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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
KD6FAC Rating: 2015-11-16
Low average output power on HF SSB Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I like this radio except for one glaring issue. It seems many of these radios (mine included) has low average output power on HF SSB. ICOM tech support acknowledges this and says that ICOM Japan is aware of it. No remedy was offered. I hope that ICOM will address this soon.
AA4MB Rating: 2015-11-13
Very impressed Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I was looking for another 'DC to daylight' shack in a box rig to have and the specs looked decent on the 7100. For $995 and shipping it looked like a pretty good deal. After running it for two weeks, I'm more than just a little impressed.

As a K3 owner, I was prepared to not really use it a great deal for QSK, but the full break in is actually darned good. Some very quiet relay clicking from the main unit is all I hear. Reports on the other end say that it's as clean as a whistle, at least up to 30 wpm or so (as fast as I've run it yet). I'm somewhat old fashioned and don't really care for the ergonomics of the rig it replaced, the FT-897 (too many features that I use too often, buried too deep in the menu structure). The 7100 balances a darned sparse front panel on the control head with almost exactly the buttons that I need/want to have. The touch screen is amazingly intuitive, too - and I don't really think I'm missing out not having a color display, like some folks whine about. Each and every bandwidth that I need is also at my fingertips. Audio on SSB is reported as 'great' on the other end, too. It's hard to believe that the audio can sound as good as it does, coming from that tiny speaker in the control head, too - and I can't wait to plug in a 'real' speaker to see how it sounds.

Those of you that are concerned about the tilt of the display - let me put your fears at ease. It's plenty viewable from about any angle within reason - very high contrast. The control head isn't a cheaply thrown together piece of plastic, either. It's substantial enough that it doesn't move easily on the desk and it's not just a piece of steel in the bottom of it giving it a hefty feel. Like some other folks that use the rig, there are SO many features and bells and whistles that I have yet to use. Heck, there are features that are actually desirable to have that I discover almost every day. Oh - and about the user interface; I've only been in the manual three times in the past two weeks ... that says a lot, in my opinion.

At heart I'm a CW guy and as I implied before, I was prepared for not really liking it as an everyday rig for my purposes. I find myself gravitating to it more than the K3 right now, just from a usability standpoint. I think that the IC-7100 is the low to mid-range rig to beat now, from a price vs. performance standpoint. After paying just under a grand for it recently, I've been laughing myself silly seeing used rigs on Ebay - both older generation Icom and others - that don't have nearly the features going for more money than I paid for this gem ... and I've got a new purchase warranty to boot.

If you're straddling the fence, I'd say 'go for it.' I saw one fetching just under $50 less than I paid for the new one on Ebay last week. It was 'gently' used. It's a no-brainer from my perspective.
VE3MG Rating: 2015-10-03
Great bang for the Buck Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've had this rig for over a month now and am really impressed with it's performance especially in the CW mode. Between the touch screen, buttons and knobs it's super easy to use. The only quirk I find is that the rig will shut down if the voltage drops below 12 Volts. So make sure that you use a big enough power supply. This has already been commented on.
W2JAF Rating: 2015-10-03
fine radio but powers off Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The radio works as advertised but has the annoying problem of shutting down with a strong signal present. In my experience it happens when tuning across a very strong CW signal and with the radio volume high. I haven't noticed it on SSB, RTTY or PSK. My main concern is that although the radio has always powered up again, sometime it may not!
N8WB Rating: 2015-09-08
Great unit but ine small issue Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I love this unit but there is one small pet peeve. I cannot keep the date and time set on it. Once powered down or disconnected to run mobile it goes back to standard default date and time setting and I have to reset each time. I wish that I could fix this.

Otherwise fantastic unit.
CR7000 Rating: 2015-08-21
Perfect all in one Time Owned: more than 12 months.
All bands, all modes, digi modes,no extra filters or interfaces to buy
So good i have two !!!!
PB1HF Rating: 2015-08-02
SUBERB !!!! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Suburban radio, have been working it on all modes and bands. Average power could be better in ssb but am using it with an amp anyway so no problem there. Touch screen functions like a charm as do the inuative menu's.....
AI5Z Rating: 2015-07-26
BEWARE of the updates Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I made the "firmware" updates to my IC-7100 about a week ago. All went as advertised and no issues...UNTIL one week later.
After reconnecting the radio to the antenna and attempting to turn on, It will not come on.
Yes, I checked the connections and fuse to no avail.
I can't do the "reset" because it will not power on after the latest and greatest ICOM "firmware" update #4.

G8UBJ Rating: 2015-07-16
4M Finally - This is going to be very popular in Europe Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have plenty of other boxes but bought this as its the only tranceiver with 4M and thats all I use it on.
Particularly like -
- band stacking
- Touch display
- filters and noise reduction
- Sensitive on VHF - Measured it as .2uV for 12db S/N
Specifically dislike
- No sidetone on RTTY
- Power control by band not mode (Have to keep changing power levels between SSB and FM/FSK

All in al its a fun transciever to use, and does a lot for what it costs. I think the jury is out on the sloping display. Seems okay in the shack but not sure how useful for /M operation.
Would recommend/buy another. Hoping Icom will include 4M on one of their mobile FM trancievers in the future.

K0OM Rating: 2015-07-08
Surprising little rig Time Owned: N.A.
I have been using the rig since last December. Primarily using it on the vhf/uhf bands. I use my F5K as my primary HF rig. Recently I tried the 7100 on cw qsk just for sits and grins and was pleasantly surprised how well the qsk functioned. It is totally silent when in qsk mode. That inspired me to modify my ALS600 to work qsk according to the AD5X web site. Now I can do qsk with 500+ watts with only a slight noise from the transfer relay switching in the ALS600. Life is good.