|
New to Ham Radio?
My Profile
Community
Articles
Forums
News
Reviews
Friends Remembered
Strays
Survey Question
Operating
Contesting
DX Cluster Spots
Propagation
Resources
Calendar
Classifieds
Ham Exams
Ham Links
List Archives
News Articles
Product Reviews
QSL Managers
Site Info
eHam Help (FAQ)
Support the site
The eHam Team
Advertising Info
Vision Statement
About eHam.net
|
| Reviews Summary for Icom IC-208H |
|
Reviews: 120
|
Average rating: 4.3/5
|
MSRP: $319.95
|
|
Description: 2M / 70cm mobile with 55 watt VHF and 50 watt UHF xmtr. CTCSS/DCS encode and decode, tone scan, detachable and remotable control head, 500 ALPHA-NUMERIC memories, etc
|
|
Product is not in production.
|
|
More info: http://
|
|
Email Subscription
You are not subscribed to this review.
Subscribe!
My Subscriptions
Subscriptions Help
|
You can
write your own review of the Icom IC-208H.
|
W0FEN
|
Rating: 4/5
|
Nov 9, 2011 10:52
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Good Radio
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
I posted earlier that this radio had no power output. This was a bad coax out of the radio. The 208 protected itself from damage.
I still did have the problem with the cord going bad prematurely. I have other ICOM 2M radios that have their original Mic cords and are 20+ years old.
|
|
K9CTB
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Oct 20, 2011 21:51
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Great rig for the price point.
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
I've had my '208H for about 2 years now and I am quite pleased with it. It may be that I'm not as picky as some hams. Or maybe I expect less for such a reasonable price point.
I bought the 208H because of the price and features. I do not need a crossband repeater, and there's not one rig out there, I'd put into crossband service with out a lot of heavy-duty cooling anyway. These small boxes just can't stand up to the heat that'd be generated by some of us alligator operators out there ...
I have used my IC-208H as a fixed station for voice and packet work, then I've taken it mobile where I worked the local repeaters. On either 2 meters or 440 MHz, the transmit audio was consistent, and there never was a complaint. Receive audio was just as good. I run an external speaker because it's just easier to mount it forward-facing. I have yet to discover a VHF or UHF mobile-type rig from the big 3 manufacturers that has a great-sounding internal speaker. I don't know too many hams who rely on the internal speakers on these rigs in a mobile setting. I know I can't.
In a nutshell,
Pros:
1) Price
2) Functional - program your repeaters, leave the rig in MR mode and slap it in the car.
3) The extension cable for the removable face is actually included in the price.
4) Good punch. 55w on VHF, 55w on UHF - not bad!
Cons:
1) A bear to program manually - if you're a hair-puller, buy the programming cable and software (ouch)$$$!
2) cooling fan is kinda loud - and I question its effectiveness.
3) If you have an "intermod alley" like we do here in Indy, the '208H is just as susceptible to intermod as any of the other dual-band/wideband rigs. I don't know of a good solution, other than discreet rigs for VHF and UHF (assuming you have the space in the vehicle).
Overall a really good rig. Price point really makes it a contender if you just want to communicate and have VHF and UHF in one neat box.
|
|
WP4OEK
|
Rating: 3/5
|
Oct 9, 2011 18:22
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Could be better
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
|
Is not what you get for the price.When using the radio in full power, it gets really hot even with the fan on. Not for mobile use.
|
|
KG4COQ
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Oct 3, 2011 02:37
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Great Radios !!
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
Don't remember if I already commented on this radio and too lazy to look ...
I have 2 of these radios.Both I have owned for several years. Have 1 in my truck and the other in the house as base. Never had a issue with these radios. They do get hot in hi power mode over a 5 or 10 minite QSO which is expected but fan cools them down well. I have cleaned and oiled the fan and vacummed inside both radios every 6 months or so. This should be done to all radios with fans in them anyway.
I would suggest these radios to anyone needing a duel bander. Thanks ICOM for the quality I have expected from you.
73
KG4COQ
Tampa Bay
|
|
KC2VOB
|
Rating: 3/5
|
Apr 16, 2011 15:57
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Not rugged
|
Time owned: 6 to 12 months
|
I used the IC-208H radio for a while and encountered 2 problems; Intermod on 440 and audio drop-out. One day I was on QSO with buddies that audio dropped out, LCD displayed nothing but the signal bar. I switched it off and back on. It brought it back to normal. Sometime later I tuned it to the news channel, stepped outside the room, when came back it had ceased audio and only displayed the signal bar. Everything else had cleared.
