Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: Icom IC-T2A & T2H

Category: Transceivers: VHF/UHF+ Amateur 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 IC-T2A & T2H
Reviews: 72MSRP: 159
Description:
Icom 2 meter single band handheld. 6 watt, 43 memories. Tone Squelch (CTCSS Encode/Decode) Standard, with Pocket Beep and Tone Scan. 8 Programmable Keys. 5 DTMF Memory Channels, with up to 32 Digits Codes & Re-Dial for Autopatching Repeaters. 10 Weather Channels. MIL SPEC C/D/E for Shock and Vibration. Direct Keypad Frequency Entry. Back lighted LCD Display. Auto Repeater Function. 2-Step Power Save Function. Monitor Function. Lock Function. Comes with rechargeable "AA" Ni-Cd batteries and charger. Or, use "AA" alkalines.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.icomamerica.com/amateur/2mhand/index.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00724.5
ZS1SA Rating: 2018-07-15
Reliability for over 18 years Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have packed this radio around the world and back for over 18 years and not a single hiccup with it. Like all ICOM single band radios it seems impervious to intermod problems and the audio sounds great. I have more modern multi band handhelds but this easy to program, easy to operate radio will be one of my favourites for many years to come. Still using the original belt and battery clips.
KG4ERE Rating: 2016-04-29
Great Radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The T2H was the first radio I ever purchased after getting my license in 1999. I still have it and it still works great. It is a basic no thrills no frills radio, but a radio that you can count on. I realize this radio has not been sold in many years, but I still wanted to rave about how great this radio is.
KW1P Rating: 2015-08-16
Great Rig Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This was my first Amateur rig also. I have not been active for about 10 years. Recently I got the IC-T2H out of the closet and turned it on. Much to my surprise it lit right up. The battery held a charge for 10 years. Obviously it didn't last too long, but I recharged it and it is working fine.

The radio is well built and even after a few falls looks brand new. If you can find one, grab it.
VE7KNQ Rating: 2012-07-31
Older but excellent radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This was my first radio when I got my amateur licence. It has been an excellent radio and continues to work flawlessly even today. The manual is complete and easy to understand and comes with a wallet sized operating guide covering the basic funtions. It comes with 8 nicad batteries and can also run on alkaline AA batteries. A handy feature that I used on many occasions. The display is a bit small but easily readable. There is a unique guide function that scrolls across the display to help with programing the radio. There are 8 customizable buttons and I assigned the wx band to one of these. Scan speed is fast enough. There are lots of built in functions. This was my my only ham radio for the 15 years I was on the highways as a long haul truck driver. It has made thousands of contacts and never let me down. I have used this conected to a quarter wave attached to the truck, with an adapter to put the included antenna out the window and with the antenna directly on the radio in the cab. All with great results. It has been used in temperatures over 115'F and at -25'F! The display stopped working after a very short time and the batteries lasted only a few minutes in this extreme cold. But it worked. The CP-12L vehicle charger is a must for mobile operations. The only very minor issue I have with the radio is the weak belt clip. But we're hams so we can work around that! My T2A has had more than its share of bumps, knocks, vibrations and drops in the truck and it's always kept working! The included antenna works fine. The radio never got hot during extended QSO's, the controls are easy to use and the radio feels comfortable in your hand. It's not my primary vhf radio now but when I turn it on and use it, it still performs the way it should. Icom came up with a great and dependable radio when they designed this one!
WB6TNB Rating: 2012-05-03
Simple and rugged Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had mine for a long time and I love it. I like the battery case; easy on and off. I like that it uses AA's; easily purchased anywhere. I've taken good care of it but it's nice to know it's mil spec in case of an accident. Highly recommended!

