so ive had the 7300 for about three weeks now and figured id share some impressions since i spent like two months reading every review and forum post before buying it and honestly none of them quite matched what i actually experienced setting it up

background: coming from an old Kenwood TS-440S that i got off a silent key estate a few years back. the 440 was a solid radio and i learned a lot on it but the filters were getting flaky and finding parts is just not fun anymore so i decided to move on rather than keep fighting it

the 7300 is... a lot. the touchscreen took some getting used to and i wont lie the first night i had it i was kind of overwhelmed by all the menus. the spectrum scope is genuinely useful though, not just a gimmick like i assumed it would be. being able to see activity across the band before you tune there actually changed how i operate a bit, i find myself exploring more instead of just parking on my usual frequencies

one thing nobody really warned me about - the stock microphone is pretty mediocre. i knew the radio had a good reputation for audio but i assumed that meant the whole package. swapped to my old Heil PR-40 and the difference was immediately noticeable on signal reports. so if you're buying one dont cheap out thinking you can skip a decent mic

RF wise it's been excellent on 40 and 20, havent had great conditions for 10 or 15 yet so hard to say. the receiver feels noticeably cleaner than the 440 did when the band is crowded. noise floor seems lower too but that could partly be i also redid my ground system when i was doing the shack reorganization

anyway just figured id share since i read so many posts from other people before buying, felt like i should contribute something back

yeah the stock mic thing is a known issue, icom kind of just throws a basic one in the box. i ran mine with an SM-30 desk mic for a while which helped a bit but the Heil stuff is hard to beat for HF work honestly

the scope does change how you operate, you're right about that. took me probably a month before i stopped ignoring it and actually started using it as part of my normal workflow. now i cant imagine going back to a radio without one

one thing worth digging into if you havent already is the twin PBT settings, a lot of people leave them at default and miss out on how much that can help when you've got adjacent signals causing you grief on 40 at night. takes a bit of fiddling to find the sweet spot but worth it

the 7300 is what got me back into HF after like 8 years off the air, so i have a soft spot for it. mine's been rock solid for two years. only gripe is the front USB port feels a little flimsy, i try not to plug and unplug stuff there too much