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Show all reviews of the Icom IC-92AD
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You can write your own review
of the Icom IC-92AD.
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K9XK
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 18, 2009 12:56
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You *might* need to read the manual!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I have owed just about everything under the sun and am fresh off my W32A and now into the 92AD. I still have a Yeasu VX7R as sort of a piloting tool, so comparisons to the W32 and the VX-7R are inevitable.
First, this radio demands that one read the manual to even come close to taking full advantage of it. You can take it out of the box and make a contact over a repeater if you are savvy, but this rig has way too many features to try to learn it on your own. The manual, in typical Icom style, is quite good, and as usual, MUCH better than the Vertex-Standard manual.
Note that it pays to read the manual sequentially because if you try to invoke some function, say, a Bank Scan, and you go to the section that deals with just that specifically, it will say something like "Press MR several times, and then..." You will need to know what you are looking for in those several presses, lest frustration set in, and if you would have read ealier portions about selection of memory banks, you will be better off. Read through the manual from start to finish. Maybe twice.
As for learning the general operation of D-Star using the 92AD's manual, you can pretty much forget about that. However, there are lots of other information sources out there, some good, none great (as of this writing) and you will want to do your homework. Of course, it is easier if you have some local experts that already have it all figured out. We "independent types" will just suffer through the learning curve, which is generally sort of fun.
Kudos to Icom on the fantastic display on the 92AD, and the display options. You can go through your memories showing just the frequencies, or the memory name (with so many it is good to name them) in large font and the frequency in small font below it, or the frequeny large with the memory name small...you name it. And it doesn't suffer much in Dual Watch mode either. Of course I do miss the true Dual Watch of the W32A with independent controls. But the 92AD does the best it can with one knob. The main knob changes (in freq or memory channel) whatever display is set to MAIN and if you'd like, through a menu you can set it up so the volume knob only controls what is MAIN, so you can have two different volume levels.
The Band Scope is a cool toy to have, and it has different modes, so you have to believe that Icom really took that feature seriously and it isn't just a gimmick. (at least to Icom!)
The four power level settings are great. It saves those batteries.
The keys are not very easy to read, and really, this is my biggest nit with the unit. You need light to see those secondary function indicators, and given that you are not going to always be in bright light, if I had to improve anything about the radio, I would first choose the addition of more backlighting settings. Right now, you can go through a menu to select On, OFF, or Auto, with a set 5-sec timer. There really should be a way to lengthen the time on the timer, and/or be able to turn the backlighting on and off. Sometimes you are hunting for something and 5 seconds really isn't enough time. Maybe that will wear off as I get to know where everything is.
I have the 92RS software and like most software available for radios, it is just barely adequate and little clumsy. It is pretty clear that these manufacturers will sell software written by the first person who offers to do it. Import/Export is an important feature to some of us and this needs to be learned a bit through trial and error, because it is as we say in the application business, "kludgey". Once you have the idiosyncracies figured out, you'll be in business. I am glad I have it no matter what shape it's in because it beats using "a knob" to manipulate hundreds of memories and their stacks of information, especially in DV mode where you have several additional fields.
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Product is in production.
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