Hi Guys,
I believe we can all afford the modest luxury of waiting until mid-year, to
see whether or not the promised announcement materialises.
A product such as the IC-7000 makes sense, as it is consistent with Icom's
intent to replace analogue HF and "HF-plus" transceivers with DSP-based
designs. To quote an excerpt from a CQ Ham Radio interview with Icom's lead
engineer (Nov. 2001 issue. Translation courtesy JA7UDE.)
The DSP filter is technically interesting, but another reason to use the DSP
for the IF filter is concern about the future availability of mechanical and
crystal filters for HAM use. It is doubtful that those kinds of filters will
be continuously available in the market forever in the future. The DSP
filter is implemented by software and permits easy quality control. IC-746
was the last transceiver that used the conventional analogue circuit for the
RX. ICOM would like to expand the use of DSP to the products in the lower
price ranges.
[Note: The IC-703, which still uses an analogue selectivity filter, was
released after the IC-746. Its architecture lends itself quite nicely to the
replacement of the 455 kHz analogue IF chain by a DSP-IF subsystem.]
Best 73,
Adam, VA7OJ/AB4OJ
Owner, Yahoo! ic7000 Group
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Adam Farson