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| Reviews Summary for ICOM IC-7000 |
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Reviews: 247
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Average rating: 4.4/5
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MSRP: $TBA
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Description: HF/VHF/UHF All Mode Transceiver.
2 × DSP
Digital voice recorder (DVR)
Improved AGC loop performance
2 × MNF (Manual Notch Filter)
2-mode band scope
2.5-inch color TFT display with TV screen receive capability
Remote control Microphone
Digital IF filters
Available mid 2006
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More info: http://www.icomamerica.com/products/amateur/7000/
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write your own review of the ICOM IC-7000.
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KA1YBS
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Rating: 5/5
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Aug 3, 2009 08:46
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VERY VERY GOOD Mobile Rig!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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First off, I want to bring out my criticisms...
Although I give it a 5, I do have a couple of gripes. This review pertains to mostly MOBILE use, as I also have an HT, a QRP portable rig, and a Base Rig... This is a 5-star rig, no bones about it! Remember the old saying: "You get what you pay for".
Gripes:
Memory/VFO mode. Oh man, if you're mobile, and whack the wrong thing, you can get totally lost in a hurry! I find that If I execute MEM mode while on HF (all my memories are VHF/UHF), I get blasted off the band and have to re-tune, which is a pain. Sometimes the triple band registers save me though...
No SWR meter in 144/440 :(
Runs HOT. It's a little tiny rig though...
Uses way too much power for serious backpack portable work, get an IC-703 or FT-817
Spinner knob has a useless aluminum detent lock, a set screw would stand up to real abuse. I took the rig portable for a VHF contest in my backpack, and once the knob plopped off, it has been weakly attached since, it falls off all the time now :(
No way to download voice recorder files to a PC and retain time/date/freq stamping without manually/separately recording them off line out.
My rig has been plagued by weak 70CM finals. Some days/temps they are 20 w, some, 7w... oh well, that is definitely a gripe considering I thought I was at fault the whole time and never sent the rig back :(
Not really gripes:
Menu system can be a challenge, especially when some functions work on M1 and M2 but not M3 for instance. They had to put a lot into a little.
Setting and naming memories seems like an impossible and unsafe practice while driving, please don't try and attempt unless stopped.
More memory control can be had by using RUMtrol (google it) and a CI-V cable, it's really worth it and free, to boot.
Would be awesome to have a speaker on the control head :)
The 'fish finder' scope is cute, but I never bother with it. (Love it on the Pro III) Audio clipping is annoying, as is muted audio. It's just not practical in motion and is a distraction. Just tune the band with your ears, and keep the eyes where they belong :)
The HM-51 MIC element. What is everyone complaining about? For 2 years, I have run this thing stock, and actually got great audio reports on HF, and NO ONE, I repeat... NO ONE has mentioned poor audio! Maybe for audiophile hams it's not the best, BUT IT'S A DARN MOBILE RIG... FOR YOUR MOBILE! So go get the mod if your wallet needs it. I'll keep my cash, I've spent enough on the rig!
Noise Reduction is not as effective as the other DSP modes, and setting it to above 5 makes audio garbled for me.
The GOOD:
Wow. This rig has an EXCEPTIONAL noise blanker! Not only does it practically ELIMINATE RFI from the ignition... but the S-meter responds, and the stations sound like they just turned a kw amp on... AND swung the 4 Element SteppIR in your favor!
Dual Manual Notch. OMG... in heaven. Even easy to do while in motion. Beautiful. My Pro III dosen't even do dual manual notch. a top feature!
Auto Notch. Same as above.
Color Screen. It's not "eye-candy" ladies and gents... it's all about safety on the road, and the colors are a boon to safety. They look nice, too :)
No add-on filters! Don't you HATE spending $400 on 3 filters? OK, you pay for them up front, but all the extra goodies are then... FREE!
RTTY Decode. Simply amusing while driving, too bad there was no SSTV decode. That would have been absolutely insane, even on the color Pro series! Oh well :)
AH-4 Tuner integration. I can't speak for monoband loaded whips or screwdriver antennas... but when I tune off frequency of DX and hit the PTT, a nice 4-second tune takes place (> 10w) and I'm locked and loaded. No fuss, no rear-end collision. Priceless.
