Introduction to the IC-9700 VHF/UHF/1200 MHz Base Station SDR Transceiver

Not for me , was not impressed with the 7300 , had on not for me . 1200 mhz is vertualy not used . dont like n type plugs either . so 239 any time . think icom taking a step back. and bet the price is out of most peoples pocket . hf vhf uhf would be nice. 7300 hf and thats it . not for me .

Firstly well done Mr Icom for taking the step into a dedicated VHF/UHF base unit without the need for a shack in a box - a needy gap filled.

I had marked the unit down for a place in the shack from its announcement but the price tag is too high when I forced to have 23cm which I don’t want and if you remove the FM simplex/repeater traffic the cost balance for such a Unit here in the UK - the sums don’t add. I’m sure it will sell in the states though.

A price match against the 7300 would have been acceptable, without 23cm’s, as as for it being ahead of the 910 - errr I would hope so with the advances in technology.

Rumours are that with the end of the ts-2000 production run, Kenwood are looking at there own VHF/UHF base - if it follows on from the 711/811 at the right price, then the 9700 will have a battle on

Still the 910 has been dropping slightly in ££ - so let’s see if more appear or they now become real keepers

SD

They can keep it. I'm not spending € 2K for a set that has no HF.

Sorry, but available "in the very near future " is NOT acceptable as a marketing statement in the 21st C.

No 220 band for US? I wont buy it. If you can cram all the HF bands into a box.. you can add 220 into the 9700. Lacking 220 it makes it NOT a serious radio. And whats up with an so239 on VHF? No one uses so/pl 259's any more.

Nice Ensemble comes that new ic-9700 with down transverter , or sample the ADC the antenna directly ?

Looks at 9100 and smiles.

Thanks Icom but to be honest I was expecti g an HDmi socket

The only problem of this ratio will be the price... 3000+CAD for a 3 band radio will make it a lot less appealing...

The 7300 is just ate the right spot for affordability for what it is. This is why it is one of the most popular radio ever produced.

The 9700 on the other hand, not so sure... This would be a great addition to my 7300 but not at this price ever...

I'll just keep my TS2000 for the price the 9700 will sell for....

does it have 6 meters?

Wonder if it can be modified for GMRS?

Whitch Speaker are standing left of it
?

How does the TX spectrum looks like?

Excellent it loos like a game changer.. what sort of filtering is there on receive ? and does it include a Bias-T for driving a preamp ????

should have started it at 4m

I'll keep my K3 and 8 Transverters. Khune transverters hard to beat for 2/432/1296/2304. . DEMI for 222/902/903. Receiver sensitivity is what its a bout.

It looks good but I'll stay with my Icom 28, 38 and 48. They may be old but they work for me.

Too bad they didn't include 6M (50Mhz) for those who don't want HF, and I why wouldn't they have included 220Mhz?

$2100 your having a laugh

Way to much money, $2099.99 US price forget it. SDR radios are so cheap to make and yet they want big bucks. UNREAL

7300 great radio, looking at the 7900 now as a pair...

Can you listen to AM radio like in your car...and likewise FM radio like your car? Also emergency bands?

Frankly... I thought that (at that price), that it was also an HF rig... Im a bit shocked now that it is not! I will probably buy the IC7300, and wait a year or two until it Drops... probably quickly in price.

I prefer SO239 to N. Always have, and always will. Even on 70cm. I can understand it on 1.2ghz though. I am a bit surprised that it has no HDMI output.

So many "Debbie Downers" Admit it You want one. they are awesome gentlemen Get Over it. I am saving for the day

A Fantastic radio I'm sure, but you'd get the same amount of qso's by calling CQ into the box

Why no 220 and no Bluetooth? ANY rig now-a-days should have BT built in for connection to headsets and mics and a phone app.

Hopefully it will put a lot more people on those bands..... We are planning to use one on field day this year....

I was almost ready to put down my money but looking closer discovered that it will not do general coverage receive. Too bad. It looks like a nice radio.

The IC-7300 is a single band radio? Umm.

