| N2HUC |
Rating:  |
2013-11-27 | |
| Great for Advanced Users |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
The short version? Pretty good radio for the ADVANCED and EXPERIENCED user, but could use some simple improvements. If you are not willing to really study the owner’s manual, and actually LEARN how to use the many features this radio has to offer, don’t get this radio. Keep it simple and buy an IC-80AD while saving some money at the same time. That is a much easier radio to use, with a more direct front panel keypad approach, containing more multi-function keys for simplified operation. The ID-51 is menu intensive, and the so-called quick menu area (yes, there are two different menu systems) changes all the time depending on what you are doing with the radio at any given moment. The to-lazy-to-learn operator will be confused and drive the rest of us nuts trying to help them use this radio because they just “don’t get it”, and probably never will. This radio is great for experienced power users who travel and need to access repeaters outside the home area or state (because you can’t program all the nation’s repeaters in the memory channels). If you really know what you are doing, and actually learn all about the great features this radio can do, you will love it and get real value out of this little box. This radio has some real advances.
That being said, there are limitations with this radio you should know about. I’m not sure where Icom is getting the repeater data from (Doesn’t match D-STAR Users dot org or D-STAR Info dot com data), but the pre-loaded repeater list is pretty messed up and missing quite a bit, so you will have to fix it yourself and start by updating it from the downloads available at D-STAR Info dot com. Even then, you will have to supplement the list with unknowns (they are out there) and fix quite a few lat/lon locations on some repeaters, as well as frequency mistakes in the data (those exist). You only get 750 Repeater List memories from Icom (not nearly enough), and the only way to get the whole US repeater list in the radio is to delete the hotspots and leave only the repeaters (and the two national simplex D-STAR calling channels on 145.670 and 441.000). Then you will have only enough room for about 25 additional repeaters for future growth, and that small amount of remaining memory will likely be used up by the end of 2013 if you update regularly. It’s not perfect, but way better than Icom’s (lacking) repeater list “updates”. Just know you can’t depend on Icom’s list, and if you think you can, you need a good dose of reality. You’re not getting it all. There is absolutely no way a “real” world repeater list would ever fit. Why is Icom so stingy on CHEAP memory? And Icom completely missed the boat on REPEATER LINKING by neglecting to allow that function from the repeater list (No one does repeater forwarding…in the blind…It’s not the same as repeater linking, which is much more effective). The 200 UR memories in this radio, which you can now assign names to (yeah!), are better than previous offerings of only 60, but not near enough for all the people you may want to route/DSQL to, repeaters you may want to link to, and the (dreaded) reflectors you may (or may not) want to connect to. This is the best place to store and access universal routing and linking options (not repeater specific memory channels) because you can use them on any system. You would think Icom would let you expand all this lack of memory on the micro SD card (up to 32 GB). NO! You can’t do that. You can only replace the limited radio memory with contents off the micro SD card, and not expand memory channels, repeater list entries, or UR list entries. That was another Icom blooper, IMO. Icom just doesn’t get it. They fail to realize how the rest of the world uses D-STAR and how much memory (and features) are needed to do what this radio set out to do with the GPS “Near Repeater” lookups, which is really revolutionary for travelers. It is a big D-STAR world out there, and the radio should have had the memory to support it with ample space to expand well into the future. So why do I still like this radio? Despite the limitations, it was well designed on a number of fronts. Some of the new features are big improvements that I was glad to see (finally) come to fruition. Other new features were very clever (like call sign announcement). Being waterproof is a big plus for outdoor enthusiast. This radio is a giant step forward if you appreciate the added functionality; otherwise it is just something expensive to brag about.
