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Reviews For: ICOM IC-7100

Category: Transceivers: HF Amateur HF+6M+VHF+UHF models - non QRP <5W

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Review Summary For : ICOM IC-7100
Reviews: 173MSRP: 1600
Description:
A new Mobile HF,VHF and UHF Tranceiver from ICOM,.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.icomamerica.com/en/products/amateur/hf/7100/default.aspx
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
251734.4
WB9RAA Rating: 2014-10-10
Sold my 756 for this? yes!! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I downsized and upgraded at the same time. I love this radio, it's a lot like a 756 on RX quality and yet the size of a 706 with touch screen and D-Star. By far the coolest radio I have owned yet. I like it because it's small, super easy to use, has a great RX and features. I use a D-104 FET preamp and get great audio compliments and signal reports with my G5RV. Has SD logging and I also had it on line with my Raspberry Pi. This ones a keeper. find my RomeoAlphaAlphaPi Rpi SD image if you want to have remote RX I put the src code up there for free.
VK3MEG Rating: 2014-10-01
not bad surprising Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
HI I have had my ic 7100 for about 6 months its a great rig. with some amazing functions the touch screen is very cool. the amazing thing is when you hook your ic 7100 up to the computer it opens up many more functions more filters etc. dx ig great also use it on 6/2 and 70 for ssb work a great radio there. i was hesitant at first re all the technology and could hav estill bought an ic 7000 but glad i didnt this rig is way more advanced than the 7000 and has many more features. its worth getting. my other rig is a main stay ft 920. i also have an ic7200.
cheers


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Earlier 5-star review posted by VK3MEG on 2014-04-26

OK i work alot of dx with 100 watts I wanted to get into uhf and vhf ssb. looked at a few rigs ft857,7000 and 7100. I also have an ic 7200 and ft 920.
All the other rigs were technolgy from 8-10 years ago a 7000 is like a 756 pro etc.
the 7100 is the latest the technology is jaw dropping. the touch screen is a great interface and very easy to adapt to. as for features this radio has plenty you need to get familiar with the radio then get into the functions menu and set it up properly. i find icom audio harsh not any more with the tone rx and tx settings buried in this rig. the receiver is hot 2 pre amps are great as is the band pass tuner etc.
form factor is better than imagined it sits on the desk really well and it so much better with slanted head unit.
working on 2 meter sbb the reports have been great driving it with a small RM amp longest contact with no troppo 600 klm with 10 element yagi. Do you want to live in the past or the future? this is the future. sad for the people who had teething issues but I find Icom stand behind their radio and look after their customers.

this is a shack in a box a great radio play with one you will be surprised. I'm very happy and given a bigger budget and the chance to repurchase I would go the same path.
I would prefer a head phone jack and key jack on the front of the head unit. but I can live with how it is.
hey the mini band scope is really good as well .
thanks for reading
K9IUQ Rating: 2014-09-05
Telling it Like it Is - A non Honeymoon Review Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Most eham reviews are Love/Hate rants or what I call "Honeymoon Reviews." I don't love or hate any radio and what follows is not a "Honeymoon Review".

I have owned the 706mk 706MKII and the MKIIG. I also owned a Icom 7000 for 5 years. I replaced my 7000 with the 7100 almost a year ago. As you can see I am quite familiar with this style of Icom Radios.

The 7100 is an improvement over all the previous models I just mentioned. The 7100 is not my main goto radio. I use the 7100 for 2m/440, Digital voice/Dstar and casual CW/SSB on the HF bands. It is my vacation traveling radio and backup Radio.It is used daily on 2m/440 FM. I also used it for Field Day this year.

This DSP/NR/NB is superior to most radios. Not a surprise as Icoms are known for being great in these areas. I owned the ProII and Pro III and the 7100 seems even better than these radios in the DSP area. The 7100 is quite easy to use, partly because I know the Icom way of doing things and also because of the very intuitive touch screen. It is a very easy radio to learn how to use even for newbies or those not familiar with the Icom Way.

