so ive had this thing for about three weeks now coming from an old FT-450D that served me well for years but was starting to show its age. first thing i noticed was just how good the waterfall display is on the 7300, like i knew it had one obviously but seeing it in person is a whole different thing. spent probably two hours just watching signals scroll by before i even made a contact lol.

the receiver feels noticeably cleaner to me, especially on 40m which is where i spend most of my time. the 450D always had this kind of mushy feeling when the band got busy but the 7300 handles it a lot better. roofing filter makes a real difference when theres a big signal two kHz away.

one thing thats bugging me though is the menu system. i know everyone says you get used to it but its genuinely kind of a mess? like some settings are three layers deep and i cant figure out the logic of why certain things are grouped together. coming from yaesu the icom layout just feels backwards to me.

anyway overall im happy with it. running it into a g5rv through an ldk tuner and its been working pretty well. just wanted to share in case anyone else is on the fence about making a similar jump.

yeah the menu thing on icoms is just something you have to accept i think. been running a 7610 for two years and i still occasionally go to the wrong place looking for the NR settings. what helped me was just going through every single menu item once and writing down where stuff lives, sounds tedious but after that it clicks.

the waterfall really is something else once you start using it for actual operating though, not just watching. being able to see a pileup forming before you hear it gives you a few seconds head start which sounds small but makes a difference. enjoy the new rig, 40m should be good this winter.

curious what ldk tuner youre using with it, im in a similar spot trying to figure out a tuner situation for my shack. also does the g5rv give you much grief on 80m or is it pretty workable with the tuner helping out