| F1ACC |
Rating:  |
2020-03-15 | |
| F1ACC |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
To Fight the noise band …
Buy a ICOM 7100 ? Not sure it is the right time but i have decided to think about the IC7100 for my portable EME station. The Kenwood TS2000 is too big.
Inside the ICOM ...
i was looking for the reference of the 455khz filter and i found a 10khz Murata filter with an attenuation of 35db at 100kHz. My motivation was to fight the noise band and i asked to the technician to change the original filter for a CFWM455H : a 3khz filter with an attenuation of 55 db !! This filter produced no noticeable incidence on FM and AM. Original configuration VS modified IC shows , for the modified version, a better resistance at 3 and 10khz : more than 25 at 10 khz !
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| LA5MIA |
Rating: |
2019-11-28 | |
| LA5MIA |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I got my IC-7100 in 2013 together with a LDG IT100 antenna tuner, its much used without any problems and fault, power on time is almost 24-7 the year arround.
The radio is mostly used at VHF/UHF (2M-70cm), there is performing very well, the HF side can the big signal abelity become improoved!!.
The readio performing well for my usage, but not the 1st choice for a crowded HF band.
During the six year in my ownership I did not had any display issues, and some other issues which I can see from the previously reviewers of this radio.
Harald
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| W2UIS |
Rating: |
2019-09-06 | |
| My Comments on the Icom 7100 |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
The Icom 7100 is one of the few "All Mode" transcivers covering 160m to 70cm. With the the DV mode using DStar technology. This is truly the "Experimenters" rig.
In all the years I have owned this transciver, I now operate the 7100 mostly on DStar using the Shark Openspot 2 to make contacts on DStar reflectors and repeaters world wide.
I use an end fed antenna with tuner for HF and dual band vhf/uhf antenna for 2m Fm and SSB and 70cm for DStar
If you are in the market for a do everything transciver at a reasonable price the Icom 7100 is worth a look.
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Earlier 5-star review posted by W2UIS on 2015-07-09
WOW! |
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| N7AGS |
Rating: |
2019-09-04 | |
| Very Please with Ease of use and performance |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
I am a newer ham, so take this with a grain of salt. I can only compare this radio to my current rigs a 7300 and a TS 590SG. I originally purchase it for the VHF/UHF all mode portion. Used radios were within a few hundred dollars of this on sale. No brainer for me.
Performance has been outstanding. In noisy conditions it receives as nice as my 590 and a bit better than the 7300. I used to use it on my desk and compare the three, but now it lives in the pickup.
I use it all the time on trips. It is so easy to use for mobile. No lengthy messing with stuff while driving. The touch screen is great. I do need to re-adjust the lido goose neck mount, occasionally, to keep the glare down.
I have gotten a number of compliments on the audio both from the truck and the desk.
I am going to buy another in the next few months to keep on on the desk for VHF... again better bang for the buck than a used VHF/UHF rig.
PS: Did I mention I really like my 7100! |
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| WB7EPQ |
Rating: |
2019-05-18 | |
| A relative bargain with little current competition |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
This radio was $1600 when it came out in 2014 but now is a relative bargain with discounts and special pricing. Its closest current competition is the Yaesu FT-991A which is significantly more expensive but doesn't offer much more functionality besides a real time bandscope, limited antenna tuner, and color display.
The IC-7100 also has most of the same functionality as the well reviewed IC-7300 but you also get 2M and 70CM which the IC-7300 inexplicably lacks. And the IC-7100 is in a smaller and more versatile package. Icom has gone backwards in some ways with the IC-7300 over what they had with IC-7100.
The IC-7100 got some early bad reviews due to a few design issues Icom has since corrected. The most well known was low power output on SSB. That was was corrected years ago and is no longer an issue. Some have also complained about the audio quality of the supplied microphone but I've received a lot of unsolicited praise for my transmit audio quality with the supplied mic. So perhaps Icom improved the stock mic as well. Like the Yaesu FT-991A you do have to upgrade the microphone if you want a DTMF keypad but ebay offers some reasonably priced options.
This radio is very easy to use with the touch screen and intuitive controls. It knows about amateur band plans and sets everything up accordingly. If you punch in a frequency for a 2 meter repeater it automatically applies the correct negative or positive offset for transmitting. If the repeater needs a tone that's a really simple option to apply. You can also program memories with the very popular free open source Chirp programming software as well as other software options.
It seems far more sensitive than my Yaesu and the DSP noise reduction works really well. You have the option of no preamp, preamp 1, preamp 2 and an attenuator. The RF performance is excellent including being very sensitive in the presence of strong adjacent signals and being immune to overload. The ARRL test also had good things to say about the RF performance.
The two piece design is wonderful. The "base" unit and head unit are WAY smaller than something like at FT-991A or IC-7300. The base unit is the size of a small basic single band VHF mobile radio. The "head" unit is brilliant with its angled design and touch screen. The design offers a much bigger screen and room for more and bigger controls than most compact mobile radios. Icom also intelligently put a speaker and microphone jack in the head unit which is a point of failure with many two piece mobile radios. The two pieces are linked with a simple RJ45 shielded Cat 5/6 cable that some have reported extending beyond the generous supplied length.
