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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: 176MSRP: 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
251764.4
VE6DZ Rating: 2017-03-05
Great radio with updated firmware Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Lots of controversy over that hack and slash solder job #90 on YouTube.
Icom America says don't do it.

"Thank you for contacting Icom America.
I would strongly advise against performing that modification because:
It voids your warranty
Highly probable that you will introduce ALC overshoot
What I can recommend is add 5-10db of Compression to bring up your average power"

When I took YouTube guy to task he didn't have an intelligent answer.
My radio with new firmware works perfect 98 watts
with a condenser Icom microphone.
If I need more I will buy a solid state amp and not over stress and over heat the radio
WX4O Rating: 2017-02-23
Pretty Good Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've owned mine about 6 weeks. Haven't had any of the problems mentioned. I need to reprogram it to add 2 and 440 meters and Dstar. Still getting used to it. So far so good.
N5OFQ Rating: 2016-12-15
Very nice radio! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I would rate this a 5 if it were not for the SSB power output issues. The latest firmware didn't help my power output much. I was outputting around 60-70 watts. After adding the 10uf capacitor mod, I regularly output around 120-130 watts now and audio is nice and clean. I use this radio a lot for digital modes and the audio capability in the USB cable eliminates any need for Signalink/sound card interfaces. I use D-Star occasionally. The IC-7100 is my base now, replacing my Yaesu 857D (which I put in my car). The Icom has more and better features. The IC-7100 does like 13.8v but will run down to 11.9v or so. As of 12/2016, it can be had for $869 with rebates. A steal for that price.
WP4O Rating: 2016-10-26
12 volt booster need for mobile operations Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Hi Gang, I have had the ICOM 7100 in my Car for a couple of years. and every now and the when I key the radio the radio shuts off. after trouble shutting down issue and re reading the manual I found out the reason for shutting down, the Radio needs 13 volts anything less it shuts down when you key it at 100 watts output, I have always like my IC 7100 especially set up in my 2015 Acura TLX, I did some more research and found a Power booster by TG Electronics. I placed it in line and NO MORE shutting down and I get the full 100 watts out.. its call the N8xkj booster, and you can get it at stores.tgelectronics.org
they are not cheap but worth every penny I spend on it. it even cleaned out all the Noise on receive. Regards de Kk4x, Ed Tampa Fl GOOD LUCK
WU3U Rating: 2016-10-02
Great all around radio! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
When I purchased this I was a new ham but as an Electronics Technician not new to the technology or amateur theory. I purchased this radio because I wanted something that I could do 2m/440 and HF. I received my radio with the E5 firmware already installed from the factory so I can't comment on anything about the radio prior to that firmware.

On 2m/440/6m I'm using a Comet GP-15 Tri band antenna. On 2m and 440 it performs as expected. On HF I'm using this with a Utimax 100 end fed antenna modified to 44' installed as a sloper. Within minutes of connecting my HF antenna I made contacts is France and Croatia with 75w. I continue to do very well with the radio on HF. I may not win in a pileup but my antenna is only about 16' off the ground at its highest point. My furthest contact to date has been to Serbia which is 4783 miles from my QTH.

To get full power out of the radio on sideband you have to pay attention to how you set your mic gain and compression. What I do is be sure that compression is off and set the mic gain so that your peaks are about in the middle of the ALC range. Then I switch the compression on and try to stay between 10 & 20 db. That seems to allow the output meter to peg while talking on sideband at 100 watts.

Now if I had to pick a few cons, here's what those would be. The display is not as sexy looking as the IC-7300 but I knew that going in. Again, I wanted something that was an all band radio and the 7300 is not. Another issue that's taken my some time to sort out is that the SWR meter is not very accurate on 2m/440 and Icom openly admits that in the manual. I've found this to be true more on 440 than 2m. What tends to happen is that you may have great SWR with an external meter but the radio doesn't calculate it correctly and after some head scratching its because of the length of coax you are using. The radio can limit the power because it thinks it has high SWR and it does not. There is away around this though. I used a Bird meter and plotted the SWR over the entire 440 band using various lengths of short coax between the Bird and my Comet duplexer. Once I found the right length of cable that gave me maximum output across the band while maintaining good SWR on the Bird and the radio, I removed the Bird and used a coax length that equaled the length of the short coax jumper and the length of the Bird in the line. For me that ended up being a 2' piece of coax. Now the radio does not limit the power output on 440 and the SWR seems to be pretty close to what I was reading on the Bird. That sounds a little shady but I've heard that other all band radios from different manufacturers can have this same issue.

To address some of the cons listed in the two reviews below me, my VFO knob is solid. It works fine. As far as the display getting garbled, I have not had this problem. They do give you a ferrite core in the box with the radio that is meant to correct that exact complaint. I have not had to use that on my radio.

