FTX-1 scope question

Usage Questions
1

So, I’m looking to buy a new HF radio, and I’ve decided that there are three things that the radio MUST have.

  1. 100w power natively
  2. SSB on 2m/70cm support (for working some satellites)
  3. Wfview spectrum/scope support

Unfortunately, it seems like there isn’t a radio that meets all three criteria.

The IC-705 has 2&3 but not 1

Numerous radios (such as the FT-710 and IC-7300) have 1&3 but not 2

The IC-7100 and FTX-1 Optima have 1&2 but not 3

The IC-705 isn’t quite good enough, even with an amp, because it only has one combined RF output port for both HF/6m and VHF/UHF.

For radios lacking 2m/70cm support, there’s nothing I can do to change that.

I also suspect that it is impossible to add scope support for the IC-7100, as the IC-7100 doesn’t physically display a scope.

However, the 2.20 release announcement contained this line: ”This release adds support for a limited number of Yaesu radios, specifically the FT-710 and FTX-1, currently due to constraints on the radio, scope data is only supported on the FT-710.”

This leads me to my actual question: Does the FTX-1 physically have the ability to share scope data over USB in such a way that it would be possible for wfview to add scope support for the FTX-1 at some point in the future?

I am aware that even if it would be possible to add FTX-1 scope support to wfview in the future, it would require time and effort from the developers in order to properly add that support. I am also aware that it would be horrendously impolite to demand that the developers of a free and open source project add a feature.

I’d like to thank the developers of wfview for making what appears to be such an amazing piece of software. I don’t actually own a radio that supports it yet, so I haven’t used it, but it looks like it is exactly what I need (which is why I want to buy a radio that supports it).

2

I will let @phil answer about the FTX-1.

One thing you should have in your “MUST have” list is a budget!

My recommendation:

Icom IC-9700: Gives you 100W on 2M, network support out of the box, full duplex operation on any two bands. Satellite mode with tracked tuning. Most “all in one” radios that have HF with some upper bands cannot do what is needed for satellite operation and will be very frustrating. IMO the 9700 might be the best radio Icom has ever made. With the 100W output, you won’t be frustrated with trying to perfectly point a high gain antenna at a satellite – a pair of horizontal dipoles will be all you need (on each band).

Icom IC-7300 MKII: Gives you the 100W and has built-in networking. This radio has a good reputation for a reason, it’s tremendous “bang for the buck”. It’s also got a basic ATU built in. You really can remotely use this radio on HF and enjoy it.

It’ll be pricey, but the combination of those two radios is really hard to beat. Plus it’s compact. These radios have good support in wfview and a large user base which is quite vocal about bugs :slight_smile:

–E
de W6EL

3

On other radios (FTDX10 etc) this comes over a physical SPI interface within the ACC socket, so this may still be an option?

4

Now that I look at it, it looks like the FTX1 doesn’t have an ACC port that exposes the SPI interface like the FTDX10.

5

Correct, and from my testing, unlike the FT-710, it doesn’t appear to have USB SPI hardware (FT4222) so there may never be a method of getting scope data from the FTX-1.