so i've had my old TS-480SAT sitting on the desk for about 4 years now and it's been fine, no real complaints, but i kept reading about the 7300 and watching videos and i just ordered one last week. should arrive thursday or friday.

anyway my actual question is more about the shack setup than the radio itself. right now my desk is kind of a disaster - the 480 is on the right side, logging computer in the middle, and my antenna tuner is just kind of wedged behind everything. i run a G5RV out back fed with ladder line into a 4:1 balun then coax into the shack, and honestly the feedline situation is a mess. i've been meaning to sort it out for ages.

with the 7300 coming in i figure this is a good excuse to actually think about where everything goes. has anyone done a full shack rearrange around the 7300? im wondering if i even need the external tuner since ive heard the internal one handles a decent range, but the G5RV on some bands is probably going to be a stretch. also thinking about whether i should get a dedicated shelf above the desk or just keep everything on the same surface. my desk is only about 48 inches wide so its not huge.

i know this is kind of a vague question but just curious what others have done layout wise when they got a new main rig

congrats on the 7300, you're gonna like it. the waterfall alone is worth it after coming from older rigs honestly. regarding the internal tuner - it's decent but it's really only good for loads that are already fairly close to 50 ohms, like maybe 3:1 max SWR. a G5RV on 40m or especially 80m fed the way you're describing is probably going to be outside that range on some bands so i wouldnt ditch the external tuner just yet. maybe keep it but find a better spot for it.

for layout i actually mounted my tuner on a small shelf i built out of some angle iron and a piece of plywood, sits right above the radio. keeps the desk surface clearer. 48 inches is workable, i ran a full station on less than that for years. main thing is just get your coax entries sorted so youre not bending cables at weird angles, RF doesn't care but connectors do over time.

yeah same situation here when i upgraded, the new radio kind of forced me to actually deal with all the crap i'd been ignoring. one thing i'd say is don't try to do the full rearrange the same day the radio shows up because you will just end up making a bigger mess while also trying to figure out the new rig at the same time. ask me how i know lol. i spent like 3 hours trying to get audio levels right for FT8 while also tripping over a coax i'd pulled out and forgot to reconnect. just get it on the desk and get it working first, then do the layout thing as a separate project