As an advanced user I made the investment to learn the radio options and menu features, and it was worth it! At first I tried to operate the radio without reading anything, just to see how intuitive it was (not very). Then I looked up what I couldn’t figure out. That helped, but I had to keep repeating some steps to “burn it into my memory”. Few keys on the front of the radio mean you have to select most things from menus, and there are different keys to navigate to do some of the D-STAR functions that are not very logical, like turning on the R2 gateway, which was defaulted to “NOT USED”. You have to select the “Use Repeater” selection in the Your Call list (which is actually CQCQCQ) and turns on the R2 gateway call sign…and sets UR to CQCQCQ. That doesn’t make sense! I renamed that to make some sense, but R2 should have been enabled as default in the first place. Finally, I read the whole manual cover to cover (especially focused on the menu section near the end), tried some features I didn’t even know about, and set up all my menu selections to optimize every feature on this incredibly complex (in a good way) radio. I’m getting the best out of the radio now, but it took the investment, as defaults are not always the best choice and you can optimize quite a bit to fully utilize the features offered in this radio. Then I mirror imaged my IC-2820H channel memory and bank scheme, including my UR list. I had to delete many of those reflectors Icom pre-programmed into the UR list, correcting the US reflector list and deleting the other countries, to make room for call signs and repeaters I wanted to link to. I now have 24 open UR list memories, but that could easily be used up if I expand my list with new repeaters and new users I might want to route to. And I am concerned there will soon not be enough regular memory channels to support my home state, as D-STAR is growing quite fast here in Florida. My bank memory setup divides analog on one display and digital on the other. And I set up bank linking to work two ways; locally, and also roaming for times I go outside the home county area. Then I can pull from the (corrected) DR repeater list when I travel around the country to access repeaters outside of my home state. NOW I have a radio that gets full use out of all the features that were offered. Paired with a Mirage BD-35 amp, and a Larson NMO 2/70 SH in my travel bag, and I’m good to go in rental cars, mobile, portable…whatever. I also like the ability to monitor for weather alerts on the analog side (even while scanning on both sides) just in case it gets ugly out on the road. Scanning digital on one side, scanning analog on the other side (with WX alert), and even listening to AM or FM broadcast between two-way transmissions is a whole lot of reception capability to accomplish at the same time! Another neat feature you can set up is the ability for broadcast reception to automatically mute during two-way reception, and stay muted for up to 10 seconds after the two-way transmissions end, then continue receiving broadcast again. THAT is very cool. You can even choose a menu option to have all of these different receivers, including broadcast, have their own volume settings (nice!). Add the powerful GPS features with position display and DPRS/APRS reporting over D-STAR, and you have the all-in-one waterproof survival radio solution in one box. But I do wish this “box” was a little bigger with louder audio and a larger speaker. Audio output is pretty low, but it works as long as you are in a fairly quiet environment. A full DTMF keypad on the front would have been a real plus too. Perhaps an external (big speaker) DTMF microphone is needed to overcome these shortcomings. Somebody needs to make such a thing. For my temporary mobile setup I use a Motorola amplified motorcycle speaker (old black metal type with silver metal grill) plugged into my HM-75 speaker/mic. That makes a huge difference! (Volume to spare!) I have to snake a very thin audio cable through the coiled cord to keep the coiled cord from snagging because Icom put the external speaker (earphone) jack on the bottom of the microphone, and not on the radio plug end. I would have preferred the radio end, as they sell plenty of ear-bud/mic options. But a good portable temporary mobile setup can be put together with this little radio. It just takes some thought and planning. Money helps too!
