper DSP. They could raise the price of the 7300 to match.
@@johnratcliffe6438 The 7300 is just an SDR... it compares directly to the FT991A as it to is only a SDR radio and not a hybrid radio like the FTDX10.
A better comparison would be between the FTDX10 and the Icom IC-7610... priced very similarly, and the 7610 has dual receive, but similar circuitry to the FTDX10. Also isn’t rated closer to the FTDX10 than the IC7300.
@@Gravel_Rat78 The 7300 is nothing like the FT991A. The 7300 is an HF, 6m & 4m SDR, the FT991A is a super heterodyne HF, 2m and 70cms 'shack in a box', and an old one at that.
I don't understand how you think a comparison between the FTDX10 and IC7610 is valid? The FTDX10 will be around £1600 in the UK. The IC7610 is £3000. It also has a much bigger screen, dual, independent receivers, receive antenna port etc. They literally could not be more different. The IC7300 should be the competitor to the FTDX10, but the fact is that it isn't. It has been surpassed.
@@johnratcliffe6438you are correct neither radio is a direct comparison to the FTDX10 because no other radio exists, but yet the 7610 is the closest spec wise to the FTDX10 but yet still falls short of even the FTDX5000 let alone the FTDX10.
Excellent Doug
73 Rob G3RCE
Thanks Rob! 73, Doug
I just returned my Icom 7300 and purchased a YAESU FTDX10. Major reasons:
1. Band scope on Icom is fixed at 10 dB steps - weak signals can be close to impossible to spot over the noise floor - and I rely on the band scope to spot signals of interest - distinguish between digital or SSB - or even spot AM signals when Radio China decides to transmit on a HAM band.
2. With my shack FTDX 101, I can just about trim away any noise/hiss in the background - not so with the Icom.
3. Yaesu appear to be better at decoding weak signals (experience from the 101 - expect the 10 to be equal in performance - though missing VC tune)
Wise decision. The FTdx10 is quite good.
Hi , i did use both radios! Yaesu ft dx 10 when purchased was 1780 euro (now is 1580 euro) , icom 7300 is 1080 euro. I did compare them in quiet enviroment , no premaplifier used, no noise reductions , normal receiver. I want to see which one is better in very week signals, i did find no diference at all, none is better or more sensitive! i have to say that on ear the yaesu ft dx 10 sounds a little better , pleasant! ON TX , modulations is fantastic with original micrphone on YAESU DX 10. i dont like the front panel on yaesu ft dx 10 , its too crowded for me, its easier and much more logik on icom 7300, and dont like at all the mic socket on yaesu ft dx 10, they still use that rubish!. the most import thing the yaesu ft dx 10 its the external monitor option which we find on much more expensive radios! if someone is willing to go with more money between icom 7300 and yaesu ft dx 10 , the yaesu seems to have much better option ! 73
In your comparision between the FTDX10 and FTDX5000MP Limited, you compared them with only the features available to both of them. I'm wondering how they would both fare if you used everything they both have. For example, the FTDX5000 has mu-tuners for tighter filtering. It has simultanious dual received, so you could do diversity receive and it has a receive-only antenna port. What if you used that. Will you do a video (or several) comparing the FTDX10 and FTDX5000MP Limited using everyting they both have?
I no longer have a RX only antenna. I took it down after I got the 5000. The noise floor is so low in the 5000 that I no longer needed a low-noise RX antenna. I could use one of my other antennas for diversity RX but I haven’t. I’ve done that with my MFJ-1026.
I did use the VRF in one video. But I turned it off again. To be fair, even a mu-tuner is not less the 2kHz wide. It is approximately 35-40kHz wide. It doesn’t simply stop a signal 2kHz away. However, we can move its passband in the opposite direction of the QRM, placing the signal we are listening to down in the skirt of the mu-tuner’s filter curve until we have either eliminated the QRM or attenuated it enough that it no longer overshadows the signal we want to hear.
The FTdx10 is #3 in the world because of its hybrid architecture. My observation is that the 5000 is fairly equal head-to-head, without the mu-tuning preselector, but it costs so much more to manufacture the 5000. I think if Sherwood had retested the 5000 with the latest variant, with a mu-tuning preselector, it would be in the top 5, maybe even the top 3.
73, de N4HNH
Do you have a schematic or block diagram for the FTDX10? It sounds as if the DNR on the Yaesu is adjusting the AF signal and not the IF signal. I’m sure it’s more complicated than what I just said, but it sounds like the Yaesu has an external DSP unit attached to it, for the AF. Like a BHI unit. Thanks for the time you’ve spent making and explaining the differences between these two rigs.
The DSP is in the IF, just like FTdx5000, FTdx9000, FTdx1200, FTdx3000, FT-991A, FT-891, FT-450, and FTdx101. I’m sure I left one or two out, but Yaesu has been doing IF DSP for many years. The FTdx10 DSP is extremely effective. It’s the best DSP I’ve used since the FTdx5000MP.
The advantage for the FTdx10 is that it is a double superheterodyne receiver, with a 9.005MHz down-conversion first IF and a 24kHz second IF. This allows for a nice low-noise figure in the front end of the receiver, plus physical roofing filters, to improve selectivity. After the first IF and roofing filters, an analog to digital conversion takes place. The digitized signal information is passed along to the FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) SDR stage. The SDR stage works its magic and then hands off to the IF DSP, at 24kHZ. After the DSP, the digital signal information is converted to analog again and sent to the audio amplifier circuit.
