Everyday Ham Podcast: Amateur Radio Conversations
Welcome to the Everyday Ham Podcast, where three friends dive into the world of amateur (ham) radio with a casual, lighthearted twist. (Visit www.everydayham.com)
From discussing what we're working on, current events, and lessons learned to sharing our gripes and off-topic banter, we bring a mix of fun, relatable conversations and radio expertise.
Whether you’re a seasoned operator or new to the hobby, join us for engaging chats that celebrate the quirks, challenges, and joys of being on the air.
Everyday Ham Podcast: Amateur Radio Conversations
Can You Put Up An Antenna? The HOA Bill Fight & IC-7300 Mark II
A thousand subscribers may be a milestone, but the real win is what it represents: a growing community of hams trading ideas, trying new modes, and pushing for the right to put real antennas on real roofs. We open with momentum—POTA activations, contest firsts, and new video drops—then move straight into the issue shaping the future of the hobby: ARRL’s grassroots effort to pass the Amateur Radio Emergency Preparedness Act (HR 1094/S.459). If HOAs block antennas where most new homes are built, fewer operators will get on the air. We explain the stakes, the opposition from CAI, and the surprisingly easy way to send a letter that reaches your representatives in minutes.
We also get practical about life in the shack and on the road. Running 500 to 1,000 watts through contest weekend revealed where filters shine and where they need tuning, and winter prep is now or never—check matches, weatherproof connectors, and tighten your grounding. On the mobile side, an EV install in a Mach‑E delivered clean VHF/UHF performance with smart power routing and a 3D‑printed head mount, plus notes on AM noise under acceleration. If you’ve avoided EVs for RF reasons, this is a reality check rooted in measurements, not myths.
Gear watchers get plenty to chew on. The Icom IC‑7300 Mark II looks set to land around $1,499, squaring up against the Yaesu FTdx10 with modernized I/O and familiar ease of use. But the U.S. government shutdown is delaying FCC certifications across categories, which could push new radio launches past the holidays. Meanwhile, used IC‑7300 prices are compelling, making it a standout first HF rig. We wrap with FlexRadio’s SmartSDR 4.0—meaningful noise‑reduction improvements, a flexible subscription model, and a few early‑release quirks to monitor.
If you care about the bands staying lively and accessible, this conversation matters. Tune in, tell us if you’re backing the ARRL letter, weigh in on 7300 Mark II vs FTdx10, and share your winter station game plan. Subscribe, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and pass this along to a friend who’s antenna‑curious.
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The Everyday Ham Podcast is hosted by James Mills (K8JKU), Jim Davis (N8JRD), and Rory Locke (W8KNX) – three friends who dive into the world of amateur radio with a casual, lighthearted twist.
Follow us at: Website: https://www.everydayham.com/
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Welcome to the Everyday Ham, everybody. My name is November 8th Juliet Romeo Delta, Jim, and I'm joined here by Whiskey KNX, Rory, as well as KJKU James. This is our 11th episode. We have almost made it an entire year, and if you've stuck along with us for the entirety of this, we do appreciate uh having you along as a subscriber. As a reminder, we have all of our socials posted up on www.everydayham.com. And you can find our Discord, our podcast links, and our YouTube. I do want to call out this month that we made a real stride to uh post in between of all of our normal audio content some interesting uh videos on the YouTube that were non-podcast content. So we uh took a camping trip in one of those videos. Uh, we talked about wiring up uh a new mobile rig in one of those videos, and our intention moving forward is to uh bring you a little bit more content in the video format as well as the podcast. So if you have been listening here, we definitely appreciate having you check out uh the YouTube channel as well. With all those things out of the way, all the pleasantries, welcome, gentlemen, to the evening. It's nice to see you all again. Uh, we're recording a week earlier than we usually do, but by the time you hear this, it will be the normal time for our episode here on the Everyday Ham. And I'd love to know what's going on in everybody's shack. And so I'll throw it over to Rory first.
SPEAKER_00:Well, we gotta we gotta celebrate something here first. This has been this is eleven episodes. It is. A lot of extra content on the YouTube channel, which I highly recommend. And what will be going on my in my shack next week is I won't be in it. I'll be headed out west for uh a work trip, which is going to include some parks on the air in Nevada, Arizona, and Southern California, which I'm excited about. But in these 11 episodes, we have hit 1,000 subscribers on YouTube.
SPEAKER_01:Nice. Thank you. Thank you, guys.
SPEAKER_00:Big thank you to everyone who's taken the time to subscribe, taken the time to tell a friend. Keep telling your friends, keep telling your coworkers, tell your fellow hams about our little corner of the internet here, and make sure you like and subscribe. We hope to keep growing. The other platforms continue to grow too. I know our playtime on the audio platform, Spotify, Apple Podcast, continues to grow. I know the one thing I still don't understand, TikTok. That continues to grow.
SPEAKER_01:If you're on TikTok somehow, yeah, throw a like on there for TikTok.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. And I mean, thanks for that community. There's actually on our on our TikTok channel where some of our things have dropped, some of the comments I have taken the time to figure out how to use it. Okay. Some of the comments and and conversation on some of our things there has actually been really good. The feedback has been fun to uh fun to scroll through. Along the way, also we have our Discord channel, which has has grown and continues to grow. Lots of good conversation, making lots of friends there. Uh this month we'd like to shout out Ben KB4LS, who's been out doing a ton of POTA. I know I had a chance to work him, I think, at two or three parks.
SPEAKER_01:Yep, I've got two or three in my log as well.
