so i've been on the waitlist for the Icom IC-7760 since basically forever and my local dealer called yesterday saying they finally have one coming in next week. pretty excited but also kinda nervous spending that kind of money on something i havent actually put my hands on yet. ive watched every youtube video there is at this point and read the manual PDF three times which is maybe a little obsessive but whatever.

also side note — 10 meters has been absolutely bonkers this week, worked 14 countries yesterday afternoon just running 100 watts into a wire dipole. the cycle 25 peak might actually be living up to the hype for once. if youre not getting on 10 and 12 right now you are really missing out, at least here in the midwest the band opens almost every day around 1400 local.

anyway back to the 7760 — the separate receiver/controller design is what really got me interested, i like the idea of keeping the RF away from the desk. has anyone actually gotten their hands on one yet or am i going to be the guinea pig here

yeah the 7760 has been a long time coming. i handled one briefly at Dayton last year — well it was more like a display unit behind glass so not super useful but it looked and felt solid. the build quality on that series is always good from Icom. my concern would be the software side of things, Icom's RS-BA1 stuff has been a bit hit or miss depending on your computer setup and i'd imagine the remote operation side of the 7760 has some of that same ecosystem baked in. might want to keep your expectations tempered until the first real batch of user reviews trickle in from people running it day to day.

and yes totally agree on 10 meters, worked a JA station on Thursday with like 25 watts it was almost embarrassing how easy it was. good time to be a ham honestly

omg i didnt even know the 7760 was shipping yet, i thought it kept getting pushed back. definitely let us know what you think when you get it in hand. im still running an old 7300 and love it but ive been curious about the higher end stuff. also the 10 meter thing is real, i made my first ever DX contact last week on 10 — ZL1 station in New Zealand and i was running like 50 watts into a vertical. i literally couldnt believe it when he came back to me. so yeah the bands are doing something right now for sure