Please am in doubt between buying an ICOM IC 9700 or IC 9100 ?? Why in the IC 9100 do I have a full HF / VHF / UHF for the same value as an IC 9700 ??? Can you help me choose the best option? 73

This will absolutely will be my upgraded 2m/70cm base station rig. I own and love an IC-7300 and was blown away from day one, it's an incredible HF rig in every way and assume the 9700 will be as well. I have a nice 220 standalone rig so not having 220 isn't a deal killer for me. I would simply enjoy working 2m/70cm at higher TX power using similar features and performance I see on the 7300 along with DStar and the built in ethernet and server, true dual tuner duplex, real-time full spectrum waterfall and many other unique features to the 9700...that will be a whole new ballgame. Those who own 7300s understand what I mean, it's a unique experience using it, one that is incredibly intuitive, efficient, deep features and rewarded by top class performance. I expect the 9700 will be the same. I do plan on waiting about a year, like I did with my 7300, to make sure no major problems surface that requires some sort of "V2" model that is required due to an issue beyond a firmware fix. Also I hope prices will drop to be closer to what a 7300 costs by that time. Looking forward to read/viewing hands on reviews over the next year or so and hoping they align with 7300 class performance, features and usability.

G8VPR, very disapointed no coverage beyond 130.00 0 all our tv is above 1300 and no coverage above 146.000 in uk we have access to 147.00 on a nov as for all rx performance super as good as ic910 with the advantage of sdr

The ICOM 9700 aka:the VHF/UHF DRIFTER. Welcome to the future of ICOM Quality or lack of. Just wait until those touch screens start failing.

I have been out of VHF/UHF/SHF for a good while now. Sold all of my big antennas for these bands. This rig looks does look appealing especially with 1.2gig. Of course I don't know about the activity these days on 1.2 during the three major contest. I use SDR rig for HF on AM and I am thinking the Panadapter will be be great during a contest. It would had been nice if it had 6 and 220, at least 6 meters. I used to run single banded Icom rigs for 5 bands. From 275A to 1275A . I will look into this rig. Thanks for the Video.

What type connector is on the rear is far less important than the Drifting issues that this radio has. It is suppose to be a great rig for Digital modes yet the specs don't reflect that nor does the on the air performance by the people who spent their hard earned cash & are now BETA TESTERS for ICOM. Rumor is that ICOM will come out with an Updated model when they figure out how to correct the flaws in the radio yet they will NOT be giving refunds for the current models already out there. I think it's FUNNY that some folks must have the latest & greatest new toys & can't wait until the bugs are worked out & now they are stuck with a faulty transceiver and some of them keep lying about the stability issues yet so much documentation proves that the radio drifts so badly some Digital QSO's are Impossible. Lying about it won't make the radio work better it's called DENIAL & many suffer from it. LOL {:>)

The ICOM 9700 drifts so BADLY that it has caused some issues with delivery because it keeps drifting off of the delivery route. LOL hehe haha {:>)

Let's talk about the frequency stability of the 9700. The reference input doesn't govern the oscillator, and the thermal drift is a joke. You were obviously more interested making a radio that matches the 7300 than you were in making a great radio. Why not have the input govern the oscillator like in the 7610? All I know is my 9100 doesn't drift... it's rock solid - I've never seen more than a few Hz drift on VHF.

The thermal design is a joke on this thing. It makes UHF SSB and EME problematic to say the least.

Very poor radio indeed, which is a shame, as without this stability issue, it would be a nice radio. Considering that we first saw this radio being demonstrated over 2 years ago, I'm amazed these problems were allowed to persist through it's development.

We all read the hype, also told it was the best thing since sliced bread (and it is the IC 9700,) then the rug was pulled out from under us by the announcement we could be losing the 144-146 and the 23cms Bands,

The worlds most expensive VHF/UHF Repeater radio because the 9700 it's garbage for anything else. Drifts really bad, I'm going back to an IC-9100.

Please, I want to buy this radio but I have seen some negative comments from him on eham, could summarize for me what are the good points of this beautiful radio IC 9700.

I'm very close to buying both of these. What kind of power supply would I get? I want to be able to run both radios at the same time. Obviously not transmitting at the same time. But both on at the same time.

I'd love one, if for no other reason than to sit it next to me Ic-7300, but until the price comes down to something more reasonable i'll stick to my ft847

Do u need a big antenna for this? Anyone ever find something interesting while surfing the waves?

ha ha ha what a flop , king of what ?.. my 821 is miles ahead in receive , my 9700 is just a d-star receiver , and a 2m local chat rig . weak signals is a joke...

I’m sold on it

Icom 7300 has 9 bands 160 to 6 meters

Hello! Is it Possible do use the Speaker for both transveivers on the same time ?

Does the speaker have 2 inputs so you can connect to both radios at the same time? That would be useful (rather than buying 2)

Does this radio include air band?