SPEAKER_00:And uh great to have his conversation and participation on the Discord channel. Enjoying seeing his growth in the POTA activities for sure. So uh thanks, Ben, for listening and thanks for being a friend of the show. In my shack here, I haven't been doing a whole lot. It's been a killer period of time at work. So I've been I've been not super radioactive. Um actually looking forward, it is a work trip out west, but I am looking forward to the the opportunity to to play radio while I'm away. Hopefully work quiets down here and I can get out and do some radio and do some radio at home too. One of the big things that I think all of us participated in, at least marginally a little bit, the CQ Worldwide Dideband Contest, which was last weekend. And let me tell you something, and maybe you guys would if you did, was this your first time playing at all with that one? Jim? James? Yes, it was.
SPEAKER_02:A little bit, yeah. I I played a little bit last year, but this was my first year where I kind of tried, I guess is the phrase there, and submitted more.
SPEAKER_01:November of last year would have been like right after I got my general license, and I was way too intimidated to get involved in contesting at all, so I didn't even try last year. But I did this year, and it was awesome.
SPEAKER_00:So I guess that's why I bring this one up as a contest to try, because it really is not a super intimidating contest. If you're have the the last, I think it works out to be the third weekend of October every year open next year, put it on your calendar, and uh it's an excellent opportunity to work DX stations. They're all having sideband. On sideband and easily. They have their beam, their beams are pointed our way, their power is pointed our way, and they're looking for stations everywhere. And if you make a few contact contacts on that contest, you'll get a lot more comfortable a lot more quickly. Don't think about it too much as a contest when you're working that one. So look for that next year.
SPEAKER_02:If you missed it, if you're looking for the exact dates, October 24th of tw in 2026.
SPEAKER_00:Yep, and then last weekend in November is the CW version of it. So if you're a CW operator, the CQ Worldwide CW version will be the last weekend of November this year. So just uh don't don't be afraid to contest, even if you're just gonna make a contact or two. Turn it on and and see who you hear. James, what's up in your neck of the woods?
SPEAKER_02:Well, before last time we were uh talking, I was on my way to Kansas City for the Lions game. Unfortunately, the Lions did not win, but I was able to activate three parks out that way. So pretty happy about those accomplishments. Thank you for everyone that you know tried to work me on those. Uh other than that, not too much radio stuff. It's the day before Halloween here, so people will know when we're recording, October 30th. So I've been kind of packed with kids stuff, getting them to all their events and activities and getting them prepped for tomorrow. So it's big day. My one daughter's gonna have a sleepover as well, so a lot of planning there. So fun, fun time, but not a lot of radio stuff. I I know we're we're looking forward to um I was gonna try to go out this year and actually something to talk to you guys about. I I was looking at the Winterfield Day. It's not a club event for us, but more of a personal event. So trying to maybe put some plans in motion there. But other than that, you know, not too much. Looking forward to getting back into some radio stuff here in the coming weeks.
SPEAKER_01:Winter Field Day is the one that uh the person that runs it doesn't love FT8. Is this correct?
SPEAKER_02:That's correct. My understanding is it's not a disaster or emergency communication platform, therefore it's not a winter field day platform. Okay. Okay. Not an opinion, just just the general statement.
SPEAKER_01:Well, it's just to be clear, Winter Field Day is not an ARL-sanctioned event. It is definitely uh a different type of event altogether. Very strange bird. Uh I believe that's why as a club uh here in South Lyndon we don't actually partake in it. But we could definitely be uh enticed to uh do some contacting outside of the official club. Uh maybe I've never done it.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I've never even I've never even touched uh touched that event. So it would be fun to do just to see how it is.
SPEAKER_01:We've traditionally done the uh winter support your parks here in South Lyon as a as a broader radio club. So uh I like the idea, James. We should uh we should talk more about it and perhaps uh uh we can get uh some folks involved here. If you're in the Metro Detroit area and you have interest in uh winter field day, you let us know uh down in the comments or uh send us an email. Uh it might be an opportunity to get a group of you all together that are listening to the Everyday Ham here in the metro area.
SPEAKER_00:It'll be a good opportunity to get the uh W8EDH call on the air for a bit, too.
SPEAKER_01:Warm that thing up. We haven't used much of it yet.
