[EIDXA] FTdx5000MP

[Bob Lee]

I had the chance to use a FTdx-5000MP today from the home of W0YV.  


As some of you know, I've been in the market for a new HF radio and have been considering the Icom 7600, K3 and the 5K.


Short answer is "I'm sold".  I've said the K3, being a homely radio, is like dating a girl from the trailer park.  She's not much to look at but she puts out.  Well, operating this radio is like dating the prom queen.


My major concerns were audio quality and how easy it is to follow the "worked" station in a pileup.  I found a medium sized pileup (6-7kHz) and could follow the DX station around quite easily.  I could set the VFO to 50Hz on the DX station and listen on VFO B with 2.4kHz.  Piece of cake.  The audio is outstanding.


Ergonomics is good.  Everything is where you'd expect it and the radio is reasonably easy to figure out just by reading the legends.


Filters sound good.  No ringing.  


I expect to get a break on my homeowners policy due to the radio's weight... Should make the house more resistant to tornadoes.  It's all of 50lbs.


The Station Monitor that comes with it is only useful to get a rough idea of if a band is open.  The speakers in it are pretty good.  The DMU-2000 ($1K option) is worthless, so I'll be looking at an aftermarket pan adapter.






Bob Lee
W0GXA


"CW forever"