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write your own review of the Icom IC-290A/H.
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K2SAV
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 9, 2009 16:31
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GREAT ALL MODE RIG!!!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have owned this rig for over a year and have been nothing but happy with it....it has a GREAT RECEIVE TONE....very rich sound compared to many other mobiles I have used, owned or heard...i have read other reviews saying don't confuse it with the H model, well I never owned a H, but other than the higher pwr out (the A is 10w)what else does it do better, I have great reports 2m SSB, and the 10w is great to add a 80w mirage (like I did)or a 160w if your budget and antenna allow...they aren't expensive amps and get the FM Simplex signal or SSB signal out there...many vhf amps are designed for the 10W input. If you have a chance to pick one up on the cheap side (like me 80 Bucks!!) ,and jazz it up with a amp....you cant go wrong ...other than the no pl (which you could modify if you want to) but I ,like I am sure you , have other rigs for the few 2m nets w/repeaters , (I use repeaters as little as I can) you just cant go wrong....I really believe this rig will be with me to the end!!! with all the hf/vhf combined rigs of this era popping up ,these sometimes sell low, i have never been sorry I bought it, and I bet you won't either....73
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K0CBA
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Rating: 4/5
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Jul 22, 2006 09:27
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Great bang for your used radio buck!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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First off, do not confuse the A and the H models. They may look alike but they are totally different critters, the A's leaving a great deal to be desired.
Thumbs up section....great receiver (holds it's own with my IC-275H and that's saying something)
......Transmit audio reports always good.
Thumbs down section....I dislike the "click" tuning, a little course for SSB/CW but back then it was the 'bees' knees!.....volital memory (I cludged a battery connecter on the plug (ground and middle pin). A 6 to 9 volt wall wart in the house and a 9 volt battery (just to move it to the car and back) keeps the memories in place.
Thumbs sideways section....For the repeater guys, not having CTCSS encode is getting to be more of a problem as more repeaters are going to sub audible decoding. I am fortunate to still have the wierd 8 or 9 pin ACC plug so if I ever find it worth the expense I can always 'outboard' a ComSpec.
If you are interested in 2 SSB/CW and maybe a back-up FM rig, you won't go wrong with this little oldie but goodie.
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VE9AA
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Rating: 4/5
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Sep 17, 2005 20:08
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Good all around rig
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Good, but rx is a little noisey & not sensitive enough. Coupled with a 6m Ten-Tec transverter I have worked some good Es & F2 DX with it and on my 170w or 500w amp have worked 2m scatter with it. TX audio reports not the greatest, but not what I would call "poor".....could be better though. Wish it had mem backup.
Have owned it perhaps 10 years.....may never get rid of it!
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VO1XH
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Rating: 4/5
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Sep 6, 2003 10:24
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I have owned this rig for 9 years and it is always reliable .
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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This was my first 2m rig when I was licensed in 1994.I wanted a rugged,reliable mobile radio as I spend a good amount of time driving.When a local ham advertised that he was selling this radio,I wasted no time in purchasing it from him.From the moment I powered it up,I was impressed with its easy to use features and great audio.There is not a lot almost non-existant ssb/cw weak signal activity in Newfoundland,but there are a few locals who own VHF ssb equipt. and every now and then we use ssb for qso's.I found that the reciever in ssb mode was very good and hardly any drift once a signal was tuned in.Other operators complemented the good tx audio quality whether working FM simplex or through a repeater or on ssb.It does lack CTCSS tone capability,however,that is not a major problem due to the fact that most repeaters here are not set up for CTCSS and I have two other rigs that have the capabilities for tone use.Memory backup is another minor detail but as it is connected to a 13.8 vdc supply at all times I have the local repeaters and simplex programmed in the VFO'S.There are 5 memory channels which you can set your favorite frequencies in and dual vfo for another frequency.All in all,this is a rig that I will never sell but pass on to my son who is interested in getting his licence so it is I guess a "family heirloom" in that respect.It is my favorite rig and is always dependable.
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K4TB
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Rating: 4/5
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Feb 25, 2003 22:27
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Hanging in there
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I've had my IC-290A for over 15 years and it still performs well. I did have to make 2 repairs and 1 modification over the years. The repairs were replacing a 4001 IC chip on one circuit board, then having to replace another 4001 on a different board a short while later. Probably a bad batch of IC's. Diagnosing the problems was educational and it was rewarding have a rig you can actually work on and repair! (unlike most new rigs today)
The mod was to clip a diode to allow tuning upwards while in transmit; necessary for satellite QSOs. I am holding on to this rig because it will make a perfect front end for a microwave transverter with a 2M IF. Downeast Microwave sells them for many different MW bands and they typically can handle up to 10 watts RF drive - precisely the upper limit of the IC-290A. No need for special interfacing! It also runs fine from a mere 3A power supply.
For its day, the IC-290A was a good rig. I never had the microphonic VCO problem others reported. Due to it's continued usefulness (to me at least), I still give it a 4.
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N9DG
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Rating: 5/5
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Jun 27, 2002 00:51
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Still Going
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I've had my IC-290H since 1983 and can't bring myself to part with it, even though I don't use it all that much anymore. In all those years I did not have any problems with it of any kind. For many years it was my only 2M rig and it has seen a lot of use on SSB. Its longevity in my shack is my main reason for giving it a 5 (against today’s radios I would rate it a 3 in terms of performance).