SPEAKER_02:And also, maybe my last note before we get into our formal show topics, uh Hurricane Melissa was making landfall. So, of course, thoughts and prayers with everyone that is impacted by that. And uh ham radio does, I I do really believe in these type of situations plays an important role. So if you see a frequency that's being used for the hurricane efforts, please stay clear, monitor, and let's make sure everyone is safe and we can respond appropriately. So again, hope everyone's okay. That's one heck of a storm that's blowing through.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, great call out. I know that there were some uh frequencies that were being set aside for that emergency response, and uh they were being uh noted so that uh folks weren't interfering uh and that they were available if they were needed, and it sounds like it was a fairly devastating storm down there. Uh as far as in my shack, not a whole lot changed uh this month. Uh sort of on a uh uh quieter month of uh new things in the shack, but uh certainly enjoying the radio note nonetheless. Uh it's uh the second month of uh learning more about operating amplified here in the NHGRD QTH. So uh running more than uh 200 watts, uh ran 500 watts for most of CQ Worldwide uh last weekend, bumped it up to a thousand for a couple of them where I wanted to uh really get in there when uh the pile-ups were heavy. Uh didn't ever uh think that I needed all uh 1,500 watts. I think the amp does about 1,500 or 1,600, but uh did never use the the full power there, the legal limit. Uh it's been a lot of fun uh kind of experimenting with that. Uh also ended up getting my NFE or a new NFE that can handle more power because my previous NFE was not capable of handling uh over uh 200 watts. Uh and uh unfortunately not uh totally thrilled with uh that setup yet. So still working on a little bit of tuning there. Uh remains to be seen whether that's going to be a permanent installation in the backyard before the uh snow falls here in Michigan. But uh let me tell you, uh winter draws nigh here. You can feel it in the air. Uh it has cooled off significantly the last couple of days, and I can definitely feel that the uh final few weeks of opportunity for adjusting antennas, uh, getting them tucked in and ready for the winter is upon us. So if you are in those Midwest climates, if you're in the uh east here where it does get cool, be ready and uh get your antennas prepared. But not much going on in the shack here. A lot of fun playing DX. Did get a couple of new DX contacts. I've spent quite a bit of time running uh higher power FT8 as well. 500 watts, I know you can hate me for that. Waking up the whole neighborhood there. There we go. Running 500 watt FT8 where it uh makes sense and uh have collected some seriously uh interesting DX on the FT8 side across numbers of bands there and working towards DXCC, which uh we recently had a topic here in the South Lion Area Amateur Radio Club meeting, talking about the DXCC Award. And so I got kind of uh interested and reinvigorated in the idea of collecting those DXCC entities. If that's not something that you've looked into, I do encourage you to go do a little reading on it because as a new ham, uh it's actually a really cool uh thing to set your sights on. You can do it via FTA, you can do it via phone, you can do it via CW. It's fully mixed, uh, and it's a really good opportunity to get out there and uh start dipping your toe in the DX space. But with that being said, that's the roundup of all three of us uh in the Shack this month. A little quieter month as far as that goes. I'll be looking forward to hearing about Rory's trip when he returns, and uh, we may have a video for you on the YouTubes here uh next month uh with some of his POTA expedites.
SPEAKER_00:I'm gonna give it a try. I'm not I'm not the best at these shows. You the two of you have been producing some quality content, and me, I just have what I have. So I'm looking forward to it.
SPEAKER_02:Rory for the looks. He's the the looks of the case.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, that's that skipped over you skipped over one, and I know I just to plug another video that went up on our YouTube channel of your Mach E installation.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Yep. I did indeed end up buying that new vehicle. I think I mentioned it a little bit in the camping video. I had gone on a test drive and I had been hunting a new uh electric vehicle. I had sold my previous, and so I did get the Mach E. It is in the garage, and it only was only in the garage about a week before I realized that I needed a hammer radio in there. And so took the opportunity to take the FTM 500, which was out of the old i3. I had removed it before I sold it. Yes, I uh didn't leave that in there because I didn't think the next guy would appreciate a hammer radio, and uh got that installed in the Mach E. So if you are interested, the Mach E ended up being possibly one of the easiest mobile installations that I have ever done. I will tell you guys, I thought it was going to be miserable. Uh there was a hole in the firewall. The wires went through the firewall easily. I did a little extra on the uh control of the radio for powering on and off when I hit the start button. But otherwise, man, it was a really straightforward install and it is working like a dream. I'm really happy with uh how that went. I did build, or I did rather model in Fusion 360 a mount for the FTM 500 head that attaches to the bottom of the screen. So if you are using a Mach E and you have an FTM 500 and you're interested in that model, you feel free to reach out to me. I'd be happy to share that uh STL file with you. And if you have your own 3D printer, uh you can craft it at home and get yourself on the air in the mock the Mach E. It works really well. It works tremendously well. I hear no unusual uh interference on the VHF and UHF bands. I know that uh a lot of folks have complained that Teslas, for example, are very noisy when it comes to uh radio. And uh that's not my experience at all so far, but I have not put an HF radio next to it and run it. So we'll be curious to know how that goes. I know I got a question on that video about uh whether or not uh the 11-meter band was functional in a Machi. And the answer is I don't know because I don't run uh 11 meter. But if you're an 11-meter enthusiast, by golly, let us know what you found out uh down there in the comments.
SPEAKER_00:Does the Machie do have AM broadcast band receive or did they delete that?
SPEAKER_01:Great question. And the answer was incorrect. Uh somebody did ask that on the video, and I said no, it does not have that because the i3 had had that removed. You could hack it back in if you had the bimmer code or bimmer link uh software. But the Machy does have AM radio enabled by default, which I did not realize until I went back and did a second check on that. So AM radio is enabled. I will tell you that I do hear artifacts when accelerating on AM radio. So I believe that there is noise in the AC motors uh that drive the wheels.
SPEAKER_00:Well, we uh you know, we all know it doesn't take much. Any of us that grew up in Metro Detroit did up north road trips listening to WJR and if you're weird like me trying to listen to WCBS and WBBM and things that are further away, uh it doesn't take much to get noise on the AM. So if it's if it's working well enough that you're it's only minimal and you're still able to listen to you know the great voice of the Great Lakes if you're really in the mood on 760 there, you can uh you can enjoy it. I do I mean you're for anyone who's looking for a non-intrusive install, it's really clean. I mean, if if you're someone who has a lease vehicle or a vehicle that you don't want to do anything too crazy to, Jim's install was super clean. Take a look at that for sure.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that's a great point. Uh no destruction. Uh you could put it in a lease vehicle, you could remove it all, and they would never know that you were under the hood or in the frunk, I suppose, if you're uh talking mocky talk. Yeah, I I will tell you I was listening, uh Rory, on AM to WWJ, News Radio 950, uh there with uh with all of the voices that I remembered uh because it was my grandpa's favorite AM station, and so everywhere we went, that's what we listened to.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, no, my my grandpa would have been a uh JP McCarthy fan on 760. So that that's where that was that we're we're lapsing into story time. We have a list of the stuff. Detroit AM stations will be a whole podcast. James is so James is over there saying, What is this? This is not on the side. That's like an episode all to itself. It's like, what are you talking about? This is not on the agenda for the show. Will you will you quit already? Okay.