I hope this helps.
73, de N4HNH
You missed the 3d SDR display which is really good at helping you resolve a signal. Like to see that
It’s a video series. Keep watching.
It is a shame Icom did not employ AGCT like other full SDR's. You can quiet down the Yaesu with 4 ATTN settings & RF Gain. You can not get that level of quietness from the 7300/7610. I like non SDR Icoms. I sold the 7300 & 7610's I had. I will be buying the FTdx10.
It’s hard to beat the IC-756 Pro III. I could spot one of those on the air by its TX audio.
The edge Yaesu is enjoying now is that they used a superheterodyne front end, a SDR middle, and a DSP back end.
73, de N4HNH
Interesting. A ham friend of mine had one & he too sounded the best on that rig. He has a Flex 6400 now & sounds like a barrel of .... I sold my IC7700 & that was a big mistake. A friend I sold it to will not sell it back to me.
Parabéns pelo vídeo me ajudou muito a decidir pelo ftdx10... 73 py4avs
Fico feliz que tenha achado os vídeos úteis.
73, de N4HNH
The Yaesu receiver sounds more sensitive and signal readable in relation to receive signals especially shown comparing with the lower signal station. Certainly interesting comparison and the SDR radios noise fighting capabilities offer some great features… I have a Codan Envoy Australian made HF SDR radio which I am very impressed with the receiver sensitivity and selectively and I see the man made noise generated in our world is the main issue affecting our hobby in which any radio which can provide a better noise fighting receiver will be great!
The FTdx10 comes in at 0.16uV sensitivity for 1.8 to 30 MHz, edging out the FTdx5000, with its 0.2uV. Both of those ratings were measured with AMP2 enabled. Of course 0.2uV is still impressive. The FTdx5000MP is no slouch. It’s DSP was superior to the FTdx101D and MP when I purchased my FTdx5000MP in 2019. The FTdx10 was released with DSP performance similar to the FTdx5000MP. Soon after the release of the FTdx10, firmware updates became available to upgrade the FTdx101D and MP with equivalent DSP performance.
Yaesu’s hybrid approach, dual-superheterodyne plus SDR, has proven to be a game changer in radio receivers.
Thanks for your comment!
73, de N4HNH
I’ve been seeing that signal sweep thing at 5:00 on my ftdx10 as well. I’m new to having a waterfall display so maybe that’s normal but what IS that?
It’s normal. Without a waterfall you might hear it as it passes by the frequency you’re tuned to. It might sound like a high pitched beep that comes and goes in the blink of an eye.
There are so many sources of RF interference now that it has taken some of the fun out of amateur radio for some people. I got into radio in the 1970s, when we didn’t have LED lights, switching power supplies, plasma TVs, wireless phone chargers, etc., that could produce so much RFI. Now we are surrounded by it. Fortunately the radios have become more selective.
Sometimes the signal is from an Ionospheric Sounder. It is used to check propagation. And sometimes it could be another ham operator checking his/her SWR. They transmit an AM carrier and turn to VFO to sweep up and down the band to see where their lowest SWR reading is for that band.
Good question. Good catch.
73, de N4HNH
@@n4hnhradio Look up Ionosonde. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ionosonde#:~:text=An%20ionosonde%2C%20or%20chirpsounder%2C%20is,physicists%2C%20including%20Edward%20Victor%20Appleton.
It´s not important which Radio you have. Have fun and enjoy the hobby and call CQ.
73´s DH1KJ
It really depends on operating style and finances. If you are a casual operator, the 7300 will meet your needs just fine. If you are into contesting, or chasing QRP signals, then the extra $600 for the FTdx10 will be worth it. There is no one-size-fits-all transceiver in amateur radio.
73, de N4HNH
I have tested both extensively myself, while I found better NR in the Yaesu than i did in the icom and also better weak signal carve out on the yaesu they are both great and the cost separation is appropriate. Icom spanks the Yaesu for the price. Yaesu wins by a nose when tuning on the edge. I just saw so many things that seemed you were disadvantaging the icom that it did not look a bit fair as valid comparison. You killed the more intelligible highs audio tones in the Icom right up front, and it had reduced volume the whole time, at one point you had the attenuation turned on in the icom which is 18db by default and only had 6db set in on the Yaesu and also was adding in the preamp to it's benefit. I am sorry but there was so much Yaesu advantage in this comparison that it was somewhat slanted from what I saw. I do know how difficult it is to do this on the fly and to take everything into account but I just felt it worth taking notice of the things I saw. Still a great video and a lot of knowledge conveyance on how to tune to get the most out of that DX-10 if people pay attention. Still a big thumbs up on this video. !!
Yes, the ICOM only offers one level of attenuation, 20dB. None isn’t enough but enabled can be too much. It’s unfortunate that ICOM didn’t allow more options. There is the option of IP+, which attenuates by approximately 8dB while helping improve the RMDR. I used IP+ in some of the videos.
I’m just working with the abilities of each radio, with whatever capabilities it has, to get the job done in real-world situations. My comparison is not intended to be a laboratory comparison. I just use the radios in real-world operating conditions and see how they do. I leave the laboratory tests to Rob Sherwood and the ARRL.
Speaking of lab tests, the FTdx10 has already been ranked the number 2 receiver in the world. Read the footnotes for the Flex 6700. The IC-7300 isn’t even in the top 20. That doesn’t make the 7300 terrible. It just means that it isn’t at the level of the FTdx10 receiver under less than ideal operating conditions.
