Hi All,
The IC-7800 is a beautiful radio--no question. I saw one at Dayton this
year, and it will charm your socks off! I saw the new Yaesu there also, but
no
touchee--they had it in a glass case! It's beautiful too, but costs even
more.
To me, there are (at least) two words that apply here--"afford" and
"justify". In other words, can you "afford" an IC-7800, and if you can, can
you
"justify" it? Some of us can do one or the other, a few can do both, but many
of
us can do neither. So we just marvel at it I guess. Personally, I really
am at a loss to see how this radio can be 10 or 11 thousand dollars better
than what we are already using. I sure hope, when the reviews on these radios
come out, they focus on that aspect.
But we are a nation of conspicuous consumption. And that isn't all bad!
I'm as guilty as most in buying things I don't need. I won't tell you what my
XYL calls me!! And don't get me wrong, if you can afford an IC-7800, and get
a bunch of "utils" (a word from my college economic class which means a
measurement of "utility") from owning one, go for it! But I really look
forward
to the debate around the campfire about how much better a radio like this can
be.
In addition to my K2, which I love dearly, I also have a fairly new
FT-1000MP Mark V. I'm not even sure I can justify that radio, but I do get a
fair
amount of "utils" out of it. It has buttons I haven't even used yet! The big
deal, I guess, is that it runs 200 watts, so I don't need an amp when I want
to just QRO it. But it sure doesn't hear as well as my K2. My K2 really
needs to be upgraded--it's an early model, and I haven't even put DSP in it
yet.
But even in its present state, it runs like a swiss watch. I work DX like
crazy with it, even with my puny little R7 vertical--the best I can do with
CC&R's around here--it isn't even "legal". If I can't work them on the K2, I
can switch to the FT-1000. If that doesn't do it, well tomorrow is another
day.
Nope, even a gadget freak like me is going to be hard pressed to spend that
much money! But I hope some of you get past the "guilt" barrier and buy one.
I'm really looking forward to hearing how glad you are that you did it--and
why!
Dave W7AQK
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