I took current (amperage) measurements of all conditions on this radio, including charging, and this radio is VERY power efficient (much better than my IC-91AD). I can scan two bands with WX alert, have GPS on, and have the back light set to ON when 12VDC is plugged in, all with only 80mA of current draw. When the trickle charge comes on it adds 70mA of draw, and full charge will add up to 400mA on a fully depleted battery. The GPS being on only adds 7mA of current draw, so it is not a battery killer like some have reported. In the most efficient single band/single channel standby power saving mode, with all unnecessary options turned off, the current draw only measures 50mA in DV mode and 45mA in FM mode with standard (default) battery saver settings. That is low! Add 7mA for GPS reporting/reading, and you can cruse for a very long time on the BP-272 2000mA battery. I have a hard time killing that battery with everything turned on…scanning both displays, GPS auto beacon TX every 5 minutes, and being in some long 5 watt QSO’s a few times throughout the day. I get well over 8 hours under those conditions, but if I reserved my use for wilderness adventures I could easily get 12 hours with occasional check-ins and GPS reporting. Transmit current measures 305mA, 530mA, 745mA, 1.14A and 1.61A (100mw/500mw/1w/2.5w/5w) on VHF. UHF is a little higher at 345mA, 640mA, 810mA, 1.26A and 1.75A respectively. With the Mirage BD-35 dual-band amplifier I get 60w VHF out at 7.9A, and 40w UHF out at 7.0A with 5w drive levels. I like to run LO2 (1w) on VHF for 31w out at 4.85A, and run MID (2.5w) on UHF for 30w out at 5.9A. That is a good compromise to keep both the amp and radio running a bit cooler, but be aware that repeated long key-downs will heat up the radio to HOT conditions where it stops transmitting. I use a protective LC-179 case on my radio, and that doesn’t help to let it cool down between transmissions. It actually keeps the heat from dissipating, so be aware of that if you ragchew like I do. Part of the heat is the voltage regulation the radio does from 13.9V down to 7.5V operating voltage. Using a CP-19R with an output of 11V helps reduce some of the extra heat. Speaking of current consumption, the BC-202 rapid charger quickly ramps up to 740mA on a fully depleted battery and gradually reduces down to 14mA trickle charge when the charge cycle is completed. With no battery in the charger, the draw is 5mA. When I operate in the woods on a portable battery station with solar charging, it is prudent to unplug rapid chargers and even remove radio batteries from the radios (when not in use) to conserve battery life. My IC-91AD charger draws a whopping 22mA with nothing in the cradle (waste!). The 91 radio is also a current hog, but it is a good radio with louder audio. Very prone to overheating, though. The IC-80AD is much better on current efficiency, but not as good the ID-51. Icom really made an effort to conserve power with this radio. Kudos!
It is also nice that Icom offers useful button selections for the HM-75 microphone with this radio model, like HOME CHANNEL and SCAN, but I find it strange that the home channel can’t be instantly selected from the radio itself without the HM-75 microphone. That should have been an easy long press on the center button (which currently does nothing) to jump to the HOME CHANNEL. And it’s fantastic that Icom finally gave us a TEMPORARY SCAN SKIP feature (up to 5 channels can be skipped for up to 15 minutes) for those times when a group of selfish lids has initiated a high powered, high gain antenna, long winded QSO on the national simplex CALLING channel (like they don’t know any other simplex channel to QSY to because they are uninformed, ignorant, selfish, and poor operators), but not so good they buried that Temporary Skip activation way down the quick menu list. It takes too long to get to it. That too could have been a long center button press during scan (not a huge issue, but would have made it easier).
After you learn everything this radio can do, how to do it, and set up all the menu selections, repeater lists, UR list items, memory channels (with full options), banks with linking, and program the radio accordingly, you will have a powerful tool for the advanced D-STAR user who travels. Is this the radio for the beginner? NO! It will be too hard to learn and navigate on if you have no idea what you are doing and don’t want to learn. Use an IC-80AD and you will get more pleasure out of that great radio. That is as easy as it gets, and has plenty of memory for local/statewide use…plus you can share the same programming file with the excellent ID-880H radio (win/win). If all you want to do is brag about your new “top of the line” toy ID-51 (which you don’t know how to use because you don’t really want to learn it and are too lazy to make the effort…as all you do is set it to one frequency and waste all the features the radio offers), talk to your DVAP two feet away from your HT (which you could barely get working by yourself…and probably set up on the national simplex CALLING channel because you know no other simplex channels), and connect to reflectors with your stupid Raspberry Pi (which you could never figure out how to configure yourself, as you depend on someone giving you an image file to get it to work) so you can embarrass yourself and showcase you lack of knowledge on international reflectors, you DO NOT need this radio!