Consider the fact that the FTdx10 is ranked higher than the IC-7851, the Hiberling PT-8000A, the Kenwood TS-990S (one of my favorite radios ever), and the Elecraft K3S. So, expecting the IC-7300 to beat, or come close to, the FTdx10 would require the IC-7300 to beat its own big brother, the IC-7851. That’s not going to happen. The IC-7851 is in the top 10.
I trimmed the RX high frequency audio on the IC-7300 a little to try to compensate for the hissing sound it makes during receive, even when no antenna is connected. It has a noisy audio amplifier. The only option is to cut the highs a bit and use the shelving.
The FTdx10 is the better radio for weak signal receive and it is very contest capable, due to the selectivity it has as a result of its dual-superheterodyne receiver and physical roofing filters. The ICOM is a great casual use transceiver and it has a very user-friendly interface, which can be great for someone new to amateur radio.
As I have stated ad nauseam in numerous posts, I didn’t want to compare these two. They aren’t in the same league. The FT-991A would be the radio to compare to a IC-7300. My viewers requested the comparisons and I tried to accommodate their requests.
For the record, I don’t like to like Yaesu. I have a love hate relationship with them. But when it’s my money dropping on the counter, I want the best for the money. I would love to love ICOM radios but they simply don’t have a transceiver that can beat the FTdx10 in the areas that matter to me. I would love to have purchased a TS-990S as my next base station, but I could buy four FTdx10 transceivers for the price of the TS-990S, and the TS-990S receiver isn’t as good as the FTdx10 receiver.
You might have convinced me to remove this video. I didn’t want to film it anyway.
73, de N4HNH
@@n4hnhradio you can add further attenuation (RG gain) by turning the squelch knob to the left, which activates additional attenuation marked "RFG" on the screen
Yes, the RF Gain attenuates, but I wasn’t looking for more attenuation. For less than 20dB of attenuation, the only option is RF Gain.
The 7300 has its place. For the casual operator, it provides the most for the least amount of money.
73, de N4HNH
Hi Doug, thanks for the great and very informative videos. I have been trying to decided between these two radios. I can only afford one HF radio and want to get one of these. I will eventually have a shack setup in the house, but until then I will be portable. No hiking, just backyard and parks. So if you can only have one radio for someone likes to dabble in all modes and park hunting and perhaps occasional contests, field day. Which one would you choose? Price is so close, it doesn't play a factor in my decision. Thanks, Doug KC9FPZ
IC-7300 is old now. FTdx10 is superior. FT-710 is superior. But, for an all-in-one, I like the FT-991A. All mode for HF, 6m, 2m, and 70cm.
FYI Yaesu FT 991A has back lit buttons too
Yes it does. Great radio! 73, de N4HNH
Hi Doug, Can you help me with your opinion, I'm in doubt about which of these 2 radios to buy ?? Yaesu FTDX 10 or Kenwood TS 590 SG to work contest ?? 73
I really like the Kenwood TS-590SG. I almost bought one. It has a great receiver until you need to mitigate noise. The DNR is so bad, Kenwood should be ashamed. The CW decode is only one small line at a time. And it is more prone to mistakes because of the lack of noise abatement.
Kenwood is my favorite brand but I have to spend my money wisely. The FTdx10 is better for contesting. Number 3 for selectivity. DNR that is best in class. Bigger display.
73, de N4HNH
@@n4hnhradio Thanks for the opinion, I think I will decide to purchase the FTDX 10 to contest, 73
You have to spend $3,200 to get a better receiver then the FTdx10.
@@n4hnhradio For this value, this radio will be a great success for Yaesu, for the value and the quality it offers., It will be my option, I was in doubt with TS 590 SG, but I think I will choose the FTDX10
In your opinion do you hear the weak SSB signals better on the Yaseau or the Icom/???
No doubt the Yaesu. Both receivers are sensitive but the Yaesu has better filtering and DSP.
I should also note that, in the case of crowded band conditions, like a contest, or a National emergency, the impaired selectivity of the ICOM would be exposed and would become problematic.
73, de N4HNH
I realize this is a bit late . But wanting to know what dB the 7300 ATT is compared to the FTDX 10's selection of 6-9 or 12 . I was trying to see if selling my 7300 and getting a FTDX10 was worth the extra $550-$600 . I do not do any contesting , but do like a few of the special events through the year . I think the RX audio is a bit better in the 10 . And it has a few other features that I probably would not use , such as the CW decoding . Thanks for any help . 73 Steve N0SLT
Hi Steve! As I recall, the attenuation in the IC-7300 is 20dB. There is no other option.
If you only rag chew, the IC-7300 is all the radio you will ever need. It’s a good all-around performer. The FTdx10, as you noted, is a contest class transceiver. It beat some mighty fine transceivers to ascend to second best receiver in the world; second only to its big brother, the FTdx101D or MP. It beats the $7,000 Kenwood TS-990S, the $14,000 ICOM IC-7851, and the $17,000 Hiberling PT-8000A. Of course it doesn’t have dual simultaneous receive capability like those three have. For that, you would need the FTdx101D. The FTdx10 is essentially a single-receiver version of the FTdx101D, minus the variable preselector (VC-Tune) and a dedicated RX antenna port. The FTdx10 can provide a direct output to a DVI-D monitor, as you see in my videos. You only need the monitor and cable to display the FTdx10 screen to a bigger screen.
Like I said though, for casual use, the IC-7300 is all the radio you will ever need.
