Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes
Reviews Home

Reviews For: Icom ID-5100A

Category: Transceivers: VHF/UHF+ Amateur Base/Mobile (non hand-held)

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : Icom ID-5100A
Reviews: 54MSRP: 899
Description:
Innovative 2m/70cm transceiver with touch screen and internal GPS
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.icomamerica.com/en/products/amateur/dstar/id5100a/default.aspx
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00544
N2HAM Rating: 2021-01-15
Great radio! Loud Fan! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Great radio, love the big display! My only issue is the loud fan! It's best to have the body of the radio away from the head as the fan is loud.
Easy to program manually and love the scan feature also.
VK2YY Rating: 2020-08-30
Great Radio & Love the Display, she's a keeper! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Owned since Icom released the 5100 She's a keeper like my wife.
This is by far the best radio for my mobile application and what I like the most about it is the BIG display my eyes have no trouble.
I have 2 of these 5100s and they have never let me down, yes sometimes I can hear the fans going from under the passenger seat where they are fitted, however certainly don't here them when driving. Built in GPS is Brilliant. The Menu system is easy like Apples and Bananas, Looking forward to the updated model Hint Hint Icom with a colour screen.
Cheers Chris vk2yy
WA8MZX Rating: 2020-08-29
I can't get over the disappointment in the display Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
The ID-5100a is really let down by 2 things: Icom asking ridiculously high prices for accessories that should have been included with the radio -- the worst being the lack of a bracket for the head. 2) A horrible display lacking in contrast to start with further deterioration when it gets warm. It's so disappointing that I am using my older Icom IC-V8000 in my car rather than try to deal with this display. Given the variation in reports on the display, I wonder if there is a great deal of variability from unit to unit and I really got a bad one. It is so bad, I'd feel guilty about selling it and passing the problem on to another ham.
W7LDG Rating: 2019-10-31
Great Radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is a great radio. I choose it because I wanted D-star in a mobile. I run a Yaesu FTM-400XDR in my other rig and it is also a great radio. It would be nice if Icom would include mounting brackets.
KK4ODQ Rating: 2019-09-29
Great 2m/440 radio Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I use the id5100a in the shack is a great radio to use. Was super easy to get it set up with a zumspot
KE9DK Rating: 2019-07-14
ID-5100a poor design Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Poor engineering.
Mic is attached to the base unit and not the head.
Fan is a high velocity model...VERY noisy.
I am putting mine in the house as a base unit and enclosing it in an insulated box with a larger quiet fan.
It does make a great home repeater.
I think the engineer was not a radio operator???
N2XG Rating: 2019-05-07
Not so hot Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The ID-5100 does work well on DSTAR and I really enjoy that part of the radio when I can see the display. I own two of these radios and both went downhill very rapidly. The screens have faded to the point where they are barely readable. This is due to heat in the car. I've had a Yaesu FTM-400D baking in the hot Florida sun without a single hiccup. That screen is fairly easy to read and while arguably not as large as the 5100, it does have a good quality screen that I can read. The 5100 also has had chronic rebooting issues on it's own. The SWR of the antenna is 1.2, so I suspect something internal. At this point the radio is well out of warranty, so I likely will not both sending it in for repair. I have a lot hate relationship with this radio. I'm not so sure I'd buy another one of these in the future however.
N1EE Rating: 2018-09-24
Regret Purchase Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Bought this used for $300. Needed to buy two brackets, and plan to bitch to ICOM about it as they are now selling the head unit bracket with the new radios. It's completely ridiculous to not include cheap to make brackets. The head unit is HUGE. REALLY REALLY BIG. It is a nuisance to have it fall over constantly. The display is poor IMHO. While I like the touch screen the left side has some missing pixels--probably because it's fallen over so many times. The manual took a ream of paper and killed my toner cartridge. I regret printing it. IT's in way too much detail. Also, DStar is complicated. I had difficulty finding the software and eventually managed to transfer via SD card a Dstar repeater list onto my radio. I concluded I needed RT Software to edit it. It's cumbersome and awkward to program this radio manually. It took me two days to plug in simple FM repeaters and I only have four programmed at the moment. I have yet to make a DV contact. I'm registered for this and my other DStar radio, with suffixes, but not sure why it is still not working. It will be something simple but I find it a nuissance to fight my way though the complexity. I own five Yeasu FT-8500, a radio that take some time to learn, and now love. So far it is all hate and no love for this radio. I'm hoping that the mobile experience traveling and allowing me to stay in touch at home makes it worth it. That is not going to matter much if none of my friends are on DStar. DStar does not seem to be taking hold. I'm only trying it because I love ICOM radios, their reliability, and service. I dialed the mic gain up all the way, and it was mearly acceptable, not great. Audio quality, while listening, there is no noise but lots of missing audio. You are in or not, and dropouts are common with mobile radios--and this is a mobile radio. This looks like another one of those Icom dud radios. I will update as time goes on. I will give it a fair trial. So far, the poor rating for complexity, difficulty programming, display quality, display too big to mount anywhere, lack of mounting brackets, audio quality. Pluses? Being about to link to reflectors. I'm not terribly interested in DX on the internet, but I do like the idea of linking with a local reflector, when I'm traveling. I like the idea that all I need to do is link up to one repeater when traveling and friends can find me and call me direct, and the system will route them to me. But I don't have any friends on it yet. I have found that the activity on the ham bands has decreased, lumping the few that are left on a reflector seems kind of lame to me. Bottom line. I feel DStar is nice to have in a radio, but it needs to be in a DC-to-Daylight rig with a nice display. So far all the ICOM rigs with DStar have monochrome displays. Why did I buy this? I feel like my 23 year old Yeasu FT-8500 radios are better. I won't be selling those.
G7IRU Rating: 2018-08-04
superb radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
what can i say about this radio overall other than what a superb radio. The receive on it is excellent, i can hear far more distant stations than a Yaesu 857d 0r Yaesu 8900 or Icom 2200H which i have previously used long term.
The price of the accessories required when bought new are unforgivable Icom, take note please !!
I'm lucky as i bought my radio second hand in excellent condition with all the accessories but would NOT have bought a new one due to the accessories unreasonable price.
The other minor niggle is the noisy fan which plenty of other people have mentioned, again Icom please take note.
In conclusion i'm really happy with the radio and would and have recommended them to plenty of fellow hams.
KQ4BX Rating: 2018-07-14
ID-5100 has Worst Display Time Owned: more than 12 months.
What can I say, it isn't that I didn't like the radio, it's just that the display is the worst display Icom ever put into a mobile radio that will sit in a hot car. My firs display failed under warranty, and it was fixed under warranty. That display has failed again in the same exact way, and many who have had this radio in a mobile will tell you that the display is the worst part of this radio. I am waiting on Icom support to return my call. I feel that Hams should stick together and form a class action suit against ICom for making a product that fails like clockwork. I know for a fact that other have had bad displays, because I know the owners, so anyone who defends Icom on this either works for them, or they never put the mobile in a hot car for an extended time. I did buy the ID-4100 for the mobile, but I can't toss this radio in the trash because it cost too much to get fixed for something that is not a fluke, but instead a poor design. Lastly, to program the firmware you have to hold down Quick while powering up, but I can't get to the Quick button because the display does not work. Icom Japan has a firmware update that deals with the display, but how do you load it when your display does not work correctly? Poor design again. Why put such a complicated low level function like loading firmware be controlled by such a high level part that is prone to failing.