This is a great all around radio that I would highly recommend to any level of operator.
N1CY Rating: 2016-09-10
Wobbly Main Dial Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I'm giving this radio a poor 2 because the main tuning dial feels cheap and flimsy, in addition; there's a slight wobble in the dial when turning it and it even makes a noise. The feel is cheap and I'm quite disappointed. I even filmed a video and may put it on Youtube. They should have paid a lot more attention to the main tuning dial. I'm going to call HRO and see if I can get an exchange... I hope not all have this issue! Aside from that issue, I like the radio.
K1ZH Rating: 2016-09-09
I am seeing the exact same problem as W2JAF Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I like the radio. However, the radio can go bonkers or completely shutdown if the volume is turned up to a high setting and a strong signal is received - especially a CW signal. Maybe the audio is coupling onto the other control wires within the control-head cable. Has anyone else encountered this issue? Have you found a solution to this problem?
2E0WPZ Rating: 2016-07-10
Does what it says Time Owned: more than 12 months.

After owning the 7100 since it was launched and having a touch screen failure the complete radio was replaced by Icom with no fuss.As things happen other equipment comes along and the older gear gets pushed back and collects dust and cobwebs. The main radio that took it`s place was to be the final large radio purchase as I am getting older and being on a fixed income. It was the Yaesu FTDX 5000, having re-inforced the working desktop to take the extra weight it became the main rig.There are so many options on the 5000 that I think sometimes we get blinded with science, it is a good radio but IMHO a bit more complicated to get the best from.I could never get the RX audio to get anywhere near matching my ageing ears after spending lots on external speakers, headsets etc.Anyway, in desperation I turned back to the 7100, purchased a Heil icm mic, plugged in a mediocre external speaker and voila! started to be able to hear all the differing audios that were coming into my rig.Want more treble? click on tones,rx and then treble and away you go, simple.I`m not saying that the 5000 is a bad radio, far from it but the 7100 is just so easy to use and configure and takes up almost no room on the desktop.Easy to understand menu system with 95% of what you need on the front of the rig or touch screen.As you can see by my callsign I`m not a long term old timer but having been an engineer most of my life I know how to construct and install an antenna to get the best out of and after listening to some of the people on the bands that have been licensed for many many years I sometimes wonder if they miss the point about the most important aspect being the antenna.I use mainly homemade single band dipoles, not up high but always cut and tuned to perfection. I run around 55 Watts from the back of the radio to make sure of my 50Watt allowance at the feedpoint and get a regular 59+10-15 on 80mtrs with the 7100. The passband tuning and filtration is superb, it`s just so easy to configure and fine tune when the need arises. I`ve got mine connected to a Icom AT-180 tuner.To be able to use the 7100 for everything I need be it hf, 4mtrs, 2mtrs, 6mtrs etc etc along with setting it up to record when I`m not around makes this a one stop pony.There are a few friends on nets that I go on that have added a 7100 to their shacks after talking to me on the air and they are more than satisfied with the results.Enjoy your radios but make sure you keep the fun aspect high on your list.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by 2E0WPZ on 2015-11-27

This is my second review of the 7100, I`ve just been listening to two hams talking about how a shack in a box is not worth having. I`ve had this for a year now and it is my radio of choice to use in the shack because it is just so easy to use. The filters and passband tuning works just so well. I use the heil icM mic with it and get great reports. People complain because it hasn`t got a coloured screen and of course a coloured screen would get you out further :-)
BTW my other radios in the shack are, Yaesu ftdx5000mp, Icom 7200 and icom 756mk1.
N0FQN Rating: 2016-06-08
A Good Entry Level Rig Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
As an entry level rig it does a fine job. You can't compare it to the top end rigs and expect it to perform the same way. I had a IC-7000 and compared to it they are the same in performance. I did perform the #1 mod, put a jumper to ground from the 3 resistors and also updated the firmware to version 5. It talks as well as the 7000 does now. Yes, the SSB output was down until the mod was done.The only issue I have is the 7000 has dual manual notch filters and auto notch filter that can be turned on at the same time. The 7100 has a single manual notch and auto notch and you can only select between one or the other. They cannot be turned on together. Minor difference to say the least. I've had the rig for just a couple days over 4 months now. I'm not sure about running the 7100 as a mobile rig. I guess it would work but, not for me. Getting used to the white screen took some time. The color screen on the 7000 was really nice. Other than these minor problems I like the rig as a replacement for the IC-7000.
EA5IGO Rating: 2016-06-08
Soy propietario del equipo 3 años ya. Estoy encantado. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Solo puedo decir que estoy super contento con el equipo. Super práctico y con unas prestaciones realmente buenas. Calidad precio inmejorable.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by EA5IGO on 2014-03-05

SIMPLEMENTE EXCELENTE.