I hope this helps.
73, Doug
@@n4hnhradio Thanks so much for the quick reply . Those were my thoughts also . I did make a few adjustments for my receive from your video . Made it better . Thanks . Steve N0SLT
You’re very welcome, Steve! There is no perfect transceiver yet. There are pluses and minuses to all of them. So we must choose based upon operating style. I’m not a contester at all, but I chase QRP SOTA stations and rare DX. I need the best receiver I can afford.
73, de N4HNH
We can change the RX bandwidth to remove the 'hissing', using "FIlter' and 'Twin PBT' .
Thank you. 73
Yes! And shelving helps too. But you shouldn’t have to do that.
73, de N4HNH
@@n4hnhradio
Yes, and it is much quicker than going deep into setting.
One thing about the ft10 it's better on receive and you can plug in for a monitor too.
Indeed, that alone makes it worth the extra $$$. If I was new to amateur radio, I would buy the FTdx10 over the IC-7300, so I don’t buy twice. Sooner or later you outgrow the IC-7300 and you’re ready for a next level receiver. Well, the FTdx10 is not just next level. It is top tier. And I say that as someone who doesn’t like to like Yaesu.
73, de N4HNH
@@n4hnhradio I'm an icom guy but when I see going out with this ftdx10 it's amazing how quiet the receiver is. I wonder when Icom is coming out with a 200 sdr and a 200 watt mobile I don't think they've ever made a 200 watt mobile.
I’ve only seen a 200W Kenwood mobile.
73, de N4HNH
@@n4hnhradio yes I have one in my vehicle. Of course it's got beautiful Kenwood audio but the receive is not as good as the icom receives. Ftdx10 would probably be better off in the mobile. lol
IP+ does have a very different purpose. It's similar to the "strong signal behaviour" of double- and triple-conversion superhet receivers.
If you have a considerably strong (S9+ 20 db for example) signal far enough from your "DX" signal, but close enough to be within the cut-off boundaries of the pre-selector, you'll immediately face an A/D processing problem. In this case, the gain will automatically be set to the top of the strong signal (mostly to protect the A/D converter). Good, but you must process the weak signals too. So, you must change the resolution when processing the whole dynamic range, but this will corrupt voice quality, and there is some chance that the signal of your DX will not be far enough from the noise floor to be separated from it. There are many technical solutions to this problem. A better chip with a higher dynamic range with a higher bitrate is the most obvious, but the price of a single IC may be more than the retail price of an IC-7300 PLUS an ftDX10. IP+ is ICOM's idea, based on the fairly high processing capability of the A/D IC they're using. With IP+ engaged, the whole dynamic range has been processed with a (relatively) worse resolution. The trick is, that this process is done many times, and with an averaging post-process, a virtually higher bit resolution will be the result, also with a better s/n close to the noise floor, where your DX tries to break in.
Without a strong signal within the "scope", you'll not hear any difference with IP+ engaged or disengaged.
IPO and a roofing filter is the better solution, but the SDR doesn’t have that capability. IP+ is a “band-aid”.
@@n4hnhradioTechnically IPO and roofing filter is a much complicated solution. "Better" is another question, I like "Does it matter?" more. Without question, there are MANY scenarios where it does.
Yaesu's primary goal was to achieve a robust presence in the top 10 range on the Sherwood list. Because they know "Sherwood sells radios".
There are some trade-offs when you compare a direct sampling SDR (7300, 7610, K4, etc.) to a hybrid-SDR, where hybrid is not a "narrow + wide SDR combination", but more like a heterodyne analogue stage and a (single or double or hybrid or whatever) digital stage. The trade may be complexity, price, and, in some cases, time (27+/- ms delay on the whole analogue + digital process). Does it matter? As always, it depends...
Anyway, the point is: IP+ is not what you expect (2:58 in the video), and never will.
73 DX de HA5CST
No matter the trickery, the 7300 doesn’t out-receive the FTdx10 or the FT-710. And IP+ is a type of randomization and dithering designed to improve the dynamic range of the SDR. I don’t care about the technical geekery. My scale is on-air results. I worked stations that the 7300 couldn’t hear.
@@n4hnhradio Awesome! Have more great times on air during this sunspot season! 73 MNY DX!
Hi, I‘ve got a question regarding RF Gain and the S-Metre, how can i give valid report when the rf gain influences the S-Metre? Do I have to turn the RF gain completely off to get a valid S-Metre reading for a signal report or how would i do that in a QSO?
Kind Regards from Germany!
The RF Gain control decreases the sensitivity of the receiver. Radios today are too sensitive for the lower frequencies, especially 7MHz and lower. Yaesu does a nice trick with the S-meter. As you rotate the RF Gain control, lowering receiver sensitivity, the S-meter moves up to indicate the required strength a signal will need to reach in order to be heard at full intensity. I think of it as a type of “RF Squelch”. The S-meter will still display an accurate reading, as long as the signal exceeds the S-meter level set by the RF Gain. But, like I have said ad nauseam, S-meters are notoriously not perfectly accurate anyway. Yaesu S-meters are calibrated at S9, set to 14.2MHz, with AMP1 enabled. That is where they will be most accurate. Watch my video entitled, “Decibels, S-meters, Amplifiers, and Gain”, located on the Training page at www.N4HNHradio.com, in the Technical collection at www.Patreon.com/N4HNH, or in the Learning Ham Radio playlist here on UA-cam.