My main radio is a TS-590s at this time. I have compared both radios and the Icom 7100 gives a very good showing. One area the 7100 fails completely is when using the split mode when working a pileup. It is really difficult to switch back and forth from vfo A/B while trying to listen to the pileup and figure out what freq the DX station is responding to. If you work lots of pileups look for a radio that can switch fast and easy between A/B while tuning the TX freq. The TS-590s does this effortlessly and radios that have Dual Watch or Dual RX make it even easier.

The 7100 sounds good on the voice modes. It is easy to tailor the sound to your voice with many options. I have only used the supplied Hand Mike.

On area where the 7100 really shines (as most Icoms)is RTTY operation. If you have never experienced the TWin Peak filters of an Icom you are in for a Huge Surprise. Icom radios are GREAT RTTY machines. Note that you must be in the FSK mode for the Twin Peak filters to operate. Twin Peak filtering is not available for AFSK ops. FSK is not supported via the USB cable. You must use a interface like the Navigator.

All in all a very likable all around everyday radio, good in most areas, great in a few and failing in split mode HF operations.
W6WDA Rating: 2014-09-05
Disappointment Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought IC-7100 to be installed in a "ToGo" box I prepared for this year's Field Day and the disappointment was electric when I figured out that the touch screen did not work. No matter where I touched, nothing happened. so I contacted Icom and with warranty and extended warranty I had to send it the the repair center in Washington, for my own cost. Long and behold, it is now in the beginning of September, and I have still not received the radio back. I contacted them and the report back was that they were waiting for a part. The disappointment that they do not communicate such delay, and also that they would not replace the radio with a new one since this was an unused radio is really pity. The given rating is based on the experience I am now having with ICOM. I wonder if anybody else have had such experience with them and also if anyone have experienced a dead touch screen on an IC-7100
G8HUA Rating: 2014-08-22
5/5 Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I got mine Christmas 2013 and also the optional desk mic. I note another reviewer commenting on poor audio quality , to the contrary I get nothing but good comments on audio quality. I like the radio the filters etc work well for me I am NOT an ultimate DX chaser prefer rag chews also use it for SSTV/DRM with QSSTV 8.2.7 on Fedora 20 linux.The body runs very cool on SSTV etc.
If I could change anything on the rig I would opt for colour screen and drop D Star only because it is of no interest to me. Winner Icom
K5AID Rating: 2014-08-18
fantastic rig! does almost everything! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I am a longtime Kenwood fan; that said, I operated an ICOM 7000 during field day. I was impressed with how it functioned under the heat of battle. After my TS440SAT began to have the initial symptoms of the dreaded dot problem, it was time for a new rig. As I read more, I was intruiged by the IC 7100. Touch screen? Really? Could an all in one really deliver? You bet it can!

Being on a budget, I bought the IC 7100 and been having a blast! 2 meter ssb? No problem. Dstar? Done! HF, 6 meters and 2 meters and 440. All in a days work. I like the remote head. With predefined filters, it handles it so well. Want a 100 HZ filter as your tightest filter and no ringing? It does it easily and intuitively. 1.8 kHz ssb filter too harsh. Just set it for 2.0 khz for better audio. Hey it doesn't have dual receive, which is about all I can find as a shortcoming. I'm sold on this rig. It will be in my shack for a very long time.
N3CAL Rating: 2014-07-27
Fantastic Rig Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I've added the IC-7100 to my shack mainly for VHF/UHF All Mode and DSTAR use but I have found it works really well on the HF bands as well, DSTAR included . Of course it's only a single band at a time but it does just about everything you could think of and works really well. The touch screen is easy to see in the shack and menus are easy to follow. I have not even had to open the manual for anything. I've been able to get the rig working on the digital side using the supplied USB cable and Ham Radio Deluxe version 6.2. The TX/RX audio sounds good and I get full power on all bands. The main unit cooling fan is quiet. The SD memory card slot is also a nice feature and you can record all your QSO's. I can understand some may be put off by the size/shape of the control head. It may not be practical for mobile use but in the shack it is a great little rig. It's small enough I will be taking it with me on my next camping trip and setting it for portable use/field day. My only gripe was the fact ICOM did not supply the CS-7100 cloning software with the rig. ICOM provides the cloning software with other rigs like the ICOM ID-5100a and ID-31A (which I also own) but not the 7100??? You will have to purchase it separately for a fee. The only other things this rig doesn't have that I would have liked to see was a second HF antenna port for a receive antenna and maybe a DTMF microphone. All in all the rig is a great performer and with the current cost it would make a new ham a great rig.
N6JSX Rating: 2014-07-11
Not for Mobile Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The Control head and display maybe OK for base use but crap for mobile OPs, and it digressed to monochrome.