SPEAKER_02:All right. Moving the agenda forward, gentlemen. Go ahead. Agenda number one. So the first topic we'd like to discuss is as everyone shown has seen, ARL has launched a grassroots campaign in September to try to contact your representatives. They're they're really making an effort to write letters and making it easy for everyone. And why you ask? That is because the Amateur Radio Emergency Preparedness Act has been reintroduced as HR uh one zero nine four in the House and S459 in the Senate. Uh both were initiated in February of February 6th of this year. Uh, one thing I'm pleased to see is that they do have bipartisan support. So last I saw there were nine Republicans and eight Democrats that were signed up on the HR 1094. Uh now, one thing I will say is uh that early, early, early stages. So I appreciate ARL. Again, what you may think of ARL is a topic we can talk about, but I appreciate that they're trying to make this early push to make the voices of amateur radio heard. Now, one thing that's maybe a little bit sad is we've seen similar efforts in the past for legislation to be passed with very little uh, let's say, traction. And the current bill, uh GovTrack, which is a source that tracks sort of the bills going through Congress, uh, only gives the bill a 5% chance of getting passed in the committee stage and a 2% chance of being enacted. So maybe let's not start betting on Vegas on and if this bill will pass or not. However, you know, I think there's a lot to be said about this bill being reintroduced and the bipartisan support. So I'm curious on what your guys' take is.
SPEAKER_00:They've made it, they've made it super easy. So why not why not sign the thing? There we go. So here's the thing. I don't I don't usually click on things and put my name on things that that's going to the government. Okay. That's that's uh not my my idea of a good time. But ARRL did a good job getting the word out about this uh ability to get this letter signed and delivered and delivered onto the onto Capitol Hill for you. And all you do is click, you put your name, and it gets routed to the correct people there in Congress to do what it needs to do. So they made it easy. I'll give them that. And I was happy to do it.
SPEAKER_02:And one thing we should probably add for those not familiar with the what bill is being passed right now, it limits HOAs. So homeowners associations. So if you're not in the United States, those are legal bodies that represent a group of homeowners within a certain subdivision or district of housing. I guess that's the best way to explain it. So it's legal bodies. Legal bodies. It's uh limits HOAs, so these legal bodies from prohibiting, restricting, or impairing amateur radio antenna installation on property controlled by the operator. So right now I live in an HOA. So technically, things like play structures for your kids, anything that would be uh a distraction to the architectural beauty of the neighborhood can be restricted by the terms of the HOA. So things like the antenna on my roof that we put up, technically not HOA approved or friendly. I shouldn't say that probably on air, uh, or my signature nine from DX Commander in the backyard. Those type of things, HOAs can restrict. So it's a bill that was very ham friendly. Of course, A ARL uh would love to see more antennas being installed in neighborhoods. Their argument is that it allows amateur radio operators to practice their skills. So in the case of emergencies, uh they're able to respond and be reactive.
SPEAKER_01:It was introduced basically in February of this year. Uh and it's nice to see again, like James said, that the ARL has put some weight behind uh promoting it. Uh in the past, it was only lobbyist action uh through the ARL that was uh was really trying to move this thing forward. It's been introduced in several forms almost 15 times before this particular effort, if not more. I believe it's 15 to 20 times. So unfortunately, like James said, and I didn't think this is a pragmatic look at it, it is an uphill battle, but if it means something to you or it means something to somebody that you talk to regularly on the air, I do encourage you, like James said, like Rory has mentioned already, to go find the form. A Texas political action committee has actually funded that form, which allows us to generate those emails, and that is what's making it very easy for you to put in your call sign, your name, uh, where you're located, and uh sending a uh a letter to your state representative uh so that they are aware uh that there are people out there looking. I was pleased to see, gentlemen, uh, that we have at least one Michigan co-sponsor on the bill. Mr. Tom Barrett uh here in Michigan has sponsored, uh co-sponsored this bill. Um, you know, I don't think that it takes much to be a co-sponsor in many cases on these things, but it is nice to see uh that this does have 19 co-sponsors on it, right? It's not something that's just one guy. This one, for whatever reason, seems to have collected more when I looked at some of the other uh introductions of this bill and then subsequent languishings of it. There were less sponsors, there were less there was less interest. So if there was any time for it to happen, if there was any time to put some weight behind this particular thing, it is now. And uh if you are listening and you have not done it, please go do it. I've heard a couple of arguments from hams that are not affected by this. Say hams that live on uh 80 acres of property saying, doesn't affect me, so why should I go do it? You guys chose to buy into an HOA. And that attitude is really not the right attitude uh when you think about this as a community of individuals sharing in a hobby and sharing in the experience of operating radio. And I do encourage you to reconsider if you are uh taking that approach to it, that it it's not applying to you because it your uh particular housing situation doesn't uh have those effects, because you'll be surprised uh how many or how few folks you have to talk to on the radio when those hams uh that are in HOAs are legislated out of uh being able to operate at all.
SPEAKER_00:All three of us all three of us would, you know, if we were completely wiped out as HOA residents, all three of us would be off the air.
