so i was browsing around last night and noticed the IC-7300 has dropped in price at a couple of the usual retailers, not a massive drop but noticeable enough that if youve been sitting on the fence about one it might be worth a look. i picked mine up about two years ago and honestly its still one of the best radios ive ever owned at that price point, the waterfall display alone makes it worth it for finding band openings quickly.

speaking of band openings, 10 meters has been absolutely wild this past week. i worked something like 14 countries in an afternoon just calling CQ, which i havent been able to say in years. solar cycle 25 is really delivering and i feel like a lot of newer hams who got licensed in the lean years dont quite know what to do with themselves when conditions get this good. if you havent tried 10 or 12 meters recently, seriously just tune around and listen for a few minutes.

also heard the new Icom IC-905 is starting to show up at a few dealers which is exciting for the microwave crowd, though that price tag is not for the faint of heart. anyone here actually gotten hands on one yet? curious what the receive sensitivity is like on the higher bands in a real world situation, not just the spec sheet numbers.

yeah 10 meters has been crazy good, i worked Japan on a dipole in my attic last Tuesday which felt basically like a miracle. my neighbor who just got his tech ticket last spring had never heard a pileup before and i let him listen for a while, his eyes went pretty wide. good time to be a ham for sure.

on the IC-905 thing, i saw a demo video from one of the guys at a club in the midwest and it looked impressive but like you said, the price is just not something most of us can justify. would love to hear from someone who actually owns one though.

wait the 7300 went down in price? how much are we talking, like significant or just a few bucks. ive been looking at that radio for months and my wife has basically given me a budget limit so every dollar counts lol. also im still pretty new to hf so would that radio be okay for someone who doesnt really know what theyre doing yet or is it more of an intermediate thing