so ive had this thing for about three weeks now coming from an old TS-480SAT that i ran for like six years and honestly the difference is kind of hard to describe. the waterfall alone is worth it for me, i spent the first few days just watching it instead of actually working any stations which my wife thought was hilarious.

the real filter adjustments are where i notice it most on CW, being able to notch stuff in real time without fumbling through menus is just night and day from what i was used to. i did have some weirdness early on where the ALC was acting strange on digital modes but i think that was my fault messing with the output settings trying to get it dialed in for FT8.

one thing i wasnt expecting — the thing runs warm. like noticeably warm on the bottom. not hot, just warm. anyone else notice this or is mine doing something weird? i've got it on a wooden shelf with probably 3 inches of clearance on the sides and maybe 2 on top. wondering if i should be doing something different there.

overall though really happy with it. probably should have made the jump sooner but the 480 treated me well so it was hard to let go.

yeah the warmth is totally normal, icom runs them pretty hard thermally. mine sits on a metal rack shelf and i can feel the heat coming off after a long FT8 session but it's never been a problem in like two years of use. 2 inches on top is probably fine but if you're doing long digital sessions maybe give it a bit more room just to be safe, heat rises and all that.

the ALC thing on digital caught me too when i first set it up. theres a specific output level you want to run for FT8, i think most people land around 50 watts and set the audio drive so the ALC is barely moving or not moving at all. if the ALC is pumping up and down youre probably overdriving it and it messes with the signal quality. JS8Call is even more sensitive to that in my experience.

coming from a 480 the waterfall must feel like a revelation, that radio had no real panadapter to speak of. enjoy it, the 7300 is a genuinely great radio and i dont think youll regret it.

the waterfall addiction is real lol. i did the same thing for the first week just tuning around watching signals pop up. good radio, i've had mine since maybe 2019 and only issue i ever had was a firmware thing that got patched. make sure you're on the latest firmware if you havent already checked.