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Reviews For: ICOM IC-2E

Category: Transceivers: VHF/UHF+ Amateur Hand-held

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Review Summary For : ICOM IC-2E
Reviews: 8MSRP: 150
Description:
Icom Radio
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0084.9
E78CB Rating: 2011-02-25
To pieces and back! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Mine was broken into pieces left to fell on concrete from high fence but somehow a friend managed to put it together in new metal case, made all new holes and even put a 12W amplifier from police station and it looks like car mobile station now and very nice, functional and still works fine! After all it showed as solid built!
But, not for repeater scanning when you drive with this one, nop!!!
G6ATJ Rating: 2011-02-06
Wonderful Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Bought the IC-2E soon after my license came through in 1981. It has had SO much use over the years, and hasn't complained despite the misuse its had! The original volume/push to beep control packed up years ago...I put a replacement mini pot in there, with a wire connected to manually short it to geround for toneburst, but either "whistled" up GB3PI, or tailed-in on a QSO that had ended.
Put it in mothballs about 15 years ago, and recently bought it out again...switched on and smoke came out.
Luckily...IT STILL WORKS OK!!!
What the smoke was...I don't know....maybe a moth that was microwaved at 145.6MHz!

LA6BBA Rating: 2007-11-24
Great station Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Hi.
Bought my IC-2E in 1981 and it have been used a lot.
Today I have problem with the "Volum controll (tone call switch). I have asked the hamshop in Norway, but they can not get it. It is to old, they said.
Is there anyone who know were I can get one?

LA6BBA, Kurt
G6HVY Rating: 2007-10-14
One of the classics Time Owned: more than 12 months.
After much teenage saving, I bought an IC-2E when I got my licence in 1982. It was the only new rig I could afford. It put up with a lot thereafter: I managed to fry the final but fixed it - the only time I've seen an output transistor soldered to the heatsink - and the 1750 Hz toneburst switch (activated when you pressed the volume control in) lost its return tension. That was soon fixed by sliding a ring of coax outer over the control shaft.

I used it solidly into the 90s, with a magmount on the car roof, many times at Glastonbury festival to keep in touch with friends (and to report traffic, etc, back to the festival radio station), when walking across Dartmoor, packet and satellites, you name it. Interfacing to it was simple with standard (and easy to solder) connections; battery life was adequate with 1980-vintage nicads, and the lack of a 12v input socket was easily circumvented by trapping a couple of cables under the screws of the battery connector.

The construction was first class, and it survived all manner of insults - due to the extremely solid hinged metal chassis and rugged case. No surface mount, no microprocessor, just three thumbwheel switches to dial in 140.00 to 149.99, and a +5kHz offset on a tiny slider.

The front end was very sensitive, and coped well with being fed from some quite meaty beams (although there wasn't that much to hear, most of the time, in the rural part of the UK where I lived). It certainly out-performed my pal's unmodified FT-290R, and kept me busy on GB3NC.

When Icom stopped selling the radio, the design was licensed to a number of other companies. I bought an anonymous version on eBay recently: rather annoyingly, it lacks the repeater offset and the +5kHz switch; the circuitry for the former is unpopulated on the PCB, and the latter has been replaced with a MAIN/DIAL switch that selects between the thumbwheels and a preset 145.000 setting. I guess that saved someone a few crystals, and now all the repeaters are on CTCSS it's not that much of a loss, but still not welcome.

That aside, it performs as well as the original. And that's pretty good, for a box that was launched in 1980. It did exactly what it was designed to do.

M0PZT Rating: 2007-04-30
Still Working! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I'm still using an IC2e - It belonged to my late Father, G6PZT and I believe it was one of his first radios. When I was younger, I remember it being taken on family holidays, sticking a baking tray and mag-base up onto a chalet roof and working the local repeaters. After that, it was used in the car for local FM QSOs.

FFwd to 2007 and I'm using it as a basic rig in the shack. It's had a new o/p device fitted and the TX deviation reduced - and still works fine.
SE6M Rating: 2006-05-20
It's a keeper Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This was my first rig when I get my license 1985. Very good audio and quality.
Only thing that was problem with was the little knob for the 1750hz tone-burst to open repeaters on the europe-market.
Easy fix with new knob.
I trade this rig in for another rig, and that was a very big mistake, I still regret it.

It's a keeper !!!

SE6M Mats
G1LOE Rating: 2005-08-27
Bulletproof rig Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This set was possibly one of the best in the world at the time it came out, i had one of the eaely models which served me faithfully for over 10yrs, day in day out.
it was dropped, kicked, went swimming and even fell off a roof and still worked.
recommended if you want a rig that will talk and receive in difficult circumstances.
2E1SIM Rating: 2003-05-16
Still Performing! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Hiya I have had this radio since i got my licence here in the UK. That's about 2/3 years ago! this radio was built about 20 years go now and is still going strong. I used the radio for half a year as a base unit attached to a 5/8 magmount whip on a bisciut tin on the conservatory roof and worked major Dx on it even getting to france one very good night! It has served me very well It puts out 1.5 watts on full power and 0.5 watts on low power. It tx's and rx on 144-146 MHz. The radio has only got an analouge freq. dial and is very simple. It can do duplex and has a tone burst - it also features the 600KHz +/- shift. That's about it, it never suffers from intermod unlike my Vx-150 and has a very tough PTT switch. This radio is very old but it performs well and does the job - the Yaesu VX-150 blows it away but it is very old I have had excellent audio reports although its not much use on simplex with the limited power output. I can reach my local repeater and it is very useful for providing two-way communication in the scouts with another ham. These HT's still hold there value i think because i have seen them advertised for up to 120.00 recently. I brought mine for 50 GBP 2 years ago off the owner of kangoo products in the UK. The radio is very rugged, but the battery is now seriously lacking and you can get no accesories what so ever. i had to purchase a spkr mic from yoga for 9.99 Which would fit it - if anyone's is intrested i have one for sale on eham! Just search for Icom IC-2E, i am selling as i have a VX-150 now which really out performs this.
73's Sim 2E1SIM