SPEAKER_02:That's right. And I think an interesting statistic I saw was approximately 80% of new homes are constructed in HOA controlled developments. So that again, this is United States we're talking about, but that's that's a lot of potential hams that are are not going to be able to activate. And you can't always uh choose where you live, right? For work or family or other reasons. Absolutely. So it's definitely something. The one thing I also found interesting, and I I didn't understand, you know, I my point of view, I'm like, oh, ham radio, it sounds good. We we have a law also enacted for TV and satellite dishes that those can't be obstructed. So I'm like, yeah, okay, who's really pushing back on this as a negative? And I found out there's a body called the CAI, the Community Association Institute. So this is an interest lobbying group brought forward by the HOA. So it's backed by HOA management companies, HOA law firms, and developer organizations. Aaron Powell So all the folks that benefit from HOA is not the folks that live there. Just exact just so you're clear. Let's select all three of those as by the Don't worry. They represent their members. That's their official quote. So they're they're claiming that obviously this this creates architectural and safety concerns and that any study they've done is well, Hams can still get approval from the HOAs. It's not preventing them from doing that. Sure. But we also know, and using my own experience, that is not always an easy task to accomplish. You know, if you if you're looking for a villain here in the story, maybe is it the HOA? It's the HOA.
SPEAKER_00:It makes me wonder what else that organization's up to. But you can you can find the letter a rl.org right on their center of their homepage. It's very prominent. You can find the link to the letter if you haven't found it elsewhere.
SPEAKER_02:We will post it in the description as well, uh, both for the audio and YouTube version. So if you have not already, I highly encourage you to do that. If you're a GMRS operator or just a radio enthusiast, you know, go ahead and submit a letter.
SPEAKER_01:It doesn't cost you anything other than a little information. And guess what? The government already has your call sign and where you live, so it's not going to cost you anything.
SPEAKER_00:And if you're if you're sitting on your 80 acres of land, help a brother out and sign the letter.
SPEAKER_01:Help all three brothers out here. Please. Also, perhaps you are both aware that the government is at a stalemate currently, and that means that it is. Sure is. Certainly not uh in a functional state. And you may be asking, does that mean that this bill is dead in the water? We're not sure yet. And that's a fair question that you might be asking as we're sitting here debating whether or not you should sign the bill or not. Can it be moved forward before this particular seating of Congress uh closes? We don't know yet. This goes on nearly this is going on four weeks at this point. The government stalemate is, and uh we try to be very apolitical on this channel as far as it's concerned, so not taking sides. Uh, but what we have right now is a non-functioning government, including many of the oversights and uh activities that the FCC contributes to our ham radio hobby. And that means that uh things like this uh may not be getting the attention that they deserve, but uh it is up to us uh to continue to put pressure on the government to uh reopen, uh to find uh common ground and to move these things forward that matter to us as amateurs and as gener general individuals.
SPEAKER_02:Yep, I believe we'd be officially in day thirty. I believe it started uh October 1st, so easy math there. So it continues. It's the officially longest running government shutdown uh in history. I believe. So if we're moving gears to our next topic, other exciting news and amateur radio. Uh we talked a little bit before, the ICOM IC 7300 Mark II. So we've seen some rumors on the pricing, and also an email went out for gigaparts to reserve your unit now. So if anyone is wondering what that expected pricing is gonna be, drum roll dollars and ninety-five cents. That is the expected launch price per gigaparts. All right, stop right there. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:First blush, Rory, love it or hate it. I don't need it, but let me tell you this. Okay, I love it because ICOM clearly listened to the growing paints and what people didn't like about the original 7300 and the upgrades that showed up in the 7300 Mark II. The I.O. on the back side, the interface, the things it does, they clearly listen to the users. Now, is it gonna beat our DX10 and from the Yesu manufacturer that we all have grown to have in our shacks? I think we all own a DX10. It's true. Is it gonna beat that? That that's yet yet to be seen. I uh I like what they've done with it. I I won't be in the market for it, but I I certainly appreciate what they've done with it from what we've seen so far. Maybe we'll be blown away when we get our hands on one. Never know.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I'd love to get my hands on it. Uh I guess my take on it is that price point we originally speculated, I think close to a hundred dollars. We thought it was gonna be high. Um so uh to piggyback on what Rory was saying about ICOM listening, I I think fifteen hundred dollar price range puts them right back in that sweet spot of entry-level first radio with the iCom 7300, um, which you know is a is a price point they want to be at and a model of the radio I think the iCOM 7300 is perfect for. And with those new features and the improvements, am I again, I am I gonna order one day one? No, it's not an upgrade for me over my DX10. But I do think, again, it's definitely a price competitive radio, especially in the year 2025. When we look at where prices are heading and where consumer electronics have been heading historically, if that really is the launch price, again, that is expected launch price, not a confirmed launch price. That's what we know so far. Gigaparts felt comfortable enough to put it in an email and and set up a prereg. I still feel that's a win. And if we look back historically, what the original 7300 launched in 2016, I believe it was. Uh, if I memory serves me correctly, it was around$1,300 to$1,500.
SPEAKER_00:So I was just looking that up because I I was curious about that. So again, this is just a quick Google here, but uh Universal Radio accepting orders for the ICOM$7300 at a price of$1,499.95. And this was in 2016. Okay.
SPEAKER_02:Yep.
SPEAKER_00:Did that price did go down over time, and and as I think it it's probably I don't know where it's at now, you can get one pretty reasonably. We do know we'll have the people that argue, you know,$14.99 is is cost prohibitive to many folks, but we also have to consider if that's what the the original$7,300 and this one's coming out, there's there's inflation and all sorts of things that have happened since since the original one came out. I don't think the price is too bad.