I recommend that you enable IPO first, before using RF Gain. IPO improves the cross-modulation characteristic of the receiver. Then, if needed, rotate the RF Gain counterclockwise to the point where you can hear the station you are listening to with minimal atmospheric noise, or other interference, between their words. Note that the S-meter will definitely read low with IPO enabled, because the S-meter was calibrated with AMP1 enabled. But people will sound better. I give S-meter readings using my “by-ear” scale. I have included that scale in numerous videos, including the one I referenced above.
73, N4HNH
@@n4hnhradio wow, thanks a lot for this fast and comprehensive reply! I will definitely check out the video you mentioned, I was aware of the different calibration methods and thought to myself that what you just described, judging the signal strength by ear would be far better…
I’m just starting out and am going to take the test for the entry level license (Class N, basically VHF/UHF with 6.1 W ERP and 10m with 10 W ERP) in September and then next year the next Class wich enables you to use 160/80/15/10m with 100 W PEP and I’m researching wich Transciver I’m going to get.
Your videos are a great help and I appreciate how open minded and helpful you are!
Thanks again and 73!
@Maxxix4890 you are very welcome! I wish well as you take the exams.
73, N4HNH
@@n4hnhradio thanks a lot! I’m looking forward to this new hobby and the ability to contact people all over the world over the air, I think that’s just amazing!
73, Max
For the record the FT991A has backlit buttons also
Yes it does. That’s why we were disappointed that the FTdx10 doesn’t have backlit buttons. And Yaesu didn’t learn a thing from the customer comments. The FT-710 is also not backlit. There is a FT-991A playlist on my channel.
I have no doubt the dx10 audio is better than the 7300, my FT-891 sounds vastly superior to the 7300, at least to my ears, the background noise is incredibly low it's a pleasure to listen to even without DNR, with the 7300 I have to have NR on all the time.
I think SDRs have a very harsh audio where as I can listen to the 891 all day, I always listen via the same pair of headphones.
The only way for me to get decent audio with the 7300 is to not use it for audio and instead I got the ptrx-7300 pan-adapter and use it with my airspy HF+, and use SDR Console and the difference was pretty noticeable and having the waterfall on the large screen is great and I can control the radio from sdr console using Omnirig but I keep going back to the FT-891, it's a remarkable radio, heavy menu driven but most are set and forget but most of all the audio is so good and at the end of the day all the Sherwood tests are not worth a lot to me if the audio doesn't sound good or has a harsh audio like a lot of these SDRs.
Thank you for your comment! 73, de N4HNH
Doug, does the Yaesu have a clock.....just happened to notice it on the Icom.... Thx. for the video....
No clock the Yaesu. They have a place in the menu to set the time but it isn’t displayed anywhere. I get my time from HRD so it doesn’t matter. HRD logs the time automatically. So does QRZ.
The sound at the YAESU FTDX10 is muffled with DNR activated, the NB not working corect. Only CONTUR FILTER is good in CW mode. The big plus is FRONT - END at FTDX10 and preamps.
Work with your FTdx10 a bit more and you will learn how to maximize it. The APF is great for CW.
One common mistake I see on a lot of IC7300 demonstrations by hams is the IP button. It does not refer to "Intercept point". Intercept point is a Yaesu only description that all other OEM's call Pre-amp. IP in an Icom SDR refers to Dither. Dither is a technique to reduce noise and improve dynamic range in the SDR. IP+ gives any Icom rig the best DR-3 while IP- improves sensitivity. I cannot tell any difference with my icom rigs with IP+ or IP= so I leave IP+ all the time to improve or maximize DR-3.
There is no intercept point in a SDR. It is indeed Dither. I don’t find it to be very effective really. It works by injecting noise into the signal chain. It’s a strange concept.
@@n4hnhradio the human ear cannot discern the impact. It is likely most obvious during a crowded contest weekend with lots of high powered signals on an exceptional antenna array. Hams operating casually using a wire antenna will never hear the difference. It is designed to reduce noise in the SDR. Flex uses a different technique while Icom, Apache (I think) and other SDR manufacturers typically use dither. It improves the DR-3 almost 10 dB in SDR rigs, so it is an critically important feature. With the Icom line-up, the 7300 and 7610 have dither while the 705 does not. This feature explains the differences in Sherwood ranking for those rigs. The Yaesu FTDX 10x models and the Kenwood TS-890s model are not true SDR rigs - they are superhets with low noise LO's and tight front-end roofing filters designed to propel the rigs to the top of the Sherwood chart on DR-3. Smart moves by those companies.
I believe Rob noted that IP+ was enabled for the 7300 when he ranked it. As soon as I saw the issues with selectivity and front-end overload with the early 7300s, I said someone needs to blend a superhet with SDR. A couple of years later I saw the block diagram for the FTdx101D. I joked that Yaesu must have tapped my phone. But you’re right. It was smart. Even though the FTdx10 doesn’t have a variable preselector, it’s 3rd on Rob’s list. Technically it is second, if you read Rob’s footnotes for the Flex 6700. The Flex radio he tested was a one-off. The ones we can actually buy test at 99dB RMDR, compared to 107dB for the FTdx10.
@@n4hnhradio The OVF (Overflow) indicator is nothing to worry about. I have stacked yagis with substantial gain. I rarely see the OVF; when I do, I back off the RF Gain or add attenuation. It is a concern raised by other company proponents trying to discredit the Icom rigs. It is a perceived issue but not a real one. The key to a SDR is to use attenuation and RF gain to lower the noise threshold and 'pop' the signal out of the noise.
