So ive been following the chatter on a few different forums and it sounds like Icom is getting ready to drop something new in the HF portable space, nothing confirmed obviously but the speculation is getting pretty intense over on some of the DX boards. Someone posted what looked like a leaked photo but who knows if thats real or just wishful thinking.

Also completely unrelated but 10 meters has been absolutely wild this past week, worked a bunch of South American stations last Thursday with like 50 watts and a dipole that honestly isnt even optimized for that band. The solar flux has been cooperating lately which is nice after that rough stretch we had in the fall.

Anyone else been paying attention to the Hamvention announcements? I know its still a ways out but they usually start dropping hints about whats going to be showcased and I feel like this year could be interesting. Last year felt a little slow on the new gear front but maybe thats just me.

yeah 10m has been something else lately, i worked ZL2 off a mobile whip in a parking lot last week which I still cant quite believe. conditions have really turned around since the cycle started ramping up. as for the Icom thing, I saw that same thread and honestly the photo looked legit to me but ive been fooled before. if they're doing something in the QRP portable space to compete with the X6100 type market that would be interesting. fingers crossed it doesnt have the same firmware issues some of those newer radios have shipped with

I'm pretty new to all this, just got my technician last spring and I've been slowly working toward my general, so a lot of the Hamvention stuff is still kind of overwhelming to keep up with. But the 10 meter thing caught my attention because my elmer keeps telling me to get on HF as soon as I upgrade and he specifically mentioned 10m being a good band to start on when conditions are decent. Good to hear it's been active. I'll have to look up what solar flux actually means at some point, I kind of just nod when people bring it up haha