G'day Roger, I'm not sure where you're getting your prices from for the IC-905 and options, but your figures are way off the mark. You may have been referring to the earlier predicted pricing back some months ago.
Here's what we're roughly paying...
Strictly Ham IC-905 cheaper than the very popular IC-7610
There's a number of them already in circulation around the VK3/VK2/VK4 areas that I'm aware of - there could be more. Any there are many others watching & waiting. Demand is still exceeding supply.
See the other topic about the IC-905. As has been mentioned previously, the IC-905 isn't for everyone. But it's ideal for those starting out from scratch.
For those already have an IF rig and a couple of transverters, well maybe the IC-905 isn't for them.
The uWave antenna options from Icom I suspect are mainly aimed at those living in high density populations like in Europe, Japan, etc and are unlikely to be taken up by many folks here due to most people here using parabolic antennas, of which there are plenty surplus (esp for 10GHz), often at nil cost except for freight.
As for the possibly 24GHz optional module, surplus antennas can be found locally for this band. It appears at this stage that the Icom 24GHz module is just a prototype for now which I suspect they're testing the water with.
Icom is helping out with "use it or lose it". Each to their own.
Cheers,