----------------------
Earlier 5-star review posted by WB6TNB on 2003-09-19

http://www.tagaccessories.com/singleproduct.asp?search=48604

It's a GE/Sanyo FRS/GMRS case; it's $8.97 at Wal-Mart and fits as if it were made for the Icom. Highly recommended.
----------------------
Earlier 4-star review posted by WB6TNB on 2003-08-16

Is it just me or is the instruction manual for this radio not exactly intuitive? The radio seems to perform just great but trying to program memory channels has been a nightmare. One of my first QSO's with this radio was with a guy who said he thought all halfway recent Icom HT manuals were dreadful. I hadn't bought an Icom HT in 20 years; the IC-2AT. You hardly needed a manual for it!
NC6P Rating: 2011-10-02
Great! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have used this radio for ten plus years. It has fallen off my belt numerous times. It has gone into the snow numerous times. One time, it got so wet that the mic wouldn't work. Dried it out, works like a charm. You can't kill it unless you take a hammer to it. It is better than the present line of Icom HTs. Only 40 freqs, good enough for me at the present time. This one is a winner if you can find one. Better specs than the present line of Icom Hts. with any Hts, get some good AA cells 2700 mah Sanyos and you will be happy for half a week.
KF4URY Rating: 2009-08-31
Simple but keeps on working Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This radio has been out for many years so it's a bit old fashioned with no alphatags and rather limited memory channels, but it has been a great value to me.


I bought mine new in 2002 for $88, the latch on the AA case broke a few years ago but I use a thin strip of black velcro to keep the battery attached tight (yeah, I was too cheap to spend $20 on another AA case).

I'll admit to keeping the instruction book with the radio since I do not use it every day, otherwise I'd likely remember all of the shortcuts.

It's always in a hard handgun case in the back of my truck with three complete sets of Sayno Eneloop Low-Self-Discharge AA NimH AAs. My everyday HTs are Motorola Sabers but if I ever need a frequency-agile HT, I just get the old Icom out of the case and it's always worked just as I needed it to.


I give it a 4 instead of a five because of the somewhat flimsy battery latch as well as not having an external power port, it's only used for charging the stock NiCad batteries.
N8FXH Rating: 2009-05-13
solid Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Every time I turn this rig on, it does what I expect. It is rugged but the programming could have been more user friendly. Overall a great HT.
PE1RLN Rating: 2007-11-10
Professional Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The Icom IC-T2H looks more like a commercial radio, not like a HAM radio. I believe that Icom built a professional radio and put some amateur software in it to be able to sell it to both users. And that's what makes this radio so good.

You can buy a Motorola radio, program it the way you like, and you will have lots of fun. Professional radios are usually waterproof, rugged and high-power so you can use them almost anytime. Because they are quite big, the batteries are too which means long-lasting.
This radio has the same benefits and more. Because there are specific amateur-features built in, using the radio is much more comfortable than those Motorolas.

Pro's:
- high power (5 W or 1 W)
- large batterycase with AA-size batteries
- intuitive programming
- important functions have own button
- large speaker = good loud audio
- large PTT
- BNC socket
- CTCSS RX and TX built-in

Con's:
- no desktop charger available with batterycase, only wallcharger
- no rotary-switch for easy VFO use
- small display
- initial setup menu uses abbreviations (set and forget)
- TX led but no RX led

Like every radio, the con's and pro's are always different for different users. In my opinion, this radio is very complete without any fancy functions that you'll never use. It is easy to use, even with gloves (except for the keys), and the output power is very comfortable.
The biggest plus is that you can use normal AA-size batteries so you never have to worry about new (= expensive) original batteries.

Conclusion: if you are planning to buy a Motorola radio because of the quality, consider this one because of the quality AND the HAMability.
K5LDL Rating: 2007-11-02
Great Starter 2M Rig Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've owned my T2H for about 3 years now. It goes without saying that I love this radio. If there is an easier radio to learn to program and operate with a minimum of fuss, then I'd like to see it. This radio has it all, CTCSS, Auto Repeater Shift, 2 power settings... All of that, plus 6-7 watts of power for under a hundred dollars. And the audio is pretty good too! I like its solid 'feel' in my hand, as I think it's a well made product, made tough.

My T7H is my daily work horse HT as it goes everywhere with me in my backpack. However this radio is my little 'projects' radio. I'll soon have APRS plus VHF packet, so it will go to work in my Em Comms Box. Need I say it'll probably be a handy little backup rig as well?

I have a W32A and the 7TH... The T2 can stand with those two on my shelf and I'd KNOW it could handle ANYTHING I could throw its way.

Pros: Price, ease of use, 6-7 watts out, solid audio, solid feel, and pretty tough.

Cons: Third party battery packs are MUCH better than the Icom, third party programming software is your ONLY option as Icom does not produce software to program this radio.

Luis KD5KJD