Good video, but would be better if you had the volume on the radios turned up a bit and at equal levels so we could hear them better. Your narration has plenty of volume, but it sounds like the Icom is set lower than the Yaesu.
Sorry you don’t find it helpful. I’m not reshooting it. The ICOM is gone. It has a noisy audio amplifier that gets in the way of its receiver.
Mine is a teaching channel. There are other channels that switch back and forth between radios without commentary. You might find what you’re looking for on one of those channels.
The one thing that the ftdx 101d does not have and that’s a separate EQ one receive it does not have base treble nor midrange when I spoke to rob Sherwood on the phone about that he was not aware of that until I had mentioned it to him.
But it has the shelving option, like the FTdx5000. That’s more important. I set mine to slope at 6dB/octave starting at 150Hz and 18dB/octave starting at 2.4kHz. It’s okay to be flat between 150 and 2.4kHz.
73, de N4HNH
Hi Doug, just a small suggestion to you, could you please let the receiver sound up a bit?
I get criticized for not being heard over the radio audio and now for the radio not being loud enough. I can’t win.
I can’t remix that. I don’t use multitrack.
Are you feeding the audio from both radios through the same speaker??
No. I let each radio use its factory speaker, so you hear what you get out of the box. You can improve the sound with a good quality external speaker. But I don’t want to color the tone by introducing a third party speaker.
@@n4hnhradio OK, I could see (hear) advantages to using a single outboard speaker for both radios and the way you did it also. I have always used a outboard speaker in every HF radio that i have ever owned. The onboard speakers are crap. Thanks for the post and reply.
I’m sitting here with this FTdx10 using the internal speaker and it sounds good. I am using it’s 3-band receive EQ, something that the FTdx101D doesn’t even have. There is an SP-30 here in the closet but I’m not using it.
please show CW on weak signals
I thought I covered that in the CW comparison video. I will double check.
Thanks for your contribution. I wish the narration was on screen text. Voice is narration now way way louder than radios.
no offense but the yaesu manual says that "IPO" in normal position must be set in amp1. In the "IPO" position it attenuates by 10 db. In fact there is a difference of 10 db on the signals received by the two radios and an attenuated signal is more silent. Despite everything, the 7300 holds its own. I think both radios are very good even if they have different setup modes but what is right is right, comparisons must be made on an equal footing. Whith respect thanks for nice video, IW7DNY. 73!!!
Yes, IPO stands for Intercept Point Optimization. It optimizes the amount of RF amplification for best signal-to-noise ratio. It also improves the cross-modulation characteristic of the receiver. IPO should be used as often as possible. Only use AMP1 or 2 when extra sensitivity is needed.
@@n4hnhradio manual pag. 22 says:" IPO: The received signal s input to the IF mixer without passing through the RF amplifier. This can greatly improve receiving, expecially in the harsh low band signal environment.
In the video you can clearly see the signal difference on the twlo receivers. As i alwais say the radio are all god but have different uses that often confuse. Yaesu certainly has more options than icom but set properly both are equal. With different characteristics but equal. Your video is very stimulatyng to exchange information and increase our knowledge. Thank you.
Yes, IPO seems like attenuation but it isn’t. It is a lack of amplification. Some Yaesu specs show that it amplifies just enough to overcome insertion loss through the roofing filter. But always use IPO first, before using attenuation.
73, de N4HNH
YAESU FTDX 10 is the new born and need a corect firmware because have many bugs. ICOM 7300 have 4 firmware update and is the best transceiver. Not worth to change with new YAESU FTDX10 !
I have both. The FT-DX10 is a better receiver. Everyone sounds better on the FT-DX10 when compared to my 7300. The 7300 is a great rig but the dx10 is a little better.
@@musicM0VESme Prove me because i have booth but nothing special in receiving mode. What is the difference to say that. The YAESU FTDX 10 is new born but needed a new firmware to corect many problems. For me the real argument is to keep ICOM 7300 at my desk until the YAESU FTDX 10 show me real competitor to keep one on my desk.
Enjoy your 7300. 73
the IC- 7300 is a old 2015 radio. the FTdx10 is much newer(2000 or 2001 in the wild). I'd take the FTdx10
I would imagine that ICOM has something in the works though. But, remember, the Japanese companies are like a family. That don’t try to hurt one another.
The noise reduction on the IC-7300 is horrible. It sounds like it is only cutting higher frequencies off, which is not helping pulling a weak signal out of the noise. I usually hear better with it turned off, even though the noise is a little more annoying. My FT-891 is lightyears better when it comes to NR. It's probably the same DSP as in the FTdx10.
That was my experience with the 7300 as well. It also has an inherent high-pitched hiss from its audio amplifier, which doesn’t help.
The FT-891 noise blanker can actually blank out noise, but it also causes distortion in received audio, especially with a strong SSB signal. I have to use it though, because of the ignition noise produced by my truck. I spoke with Yaesu about it and was told, “we had to cut corners somewhere to keep the radio budget-priced for the mobile market.” I looked at the guy and said, “cut corners by cheapening the noise blanker on a radio that is made for the mobile market?!!!”
Don’t get me wrong, all DSP-based noise blankers are prone to introducing distortion, especially if run above halfway. But I would be willing to pay extra for a good old-fashioned IF noise blanker. Pure SDR transceivers don’t have an IF so they must rely on DSP to deal with the noise. The FTdx10 is a hybrid. It has an IF. So Yaesu could have included a traditional noise blanker. But, buyers love hearing about DSP and SDR, so it seems that the manufacturers take the less expensive route when we aren’t paying attention. But at least Yaesu does the better execution of DSP, and they gave us a superheterodyne front-end, to improve selectivity and avoid the overload issue suffered by the pure SDR receivers.