If you put the control head on the dash - how do you read the two rows of buttons (memorize them as you cannot see to read them) and what about finger-oil smearing on the touch display much less my fat finger tip that will not let me input - I had to use my pinky tip.

The angle of the display enhances windshield glare making it impossible to see when wearing sunglasses. At night the display is so bright even at the lowest settings it caused night driver blinding. And I do not want to turn up brightness every 'DAY; and turn it down every 'Night'! Dash mounting is out.

Mount it lower, on your console - where in modern vehicles and especially now that you must setup the display at a specific angle so you can see the display AND buttons while driving?!? Now since you moved it down to see it you must take your eyes off the road.

The display/controls was very poorly throughout for mobile OPs compared to their discontinued 7000 (which is far far better mobile radio).

One fault of the 7000 that I had hoped the 7100 would overcome --- in this day of USB-stick/dongle RX's.

The radio is still HF/VHF/UHF, but if you are actively playing HF you cannot scan/monitor VHF/UHF/NOAA or one of your memory banks. What it needs is an ACTIVE sub-RX(ONLY) to allow you to scan/monitor selected memory(s) or flip to Main when priority is detected.

I got a 7100 & dumped it as fast - I'll stay with my 5yr old 7000 (radio-wise they are the same except for the control head)!!!
PY7DJ Rating: 2014-07-10
Forget to SAY something Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
SWR meter in VHF/UHF --> NOW the ICOM 7100 read SWR in 144 and 430mhz ..
the ICOM 7000 do not read SWR in this bands (IC-7000 aways show 1:1.0 and it is dangerous for PA when antennas are not match)
K9CRT Rating: 2014-07-06
Brilliant Design Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Unlike some reviews here I wanted to own the 7100 at first glance. However I was more than a little skeptic about how good of HF radio it could be and how much RF might get into the radio and the transmit audio running legal limit and 450 ohm feeders coming all the way into my shack to the rear of my Palstar AT4K tuner. With the 2 piece design and the 12 ft cord tying them together it looked like a good source of trouble with r.f.

After HRO & others offered the IC7100 for under $1300 plus my renewed interest in the D-Star mode I had to finally try it.
1- my fear of stray R.F. Into the audio was unfounded. Running a full legal limit Alpha 8410 produced no stray R.F.
2- It is a good HF rig and I am comparing it to both a FTDX 5000D & Omni VII. It is even better IMO than my 746 Pro.
3- Reports I am getting say my transmit audio is very good using a SM6 Icom desk mic. In addition the stock mic is ok also.
4- Receive audio on all modes is super. Complaints about D-Star audio are unfounded. (D-star is digital and never will sound like FM but funny thing once you get a steady diet of D-star analog FM starts sounding weird)
5- D-Star In the 7100 is 3rd gen and a huge improvement in the regard of ease of programming and use. Having said that it is still troubling especially if the D-Star repeater you are using is not already programmed into the 7100 's data base.
6- cw is sweet with not only a built in keyer, but it is a memory keyer as well.
7- If you have ran a 756pro radio many of the features are the same in hf like multi meters on one screen like PO,Comp,S-meter,ALC, SWR, plus the 7100 screen included not only these but temp and dc amps giving you 7 meters at a glance. This radio just keeps surprising me at every turn.
8- I love the new touch screen and the head is extremely stable sitting on your desk top. It won't move and or tip and is a pleasure to use and easy to view and read.

In conclusion if you are interested in the 7100 go to YouTube where there are many video,s including a 45 minute one on Ham Nation comparing it to the Icom IC7000. After owning the radio for just a week+ now it seems like a winner! you get a great dc-daylight radio + D-Star for the same $ as many radios with less features and versatility. I hope my review will answer a few questions others might have with the concerns I addressed here. This is the real deal in a new brilliant design and package, don't let the size scare you away it performs beside my FTDX5000 surprising well.