The IC-7600 Page

The IC-7600 Page

by Adam Farson, VA7OJ/AB4OJ

Hot News! 3/3/2011: IC-7600 Firmware Ver. 1.11 is now available. See links below.

IC-7600 at Tokyo HamFair 2008. Photo: M. Myoga, JS1LQI.

Once again, we are honored and excited to present a new Icom HF/6m transceiver.

The above photo illustrates the IC-7600 as presented at Tokyo HamFair 2008. The IC-7600 is a 100W-class HF/6m HF transceiver, utilizing Icom's well-known and proven IF-DSP architecture and feature set. Note the large TFT display screen. More information will be provided here as it becomes available.

The IC-7600 received FCC certification on February 9, 2009. FCC ID: AFJ307300.

IC-7600 rear panel. Photo: N. Oba, JA7UDE.

In the photo below, it will be noted that the elimination of the moving-coil meter has freed up sufficient front-panel space to accommodate the IC-7600's larger TFT display.

IC-7600 and IC-756Pro3 front panels compared. Photo: Robert Garth, 6Y1X.

IC-7600 and IC-7700 in my station (March 2009).

Salient Points:

13.8V, 100W-class HF/6m transceiver
4-pin DC power connector on rear panel
3 roofing filters: 15, 6 and 3 kHz
Dual Watch*
+30 dBm IP3
PIN Diode switched RF bandpass filters, common to RX and TX
Single USB port on front (USB thumb drive/keyboard, TBD)
Single USB port on rear (Rig Control)
RTTY/PSK31 Encode/decode
APF/TPF (CW Audio Peak Filter/RTTY Twin Peak Filter)
Separate RX-OUT and RX-IN antenna ports

allowing connection of external preselectors, multicouplers etc.

Transverter port

Preamps 1 and 2 usable when in transverter mode, unlike IC-756Pro series
Transverter output range: -15 ~ -1.5 dBm
Frequency display offset configurable via menu

Audio controls similar to IC-7700

TBW
TX/RX audio controls
Compression adjustable via menu

Spectrum Scope features identical to IC-7700
DSP Noise Blanker similar to IC-7700
AM/CW auto tune
IF filters and Twin PBT fully adjustable in AM mode
No sensitivity degradation below 1.6 MHz
- Preamps 1 & 2 also usable below 1.6 MHz
Improved PA temperature monitoring
- Temperature gauge displayed with Multi-Function Meter
- Initially reduces P_oby 3 dB
- Then inhibits transmit
- Normal operation restored on cool-down
Items not fitted:

Digi-Sel

*Performance in DW reduced due to RF BPF bandwidth if signals are on different bands

Translation of Icom Japan IC-7600 Press Release* by N. Oba JA7UDE

Icom’s proven IF-DSP technology
HF+50MHz (SSB/CW/RTTY/PSK31/AM/FM)
Power output: 100W
MOSFET PA with 2 x RD100HHF1
Expected release date in JA: End of January, 2009
MSRP: 398,000 Yen
IC-7600 is a mid-range transceiver between IC-7800/IC-7700 and IC-7000/IC-7200
Plain English menus allow rapid change of set mode settings and features
Selectable roofing filters: 3kHz, 6kHz, and 15kHz
Double superhet with an image-rejection 2nd mixer
Vastly improved in-band IMD with image-reject 2nd mixer
Dynamic range 104dB, IP3 = +30dBm
Two 32-bit floating-point DSPs. TI TMS320C6726B for TX and RX; TI TMS320C6720B for the spectrum scope

IC-7700: TI TMS320C6727B for TX and RX; TI TMS320C6720B for scope

5.8 inch (diagonal) 320X240 LCD with a long life, quick-start LED backlight
Digital meter scales display P_o, ALC, SWR, COMP, V_D, I_D, PA temperature
Dual Watch
RTTY and PSK31 encoder/decoder
CW rise-time adjustment range 2 ~ 10 mS
Two USB ports

Front port for keyboard and memory key (thumb drive)
Rear port for PC control and baseband audio (Rx/Tx)

TCXO: 0.5ppm in the range 0 - 50°C
Mechanical relay (16V/0.5A) and FET relay (250V/200mA) for keying external amplifier

*with additional information from CQTOPIX

Links:

My IC-7600 User Review and Test Report (PDF)

My friend Matt KK5DR's IC-7600 User Review (PDF) and comments on CW operation

Full USB control of the IC-7600 with Ham Radio Deluxe (ver. 4 & 5) by Matt KK5DR

George K5JZ's IC-7600 User Review

Don AA5AU's IC-7600 Page and E4X with the IC-7600's 200 Hz RTTY filter

Dave N9EWO's IC-7600 Review (from an SWL and amateur perspective)

IC-7600 FCC Certification. Enter Grantee Code: AFJ and Product Code: 307300

IC-7600 compared to other Icom HF radios

AGC in the IC-756Pro3, IC-7600, IC-7700 and IC-7800

AGC and Noise Blanker in an IF-DSP Receiver

IC-7600 Noise Blanker Demo: WWV with severe impulse noise. NB off NB on

IC-7600 APF Demo

IC-7600 Demos by VA7OJ at Dayton 2009: Demo 1 Demo 2 (YouTube Video by Isiah Gates)

IC-7600 CW Filter Demo (YouTube video by IK1LBO)

The IC-7700 Spectrum Scope: RBW & Grass Levels (also applicable to the IC-7600)

Yahoo! IC-7600 Group

Tokyo Hamfair 2008

CQ Ham Radio 1/2009 IC-7600 Announcement (in English)

Icom Japan IC-7600 Press Release (in English)

Icom Japan IC-7600 Page (in English)

Icom America IC-7600 Page & Brochure

Japanese-English Translation Tool

IC-7600 Firmware Update (v1.11)

Additional functions for CI-V commands (ex. CW message) are provided to support the RS-BA1.
A new additional feature, the Time-Out Timer (TOT) function.
Improvement of firmware Ver.1.10.

Download the IC-7600 v1.11 Firmware Manual mirror (PDF)

Note on USB Memory Drives - removing proprietary formatting

Download the USB Driver (v1.10)

Download USB Driver Guide (PDF)

Driver information for Silicon Labs USB/UART Bridge (Windows, Mac, Linux)

TI PCM2901 USB Codec information

Using the IC-7600 with Ham Radio Deluxe (ver. 4 & 5) with full USB control - by Matt KK5DR

IC-7600 Scope IF Tap for RTL-SDR - by Stefan Wagener VE4NSA

Video: IC-7600 RTL-SDR RTTY 20m Ham Radio - by Stefan Wagener VE4NSA [mirror]

Icom Scope Display using HDSDR - by Harry Tankin WE1X [mirror]

Text copyright © 2008-2013 A. Farson VA7OJ/AB4OJ. Image copyright rests with respective authors. All rights reserved.

Last updated: 06/27/2013

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