So now that Icom engineered a portable D-STAR radio with this much functionality, might they be working on a new mobile with the same features? Maybe an updated version of the IC-2820H??? I could see that! And if Icom is smart, they will allow cloning between the new mobile and the ID-51. And while you are at it, Icom, please put a mini-USB connector on the back of this (supposed) new mobile radio so I can use it at home with my RS-BA1 software to remote control it! I would buy two of them…one for the house and one for the car. The IC-7100 is not a two-display radio with the ability to separate analog and digital (with scanning on each side and bank linking) having two separate volume and squelch levels. I love my 2820 for all it does, and now the 51 for many of the same features (and then some), but the next GPS driven database D-STAR mobile radio needs to be a high power (big display) version of the ID-51 with built-in GPS and USB remote control capability. I’ll sit one on top of my IC-7600 for complete home station remote control. ;-)
Bottom line on the ID-51? Great radio for the experienced power user, and not for the clueless appliance operator (that can’t even set the clock on a microwave oven) who just wants to brag about having the newest and latest fancy toys they will never learn how to fully setup (themselves) and use to full advantage. And if some of these repeaters around the country would dump those noisy reflectors (almost totally void of any good conversation) so someone could actually “call sign route” into the repeater, allowing someone to actually reach out and contact someone they are looking for…or link in and connect two repeater groups together without the whole world being included, you would get much better use of your repeater(s). All that brilliant functionality is wasted when repeaters are tied up on reflectors (listening to half-baked QSO’s about nothing…where people can’t even get your name or call right when it is showing on the radio display!). Is this what amateur radio has become? There is much more to D-STAR than just reflectors and DVAP’s that can’t accept or make call sign routing calls. Call sign routing is the “crown jewel” technology achievement of D-STAR! You’re wasting that feature. And if you must use reflectors, try to leave SOME SPACE between transmissions so someone with an emergency, or someone trying to UNLINK, has a chance to get in. How many times have I tried to break into a reflector HOG QSO, where every transmission has ZERO SPACE between the them, and couldn’t get in no matter how hard I worked to time it right? Way too many times! Operation like that doesn’t deserve a radio like this. This radio is worthy of someone who actually uses ALL the features D-STAR has to offer and knows good operating etiquette. Anyway, I rate this radio 4.7 out of 5.0. Let’s keep our fingers crossed on a mobile version of this radio with a Mini-USB port that allows RS-BA1 opreation. :-D
Phil ~ N2HUC
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|
| PY2JF |
Rating: |
2013-11-12 | |
| Good idea badly implemented |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
I've had the IC- 91A, IC92AD and now the ID -51, so I think I have a good idea of how Icom evolved in some things and regressed in others. The is no doubt no doubt that Icom evolved adding new and exciting features which are very easy to use. But IMHO that all in this case.
At the end of the day what we really need is a good transmission and reception audio and the ID-51 fails miserably. For the listener, one of the most important things is the audio quality. Unlike the IC-92AD transmission audio, which I only received good reports, this audio, as others have confirmed, is a total disaster. It is not bad as Baofeng, it is worst, much worst.
Is it possible that there is no ham Icom´s engineering staff? It is not possible that these engineers are active hams and have used this radio outside the lab. If they had, they never will release a product having an audio quality 90 % inferior than its predecessor. It is unacceptable we have to modify a new expensive radio, possibly voiding the warranty, to have acceptable audio quality.
Another major problem for D-Star users, as has already been mentioned, it only will decode digital audio if it is strictly in the standards. I reach 6 D-Star repeaters from my shack, four of them take up to 5s to begin decoding the audio, one simply does not decode at all and only one decodes immediately. The IC-92AD decodes all the 6 immediately.
As repeater keeper having a DTMF keypad is essential. I thought the DTMF memory would do the job in favor of a big display, but I was wrong. It is pains in the ass memorize new numbers every time you need to send DTMF. If this is important to you, look elsewhere.