Voice Recorder. Voice Recorder. Voice Recorder! This little feature should be in EVERY rig! If I am driving and having a great QSO, but cannot find my log, I can hit a button, and it records the time/date/frequency/mode and the other station provides the call! It also records your TX voice and you can use that to make adjustments later. This feature alone is one of the best for me. I like to save the best clips and listen again when the bands are slow! Plenty of storage room, and the sampling is fantastic. 16-bit 22,000 hz! Amazing. Great safety feature as well.
AGC is great. Love to tweak this depending on band and WX conditions.
HM-151. You won't find a better mic. Aside from some ops complaining about fidelity, which can be modded... the buttons on this mic alone are worth the price of admission. The triple band stacking registers are an absolute JOY to behold. Imagine, tuning to a pile-up, then tuning to a net, then tuning to a QSO, and flipping between them without your eyes leaving the road... all on the mic! Also, there are some other useful buttons like tune up/down, mem/vfo and ptt, lol!
Programmable tune steps. Most rigs have them, but love the one-button switcharoo on the 7000. Just love it.
Mounting flexibility. All in one, or two-piece. Mine is in the trunk, head mounted gooseneck up front, and AF going into my stereo system for further EQ, just perfect! and the remote kit has always been 'standard' with purchase.
What it's not:
A dual-band, APRS embedded VHF/UHF mobile rig. While that would have been really nice, this rig does the rest, and does it top-notch. You can't blame Icom on that!
If you are looking at other mobile rigs:
Compare the price of the rig + filters and other options. If you think you are going to spend the cash on a couple of options in the future, don't. Just buy this rig and be very happy!
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N1IZE
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Rating: 5/5
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Jul 21, 2009 08:34
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IC 7000 - GREAT RIG
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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First- let me tell those of you who may have experienced a flickering screen when pushing the vol-rf-sq know or the pbt nob or touching the face plate. If this happens u need to spray these areas with - tuner cleaner- maybe 3 or 4 times till it soaks in and stops it. I discovered it is a contact issue with the face plate to the rig itself.
For a radio if its size it outperforms many more expensive rigs- I am very happy with performance and audio quality, both reviece and transmit. If anyone has a question please feel free to contact me- actman81@yahoo.com
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SV2EVS
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Rating: 4/5
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Jul 21, 2009 00:45
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Compact with everything on
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I just got the rig a few days ago, but i am very pleased with it. I previously owned the IC-730, an old HF with a very good reciever on 100w.
Basically the IC-7000 has everything on it, icluding the filters for ssb/cw. They work GREAT ! It is litle bit more noisy i think ( i might be wrong here, it may well be the band conditions) but anything else works excelent. On a fast test that i made on 2m/70cm ssb with a TS-2000, we had a small problem tuning on the same frequency, i dont know why.
Good choice, small package that has everything in one for the shack.
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N2DY
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Rating: 5/5
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Jul 16, 2009 13:23
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Excellent for mobile use
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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The 7000 makes a great mobile rig. My previous mobile rig was a Kenwood TS-480HX which I really like a lot. The problem was that I bought a new smaller vehicle and needed a smaller radio with a smaller control head. The 7000 fit the bill. I have not been disappointed.
The receiver on the 7000 is excellent. Transmit audio was fine when I first hooked it up but I thought I would try the Bob Nagy mic modification anyway. That mod is definitely worth doing. It made the audio terrific and made it a great deal more intelligible on AM and FM.
Two generations ago my mobile rig was an Icom 706MKIIG. The 706 shares a number of similarities with the 7000 as far as getting around the radio controls and menus. Consequently, I find the 7000 very easy to use while driving, given my familiarity with the 706. That being said, the receiver on the 7000 is light years ahead of the 706MKIIG and about on par with the Kenwood TS-480HX.
Note that I have not found any extreme heating issues with the 7000 as some others have. Mine is mounted in the trunk and even in the heat of summer the rig has remained at a reasonable temperature.
While I do miss the extra 3 db that the 200 watt Kenwood provided, overall I am very pleased with the performance of the 7000 and highly recommend it.
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VE2YU
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Rating: 5/5
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Jul 15, 2009 07:07
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Could not be happier
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I am an owner of an Icom 756 ProIII and have to say very pleased with it, I wanted a radio for my camp and after doing alot of research even though many are cheaper the Ic7000 was my choice and I cannot complain I also bought the LDG AT-100 tuner with it and in my opinion a great combo. The radio works very well and I have had only great audio reports on the radio Icom told me that the first batch of 7000's had the mic cartridge out of alignment with the hole hence the low audio.....Heat wise it runs warm but so does my 756 Pro III....I really have no issues with this radio. I would say it is not a 756 Pro III but it certainly comes very close o one.
