Icom IC-7300 is a great feature radio, but the main complaint about it is there’s no I/Q output (or at least video output like in the IC-7000) so you can see the spectrum/waterfall display on a larger screen.
 |
| Icom IC-7300 waterfall |
I kept telling people the Icom IC-7300 already has an internal soundcard available through the USB port and the spectrum/waterfall display is available in the Icom RS-BA1 software, also via the USB connection, so there’s no need for I/Q (which is very sensitive to zero-hertz interference and amplitude/phase mismatch). Until I saw these videos:
It seems the spectrum and waterfall display available in RS-BA1 is just a kid’s toy with no practical use – the delay is very bad and refresh rate is catastrophic. And no, you can’t blame this on USB speed limit, even USB 2.0’s half duplex has huge overhead for whatever that display requires if the datastream is properly encoded.
I asked Icom for a comment on Twitter, no reply yet. I’ll update the post if I have more info.
Hi Razvan,
check this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbGtlNbJ2KQ
73' Ton PA1PXL
Hi Ton,
Bonito shows audio channel spectrum a few kHz wide, like any other datamode software.
Cheers,
Razvan.
Hi Razvan, okay i was not aware of that. Saw the video on youtube and looks interesting. Maybe Icom will upgrade her RS-BA1 software in future (should be part of IC-7300 package)
73' Ton
I own the 7300 and it is a huge disappointment not to be able to use the software with anything other than the OEM software for a panadapter. It is a bit surprising and makes this rig only half as good as it could be. Still like the radio and plan to keep it but it is a big negative for me and I tell others the same.
So anything happened about this? any progress? anyone contacted icom to see if they can update their software to meet our needs?
Icom didn’t say anything. Also, I didn’t check the latest versions of RS-BA1 so I’m not sure if the problem still exists or not.
Razvan.
Hi Razvan
yes the issue still exist’s and i have also just emailed Icom HQ and hopefully something will be done
Ok i heard back from icom and apparently they are updating the software and adding a few things and fixing a few things, but they didn’t say as to when.
I’m seeing reports that RS-BA1 v2 is being released in Japan as of the date of this post. It’s a standalone purchase, not an upgrade option for v1. Translation from Icom’s Japanese web page states that it operates “more smoothly than ever” and that it can be resized. It supports the full range of radios supported by v1, and adds dual waterfalls/spectrums for the IC-7610. There is no specific mention of improved refresh through the USB connection for the IC-7300.
Both N1MM and DXLab has the ability to show ic-7300’s waterfall on pc only with a usb cable. No need for extra harware just read the manuals 73