SPEAKER_01:I am gonna agree with both of you on this one. I think that$14.99 is a sweet spot price-wise for this. I'm I'm hoping when this uh Mark II comes out uh that the uh revisionary improvements that they've made to an already stalwart unit in the 7300 knock our socks off. I do think that it lags behind what has been presented to us by uh Yesu in the DX10, which is currently being offered at$15.99. But even just last year, the DX10 was selling down in the$12.99 range. Obviously, we've seen some uh price impacts that have been uh sort of affecting radio prices in general this year, and we've talked about the ad nauseum on this channel, but I think that$14.99 was right where this one needed to land. To be competitive, it gives us as ham operators options in this space to have a nice home radio. Uh it like James said, it might be your first big HF radio purchase uh that's gonna grow with you, that could be your only radio on your desk for years, right? And and I like to see that. So I'm glad to see that uh ICOM uh brought it to 1499. I think it puts it right in line with the DX10. I think that uh new hams uh that are looking to buy today are gonna have a challenging decision on their hands. And review review time will tell uh if 7300 Mark II uh revision-wise uh stands up to DX10 as far as its overall functions, right? I have a lot of things that I love about the DX10, uh, right? Contour filter, I love the contour filter. There are some other filters on the DX10 that I think are hands down best in price class, right? But if the 7300 builds on its pedigree, which we know the 7300 was an awesome radio, it could really, really make the uh the market decision a lot more challenging. And I suspect that uh we'll probably see both of these radios selling at about the same price uh here even next year. Yep, yep. You're gonna see them lined up 1499 and 1499.
SPEAKER_02:I have a sweet spot for the 7300 because it was my first radio. I remember getting my general license and I I made that big purchase and I was very excited. It's it the first Gen 1, Mark One, as we'll call it now. Yeah, great, great radio, great all-around beginner radio. Absolutely. I would also, Jim, I'm curious what you're seeing in prices for I used IC 7300. I know, yeah. Great also. If you're the Mark II is price prohibitive and you want a good radio, three hundred Mark I is is still a great radio. I use it for POTA occasionally. I take it out in the field, I've hooked it up here recently. It it's a nice solid radio, so something to consider, especially if. If you're looking at a used market price.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I'll tell you the uh ICOM 7300 right now, and by the time this uh episode goes live to you, this will still likely be the story. Uh, Main Trading Company has about seven used ICOM 7300s traded in from customers anticipating uh the upcoming one, and so they're they're trading them in. So Rich down there at Main Trading has almost seven of them in stock, and he is blowing them out right now at$725 a used$7300. That is a compelling price. That is a compelling price for a$7,300.
SPEAKER_00:So I will say I don't own a$7300. I I do have a fair amount on the air time with one as one of my friends has one. If you're if you're a new ham or getting into it and you're completely intimidated by what you feel is a difficult, difficult radio to use, NEHF radio, the 7300 is a is a very, very good entry-level radio for you to get friendly, user-friendly clear. It's a lot of intuitive things with the touch screen. You know, that's one thing. And if they carry that forward with the Mark II, I would definitely if it, you know, a lot of people they look at the I mean, any of these radios that have a ton, they all have lots of buttons and knobs, but there is something about the 7300 that does have a lot of intuitive menus and intuitive touch screen buttons and things, soft, soft keys and so forth. So I I do recommend it for someone who who feels that that that's what they need.
SPEAKER_01:So I go on, Jay. Go ahead. Oh, I was just gonna say, I just went and checked. Maine has six of them still in stock.$721.65.$721.65. Great price. He has six. Uh, I don't we're not affiliated with Maine Trading Company. I just have done business with Rich and he treated me really well on my uh fairily large amplifier purchase, so I do recommend him. Um but uh yeah, I think that the uh 7300 is a venerable bargain uh on the used market and will continue to be with the launch of the Mark II. I think that uh after Mark II comes out and we see whether or not it sets its apart itself apart from Mark I uh in a significant way or not. If it does not, uh those Mark I prices are gonna go back up. And so this might be the time to buy if you're looking for a 7300 and don't mind uh having one generation old. I'm betting that uh it'll do a lot of radio for you uh at that$720 mark. So go ahead, James.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I don't mean to be a buzzkill on this uh Mark II story of joy here, but we are approaching the holiday season. And anyone looking to buy a radio for that holiday season, the expected launch date is sometime in 2025. However, I may have bad news for you. We we talked a few moments ago about the government shutdown and the impacts, and the FCC certification is still pending for this radio. Again, this is maybe just a US problem. Uh, it is very possible that other regions have this radio launch because their government bodies have certified it for release, but just something to keep in mind. Also tracking that similar story. So we we were talking about the Mark II, we were excited. Yay, are we gonna buy one? What's our take? And then we also read an article from The Verge that was published on October 28th. They basically say that tech products that are packaged and ready for sale aren't launching in the US right now because the government shutdown. The article went on to explain that any products emitting radio frequencies need FCC clearance before it can be sold. We know that very well. But the FCC shutdown uh now at 30 days, manufacturers are facing a growing backlog with no end in sight. And we have seen, we have seen real-world examples of products being delayed by pretty large manufacturers. So Leica has delayed their their, if you're into cameras, the MEV uh due to holdups with FCC approval. We've seen some sound cards and other equipment uh being delayed, Razor, uh, which has delayed some wireless controllers, which is a pretty uh, let's say, standard certification, I think, at this point. Uh so are we concerned that A, this shutdown in the FCC will impact amateur radio? I think it will. Uh, but also will we see the Mark II launch in 2025, or is ICOM gonna miss that crucial Christmas market within the U.S.?