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VK2VHF
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Rating: 5/5
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Jul 2, 2009 13:58
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so much to offer
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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The rig is a top little performer. Yes the menu system is a bit pokey but there are just so many features packed into the rig it is unbelievable.
Others have pretty much covered the good and bad points already so all I will add is one gripe....the built in VSWR meter only works on antenna 1 (HF-50Mhz). Hence you dont get a reading on 20/70 which is a pity. My IC746 pro does this across all bands no problem.
Otherwise a smashing radio for its compact size.
73 from down under.....VK2VHF
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W3VR
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Rating: 5/5
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Jun 21, 2009 04:18
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No problems.
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I've got 2 of these. Unit no. 1 I've had well over a year, unit 2 I've had for 7 mo.'s. Not one single problem with either one. I love equipment, and have lots of it. My 7000's HF sections rival my PROIII in performance. Very, close. The VHF & UHF sections are okay for me. I don't use that part of the XCVR too much, but it's nice to have when needed.
For basic HF mobile operation, I've found no better combination for myself than the HI-Q 5/160 and the IC7000.
From several years in avionics maintenance and repair, I've seen many things fail. Much of the equipment I've seen fail often times costs much more than the IC7000. However, I've never seen an aircraft owner, or operator downright condemn a particular model of aircraft or equipment just because of an equipment failure. They know maintenance has it's price, and things break. When they break, you fix them, or have them fixed, and carry on. Only after chronic failures with many events will they consider other options.
I have become amused, and astonished at times with some of the comments from amateur radio equipment users and owners, and at times, their myopic views, and unrealistic expectations of equipment performance and reliability.
But coming from many years in commercial electronics repair and maintenance where I learned the basics, and coming into amateur radio recently, I'm beginning to realize that many of the complaints I read about are coming from people that are entering what history has shown was once a very technical hobby, having very little to no technical knowledge of electronics and hands on experience with it. Therein is the problem, and the shortcomings of the "plug and play", and "gotta have it now" mindset are painfully obvious along with the propensity to place unreasonable expectations on consumer electronics.
If modern amateur radio gear was made to the same rigorous standards of performance and reliability as the commercial counterparts, ham radio operators simply could not afford the product.
There has been controversy in the past over the HM-151 mic modification. Since I have 2 IC7000's, I decided not to modify the second radios mic. I have found the stock HM-151 mic, although it has slightly less gain and slightly different dynamic response to be adequate after adjustments to the low end response from the TBW adjustments, mic gain, and compression. Each operator should use a second receiver (if available to them) as a monitor for the xmit carrier and adjust to suit their voice and operating conditions. If there is a weak part in the design of the IC7000, to me it would be the microphone preamps lack of adjustments. A parametric eq, and separate mic gain would have been nice. I have proven this to myself by bypassing it all through the accessory connector in the back, and using a separate eq circuit(mixer/eq.). Of course for mobile operation this is impractical.
The dual processing consumes a fair amount of power. If you plan operating portable, you will need a power source that will not fall below 13 VDC. The IC7000 is very sensitive to low supply power.
Overall, I have few complaints, and I'm satisfied with the IC7000.
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N2YXW
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Rating: 5/5
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Jun 20, 2009 21:32
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Great mobile & portable radio
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I had purchased this little gem to operate portable from Hawaii last summer. It worked very well. I used the small matching LDG tuner and a Par end fed antenna and made a few hundred contacts in few weeks that I was there. When I returned home to New York it was packed away since I have a Pro3 and 775DSP both feeding a Pw1 amp. I got to thinking that I would use it as a quick and dirty mobile radio. I mounted it and the auto tuner in a plastic milk crate with a small section of 1/2" copper tubing as a central ground, used hose clamps to attach the ground braid from the radio and tuner to the copper tube and from that a short 12" piece of braid to the body of my suv. My suv has 4 20amp acc outlets in various spots so that made it very easy to power the 7000. A quick tri-mag mount up top and a 40 meter hamstick and with 75 watts out I've been able to work 35 countries and hundreds of stateside stations on my way to and from my office. I have the head of the 7000 on a Lido cup holder mount. The radio is very easy to control via the multifunction mic and I have gotten great signal and audio reports. The nice thing is that I can move things in and out of the car in a few minutes and pack up the radio and tuner and take it with me when I travel. The small body makes it very easy to travel with. I also have a Kenwwod TS-480 but it is larger than the 7000 and does not have VHF. In all I've been very, very happy.