What attracted me most in ID-51 was that huge display. If you have more than 45 years you know what I´m talking about. It takes half the radio panel and thought it was worth losing the DTMF keypad for this. Wrong again. Who is doing software for Icom should be less than 40 years and does not care about these details (yet). We have a huge display with small fonts! D-Star messages, rather than using multiple lines to display all the massage at once, uses just one scrolling line in the bottom! A huge display with scrolling lines? An excellent matrix display poorly implemented.
Not to mention that the backlight does not have smart or decent options, just on, off or timer. The timer setup in another separate menu and has only two option! 5s and 10s! Why in the hell another menu for only two option? How expensive could be add some more lines of code and let us select something between 5s and 60s?
Summarizing: My ID-51 is in getting dirty in the closet and I´m back to my "obsolete" IC- 92AD. It cost less and works much better for what ham needs which is to talk and listen well.
Pros:
- Loaded with features
- Easy to use setup interface
- Comes with programming software
- Huge high quality matrix display
Cons:
- Poorly implementation display
- Audio transmission much worse than the Baofengs
- Serious problems in decoding D –Star
- Does not come with programming cable
- No DTMF keypad
- Pricey
Japanese stay alert! Eventually the Chinese will achieve your quality standards with more reasonable prices and can be too late. |
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| K7EHT |
Rating: |
2013-10-06 | |
| Great do-it-all HT |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
The ID-51 has been an excellent "do it all" radio. I bought it with the intention of using it for D-STAR, IRLP, FM repeaters, and FM simplex. I wanted a radio that I could take anywhere, including bicycling, backpacking, mountain topping(SOTA) and in the car on road trips. I use a Diamond BNC antenna adapter with five different antennas depending on what I’m doing (slim-jim Jpole, Diamond RH77CA, Larson dual band mobile mag mount, Diamond shorty and an Arrow yagi).
Coming from using commercial (part 90) radios like the Icom F3021, or the Motorola Radius series, the ID-51 was a big change. Those radios are built primarily to be bomb proof and idiot proof, at the expense of cool features. When I first started using the ID-51, I was a little worried that with it's small size and fancy features, the build quality would be less than that of a commercial radio. Well, I wouldn't go hammering nails into wood with the ID-51, and I am very careful about scratching the screen. I’m happy to report that in six months of continuous use, I have not had a single physical problem with the radio. It seems to be very well built.
There are so many features to this radio that I wouldn’t know where to begin to review them all. But here are a few things that have really impressed me:
Impressive features:
- D-STAR. This is my first D-STAR radio and I was a little apprehensive about the complexity of D-STAR. But the ID-51 makes D-STAR a snap. I didn't even have to crack the manual to get on the air. The hardest part about D-STAR was registering my call sign correctly online with the local gateway(nothing to do with the radio). Just about everything you need for D-STAR is either programmed into memory or in the menu system. Unlike the rest of the radio features, you really don't need any PC software to get on D-STAR.
-GPS function. The GPS can function as a rudimentary GPS for things like geocaching or in emergencies. But what I like most is that it integrates well with D-STAR. Not only can you access APRS from a D-STAR repeater, you can also FIND all nearby D-STAR repeaters based on your current location. That’s very nice when I travel. Note: to my knowledge, the radio is NOT compatible with stand-alone APRS nodes.
- Abundant memory: I have memory banks programmed for the FM frequencies in every area that I travel. There's plenty of memory and it's easy to access. The D-STAR repeater memory is downloadable from a few different sources, including Icom. The GPS function will automatically bring up D-STAR repeaters from memory. Very cool.
- Dual receive function: I love being able to monitor two frequencies at once. I normally keep a D-STAR repeater on one side and an FM repeater on the other side.
- Small size compared to the radios I’m used to (Icom and Motorola commercial radios).
I would buy this radio 100 times again, but my review wouldn't be helpful if it didn't list a few faults with the radio. No product can do everything all the time, so take these faults for what they're worth:
- No DTMF key pad. This radio won’t make you happy if you regularly need to use lots of DTMF combinations, such as for autopatch or controlling a repeater system. However, for occasional use, it's easy to enter DTMF tones "manually" using menu function. There is also an easy to use DTMF memory feature. I have all 10 memories programmed, mostly for use with various IRLP nodes.