By today’s standards however the synthesizer is a bit noisy and it can't match the current generation radios in sensitivity either (both are comparable to its same aged competitors). On the other hand if you are looking for a relatively inexpensive 2M only multi mode radio on the used market the IC-290H is an excellent choice. Keep in mind the lack of built-in CTCSS if you intend to use it for FM work, but then this radio is far better suited for CW/SSB work anyhow. Also consider the memory backup requirements of this radio as it does not have an internal battery (neither do its competitors of the same vintage). The memory backup will draw something on the order of 5ma to keep the memories alive (there are only 5). I have always received good TX audio reports and it has good RX audio as well.
Today's do everything HF-UHF boxes do actually cost less per band, unfortunately however they also limit you to listening to a single band at a time. A few older mono band multimode radios like the IC-290H will give you the ability to monitor several bands simultaneously, without spending a huge amount of money.
So the IC-290H really isn't a front line radio today anymore, it is however a very useful radio for dedicated 2M SSB band monitoring/use.
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KU4QD
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Rating: 2/5
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Jun 19, 2002 14:23
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Correction on IC-290A VCO problem
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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First, I rated the IC-290H a "4" and the IC-290A a "2", so adding this balances the numbers. These are two different radios, as you can see in my review.
Also, in rereading what I wrote I had to groan. Two thoughts got run tongether, and the result is simply wrong. The microphonic VCO in the IC-290A causes feedback in receive mode if you turn the volume well up. It has nothing to do with transmit. Oh well...
Anyway, as I said before, the IC-290H is fine. The IC-290A needed help, which Icom provided by making an improved model.
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KU4QD
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Rating: 4/5
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Jun 18, 2002 14:08
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Two different generations of the rig--one very good, one OK
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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The IC-290A and IC-290H are two *different* generations of the same basic radio. Writing one review of the two is like writing one reveiw for the IC-706 and IC-706MkIIG. There has been a lot of improvement, and the same was true with the IC-290A and IC-290H.
The IC-290H, the later radio, put out 25W, had a green LED display, and a very decent receiver. In many ways it was comparable to it's big brother, the IC-251A. I agree with thre previous reviewer that the transmitted and received audio are both excellent, and that is true on both versions of the radio. Sensitivity is good, but, of course, doesn't compare to the best base rigs, such as the later IC-275. It's still way better than other 2m mobiles, including some that came out much later, such as the Yaesu FT-290RII. Selectivity is also decent, but there is nothing at all to help with a close-by adjacent signal or to fight any other sort of QRM. The noise blanker is effective for ignition noise, but not much else. In it's class, the IC-290H was one of the best.
The memory backup issue previously raised is easily solved with the IC-BU1 memory backup option, a small box which bolted to the back of the rig and plugged into the power recepticle and a small round jack. (The big accessory jack was not used with the BU-1 as a previous reviewer suggested.) This is the same arrangement as Icom used with the IC-25A/H and IC-45A. Many used IC-290s will have the BU-1 with them. If you are not using the rig with a continuous voltage supply (i.e.: a car battery) then this may be something to look for before spending money on this rig.
Another issue is the lack of any allowance for PL tones for the FM crowd. This is a great SSB mobile rig, but if you are in an area where tone is needed to get into most repeaters, figure the cost of an external CommSpec box into the total cost of the rig. This issue, more than any other, drops the rating from 5 to 4.
The "4" only applies to the IC-290H. I'd rathe the IC-290A a "2". The IC-290A has a red LED display and only puts out 10W. That isn't my objection to it. My main problem was that the VCO circuit was microphonic, so if you needed to turn up the volume near the maximum you'd get feedback when you keyed the radio, and that was totally unacceptable. If you ever drove with the window down you had no prayer of being able to use the rig.
I've owned both versions, and I highly recommend the IC-290H as a 2m all mode mobile for a ham on a budget. Even all these years later it performs well. I do not recommend the IC-290A to anyone.
I've parted with both rigs, but finding an good, clean IC-290H with a BU-1 today would still be something I would look at buying seriously again.
While I am, wit
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G7TOK
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Rating: 4/5
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Nov 20, 2001 14:48
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Excellent Audio
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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The memory backup issue with this radio is not really an issue for me as it remains connected to the power supply permanently.
However, the main attraction of the set is the quality of recovered audio, better than most modern transceivers I have owned. The yaesu FT-847 I own has a permanent high frequency hiss on the audio output regardless of volume, not so the IC-290.
The standard microphone has a very rounded audio and a built in amplifier that provides punchy audio that has garnered many good reports.
The receive sensitivity is not the hottest, but with only reasonable antennas and a pre-amp I have managed contacts all over continental Europe.
The set is very robust and is easy to use, especially mobile.
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WM5R
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Rating: 3/5
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Jul 20, 2000 15:41
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Get accessory connector
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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This is a decent radio for SSB/CW on 144 MHz. It puts out 25 watts, and can also do FM. It doesn't have a lot of features, and in particular there's not much you can do to tweak the receiver (i.e. no filters, passband shaping, etc.) This is just what you would expect from a mobile radio, though.
My biggest problem with this transceiver was that there was no internal battery back-up. I had the radio hooked up to an external 13.8VDC power supply. So, every time I turned it on, it would default to the factory settings, and the frequency would be way up in the FM repeater section of the band. I could never find a fast way to get down to 144.200, and just resigned myself to spinning the dial a lot. This would not be a problem if I either left it hooked up to a power supply that didn't get turned off (like a car battery) or had the "memory backup" accessory.
Speaking of which, the memory backup accessory was one of several thing you could plug into the "accesory" jack on the back of this radio. The jack had a center pin and eight pins in a circle around it, and was shaped just like a tube socket. I tried for a long, long time to find some sort of connector to plug into it to wire up my own memory backup feature, and eventually gave up. I also tried for a long, long time to find that memory backup accessory without luck. Both are very rare to come by.
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