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KF6NTE
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Rating: 5/5
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Jun 3, 2009 12:29
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Excellent Value
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Time owned: months
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I've had this radio in my car for several months and have had solid contacts on HF over several thousand miles across the various bands. One thing that goes without saying is no matter how much radio you have, it's ultimately your antenna that will make the most difference !. Also 100 Watts seems to be just enough power to cover great distances. Due to the internal size constraints there is limited cooling and therefore power dissipation ability so keeping an eye out for high return loss in the feedline is key to reliable operation. Always monitor the SWR meter when transmitting and ALWAYS retune even if you change the frequency slightly ALWAYS !. The SWR fold-back circuitry is there only to let you know the radio is in a high mismatch situation and it's not designed for long term operation with anything higher than 1.5:1 mismatch because the final stage power amplifiers cannot dissipate too much heat. The AH-4 automatic coupler works very well with it in a mobile environment insertion losses notwithstanding. But it helps to keep the radio transmitting into a safe load. Any mismatch over 3:1 and the AH-4 will not come up with an optimal conjugate pair solution. It's amazing how much it really costs in terms of time and money to get this radio in the proper operating environment. The $1200 or so for its price tag is only the beginning. Once you add all of the supporting equipment, couplers, antennas, instruments, cables you're easily in over $2000. There is very little not to like with this radio though from a user perspective. The remote head can be mounted out of the way (and removed) and in a convenient place in the car. The display is bright, clear and easy to read. This radio has mobile-operation written all over it. One thing that would be neat is to be able to arrange the menus according to the user's needs. Being able to monitor power level, ALC and SWR is very useful but in addition it would be nice to be able to manipulate the IF notch filters or use the automatic recorded message tranmission without having to menu out of the Po/ALC/SWR monitoring screen and be missing the SWR status on the line when transmitting a recorded message. The microphone has just the right heft the lighted pad is key when operating in the dark while parked. I do very little, if at all, HF operation while mobile because the efficiency of my antenna suffers with the shorter whips so I haven't had to deal with the EMI issues associated with a running vehicle. Having said that this radio really likes to have solid grounding. Common mode RF is easy to pick up on the coax lines and have it interfere with normal operation. Proper vehicle bonding and RF grounding is another very underestimated aspect of mobile operation. Another advantage to mobile stationary HF operation is that it's the perfect answer to living with restricted antenna situations even better yet you can drive your station to the top of a mountain and gain a directional advantage !. All in all this is a great first radio for me. It's been fun setting it up and operating it and it seems ICOM has been a good pick. I look forward to a lifetime of great contacts !.
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TI2TL
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Rating: 5/5
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May 27, 2009 10:20
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Incredible for the price
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Let me start by saying I bought this radio for mobile use, but before I installed it on my mobile station I decided to put it on my desk and make some A/B comparisons with my radio a TT Orion II. I have to say that I dislike small radios for a shack but this one is really nice.
The LCD display is very good and it holds tons of info on it.
As any small radio the hidden functions are many, and to be capable of using the radio with no problems you have to read the manual at least 3 times to remember everything.
The radio performance is superb. I can`t classify it in any other way. It compares to the Orion in most cases and keeps up with the performance. The audio output is very good if hooked up to an external speaker (i never use internal ones). The transmit audio is very good despite what people say about the original mic. witch works perfectly just as it should.
What more could you ask from a small portable rig? I frankly don`t know this one does it all. I also did the TV mod and it works very good. I highly recommend this radio to everyone, not just the mobile operator but also the person that wants a good performance radio on all bands at home.
One accessory I did buy for it was the AT-180 witch I consider very useful and has a great performance. I have a lousy 80 meter dipole installed in my QTH that has high SWR, well let me tell you that the tuner managed to tune the antenna with SWR of 10:1
If you are looking for performance and price this is the one for you, unless you dislike small radios than you have to search for something else.
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