It’s been over 3 years since I posted my thoughts regarding the IC-7610. My initial impressions were, well… let’s just say I was not excited. I thought it was a nice radio, but no wow factor. It appeared to just be a IC-7300 with more features at 3x the price. But after continuing to hear friends rave about it, I finally took the plunge when HRO had a few in stock, primarily because I was concerned that supply chain issues would make them unavailable. But after a few months of operating with it, all I can say is wow, Wow, and WOW! The couple hours I spend in the store looking at it when it was initially introduced clearly didn’t educate me on how great this rig is.
So with egg on my face, let me extol the benefits I love about the IC-7610. Actually, there are too many to describe, so let me just give you the highlights. Obviously first is the display. Sharp, crisp, clear, bright and large! Once set to my preferences, the spectrum display is fantastic. The higher refresh rate and resolution makes my beloved IC-7600 look pale by comparison.
The receiver is superb. Actually I should say receiverS (plural) as I thought I wouldn’t use the second full band receiver – until I had one available. With separate volume controls, I can sit parked waiting for that DX station to end their QSO while I tune around on any band listening for other DX. And recently, I’ve been using the second VFO to listen to shortwave stations with the turmoil in Ukraine. I programmed some of the memory locations for the shortwave bands and can just step through them with the second VFO while waiting to jump on that DX station when it becomes available. I can even listen anywhere I want on the second VFO while working FT8 QSOs! (in between FT8 transmissions of course). Plus the noise blanker and noise reduction both work great in cutting through the QRM.
OH, and I love the new “Scroll-C” option in the band scope! (which is also in the latest IC-7300 firmware). When the Cent/Fix menu selection is held for a second it switches to a mode where the bandscope and waterfall stay fixed and the frequency marker moves across the span. Unlike my IC-7600, where the frequency marker stays fixed in the center and the waterfall moves (which wipes out the image of the signal I was moving to!). It makes tuning through the waterfall signals a delight.
The DVI video output lets you connect up a large screen display. I used a DVI to HDMI adapter cable to view the display on a TV that I use as a monitor. It also has a RJ45 Ethernet port for automatic time synchronization and remote control with the Icom RS-BA1 software or the free wfview software. Unfortunately, Win4ICom (which is the best remote control software!) doesn’t support direct connection to the Ethernet port like the RS-BA1 software does. I’m told this is because Icom doesn’t document the command set available through the Ethernet port (but then how did the developers of wfview know how to interface with the Ethernet port??). So to run remote with Win4ICom you still need a PC at the IC-7610 to communicate through the USB port which was a bit of a surprise, but it works flawlessly (just like Win4Icom does with the IC-7300 and other Icom products).
And, if you like displaying the band scope and waterfall on a large display, the IC-7610 was made for you. It has a second USB port for connection to the IF output, which software like Win4ICom , wfview and N1MM use to display a high resolution band scope and waterfall. I had no idea that capability was built in to N1MM! Also, if you want a separate VFO knob for the second receiver – or just a tabletop knob to switch between the dual receivers the IC-7610 fully supports the Icom RS-28 rotary encoder which I have come to find really handy.
The band selection, frequency, modulation, filtering, passband tuning, RTTY decoding etc. all function the same as the IC-7300. But the screen options for dual display of the band scopes for both VFOs are tremendous. One thing to remember is that many menu selections have one function when pressed, but open up a whole menu for customizing that function with pressed and held! So simply playing around with the controls as I did when I initially looking at it doesn’t revel the magnitude of functions and features built into this rig. You really need to let some who really knows it give you a demo to understand everything it can do. That said, some might say there is a learning curve to become proficient with this baby, but it’s been a joy to explore and play with. And I still learn something new about nearly every day!
There’s many more great features I could mention, but I’ve already written more than most people will read 🙂 . So I stand corrected from my initial post! If it’s in your budget you will love an IC-7610. To me it’s the ultimate SDR without having to deal with Windows. I just wish I hadn’t waited so long to upgrade!
Disclaimer – The opinions expressed above are solely my own based upon my personal purchase and operation with no contact, influence or funding from Icom in any way.