SPEAKER_00:Black Friday is right around the corner, less than a month away.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Rory took the uh words out of my mouth. Purchasing for a Christmas holiday has to happen weeks before Christmas holiday. Uh, and at this point, I think the backlog is likely hit to have grown to a point where it would take a uh darn near miracle uh for this to be certified and out the door in a meaningful way uh so that folks could buy it and actually put it under the Christmas tree. That's the sad truth, but that is the state that we're in uh currently here in the United States. If you're listening from outside the states, be thankful that you may not have to deal with all this crap. But yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Nice way of saying that. You know you know what else it'll delay, and hopefully it's in the queue before the seventy three hundred and we just don't know it, is the the Kenwood uh TMD seven fifty A.
SPEAKER_02:That's right.
SPEAKER_00:Oh I'm I'm hoping I'm hoping I'm hoping for that this year. The uh the Kenwood rep told us at Dayton Hamvention to expect it fourth quarter, but seems like sliding. I would bet I would bet that's gonna be sliding further away from the Christmas tree for sure.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Yeah, the TMD uh D750A, of course, uh Kenwood's Triband Mobile. Uh it basically builds on the THD 75, uh, which is their current handheld, makes it a bigger screen, of course, gives you the full output at 50 watts. Uh we're not sure what 220 is gonna do yet, but uh we've heard at least 20 watts. So yeah, we're hoping for at least 20. But uh I I agree. I was hoping to see this radio. I have basically committed to not buying it uh out of the gate, so I'm hoping that one of you two can be an early adopter and give us a little bit of feedback on it. But having installed uh mobile rigs in all of my own vehicles and having an extra one sitting right across from me, I'm uh guess Yesu through and through for now, but I do look forward to hearing whether or not Kenwood's gonna change my mind.
SPEAKER_00:It's hard for me to buy something that's brand new. I struggle with buying something right off the line. So we'll see. I might do it, I might not. I want it. We'll see what happens.
SPEAKER_01:Don't worry, James and I got burned by the FTX one.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And I'm ready to be heard again. I'm a stocker for a new product.
SPEAKER_00:Does that mean it's my turn to take a hit? So as I is, yeah, let's go with that. My wife is sad over here. Let you guys uh let you guys you know, the the whole uh the Yezu thing there with the FTX one. I'm just sitting over saying, no, I didn't buy one. That's okay.
SPEAKER_01:You you didn't miss out. I think you you're dragging your feet on the FTX1 was the right decision.
SPEAKER_00:I I'm still sad about that. I and hopefully we, you know, I'm still hoping maybe we get someone on here to chat about that at some point because I'd I'd like to go back through that and see what the current status of the FTX1 is and how people are feeling about it.
SPEAKER_01:But we do know that they've had numerous firmware updates. Uh I'm working, I have an idea for uh hopefully getting us uh some access uh to an FTX one that we could at least do a little bit more review content on, look at it now that it has a little bit more mature firmware on it, and uh see where uh that has landed that FTX1. We'll see. Maybe uh maybe it's uh the radio that it it is set out to be at the beginning of the year. But uh it'll be very interesting. So to answer your question, James, yeah, I do think that uh 7300 Mark II likely to be delayed. Don't think that's gonna be a Christmas tree buy.
SPEAKER_02:Uh you're gonna have to figure something else out uh that you want Santa to slide down to your loved one can get you that gigaparts uh pre-order and then give you that in an envelope. And then, you know, when you're a kid and you got some socks and a small package, you can maybe feel the depression creeping over me.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I can feel the depression creeping over me. No goodies under the Christmas tree.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, I kind of go on go on, Roy.
SPEAKER_00:No, go ahead, because I was gonna change, I was gonna veer, but if you're not veering, go first.
SPEAKER_02:One thing I find interesting though, thank you, Roy. One thing I find interesting at this point is the only email I have seen about reserve now is gigaparts. I was expecting Ham Radio Outlet, I've looked online as well, and some other retailers to also follow the trend, and they have they have not. I'm wonder if there's something behind that or they're just being more cautious and taking pre-orders, maybe a lesson learned from the FTX one, sort of how those were managed. But you know, we'll we'll see. I'm curious to see how this goes. But I guess no Mark II for me for Christmas. Thanks, guys. Ruin that for me. Rory, veer away.
unknown:Go ahead.
SPEAKER_00:I was just going to mention we were talking government shutdown, and there's a lot of other FCC related things that our hobby relies on with the government shutdown licensing, processing of licensing, and other administrative tasks. And and the ARL V E C is is making sure to tell people continue to test. Testing is still available. You do not need an FRN right now if you don't have one. That's the one one thing that they're allowing you to work around. Good to know. But don't keep it from getting your test. If you're ready to test, still go test. It's just going to sit in the queue for a little while. But they they want to encourage people to still be involved, do their testing, do their administrative actions, and get them in the queue as best as they can. That's that they don't want to see people stop just because they think it's not going to go anywhere. But certainly don't don't stop because once the government opens up again, a lot of those administrative things that are automated will will flow right through the system. So looking forward to to seeing things resume, of course, and uh hopefully it's not too much longer.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I'm glad you brought that up. I was sitting thinking about this uh because we have uh one of our participants on the Discord uh is actually in the situation where uh he is ready to go, and I think he's waiting on his license because he's a a brand new tech, right? Uh I believe he passed and we're waiting on the license. And so it does it's a bummer, right? Uh you've spent all this time uh studying and you you've gone and actually achieved that uh that certification, that test. Uh, you've passed uh and you can't get your license. Uh but stick with it, guys, uh, if you are out there and waiting, and Rory makes a really good point. If you're ready to test and you're you're confident to go do that, go get that VE testing done. Uh get it out of the way while it's fresh in your head and get that uh license whenever it comes through. And let's hope that uh that opens up quicker rather than later, as I understand it. Uh if uh your license even expires right now. Uh technically, I don't know if you're supposed to be transmitting, but uh you could leave that up to uh debate.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I tried to look and see if there was any official guidance on expired licenses and and I didn't in my quick I thought of that while you were talking and I Googled right.
