This isn't a knock on the Icom 7300 by any means - it is a pretty slick little radio, and it's really cool to see the newer SDR technology available from a major player, at a price-point that can't be beat. It just isn't what I decided to get :-)
As I've been building out my new shack, I spent a good amount of time saving my pennies and debating what rig would become the "main" box for the shack. With contributions towards savings, retirement, private school tuition and future college for 3 kids, etc. I had to be wise with my money, so even though it was tempting to take my annual bonus and run off and grab an Icom 7610, or a Flex 6400M, my YL gently reminded me that we had other priorities, so I ended up looking in the $1,000 - $1,500 dollar range for my new rig.
With all the talk about the 7300, Icom's rig did seem like a no-brainer. I had to remember however, that for me a large part of ham radio is just the fun of it, and I wanted the radio in my shack to be fun for me. For me that means big, buttons, and lots of ways to interconnect with other equipment. Even though the receive performance of the 7300 is awesome, it's wiz-bang touch screen stuff fell just a bit short on the fun-meter for me. After hanging out and playing for a while at the "local" HRO in Wilmington Delaware, what pegged the fun meter for me was the Yeasu FTDX3000, which at nearly $600 off normal retail during Hamvention week, brought this radio down into my price-range.
With my new rig in hand, you can also finally see my vision of the "through the wall" equipment starting to come together. With a combination of MDF, my table saw, my oscillating tool, a drill, and some brackets, I now have the radio mounted in it's home. The next step is making the face frame to go around the rig to make it pretty, but you get the idea...
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