The base unit does have a cooling fan but it's very unobtrusive and isn't needed at lower powers. It also has an SD card slot allowing audio recording which is a great feature. Power drain during receive is impressively low. The IC-7100 isn't designed for portable battery use but it's very efficient and battery friendly.
There are not that many choices for current "shack in a box" HF/VHF/UHF radios. If you don't need a color waterfall real time bandscope the IC-7100 provides 95% of the functionality of the significantly more expensive IC-7300 and also does 2M and 70CM which is a huge plus over the IC-7300. It also provides similar functionality, minus the color bandscope, to the Yaesu FT-991A for a lot less money. The IC-7100 is especially a great choice if you're space challenged as it offers the front panel and screen real estate of a much bigger radio in a very compact and versatile 2 piece package.
In summary I'm not aware of anything that offers 160M to 70CM transmit with similar power levels at anywhere near this price let alone with a touch screen, two piece design, great DSP, impressive RF performance, etc. |
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| G8FEK |
Rating: |
2019-05-16 | |
| The summary is WOW ..... what value for money |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
The 7100 was bought primarily for 10m and up for a modest home station with a Create log periodic antenna.
I've had about a month with the radio and I'm very impressed with the performance and ergonomics for my application. At the current price, this has got to be one of the best value HF through 70cm radios ever marketed.
The ease of operation courtesy of the touch screen is superb. I'm used to compromise menu structures, for example the excellent and technically superb AOR7030 HF RX, but the 7100 isn't compromised in this way at all. For 99% of the functions and there are lots, you don't need the manual.
Technically it appears to do everything it says in the data sheet and the ARRL review, I've measured most parameters. The RX audio is excellent through an external speaker. This radio has character in spades! |
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| K6BSR |
Rating: |
2019-05-13 | |
| Lotta fun in a lil box |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I got this rig in 2014 and five years later I'm still impressed. |
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| W3RX |
Rating: |
2019-03-08 | |
| typical ICOM TX overshoot |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Like other ICOMS before it, and after it, the 7100 suffers from an ALC design flaw unique to ICOM. For most 7100's, there is a brief (1/2 sec) overshoot, or spike, in the transmit power when you first key the mike on SSB. It is not really affected by the power setting, compression, or mic gain, In fact, if you set the power to 20 watts output (based on reading a dead carrier on FM), upon keying in SSB mode you will get a 100 watt spike! Most people do not notice this as they start talking right away. When you realize it is when you use a power amplifier, Search the web (key word overshoot) and you will see all the bad experiences, especially with amps that do not need a lot of drive.
With my Alpha 87a amp, initial keydown of the 7100 produces 2100 watts, when the power output is set on the ICOM at 25 watts. It then settles to 900 watts as expected. While that amp can take it, it is not goof for it, and not legal. FET-based amps can be ruined, or, go into fault mode and shut down. Modern high power amps have the same problem with the 7100, such as the ACOM amps, which often go into fault mode.
The ICOM ALC circuit needs a little time to properly set, and while doing so you get full power. If you really really turn the audio down to like 5/100, no compression, it helps sometimes, but that is not really useable once you are in steady-state.
As most people know, ICOM tried to compensate for this by having a very conservative ALC system. This results in low average, and PEP, output, for most stock 7100s, often with voice peaks no higher than 60 watts (lots of info on the web). The suggested mods work great, and you can get the full 100 watts+ on voice peaks if you do either one or both mods. This is great for use without an amp, and once this is done I really like the radio. But it seems to make the overshoot problem worse, so when considering the 7100 in conjunction with amplifiers, you should think twice. Obviously if your amp can take 100 watts input, then you are probably OK (like an old Drake or Heathkit). But for the big boy amps, and the modern solid state lower power amps, that need low drive to achieve their max rated output, this overshoot problem is a deal breaker.
If you look carefully at the experiences with other ICOM products, various degrees of overshoot are seen, including the 7300. |
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| KD9CDF |
Rating: |
2018-12-03 | |
| Very nice HF, VHF-UHF, and D-Star in a Well Evolved Package |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
In my opinion:
My IC-7100 is one of the best all around HF-VHF-UHF transceivers available--and even better for my use mobile.
What I especially like:
- Separate control head
- I need o n l y o n e c a b l e run from the radio to the control head
- Control layout
- Tuner knob rubber surface and adjustable resistance
- Touch screen, efficient use of on screen controls, and even(!) menus
- USB with internal sound card interface
- Icom receiver characteristics for HF
- Internal speaker in control head (I need only one cable from the radio box to the control head)
- Key and ext. speaker connection o n t h e c o n t r o l h e a d
- Optional, third-party BlueCat interface with Bluetooth-plus-the-android-app gives me easy, nationwide, on-the-fly repeater access when traveling with a touch
- Angled control and touch screen on the control head
- Voice Memories
- Twin Passband tuning
- Built-in SWR meter—for HF, VHF, & UHF!
