[RTTY] Icom Rigs For Contesting

[Bob Burns W9BU]

According to the IC-7600 brochure, the transmit/receive DSP unit is 32-bit
running at 266 MHz. There is a separate 32-bit DSP unit for the spectrum
scope (which now has a water fall with the latest firmware) that runs at 200
MHz. The IC-7410 has just one DSP unit--32 bits at 333 MHz. The 7410's
spectrum scope is pretty minimal and does not have a waterfall.

The 7410 will decode RTTY internally. The 7600 will decode and encode RTTY
internally which means you can do RTTY without a computer (I've done this to
snag a few DX stations). That may or may not be useful to you if you are
using an external RTTY decoder ala MMTTY.

Both radios have built-in USB sound cards and their drivers set up a virtual
serial port for passing CI-V commands which means you don't need an adapter
to connect to a PC. Note that the IC-7600 CI-V command set does not include
a command to FSK key the radio, so you'll need an interface to key the FSK
line on the auxiliary port.

The 7600 has a "dual watch" feature that will let you monitor two
frequencies in the same band. It's not really dual receive, but it could be
useful.

The 7600 has three built-in roofing filters at 3, 6, and 15 kHz. The 7410
comes with the 15 kHz filter, but the rest are optional.

I've had my 7600 for about 2 years. It was a nice step up from my 746 Pro
(which the 7410 replaced).

All that said, the IC-7300 is really hot right now and has more features
than the 7410 including a full SDR architecture. I have to believe that
Icom's engineers and product planners are working on a 7600 replacement that
uses SDR architecture similar to the 7300. If I was thinking about a 7600
right now, I might be tempted to wait a year or so.

Bob...




> -----Original Message-----
> From: RTTY [mailto:rtty-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Jim
> Sent: Friday, July 22, 2016 2:54 PM
> To: Thomas F. Giella W4HM <thomasfgiella at gmail.com>;
> rtty at contesting.com
> Subject: Re: [RTTY] Icom Rigs For Contesting
> 
> Tom
> 
> I use one of each in my SO2R setup. IC7600 and a 7410.
> 
> I believe the DSP in the 7600 and 7410 are the same. The 7600 has a bigger
> color display and a band scope. I think this is the only difference?
> 
> 73
> Jim W7RY
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Thomas F. Giella W4HM
> Sent: Friday, July 22, 2016 10:49 AM
> To: rtty at contesting.com
> Subject: [RTTY] Icom Rigs For Contesting
> 
> I've been using an Icom IC-756 Pro 3 for contesting since 2003. Back in
April I
> added a new Icom IC-7410 and have found that the IC-7410 has faster IF DSP
> and better IMD performance than the Pro 3, so have been favoring the
> IC-7410 for RTTY contesting.
> 
> Presuming that the Icom IC-7600 has faster IF DSP and better IMD
> performance than the Pro 3 also and at least equal to the IC-7410 I've
been
> thinking about retiring the Pro 3 and replacing it with the IC-7600. I
would
> appreciate comments on IC-7600 performance in RTTY contesting.
> 
> 73 & GUD DX,
> Thomas F. Giella W4HM
> Lakeland, FL, USA
> thomasfgiella at gmail.com
> 
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