Additionally, the radio is too small and light weight, especially for two bands. It must be affixed to the desk or when you pull the mic, the cord will drag the radio behind it. Bigger and heavier means bigger heat sink, and so heavy-duty as is the case with commercial radios.
|
|
K3YN
|
Rating: 2/5
|
Mar 9, 2011 18:12
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Could Be Better
|
Time owned: 6 to 12 months
|
I purchased a new IC-208H to replace a very old (1982) KDK-2030 rig. I was very disappointed with the Icom's performance:
The sensitivity is poorer than the old KDK rig. Stations, which can be received on the 24-year-old KDK, are just "detectable" on the Icom.
The adjacent channel rejection is worse.
The intermod is much worse.
It is inconvenient to scan 800 Mhz frequencies and VHF or UHF frequencies at the same time. The radio will not stop on the first two programmed 800 Mhz frequencies in the scan. You must program two dummy 800 Mhz frequencies to make the unit work. Icom verified this problem exists in the IC-208H.
The manual is difficult to follow when programming the radio.
I expected more from Icom.
|
|
W2AIQ
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Nov 24, 2010 16:06
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Durability plus
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
I gave this radio a 5 of 5 for its apparent durability, i have had it in the pick-up truck for almost 2 years straight now, I live in the northeast (NJ) and the weather goes from ice cold to hell hot in the summer and like the watch this thing has taken a licking and continues ticking.
But besides just durability, this is a performer, it has a pretty tight front end and stable power output not to mention good audio reports, which was confirmed with a family member while I listened to it on an HT....this is just another shining example of the persistent quality Icom seems to put out.
|
|
W8FOP
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Oct 30, 2010 17:15
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Top Shelf Performance!
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
I just purchased the Icom 208H to replace a Yaesu FT-7900 I owned for about one week. I've normally been an Icom man but I thought I'd try a Yaesu. Well, the Yaesu wouldn't make a pimple on the Icom's heat sink!
The IC-208H has superior sensitivity, adjacent channel rejection, audio output and noise reduction, just to name a few advantages over the Yaesu.
I'm very critical of amateur gear and if I wanted to list any negative at all of the IC-208H, it would be that the tuning knob/control is a little loose. I'm just being picky in that regard and there are no other glitches or faults I can find with the rig. As far as ease of programming, the IC-208H is actually very simple if you read the manual. No surprises.
If you are considering a dual band rig and don't need the crossband repeat feature, look no further. I've already put this baby through the ringer for you and I give it a definate "thumbs up".
Hope this review helps you decide what to buy.
|
|
AC8JD
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Oct 15, 2010 20:09
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
LOVE IT!!!
|
Time owned: 3 to 6 months
|
I absolutely love this radio! So much so I have two of them. One for the car and one for the shack!
In my area there is no DSTAR repeaters. There is one that I would be able to use when I drive closer to its location which is somewhat frequently, but the check-ins on that repeater are only a handful a week. So from the get go I knew a dual bander that did DSTAR was not for me.
The other option in mobile rigs is cross band repeat. Again, not even on my radar.
So for a dual band receiver this is the cats meow to me! It is so simple to use and set up. The head when removed and mounted remotely from the body of the radio is the smallest on the market. iCom's are renown for their audio quality on TX and I have been told many times how the audio I an transmitting sounds great!
In my shack this radio hits repeaters on 5 watts on my J-Pole antenna that my iCom 706MKII could not hit on 20 watts! There are those that say an "all in one rig is going to compramise on something so keep your HF and VHF/UHF rigs seperate". Well... I am now a believer in that.
You cannot go wrong with this rig. I plan on using the one I have in the shack for IRLP and Echolink nodes.
|
|
KE5NYS
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Sep 26, 2010 12:23
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
GREAT UNIT & PROGRAM AIDS...
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
|
In my humble East Texas opinion, this is a great unit for the bucks, and is relatively user friendly, with outstanding toll free tech service support if needed. I am using mine as a 2m/440 base unit, and have good performance mated with a Diamond X300A antenna even in my tall piney woods surroundings. Repeaters 50 miles away are no problem (antenna is roof mounted on a short pole). Good user manual plus for easy memory programming a very useful cheat sheet is available at the iCom web site (under Support/Knowledge Base/Amateur/Mobile Dual Band/208H/Memory Programming). If programming in a bunch of repeaters you may also wish to look into RT Systems very affordable 208H software.
|
|
If you have any questions, problems, or suggestions about Reviews,
please email your Reviews Manager.
|
|
|
|
|
