Icom IC-7300 A Look Under the Hood Bruce Wampler - WA7EWC The Icom - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Icom IC-7300 A Look Under the Hood Bruce Wampler - WA7EWC

The Icom IC-7300 is a brand new (April 2016), Direct Conversion, 100% SDR. It is the first SDR amateur radio transceiver by one of the “major” Japanese companies.

Is the IC-7300 revolutionary? $1,500 “entry level” Transceiver changes what “entry level” means. 160m to 6m plus full general coverage receiver Exceptional receiver - RMDR@2K: 103dB RF and Audio Spectrum scopes Built-in Tuner Built-in USB transceiver control and audio Full remote control capability Direct conversion SDR YES! This changes everything.

From now on, an entry level base station transceiver will have: Receiver with 2kHz RMDR of at least 100dB Real time Spectrum scope USB control and audio Antenna Tuner SDR / DSP Digital features: audio recording, predefined messages Highly customizable filters

2kHz Scope Tuner Price RMDR Icom IC-7300 (sdr) 103 X X 1,500 Icom IC-7100 (mobile) 84 1,100 Icom IC-7600 86 X X 3,000 Icom IC-7650 (speculation) 115 X X 3,000 Icom IC-7851 116 X X 13,000 Flex 6300 (sdr, w/ Maestro) 116 X X 3,650 Flex 6700 (sdr, w/ Maestro) 116 X X 8,500 Kenwood TS-590SG 94 X 1,400 Kenwood TS-990S 87 X X 6,800 Yaesu FT-991 75 X X 1,300 Yaesu FTDX-3000 82 X X 2,700 Yaesu FTDX-5000 104 X X 5,000 Yaesu FTDX-9000MP 92 X X 9,000 Elecraft K3S (sdr - base station) 114 +800 +650 2,650 Comparison of some currently available transceivers

Reciprocal Mixing Dynamic Range ARRL Test Labs: “Reciprocal Mixing must be seriously considered while evaluating the overall performance of a receiver. In fact, it is probably the most significant figure in receiver performance!” http://www.arrl.org/forum/topics/view/177 RMDR is a measure of how well the receiver blocks adjacent signals.

Why does SDR make such a difference? Superheterodyne + DSP vs. SDR

Why does SDR make such a difference? Superheterodyne Analog design for RF signal Multiple IF stages with complex filtering issues Added noise Analog filters SDR Can be all digital (except RF pre-amps/ bandpass) Current A/Ds and D/As work well, not expensive Digital domain allows use of FPGAs and/or DSPs for mod/demod and customizable “perfect” software filters

Basic IC-7300 Features Output power: 100W (25W AM) TX Frequencies: 160m - 6m (SSB, CW, RTTY, AM, FM) Antenna Tuner: Matches up to 10:1 SWR RX Frequencies: 0.030-74.800 Receiver type: RF direct sampling system Color touch screen: 4.3” color TFT touch LCD Spectrum Scope: Real-Time FFT RF/Audio scope Built-in automatic antenna tuner SD memory card slot for saving data, audio, screen shots Cooling fan system Multi-function meter CW functions: full break-in, CW reverse, CW auto tuning Customizable filter profiles Easy to use settings with buttons and touch screen Requires 13.8v, 22 amp DC power

IC-7300 Features: Spectrum Scope Spectrum Scope: Large Size Spectrum Scope: Small Size

Mystery: What is This???? RFI: Probably my heating boiler Note: Center View vs Fixed on previous slide.

IC-7300: Audio Scope CW Audio Spectrum

Audio Scope LSB Audio PSK31 Audio Signal

IC-7300: Frequency/Band Selection Direct selection by touching Spectrum Scope. Band Selection by touching first frequency diet, then selecting band. Can also directly enter frequency.

IC-7300: Auto Antenna Tuner Will match up to 3:1 SWR at full power Up to 10:1 SWR at reduced power Remembers up to 100 frequency matches

IC-7300: Display & Settings Combination of physical buttons and touch screen buttons to select displays and change settings. Many options, most obvious in context. Long-press used to open settings for a button.

IC-7300: Example - setting a filter Can set passband filters using Multi knob.

IC-7300: Observations The Good: • Receiver Really Good • Noise Reduction Amazing • Spectrum Scope: Wow • Control Interface: A- • Mode Filters: Really work • Good reports of TX audio • USB control /audio The Bad: • Antenna Tuner • Only one antenna connector - no • Cost/feature ratio: A+ separate RX antenna • Memo interface awful • Fixed Scope only has 3 edge settings • Built-in speaker mediocre • IP+ feature apparently not yet right • You need to have this radio!

WA7EWC WA7EWC - Complete Station Where’s the tuner, the audio interface box, amplifier, DSP speaker, keyer, and all that other stuff? Don’t need ‘em. Outside: Hustler 6BTV+17m Vertical with 32 radials

IC-7300: Technical Overview Altera EP4CE55F23I7N 55856 Logic elements FPGA Cyclone IV E 200 MHz TI TMS320C6745 DSP 375MHz Intersil ISL5857IAZ 12 Bit TX D/A High Speed D/A 260 MSPS 14Bit RX A/D Linear LTC2208-14 130MSPS Renesas R7S721000VCFP 32 Bit, 1M Ram Main CPU 400MHz clock Plus display CPU and audio A/Ds and D/As

IC-7300: Main Board

TX D/A DSP FPGA To LCD RX A/D CPU RF Microphone Speaker

The End