As a young engineer [electronics and software R&D] my family and I lived in New England in the 1980’s [during the Regan years]. We found TVs, washing machines, furniture, etc were almost 1 to 1 [US $ to UK £] and my salary had nearly doubled going there, so, yes my disposable income was much higher.
Maybe it’s changed since then, but I notice when comparing US vs UK prices for radios or even general stuff on the Amazon websites, it’s still cheaper in the US.
Elecraft had shown that with their KX3, hams had lots of loose coins in their pockets to spend on a QRP radio costing more than a mid level 100 watt radio.
More so the japanese salaryman was ready to drop their mid year bonus on a field radio.
Getting the backpack and then all the ancillaries shows the Be Active Ham has more loose cpins in their pockets than imagined.
Come on guys the well dressed SOTA poser sipping a $8 Pumpkin Spice Latte in the local cafe with his Icom backpack at his side chatting up on the local repeater using the Icom vs-3 dongle will be in a state of bliss.
He will be happy to tell you he has
3 extra BP-272
A Bioenno Battery to get 10w into the repeater
The HFj-350m Toy Box
Interconnect cables
The Elecraft T1 Tuner
Sotabeams dipole and Fiberglass Mast
Packtenna Mini for 20m
Add a Snowpeak titanium mug and chopsticks, Moji Bento Box, Stanley Carafe and alkaline water and your all set.
I am not sure what the 50’ of 8mm rope is for with carabiners but God Bless Ham Radio
Now if that stupid BNC elbow didnt muck up the swr on my rubber duck, I would be more content with my purchase.
My change jar is waiting for a Moonraker Dual Bander with a built in elbow with low swr by design because everytime I see my swr higher than 5:1 I worry about the blown finals club.
My FT817 blew up and my Icom 703 within weeks of purchase so we are hoping the 705 does not.
Its an excellent radio but I think someone said the crampons and ice axe boys may stick to their MTR3b
The 705 is perfect to take the ski lift up to the top of Krozenplatz and operate from the balcony of the Messner Museum. I did it with the 817 and hope next year to do the same with the Icom.
73s
John VE3IPS
Ah, the gentle(ish) art of satire!
Oh dont forget a few Euros for the counterpoise for the Toy Box antenna in lengths suitable to work all the way to 1.9Mhz
I know a $150 dollar whip antenna should come with it in the plastic package but the cloth case is another $50
The 705 has helped grow economies during the pandemic no doubt
I am off to the camera store with a $100 to get tripods, z brackets and a tripod for the Toy Box antenna
THe Diamond MCR clip and Windcamp bracket are on their way and thankfully it will apear on next months AMex bill
I am getting tired of taking the 705 in and out of the backpack so I am getting a second one just to have on my desk for Dstar and a Zumspot.
My kids keep asking why we eat rice and Ramen all the time and what happened to Steaks and Shrimps on the barbie or basics like ice cream , peaches and organic blueberries.
Just a few more months my children I still need a small amplifier and the proper Icom Tuner
I love this hobby I mean ham radio lifestyle
John VE3IPS
I was a bit surprised to find that there seems to be an oversupply of the IC-705 at least by the looks of the dxengineering webpage. The 705 came in stock there about a month earlier than expected and hasn’t been out of stock once…which doesn’t seem like a promising sign for a new rig.
73,
Tom, N2YTF
The unofficial word is that Icom Japan for unknown reasons has decided there will be no possibility for full 420-450 coverage on the 705. I don’t know what motivates this, a regulatory consideration or a circuit issue but either way its not a good outcome. Lots of the microwave bands are wider than 20mhz. Setups with limited bandwidth have caused a lot of peculiar and cumbersome band planning on the 902-928Mhz band in the US.
73,
Tom, N2YTF
When you said it wasn’t support the full 70cms US band I thought it was only going to be 440-450 but it does 430-450 so it covers all the narrow(er) band parts of the band. And that is more than Region I/III radios cover.