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| Reviews Summary for IC-V85 2 Meter Hanheld Transceiver |
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You can
write your own review of the IC-V85 2 Meter Hanheld Transceiver.
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N1RSR
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Rating: 4/5
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Feb 5, 2008 13:39
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Good HT but rough around the edges...
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Let me start out by saying, that if I could have given the radio a 4.5 I would have done that instead; a full 5.0 is too high.
The Good:
-Durable.
-Base of radio is flat enough to allow it to stand up on tables- a lot of smaller radios tend to fall over with long antennas, the V85 just stays where you plant it.
-Obeys icom programming conventions generally- if you own other icoms, you can start using this one right away.
-Small without being too small;
-Decent receiver (haven't heard much intermod on mine yet. )
-Excellent speaker mic option which bolts into the radio; inspires a "commercial" quality feel.
-Radio doesn't get too hot under a lot of use.
-Decent TX/RX audio overall.
-Belt clip which attaches to back of radio is
nicely done. (there are two screws in a given
battery pack where the clip attaches, and the
clip is a non-rotating type. )
The Bad:
-Mediocre stock duck... this is atypical of most
radios, but the duck they included with this one
is worse than the halfway decent duck that came
with my ICOM T2H radios...
-Speaker in the radio is not extremely loud... I found my T2H built-in to be somewhat louder; however its more than enough to do the job.
-There is little or no warning when your battery goes dead. The radio just emits a constant loud tone and then shuts off.
-Where's the U85 UHF version? :)
IMO this radio is halfway decent. Would buy it again.I just wish some of the above minor issues were addressed.
73,
-Mike
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VK3FBCA
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Rating: 5/5
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Aug 6, 2007 03:23
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Great little radio...
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Hi all, I'll keep this simple, This radio has a commercial feel to it with great audio reports and a nice 7 watts of power. Overall this little radio rocks in my opinion, sure it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles that other HT’s might have but that’s not why I bought it, I wanted a affordable, simple, durable, weatherproof 2m HT with good battery life and it seems that I have found it with this one.
Only thing I would like to have seen is maybe more memory and a sma instead of bnc antenna mount, otherwise it’s a big thumbs up from me.
73’s
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W2DIP
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Rating: 3/5
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Jun 1, 2007 11:56
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OK, I'll go first
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I have owned several HTs such as the Yaesu VX-7 and VX-2 as well as the Kenwood TH-F6a. This one is the easiest to use and the only one that I have not bought software for. Works as well as my previous HTs on 2 meters. The extra two watts is not really an issue for me since I can hit the repeaters I use easily with less than 5 watts but as a wise man once told me; you can always lower your power but can never increase it above what the radio can output so buy as much power as you can in case you need it. For people on fringe areas it may be more useful.
Positives:
- Ease of use. Most used options accessable by pressing the function key and then a numbered key. Since I do not use HTs much I tend to forget the key sequencies to operating the HT after a few weeks of disuse.
- Nice memory saving features.
- Get good audio reports.
Negatives:
- Very small screen; smaller than the screen on my Yaesu VX-2, which is the world's (?) smallest HT. The screen is so small that only the first 5 digits of the frequency are displayed full sized. The last two digits are in a tiny subscript that I can barely read. Forget about the tiny symbols used to indicate the settings. The small screen is out of proportion to the size of the radio and difficult to read.
- The 12 hour charge time is ridiculous in a new radio with a Li-on battery. To get a rapid charger you have to buy a different a model made for other models and then spend another $20 for an adaptor to fit this HT. It will cost you almost half the price of this HT to get a rapid charger.
- The Audio volume does not seem as loud as on my previous HTs.
Although this HT will serve my limited needs to only reach one or two repeaters and a simplex frequency without having to refer to the manual each time I use it, I would rate it behind Yaesu and Kenwood as far as my experience with HTs go. From the brochure and options I am guessing that the main market for this HT would be those that can use the paging feature (an option)in a group or club activity. For me this HT is just OK compared to what I have used before.
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