At the end of 2018 I experienced a lightning strike at my QTH that took out my Flex 6500. At the time I surveyed the rig offerings and decided to try out the Icom IC-7610. I have owned and enjoyed previous ICOM HF Rigs (746, 756 Pro, 756 Pro II) and always like the form factor. But wanted a rig that had dual recievers. I never liked the ‘Dual Watch’ function so I drifted away from the Icom rigs for options like the Elecraft K3, Yeasu FT-2000 and SDR rigs.
So far I have really enjoyed the 7610. With its USB port creating sound card and rig controls ports it is really simple to use digital modes and logbook integrations.