been lurking on a few of the usual sites this week and noticed the FT-710 has come down a bit at some of the bigger dealers, not sure if thats a permanent thing or just one of those weekend sale situations but worth keeping an eye on if youve been on the fence about it. i almost pulled the trigger last month and now im kicking myself a little but also glad i waited maybe.

also for anyone who missed it, 10 meters has been absolutely ridiculous lately. i mean i know the cycle 25 thing has been talked to death but actually sitting down and working it is something else entirely. got a few contacts into europe last tuesday afternoon with like 100 watts and a dipole in the attic, which i genuinely did not expect. my wife thought i was making things up when i told her.

anybody else been following the new Icom releases? heard some rumblings about something in the mobile HF space but nothing concrete yet, probably just wishful thinking on the forums. also the ARRL announced some updates to the digital modes contest rules i think but i havent read through it fully yet. anyone know the details on that?

yeah the 10m opening last week was something. i havent heard the band that alive since i was a teenager honestly and that was a long time ago. worked a guy in italy running barefoot on a vertical in my backyard, signal was like 59 plus. my neighbor came out to see what i was yelling about lol.

on the FT-710 thing i think that price has been slowly drifting down for a while, the 7300 is still the one most people seem to recommend for that price range but the 710 has the better filtering from what ive read. havent used one myself though so take that with some salt. if you can demo one at a hamfest before buying that would be the move.

i actually just got my general last month so all this 10m stuff has been super exciting to watch, i made my first HF contact ever on 10m last week and it was to argentina which blew my mind. just a baofeng.. wait no obviously not, i have a little ft-891 i picked up used. anyway the point is even as a new person this band opening has been incredible to experience right at the start.

dont know much about the contest rule changes but someone in my local club mentioned something about FT8 scoring being adjusted? not sure if that was the ARRL thing or a different organization. might be worth posting a separate thread about it if you find out more