You are correct. The FTdx10 uses the same DSP chip as the FT-891, 991, 991A, and FTdx101D/MP. They all use the Texas Instruments TMS320C6746. But they are not all equal. The DSP programming in the FTdx10 is superior. Yaesu had to release an update for the FTdx101D and MP so they could catch up to the FTdx10. Since they use the same chip, a simple firmware update took care of it.
It is interesting to note that the FTdx5000MP, which uses the TI TMS320C6747B DSP chip, has DSP that equals the FTdx10, plus it has a traditional noise blanker and a DSP noise blanker (Wide mode).
73, de N4HNH
@@n4hnhradio, hehe, this made me chuckle :) A proper noise blanker is indeed a must for any mobile application. I'm also running my FT-891 in my truck and have to deal with some ignition noise. It does indeed distort otherwise nice and strong signals. This past weekend I dusted off my old IC-7000 and threw it in the truck, since I had taken my FT-891 out for portable work. I was surprised how well the NB and NR on the old gem work. I think I'm going to leave the IC7k in the truck permanently..
I’ve been thinking of putting my Yaesu FT-890 back in my truck. Best noise blanker I ever not heard. But, I will admit that the noise blanker is my only complaint about the FT-891. For portable operation, where no noise blanker is needed, the FT-891 rules them all. And, for an emergency radio, I would want the FT-891.
73, de N4HNH
Have used a number of 7300s in club stations. Once you notice the characteristic receive noise you can't remove it from your mind. It becomes irritating.
It just seems to me that ICOM cut corners on the audio amplifier. I would be willing to pay more for a better audio amplifier. I get the limitation they have regarding the absence of roofing filters - no 9MHz IF - but they could have at least kept the noise down with a better quality receive audio amplifier.
73, de N4HNH
FTDX10 sounds 500$ better than Icom does.)
Well said...lol! I don't think there is a radio that can compete with the IC-7300 at the $1000 price point. But as N4HNH has said many times in his comments, he did this comparison per his viewer's request and not because he thought these two radios were in the same class. I am happy with my IC-7300, but can see the advantages of the FTDX-10.
Something is wrong there. HOw can Icom has QRM about 5 and Yaesu has 1 ?
ICOM signal meter reads differently than Yaesu.
Icom is more sensitive
I think the speakers in each radio might not make this a fair playing field either, should have them plugged into ext speaker system. My ears seem to be more trained or inclined to the rx of the 7300. I just sold a ts870, it had a great rx.
Yaesu is definitely a little bit better, but there are5 years of development between -in my opinion it is a little bit less advantage.
I don't enjoy that Yaesu audio much, I think the 7300 has it on RX
You will be much happier keeping your ICOM then. 73, de N4HNH
Sorry my friend ...ICOM have ip+ Active and yaesu in ipo, is normal ICOM Little noiser
IP+ improves cross modulation characteristics in the SDR. The FTdx10 has a dual-superheterodyne receiver plus SDR. IPO turns off the preamp in the FTdx10 and improves the cross-modulation characteristics of the receiver.
The IC-7300 is currently at number 22 on Rob Sherwood’s receiver test data list for RMDR. That is when using IP+. The Yaesu is at number 3 on Sherwood’s list. It is technically number 2, if you read the footnotes for the Flex 6700.
Both radios are configured as equal as possible in this video. The ICOM is simply noisier. That’s just the way it is. I wish it wasn’t true. It’s a great casual use radio. It just isn’t contest class.
73, de N4HNH
Greetings dear friend. It has been the question of many Radio Amateurs in the world and I would like to hear your sincere and technical opinion if possible because this has become a worldwide debate with controversial opinions. Are the new transceivers with Touch-screen technology really reliable? wouldn't they be easier to give technical problems? Or is this a meaningless myth?
Any transceiver can have technical issues. There is not one perfect transceiver made.
The FTdx5000MP doesn’t have a TFT touchscreen. It has OLED displays. But OLED technology has a limited service life expectancy. I’ve seen ratings of 30,000 hours maximum. That is normal for such technology. Running at lower brightness levels could increase the lifespan of the OLED. Mine is still functioning fine, since August of 2019.
The touchscreen displays I have used are TFT type. They might develop a bad pixel or two but, I haven’t noticed any with my FTdx10, which is well over 2 years old. That said, even a TFT display will someday reach the end of its service life.
The ICOM IC-7610 TFT displays have been very problematic. There are widespread reports of premature failures. I read that ICOM switched to a new supplier for the TFT display and they are more reliable now.
If you are looking for a perfect radio before you buy, you might want to consider a different hobby. You will not find a perfect radio. You could buy an old Drake, Collins, Swan, Hallicrafters, Heathkit, Johnson, etc., with light bulbs that backlight the meter and the Vernier tuning dial. But even with that, you will need to replace the light bulbs from time to time.
Nearly 1600 quid and no back illumination on the buttons, but buy a cheap car radio from Walmart and it lights up like a Christmas tree.....go figure
Thanks for that video, but!
How a transceiver A/B comparison becomes more usefully?
- Use external, equal loudspeaker, on each transceiver.
- Switch each 5 second, between A and B transceiver.
- Switch during the same station is talking.