SPEAKER_01:I've s I've seen some opinions that say no and I've seen some opinions that say yes. I think that uh I guess come come get me. Right. What doesn't affect me. But I'm just I'm just saying like I think if you're if you've been licensed and you're just waiting on the paperwork, perhaps uh I don't know. That that's a tougher one for me.
SPEAKER_00:And if you're if you're already licensed and you upgrade and and you have that CSCE, you can always run slant AG and slant uh AE to enjoy your enhanced privileges right away and get annoying putting that suffix on there all the time, but you can do it. Nobody's gonna log it with the slant.
SPEAKER_02:All right. I think our last topic was Jim, you had a little bit of an update on the Smart SDR 4.01.
SPEAKER_00:A resident Flex Radio Expert.
SPEAKER_01:I don't know about Flex Radio Expert, but I will tell you guys, we talked about this a little while back. Flex did launch their uh 4.0 uh release of Smart SDR. So if you're a Flex guy out there and you uh have seen or haven't seen that it's uh released, it is out there. The most interesting thing for me that right right now is that they did bring some significant noise reduction improvements to certain radios, and they they brought a really good uh description of each of those noise reduction uh improvements and what radios they apply to in a table format, which I love. Excellent documentation. So if you are a table, yeah. Uh all of the radios listed, what each of these features does, or if it's brand new, what it does now that it's been implemented. It also gives some details on uh those those things that have been improved. So uh, for example, noise reduction on uh some of the SDRs, uh the algorithm was updated and improved. And so across the board, no matter if you're using a flex 6300 all the way up to a flex 8600, you get that new uh enhancement in Flex Radio's 4.0 release. So this is where uh we're moving into the faster releases of Flex Radio Smart SDR. This is also where the subscription comes into play. And it's also worth mentioning that uh there was very interesting feedback on the video that we did discussing the Flex Radio subscription. A lot of you folks uh think uh the initial blush was no thanks, never ever interested. But if you took some time to read deeper and listen to that conversation, uh maybe your mind did change. Uh, the Smart SDR subscription is a very generous subscription as far as model is concerned. It is a very flexible one in allowing you to choose when you uh entitle and what you get is, of course, uh all of the things that were released before, but we won't rehash that. All this being said, today is the day, so that software is out there. Uh Flex Radio is doing a promotion right now for$50 off of that subscription. So if you want to be an early adopter, well, now's the time. Uh they're giving you a little bit of a uh sweetener, at least for uh for the for now. I don't know how long that's planned to run, um, but uh I've seen a lot of folks take them up on that$50 discount. Uh reminder, I believe it was$200 and$299 were going to be the two price points. So bringing$50 down, uh, you know, that's a 25% discount. I can uh appreciate a little uh little free money there when uh when when we're doing things like that. So I did see some people say they bought in. Downsides, it does seem like there are some teething pains with Nos release. Uh it looks like uh some features that perhaps were present uh in previous versions of Smart SDR were not showing up in the basic entitlement of 4.0. Diversity antenna setup was one of those things that I saw mentioned this morning. It's hard to tell. It's way too early with only a day behind us uh since this is launched, whether or not those are uh user errors, uh entitlement errors because the servers didn't respond timely enough after I went and paid my subscription or something else, right? I think we we give Flex a lot of benefit of the doubt here. Like I said, they sat down and did a pretty good conversation with another one of our ham radio pals here on YouTube, uh, and it was a good conversation about why they were doing it, what their intention was, and and it sounded like a very logical uh model moving forward. But just an FYI. Flex Radio does have new software out there, non-stakeholder of Flex for the time being. It does not affect any of us here in the everyday ham, but uh flex remains to me to be a sort of a mystical thing, and uh I still have some interest in that uh Aurora out uh in the longer term once I understand better what this model looks like and also how that uh new hardware performs uh longer term. So we'll find out in the future that might be a thing. But for now, it's FTDX 101 MP and SPE Expert 1.5K uh over here in the NAJRD shack. That's your flex radio update. I know you were stoked to hear it. All right, guys, that's I think all we had. And we're trying to keep uh format a little bit shorter this month, uh, and we will continue to do that uh moving forward. So if you like the new format a little bit quicker moving, hitting uh the high points a little bit more uh rapidly, uh let us know down in the comments below. If you found it to be way too bang bang uh for your taste, let us down know down in the comments too. We can slow it down. Uh hey. Did we did we improve? I mean that that's I think we're we're at 45 minutes. You we've been going an hour and five.
SPEAKER_02:Listen, if you're if you're still listening to us, thank you. Appreciate it. But also please leave comments on anything we've talked about. I'm really curious on if you're gonna upgrade to the Mark II. Your take is on the price of the Mark II, the ARL campaign, and if you're supporting and the state of HOAs, uh please please let us know your thoughts. Share your everything with us. Also leave a rating. Audio versions, by the way, on audio on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It really does help us a lot if you're leave a rating or leave a comment. Uh, we also love reading them as well.
SPEAKER_00:And we'll take episode recommendations too. If there's a topic that you'd like to hear us talk about, whether it's something you think we know about or don't know about, we'll be happy to talk about either. Certainly, certainly always glad to take some recommendations. If you're you know, if it's a topic that you know that we're interested in or something we've done and you want to see a little bit more depth, we can do one of our other other shorts on that too. So uh definitely look forward to feedback on that as well.
SPEAKER_02:Yep. All right, gentlemen. So with that, episode eleven in the book, seventy three, everyone. Seven seventy.
