so i was browsing around this morning and apparently Icom made an official announcement about the IC-905 successor or whatever it is, cant remember the exact model number now but it was all over the usual spots. been seeing rumors about this for like six months and people kept saying it was gonna have built in GPS and some kind of improved ALC handling which honestly would be nice because my current setup has given me grief on that front.

anyone else been following this? im not sure im ready to drop the money on it but if the receiver specs are actually what they're claiming that could be interesting for weak signal work. also heard there might be a band opening on 6m this weekend if the conditions hold, solar flux has been looking decent lately. been a good few weeks actually for DX if you havent been on much.

anyway curious what people think about the new Icom thing, worth waiting to see reviews or is this just marketing hype again

yeah saw that too, the specs sheet they put out looked pretty solid but i always wait a few months before trusting any of that stuff. remember when that other radio came out and everyone was hyped and then the first batch had that weird audio issue that took like two firmware updates to sort out. just saying.

the 6m thing though, i worked a couple stations down in the caribbean yesterday afternoon around 50.125 so it definitely seems to be moving. had a nice opening into south america too for maybe 45 minutes. worth checking if you havent already.

omg i didnt know there was a 6m opening im so mad i missed it, i just got my general and ive been trying to get my first real DX contact for weeks. is it usually in the afternoon or does it vary? and also sorry to piggyback but what does ALC handling mean, i see that term a lot and i kind of know what it does but not really