- Don't talk yourself during the test.
Maybe you will find some more facts?
Best Regards
Mark
But no! I’m not testing audio. I listen to the radios the way they are sold. If you don’t like my teaching channel go to one of the others where they only play the radios.
@@n4hnhradio yes. I will go to a better cannel !!!
Сковородка 7300 глухая по сравнению с настоящим брендом Есу!
Yes, the Yaesu has a more quite receiver. 73, de N4HNH
The FTdx10 should be better, it's 600 dollars more and is not almost 6 years old.
The FTdx10 has better DSP and physical filters. It isn’t because it is newer. The FT-991 can top the 7300 with its DSP. The Texas Instruments DSP chip, plus Yaesu’s programming, is a winning combination. I’m not a Yaesu fan. I just call it like I see it.
73, de N4HNH
3:50 Why would you set a SSB RX filter default to 100-2400 Hz when you can use PBT or select Fil1-3? You like muffled audio? No eSSB for you, eh?
I answered that in the video. It’s using the audio tapering to assist the IF filtering. The 7300 doesn’t have a physical roofing filter. It is digital only. But the main reason is because of the inherent high frequency “hissing” sound from the 7300. That noise is originating after the TPBT. It is from the audio circuit.
The human voice predominantly occupies 300 to 3,000 Hertz. It is very intelligible at 2,000-2,200 Hertz. Listening at 100 to 2,400 yields a 2.3kHz bandwidth. That minimizes low and high frequency noise components. No filter is a brick wall. You will still hear frequencies above 2,400 Hertz. Setting the high frequency cut-off to 2,400 Hertz only means that the receiver starts sloping off at 2.4kHz. You will still hear 3kHz, but rolled off a bit.
Wider bandwidths drag in more noise. Think about why CW is so quiet compared to SSB.
No eSSB for me. It is inefficient. Watch the video about Power Spectral Density. This is 2-way radio, not broadcast radio.
73, de N4HNH
@@n4hnhradio " That noise is originating after the TPBT." - well, you display your knowledge here :)
The hissing is coming from the audio amplifier stage. The audio amplifier in the 7300 is not of the highest quality.
@@n4hnhradio If what you say is true, i have to put an external audio amp to improove my audio..could be possible, but today its difficult to believe that audio chain is the problem of a receiver. I hope you be right.
The audio chain isn’t the only problem with the receiver. It lacks proper filtering in the front end of the receiver. That affects selectivity and it can lead to front end overload. The audio circuit is a separate issue. It has a noisy audio amplifier. You can hear the hissing sound even when the antenna is not connected.
Yaesu beats icom big time
The FTdx10 has 4 years of improvement opportunities over the ICOM. But yes, the Yaesu receiver wins. ICOM is overdue an updated version of the IC-7300. Perhaps an IC-7310.
INTEL VS AMD
There are definite differences. Hopefully ICOM has an updated radio on the horizon. They are overdue. Yaesu has released 3 HF base stations since 2019.
lost interest after 3.30 talking about details of how icom did this or that. Wanted to hear a comparison. Too long winded. get to the point please.
This is not the channel you’re looking for.
@@n4hnhradio thats cool. Sometimes i like a deep dive but most youtubers dont last longer than 3 minutes if they dont get hooked by then.
Could not watch this video past 7 mins you really should read the manual, you running the yaesu with less receiver gain, look at the S meter.
Ipo1 amp1. Needed to be turned on, read the manual, that alone would have improved your signal to noise ratio.
I’m afraid you are mistaken. I don’t think you understand S/N ratio. The idea is to use the lowest receive sensitivity as possible, that allows you to hear the signal you are listening for. Auditory response isn’t linear, it is logarithmic.
I do look at the S-meter. I use ATT, IPO, and IF filtering to lower the noise floor until the S-meter is at or near zero. With the noise floor suppressed, I then only hear the station I’m listening to. Note that this methodology also helps combat QRM.
You cannot, and should not, run IPO at the same time as AMP1. IPO means you aren’t using an RF amplifier - neither AMP1 or AMP2. These amplifiers pull in noise on the lower frequencies. They are too sensitive for the lower bands. That’s why Yaesu allows us to disable them with IPO.
I think you don’t really understand these controls. If you spend enough time watching videos on this channel, you will understand.
73, de N4HNH
Nothing is heard from the radios honestly.
There are plenty of other channels where they just play the radios but don’t explain what they’re doing. So this might not be the channel you’re looking for.
@@n4hnhradio all you have to do is to up the volume of the 2 rigs you are comparing. Is that a big task?
Yes it is. I’ve been criticized for the radios being too loud and I can’t be heard. It’s hard to judge. Anyone can buy two radios and listen to them side by side. I’m trying to teach.
@@n4hnhradio good luck 🤞 OM 73
@@n4hnhradio No your not. You love Yeasu, and the FTDX10.
Your commentary is loud. The radios are so low in volume this comparison is useless.
Useless? Really? Thanks Ron! I appreciate the kind words. I can tell by your comment that you didn’t watch the entire video. This is a combination teaching video and comparison. There is plenty of opportunity for listening to the radios in between my “commentary“, especially later in the video, after I familiarize my viewers with the noise reduction tools of each transceiver. So that tells me that you didn’t watch the entire video. That also classifies your comment as a drive-by comment.
The FTdx10 and IC-7300 should not even be in the same video. One is contest class and the other is casual operating/rag chew class. The only reason I shot this video is because so many people asked for it.