- Low mic sensitivity? I normally get very good audio reports using the ID-51 on FM repeaters and D-STAR. Now and again if I’m on a system that has marginal audio levels (such as some IRLP or echolink nodes), I get complaints of low audio from the onboard mic. Using my HM186 external speaker mic, the audio gets better, they say. I have heard the problem is with the waterproof membrane over the mic. I’ve felt no need to remove the membrane.
- Short battery life. Battery life on receive is okay. But if you need to be in an all-day QSO, buy the bigger battery.
- Nearly impossible to program manually. Don't frustrate yourself; just download Icom's software and spend a little time programming your radio how you want from the comfort of your laptop. When you're traveling out of area, it's not too hard to program in a frequency or two, but forget about taking the time to program in all the frequencies in a new city. Just travel with your laptop :) I have not tried the aftermarket programming software but I don't see a reason to. Icom's software is intuitive and easy for me to use.
Highly recommended. 73's |
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| OZ1LQO |
Rating: |
2013-09-15 | |
| Well made, easy to use, but still some wishes |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Got this rig 'used but as new' and it was already programmed with a couple local repeaters. I was on-air in 5 minutes, first QSO about 5 minutes after that.
The rig works excellent, easy to operate and program. More convenient to use the PC software (you need a comms cable for that), but manually programming is doable once you get the hang of it.
The European version does amateur bands ONLY, ie. no airbands. This is too bad, as I'm kind off an plane spotting type too. Also, since it's lacking a full coverage receiver, I won't be handing off my Kenwood TH-F7 anytime soon :-)
Put that functionality into it, and I'll come back and rate it a clean 5.
Supplied battery only lasts for 4-5hrs, if you want whole day operation, you need to get the larger one. This increases the weight of the unit considerably however.. And after all, a full recharge is just a couple hours.
One small minus: It would seem that it's somewhat sensitive to overmodulation, ie. if the repeater TX Deviation is too wide, the ID-51 (and the ID-31 as I hear) will have a hard time decoding the signals. Only thing to say about that is: repeater owners, get your act together and make sure your gear is tuned correctly (and within the rules and regulations, btw.)
I got this unit to get started on D-Star and try out this new exiting amateur mode. It certainly does the job and I'm really with it.
best 73 |
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| W8JAS |
Rating: |
2013-05-23 | |
| Latest Generation DStar Handheld - does not get any easier |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I now have both the ID-31 and the ID-51. These radios are without a doubt the easiest DStar radios to use. No programming required other than entering your call into the radio. The entire world-wide repeater database is loaded and can be updated. The 51 will find the closest repeater for you based on the known location of the DStar repeater and your location using the built-in GPS. Does not get any easier than this. It can also use your location to feed the APRS network via DPRS enabled DStar repeaters.
It is very small. I recommend the optional higher capacity battery as it will give you enough power all day if reasonable talk time is used.
The display is nice and large, and despite the small speaker, the audio is plenty loud.
So if you are looking to get into digital voice and actually want to be able to talk to people, go with DStar. There are now over 2,000 repeaters and 50,000 users world-wide. The infrastructure is in place. But if you don't want to have many people to talk to and hardly any repeaters to use, go with Yaesu, DMR/Mototrbo, NXDN, P25 or any other commercial/public service standard out there that is only used by a few hundred people world-wide.
DStar is the digital standard for hams and created by hams and used by thousands throughout the world. The ID-51 is the best handheld radio to use for DStar. I also have the V82 (first generation) plus the IC-92, the ID-880H and the ID31. I like them all, but the 51 is the easiest of the bunch to use.
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| IZ4UFQ |
Rating: |
2013-05-13 | |
| Nice radio, but could be better. |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Quite small, yet very solidly built, it is a pleasure to hold it, and it's also waterproof. I'm not afraid to use it in harsh conditions. It has a big and beautiful display, but still it is not too big to carry around.
