I was wrong (again!)

Since the installation of the 10m Yagi, most of the activity nowadays is on 10m phone. It has been a while since I’ve actually talked to fellow amateurs.

Couple of interesting findings: first, the widespread use of IC-7300 as a main (and often the only!) modern radio in a shack.

My estimate is that one in three amateurs who are actually on the air use IC-7300. This perfectly aligns with ICOM’s data – this is indeed the most sold HF transceiver in the history of ham radio.

The second finding was kind of a shock: one in fifty use IC-7610. I always thought that after discovering the beauty of the entry level 7300, many would quickly upgrade to 7610. This is simply not happening. Finding a 7610 owner on air is actually quite rare.

For a simple reason: amateurs are cheap. Logical progression upwards and upgrading to a better model is seen as a waste of money.

Actually, if ICOM ever releases a better radio than the 7300 at a price below $1,000 that radio will become ‘the new standard’ and a new bestseller.

In our hobby, for a vast majority of amateurs, the ultimate goal is not a well equipped, modern, high-tech shack but quite the opposite: finding and then investing in a radio that presents absolutely the best performance per dollar, where the ultimate goal is to spend as little as possible.

But don’t take my word for it – go on air, do your own research. Actually, for five weeks on air, making over 2500 phone contacts on 10m band, I have came across just one instance where a correspondence was using the top of the range IC-7851. It was a station from Mexico.

Amateurs don’t invest in luxury, nor do they have any sense of what ‘pride of ownership’ really means.

Yesterday, we had a caller enquiring about IC-7300. Our advertised price is $1,599. He immediately asked what kind of discount we are going to offer. Gemma reminded him that this price is already heavily discounted from the recommended retail price of $1,850. Plus there is a $100 cashback from ICOM if he buys the radio before the end of month.

His response: “You are too expensive, I am sure there is a shop in Sydney that sells them for less”.

Needless to say, we lost the sale. For $1,599 you can’t even get the latest iPhone! (the iPhone 15 Pro is $1,849).

Which really leads me to a rather strange conclusion: this year we are giving away a brand new IC-7610 to a lucky subscriber who joins our mailing list. Quite frankly, this offer is ridiculously generous – yet the number of amateurs who subscribed to our mailing list is less than 293. Surely you can argue that perhaps, the newsletter is of such low value that no incentive to join is attractive enough to compensate for the suffering. Yet if the chance of winning a $6,300 radio is not a large enough incentive, what is?

One thing is certain: I do regret giving away such a large prize. Bit too late now, but I will honour the offer, no matter what, so on December 16 one lucky owner will get his IC-7610.

And while we are on the topic: we are also giving away a second IC-7610. To get into the draw, simply buy any ICOM ham radio transceiver of any value – even an IC-7230 that retails at $550 would qualify.