so i was scrolling through some videos from Hamvention last week and apparently Icom had some kind of new announcement but i cant find a solid writeup anywhere, just people talking around it in youtube comments. did anyone actually go this year or know whats going on with that? i heard something about a new HF portable rig but honestly the rumor mill on this stuff is so noisy its hard to tell whats real.

also separately — has anyone noticed 10m has been absolutely bonkers lately? i worked something like 8 or 9 countries last tuesday just hanging around in the afternoon, wasnt even really trying. solar flux must be doing something right for once. feels like the band hasnt been this good since i got back into the hobby a few years ago. anyway curious if anyone has more solid info on the Icom thing.

yeah i was at Hamvention for two days and honestly the Icom booth was packed the whole time, hard to get close enough to actually see anything properly. from what i could gather talking to people it sounds like they were showing off something in the IC-705 family maybe, like an updated version or a companion unit of some kind, but i didnt get a straight answer from anyone official. the Icom reps were being pretty cagey about it which usually means something is coming but not quite ready to announce fully.

the flea market was incredible this year by the way, picked up an old Kenwood TS-520 for almost nothing and it actually works, just needs a good alignment. Hamvention really is something else if you've never been, its overwhelming but in a good way.

10m being open like that is so good to hear, ive been meaning to get my dipole sorted out for that band for months now and keep putting it off. maybe this is the kick i needed lol. as for the Icom stuff i think there was a post on eham or reddit about it but i cant remember which, might be worth checking both. someone usually does a decent writeup eventually.