- Screen & touch interface works fine for me in Wisconsin winters (when very cold, the LCD will be very slow to “refresh”--for a few minutes scan looks like a blur until the car warms a bit)
Some wish list and other things I would want you to know:
- No internal tuner
- No second receiver/transmitter
- No full duplex (would be esp. good for satellite communication)
- HF receiver may seem unusually “hot” to some who aren’t using RF gain and even attenuation much(but the receiver works very well in my opinion)
- Reportedly poor microphone included (I don't really know about this because I have the HM-151 and have had no troubles with voice quality or SSB power output)
- Screen could be a bit larger and in color
- No panadapter with waterfall (I’m being greedy here )
- Sometimes high power from nearby stations will overload the receiver before I can switch in the attenuator or dial down the RF gain resulting in the radio freezing (a quick power-off-on solves this, and the radio does boot up quickly)
- No internal GPS (Can be added with plug-in 3rd party offerings)
- As with any touch screen, you need to power-off and clean the screen periodically
- I tried an FT-991 but abandoned it as I much preferred the Icom HF receiver, the Icom touch screening, and Icom menuing interface even though the IC-7100 did not have color.
Given the strengthens and other things I list above, the IC-7100 is the best choice available for me for and my mobile needs. I would consider another IC-7100 for a go box, remote radio, or marine need. And, few if any HF radios can offer such good performance with a condensed operating panel like like the IC-7100.
Since I use it stationary mobile for HF, an internal panadapter/waterfall would be very nice to have. [Dear Mr. & Mrs. Icom, I would like you to make the control head a bit larger to substitute the touch screen with a color touch screen like the size of that in the IC-7300 please. Thank you.]
Because the radio has a well executed control head and cabling, an outstanding touch screen interface, very good VHF-UHF features, along with outstanding HF feature set, the IC-7100 beats out other mere dual-banders like the venerable TM-D710G for my needs.
Your use case may make a different choice better for you.
73 Mark
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Earlier 5-star review posted by KD9CDF on 2016-10-26
I love my IC-7100 and would buy it again--especially considering the price (currently under $900US after rebate). It has become an easy reference with which to compare other radios I use.
And, overall, it is superior to any radio I've had the chance to compare it to in the price range (and even some nearly double the price). For example, I had a Yaesu FT-991 which was an o.k. radio (and solidly constructed). But in my experience, the IC-7100 consistently received HF signals at a higher level and more clearly than the FT-991.
I should clarify that I mostly use my IC-7100 for HF in the car (the control head at shifter-console level works out very well in my case). At purchase time a couple years ago, the D-Star feature wasn't a draw for me. But, I have used it more than I thought I would on VHF/UHF.
Not experienced enough to know what characteristics old Icom, Yaesu, or other radios had, I can observe the IC-7100 has a nicely sensitive HF receiver. However, I have never needed the built-in pre-amp on HF. And, I often use the attenuator. But, that's not a complaint. At least I'm getting an abundance of good clear signal.
It's not fair to compare the IC-7100 to all features of an expensive base SDR like a K3S or Flex 6300 which I've used, but I have at least been receiving almost all of the same signals--well. And, for me, the internal speaker works out really well.
As far as TX goes, I have great success (usually can work what I hear) with incredulous DX contacts often finding it hard to believe my signal comes from a mobile with 100w and an 8' antenna. I should note, from the beginning, I had sent my stock mic off to Bob Nagy (AB5N) for his mic upgrade improvement. I also use an outstanding antenna which automatically tunes itself (usually in about one second, sometimes faster).
Pros:
- the control head orientation (for desk or mobile)
- HF RX & TX performance
- Incredibly easy & efficient touch screen interface (wow, have I seen the opposite in other radios)
- S i n g l e cable from control head to unit (even a CW key can be plugged into the control head without another line running back to the radio)
- Icom menuing for easier menu navigation
- Built-in SWR meter
- HF, VHF, & UHF in one small radio (with D-Star to boot)
- The LCD seems to work just fine during Chicago winters for me (though, like all LCD it seems, response to changing displays are slightly delayed in very cold temperatures)
Cons:
- No built-in antenna tuner
- With extremely strong signal, volume up very high, RF gain up too high, and no-attenuation, my radio will infrequently freeze or reboot.
- Ancient mic hanger method (old CB's and marine radios have better button-style mic hanger systems)
- No dual HF receiver (I'm getting too picky here: What unit at this price class does?)
- No color display (which would be nice, but not really needed)
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| WB5OXQ |
Rating: |
2018-11-15 | |
| Radio lost its mind |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
| My radio worked well for a few months mobile then the display goes blank controls do not respond had to disconnect power. Then I reconnect it and it no longer knows where band edges are and will not allow me to use it on most US bands rather cuts off and band edge beeps before you get into the phone bands and will not go above 146.000 on 2 meters. 3800 on 80 meters etc. Tried hard reset but did not help. What do I do now? Radio is unusable. |
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