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Reviews For: Icom IC-2730A

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

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Review Summary For : Icom IC-2730A
Reviews: 12MSRP: 499
Description:
50 watt VHF/UHF mobile with dual display.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.icomamerica.com/en/products/amateur/mobile/2730a/default.aspx
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00123.8
KI5NYJ Rating: 2022-04-23
Very nice Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This replaced a KW 281 in my car. New 2730 is an excellent radio, a great entry into vhf and uhf mobile FM operation. 5/15/50 clean watts, can be mars modded if you wish. Two speaker jacks if you want separate band output. Very cool and clever crossband repeater built in. Lastly, you can use CHIRP to program it, much easier than the menus and hand prog. Buy a quality cable from BlueMax49ers and you won’t regret it. Uses RG12 cable from head to radio. Buy an extra cable if you’re not using a laptop to prog the installed unit.

Only two drawbacks: does not come with any mounting brackets, and ICOM’s are pricey. I made my own for the head unit under dash console mounting. Initially had the radio in the console, but (here’s the second drawback) the fan is insanely loud. So I made a bracket for that and threw it in my trunk.

I’m considering one for the home shack (with the radio in a closet).
ZL1VSF Rating: 2022-03-08
A great little radio - What's not to like...!!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
A few weeks back I went and bought this IC-2730. I've had a few dual-bander's now from Kenwood, Yaesu & Icom and to be honest, they've all served me well, so I didn't expect any less from this rig, and apart from the fact that I had to also buy an MBA-4 mounting plate just so I could use this radio as a base set (because if you want the detachable head unit fixed to the radio body, you need it - well it 'IS' a mobile set by design I guess, so I just have to live with that extra cost),, I am quite a happy camper with it. It has a nice large, clear, well lit display with lovely big digits, which is perfect for aging old farts like me as my sight diminishes a little each year. It's very easy to set up and memorize your favourite repeaters and/or frequencies, and gets good reports back from my contacts. I actually set this radio up without having to use the manual, as apart from a slightly different button layout, the functions are very similar to my last Icom dual-bander, which I also still use. It's just gone past the peak of summer here in NZ and the built in fan seems to fire up a few times, even when I am only listening in, but hot sticky weather does that to radios, doesn't it..?? Reception audio is crystal clear and it seems to pick up everything well. The HM-207 mic is easy to use and has many buttons and functions that save me from having to lean over to the set to change something.. I only ever intended to use this like any other plain old analogue radio as I don't really want to go the internet route with my radio gear,, and the IC-2730 seems to fit right in to the slot it was built to occupy..
Yes, I have decided that I am quite happy with this radio..

Al..
K6NJ Rating: 2022-01-04
Great radio and great price Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Paid $245 brand new after the Icom rebate. Large easy to see display, dual band, dual VFO, great signal reports, overall a great radio. When shopping for a similar radio there was nothing close to this price point.
WA8MEA Rating: 2022-01-04
Nice rig Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Yes, this didn't have the face plate attachment. But I found one dirt cheap on eBay. The Icom manual is highly confusing and often doesn't fully cover certain functions. But the Nifty manual was a huge benefit in getting to know all of the features of this rig. I am using a duplexer for separate 2m and 70cm antennas for base station operation and receive good coverage and good reports.
K4PDM Rating: 2022-01-03
Excellent Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought my first one of these used and it suffered a failure soon after I got it. Since Icom warranties transfer to subsequent owners, it was fixed quickly and free. I bought a second one new and really like the radio. Big display, full power output, great receive. The fan doesn't bother me and I don't understand such nit-picking. And it doesn't make sense to me how some guys get a defective rig and review it...the defective rig should be replaced or repaired before doing a review. A great value in a dual-band mobile.
KT4WO Rating: 2022-01-02
Well worth $250 Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
A TRUE dual band radio for $250. Made a mount
with $3 worth of hardware and some 3M Velcro.
I mean,,, I KNEW it didn't have hardware so why would
I give it a bad review?? That is like giving a HF rig a bad review
that didn't have FM, when you knew it didn't BEFORE buying!!
I don't get it?!
Anyway, rig works very well. Liked it so much I got a 2nd
for the home. Now--- The speaker SUCKS...it just does.
Plan on an ext. speaker(I always use one on mobile rigs)
The crossband rpt. works very well, takes a little time to learn
the menus but no worse than any other.
No issues with the fan noise, I don't hold the mic at the back
of the radio!!!.....lol (both are remote mounted)
KE2SJ Rating: 2022-01-02
Can't make lemonade out of this lemon Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I really wanted to like this radio. The display is big and bright, and it's chock full of features. Except I got a lemon. The volume and squelch didn't work, it only put out 40 watts on VHF and less on UHF into a dummy load, and since I couldn't hear any audio, I have no idea how it performed. Actually that's not entirely true. I did hear audio. In the form of the loudest fan I've every heard on any radio ever. So loud that it would be picked up by the mic and interfere with QSOs. If you Google it, there's a mod that involves replacing the OEM fan with a $15 replacement from Amazon, but this would surely void your warranty. The fan never seems to stop. I really wanted to like this radio. But I didn't buy another one.
KM4FPZ Rating: 2021-03-12
Worthless Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this rig knowing that it didn't come with mounting options. Big mistake. Everyone is sold out of the mounting brackets I need and in their infinite wisdom, they've decided to use screws that aren't readily available either making my rig virtually unmountable at the moment. EA, I mean Icom has gotten the last dollar from me that they ever will. I will not recommend anything associated with Icom. I would love to say it's a great rig, but without that $2 worth of metal and screws, it's nothing more than a brick. I regret ever buying this rig. I'll be looking at other manufacturers from now on. Congratulations Icom, you got me, but it won't happen again. I'll make a mount for it to make sure my money doesn't get into your greedy claws and my next rig will be anything but Icom. You'll have to prey on others from now on
KE4PMP Rating: 2020-01-27
Decent radio for the sale price of $218 after rebate. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is a decent rig for the $218 price after MIR from MTC. I find the display hard to see in the sunlight as my head is mounted on the dash. I may wind up putting the 2730 in the shack & the v71a in the mobile for better viewing. The buttons are small, but once I memorized the buttons it is not an issue for me. The bracket should be included, but i refused to pay the high price for the mounting bracket. A trip to the hardware store for some L brackets & proper screws for $6 did the trick. I like the bigger head & the true dual band to receive 2 frequencies at once. I wish the display background color could be changed & my previous rig covered the AM military band, but not a deal breaker since this is a ham radio. Overall its a thumbs up.
G4EDY Rating: 2019-01-29
Good product Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.

First this rig is small, it needs to be because modern cars don't actually have much room for 'accessories' like ham radio, small rig means small buttons.

Secondly , there are a multitude of installation options which means there are a lot of different bits of mounting hardware available, if Icom supplied them with the rig there would be an awful lot of parts not being used, so you buy what you want to suit the installation that you want.

Thirdly, all the manufacturers have different menu structures, it would be nice if they were harmonised but that's never going to happen.

Finally, in terms of performance this rig is a great performer, the intermod performance is better than most (I have a local pager tower) , audio quality is good, solid RF output that doesn't drop off when rag chewing and it's small with a multitude of installation options-----or did I already cover that :)