A good radio, but it is far from perfect. For example, with its hardware it could probably be able to do APRS too, but it does not. I know, Icom wants us to use DSTAR and DPRS, but APRS is working here and now, and Dstar is far from ubiquitous (not to mention its horrible voice quality).
Also, it has no numeric keyboard, but I understand that a radio cannot be small, yet have a big display and a big keyboard. Still you can QSY quite fast using the dial, even without a keyboard for direct frequency entry.
Should Icom add APRS to this radio, I would give it a five even without a full numeric keyboard.
If you are considering buying it, read the manual (the more detailed one, 370 pages long) before buying it to better understand its potential and its limits.
Consider that to use Dstar repeaters it is really useful to have a computer and the programming cable (which can be bought on Ebay from third party manufacturers for far less than the original one) to upload repeaters lists to the radio. With the repeaters list loaded to the radio (with repeaters GPS positions) you can simply ask the radio "show me the nearest repeaters" and QSY to the right frequency (and also set RPT callsigns) instantly. Nice feature if you travel a lot. |
|
| MW0GUK |
Rating: |
2013-03-18 | |
| poor technology |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| It is a very nice looking radio and come pre-programmed with all that you might need BUT you cannot use DTMF tones on the fly. It is as though it has been designed for the DStar system of 2 years ago and to be honest the system technology and software has moved on considerably since then. I personally would not give it house room. The 92 is much better especially if you have the remote control software. |
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| K9MHZ |
Rating: |
2013-03-15 | |
| What a great radio! |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
Icom did a wonderful job designing the ID-51A. What a nice radio. At last, they decided to make D-STAR easier to use. Particularly at the yearly D-STAR Forum at Dayton, the case is always made that "D-STAR isn't hard, you just need to know how to program your radio...." Very true, but very tiring and condescending to hear year after year. It's simply a matter of previous radio models not necessarily being difficult to use, but ABSOLUTELY being needlessly cumbersome to use.
So Icom has finally gotten religion on ease-of-use, and they knocked it out of the park with this latest offering. The databasing is a terrific feature. Many have mentioned the transmit audio quality. True it's not great, but with audio level (deviation) set to 3, low cut, and high increased, you get acceptable audio. It's just not that big of a deal. Yes, you can open the radio and cut the membrane in front of the mic element and get very nice results afterword.
With the ID-51A being a dual band radio, you also have some very nice extended receive capabilities.....aircraft band AM, commercial broadcast FM, weather, etc.
This is a very high end (and high priced) radio, and Icom kicked in the quality of construction. It's small, but very solid. Someone earlier mentioned a Diamond Antenna model to replace the stock Icom antenna. True the Icom stock antenna isn't anything special, but if one chooses to use a better antenna, certainly don't get another SMA connector antenna. If you're going to this trouble, get the Diamond SMA/BNC adapter, which is black and looks very good on the ID-51. You may need a small rubber washer spacer from your hardware store which will allow the adaptor to seat solidly against the radio case. Now, you have a full range of antenna options, large and small, and you can routinely remove and change antennas without and fear of wearing out the SMA connector on the radio. Getting another SMA antenna is just silly.
In summary, this is a fabulous radio. It will definitely reinvigorate your D-STAR use with all of its very fine new features and ease-of-use. |
|
| AE7Q |
Rating: |
2013-03-14 | |
| A winner |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I have owned (or been loaned) almost all of the Icom D-Star radios (including the miserable V82/U82 series) except for the new IC-9100, and I think that the ID-51A has the firmware with the best features and user interface.
I put myself on the local HRO wait list for an ID-51A in early January, and received it on Feb 4. I have been critical of Icom's radio firmware and associated PC software in the past, but this time they seem to have gotten it mostly right. The ID-51A is a pleasure to use, and the associated (free) PC software is much improved. I bought the radio with the extended-life BC-272 battery, and (one day later) the BC-202 rapid charger.
