Specifications

Reprinted from October 2011 QST © ARRL
1 kHz, 2 kHz, 5 kHz etc. You then tune to
the blip to hear what’s there. You can use this
tool to seek activity on one of the three band
stacking registers, then swapping to a second
band register to dial up the signal without
tuning away from your original frequency.
You can monitor SWR and relative
power output (there’s no level or percent-
age readout) at the same time, although I
still prefer a “real” meter or at least a digital
representation, such as the virtual meter on
the IC-7600. The IC-7410 has an LCD bar-
graph style meter, which can be set up to hold
peaks for 0.5 second. Speaking of SWR, the
IC-7410 lets you read and graph your antenna
system’s SWR curve, right on the screen.
You can plot up to 13 points in various steps.
Transmit briefly to plot the SWR on each
step, and when you’re done, the screen will
graphically display the SWR profile of the
antenna system under test.
As with the IC-7600, the IC-7410 offers
a single USB connection to your computer.
This link may be used to control the radio
from your logging program or other software
and/or to route audio to and from the radio or
decoded RTTY to your computer. To make
use of it you first must download and install
the USB-to-UART bridge driver from the
ICOM website, where you select the driver
that’s appropriate for the radio and your
computer’s operating system. This is a rea-
sonably trouble free process. It did take a bit
of juggling and tweaking to get the software
to recognize the radio, however.
I was able to use the USB interface to
control the radio (I checked it out with
N1MM Logger and Ham Radio Deluxe —
N1MM has a specific IC-7410 driver, but
HRD does not) and to play “canned” contest
audio files from my PC at the same time
(sorry, phone contesters, but the IC-7410
does not have a voice-keyer). As with the
IC-7600, however, you cannot set the USB
interface to route the audio from your con-
testing software and from the microphone
at the same time. The menu lets you pick
one source or the other (or ACC, which lets
you feed audio to the radio via the accessory
jack on the rear apron, or MIC, ACC, which
lets you route audio simultaneously via both
inputs). It’s possible to work around this
by programming some rather clumsy CAT
strings. As we suggested in the IC-7600 re-
view, however, this appears to be a software
issue, not an ICOM issue.
2
Various and Sundry
Transmit bandwidth is adjustable, but it
sounded good to other ops at the default set-
tings when I was using my Heil ProSet Plus!
headset. There are adjustable NAR, MID and
WID ranges plus ESSB. You also can adjust
high-pass and low-pass filter settings for
received audio.
While the IC-7410 does not have a voice
keyer, it does have an excellent CW memory
keyer that is similar in implementation to
those in the ’746 and ’756 series radios. You
can set the menu to display either the memory
keyer “root” menu first or the “send” menu
first. As with other ICOM radios, CW keyer
memories are loaded by using the function
keys and tuning knob to select and enter char-
acters one at a time. This takes some getting
used to. As with past ICOM transceivers of
this heritage, you still must roll your own
external keypad to access your CW memories
without going through the menu.
The radio is capable of full-break-in
(QSK) CW, although as a veteran CW
operator I didn’t find it much better than
semi-break-in.
The radio can decode RTTY signals, but it
needs an external encoder to transmit it (FSK
or AFSK). The IC-7410 makes it a bit easier
to use sound card based data modes, and you
can use the USB connection to pass baseband
audio between the radio and your computer.
One thing you cannot do, however, is use the
terrific twin-peak RTTY filter system when
running AFSK. (This filter boosts the MARK
and SPACE frequencies for better copy.) You
can only use it when operating true FSK, ac-
cessible via a rear-panel connection.
Press the SPEECH key, and a pleas-
ant, digitized female voice announces the
frequency, mode and S-meter reading. The
menu gives you a choice of hearing these in
English (default) or Japanese. Voice speed
and volume are adjustable. In addition you
can set this feature to announce the mode
each time you press a mode button, and you
can disable the S meter announcement. This
is a terrific feature for visually impaired
operators! For the North American market,
ICOM may want to consider adding Spanish
and French to its list of available languages.
ARRL Lab testing determined that the
dial accuracy was dead on. The SET MODE
also offers a means to tweak the radio onto
the calibrator’s frequency to keep it honest,
but you shouldn’t have to do that. The manual
says this factory setting differs for each radio.
In this same vein the IC-7410 has a built-in
calibrator. Somehow I had managed to switch
it on while fumbling thorough some menus.
Hearing the calibration signals made me
wonder if I’d broken the radio.
I had to engage in a delicate dance be-
tween the MIC GAIN and COMP settings. You
don’t want to use too much compression —
good advice with any radio — since there’s
plenty to go around. The compression meter-
ing puzzled me, though, as I never could get it
to kick up into the higher reaches of the scale
at any combination of settings. The COMP
control is one of the little “stem” controls,
while the MIC GAIN is a genuine front-panel
knob (this is a stem control on the PROIII
and similar radios).
Other observations:
 You can set “user band edge” frequen-
cies — a total of 30 band edge frequencies.
These may come in handy in households
where not all operators hold Amateur Extra
class tickets.
 The radio includes a transmit time-out
timer (a la your handheld VHF-UHF trans-
ceiver) with a choice of 3, 5, 10, 20 or even
30 minutes if you’re especially long-winded!
 There are separate “Quick Split” menus
for HF and for 50 MHz.
 The main tuning dial has two settable
rates making rapid frequency excursions.
These are essentially “fast” and “faster.”
 The SET MODE lets you lock out either
the manual or automatic NOTCH (there are
separate settings for SSB/CW and AM). This
eliminates the need to toggle through both
when you really only use one notch mode,
as I tend to do.
 If the power amplifier temperature
gets too high, the IC-7410 will cut its output
power in half and display LMT above the TX
icon on the display. I never saw this happen.
 A look at the rear apron reminded me of
the times I’d purchased a new vehicle without
some of the features of the top-of-the-line
model. On the dashboard and elsewhere
were “blanks” to plug the spots where the
controls for the optional luxury features, such
as heated seats or mirror defrosters, would
go. Similar blanks are prominent on the
IC-7410’s rear panel, since the radio shares
a chassis with the IC-9100. These blanks
cover the spots where you’d find interfacing
connections for VHF and UHF accessories
available on the IC-9100.
Beating the Heat
ICOM took pains with the IC-7410 to ad-
dress problems of semiconductor failures that
some IC-746 series transceiver owners have
reported. For the driver, the IC-746, including
the PRO, employed a µPC1678G (330 mW
dissipation at a supply voltage of 5 V dc).
These were said to run hot, making them more
subject to premature failure. The finals were
2SK2975s. As does the IC-756PROIII and its
successor IC-7600, the ’7410 uses a pair of
RD15HVF1 HF MOSFETs (12.5 V and rated
at 15 W typical output with 0.6 W maximum
input) as the driver and a pair of RD100HHF1
HF MOSFETs for the power amplifier. These
units can put out 100 W apiece.
The upgraded device complement in the
IC-7410 coupled with a much larger heat
sink, copious vents on the top of the case, and
a quiet, efficient blower ought to minimize
significantly the possibility of heat-related
component failure. The design of the heat
sink is the primary reason why the IC-7410
is longer, although a bit narrower, than its
2
R. Lindquist, WW3DE, “Product Review —
ICOM IC-7600 HF and 6 Meter Transceiver,”
QST, Nov 2009, pp 54-59.