While the radio's options (and hence the menu) are extensive, the menu system is easy to learn, and (most importantly) the documentation (the manual for the radio, and the help file for the software) is extensive and much improved over prior Icom D-Star products. Icom produces two manuals for both the ID-31 and the ID-51 (available for download on the Icom/Japan web site):
1. An idiot's guide to getting started (Icom being a Japanese company, it's not called that, of course).
2,An advanced/complete manual.
You don't need the data port for updating settings: If you buy a microSD card, you can insert it into the ID-31/51 and copy your settings to/from it, move it to/from your PC, and update the settings using Icom's included software on the PC. So, the only thing you need a data cable for, is for D-Star low-speed over-the-air data transfer. The Icom-intended way for you to do this is to buy their OPC-2218L USB cable. However, due to issues with the Icom USB driver included with the OPC-2218L, if you have an available serial port (or another USB-to-serial converter), I think a better decision is to buy the Icom OPC-1529R serial (RS-232) cable instead. It fits quite snugly into the ID-31/51, but works.
Minor caveats:
1. Outside of the amateur 2m and 70cm ranges (those two amateur bands and the frequencies surrounding them), and the aviation ("air") band, the ID-51 only receives the broadcast AM and FM bands. There is no "DC-to-daylight" receive, like there is on many radios (eg, the Icom IC-91/92AD, and some of the Yaesu radios). Of course, the advantage of this limitation is better selectivity.
2, While most D-Star radios can transmit DTMF tones, due to the complexity of a useful front panel (or microphone) keypad interface in a small space, DTMF tone sequences in most current Icom radios are transmitted by first storing them in DTMF-sequence memory, and then using the menu to transmit them. OK for dedicated sequences, but not for just spur-of-the-moment tones.
To me, some of the concerns about muffled transmit audio are overblown. I have an early model with the thicker (black) microphone felt overlay, and I just (via a menu option) adjusted the gain up. |
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| PA3HGT |
Rating: |
2013-03-10 | |
| Good but.... |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
This little HT is improvement on several terrains with the IC92 which i had for a year:It's smaller,easier to use then the 92 and i love the display.
First I have to remark that the TX-audio was very poor what can't be happen of a expensive HT in my humble opinion.
Sounds like a muffled audio and it's the same as the ID31 which had earlier reports of bad audio.
Don't understand that Icom has solved that problem in the ID51.
I had the worsted audio-reports ever:you get a baofeng?Are you in a bucket,You're not PA3HGT.
When the IC92 has a good audio with the same IPX7 certification then i don't understand the problem with the ID31/51 because that's the problem with the muffled audio.
When potential buyers hear that poor audio then they will be scared to get a ID51.
First i was playing with bass and treble in the menu but was not helping me further so had to open up the ID51.
I had to remove a ring and a membrame to get a more proper audio.For your understanding: the audio goes to 2 membrames.
Info about that can be found in the usefull Yahoo-usersgroup.
Now it's sounds much better.
ID51 has CPU 1.01 DSP 1.00 out of the box.
Second: you get with the ID51, CS51-software but not the cable to program the ID51,sounds like you get a new car with wheels but not the bolts to mount it.
You can make a RS232-programcable for 10% of the cost of the expensive USB-cable.
Schematics can be found on the Yahoo-users group and maybe elsewhere.
Like the silicone jacket SJ1 and the rapidcharger BC202 which can be ordered and i have replaced the antenna for a Diamond SRH701 which performs better then the Icom-antenna.
It's a pity that ICFfiles of the IC92/ID31/ID51 are not compatible with eachother.
GPS: is very sensitive! I get still indoor a lock on GPS.
The menu to set the ID51 for you own taste is good to work with,specially the quickmenu.
Sound of reception for HAM-use is very good and the broadcastreception is almost "hifi" for such small speaker.
Overall is the ID51 not feeling cheap and is the construction durable in my opinion.
It's that i loved the display and that the ID51 is a small HT otherwise i was give it a 3 to needs help.
73,Hans,PA3HGT
www.pa3hgt.nl |
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