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Reviews For: ICOM IC-2100H

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

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Review Summary For : ICOM IC-2100H
Reviews: 196MSRP: 140
Description:
Two meter mobile
Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.icomamerica.com/amateur/2mmobile/ic2100hmain.asp
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
001964.5
ALEX_NS6Y Rating: 2005-02-20
Great 2m radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I"ve had mine for over a year now and it's great! 5W and a good antenna are generally all you need but you don't always have the good antenna or are trying to get over a jammer etc so that 50W can be handy too.

One thing I've noticed, and it might apply to a lot of these radios, if your SWR is high the output will "fold back" and on an SWR meter, the SWR will look good, your output WATTAGE will just be low. I have a cross-needle meter and I've learned to look at the wattage more than the SWR. With a really bad SWR the radio's display will go dark when it tries to transmit, if you see that happening, look at your watts not at your SWR - your radio is unhappy! Keep this radio happy and it should give you many years of good service and great-sounding QSOs
XYZ234 Rating: 2005-02-20
Small amount of money well spent ! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've only been licensed for 3 months now and this is my second radio. I use it in my car and am very impressed with it so far. Good reports on my transmit and it receives excellent. The only one minor complaint is that it could be a bit louder. Sometimes while doing highway speeds I have to turn it up all the way to barely hear some people. The external speaker I installed didn't help much. Other then that it's awesome, especially for the price. But don't tell Icom that or they may put the price up!
W9CSL Rating: 2004-11-26
Great 2 Meter Radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is my second one, am very pleased with this 2 meter fm radio.

Decided to try something else & purchased a FT-2800M a couple of weeks ago & it was not nearly as good, so I sent it back & got
this Icom - the transmit audio is much,much better on this one, I get great audio reports all the time with this radio.

This is certainly a good choice for a "low cost" 2 meter fm radio.
KC0SWJ Rating: 2004-11-05
Alternator whine Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I recently installed the Icom IC-2100H into my Chevrolet Prism. It is connected directly to the battery. I have quite a bit of alternator noise. The wires are ran through the firewall and not near any other wires. The radio itself works great but the whine does get annoying. Any suggestions?
AD5JN Rating: 2004-11-03
Great for the money Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I use mine as a echolink repeater. Works great!

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Earlier 5-star review posted by AD5JN on 2002-07-11

Works fine, I use mine for echolink. I installed a small fan on top of the radio to keep it cool. Then fan is controlled by an unused relay contact in the PTT relay on the VA3TO echolink interface.

As a bonus the radio can also double as a hotdog grill on long QSOs. Just tip it back a bit so that the grease will run to the rear. (do't want to mess up the nice dispaly) Turn the dogs over after 3 mins.

All kidding a side this is a great radio. Our club had one dead key for 3 days, It was so hot it would burn skin. after it cooled off it was tested and works fine. It was put back on the air soon after. For $129.00+ it is a great buy. Mars mod is easy to do. The RJ-45 mic connector makes interfacing a snap.

The only bad thing I can say about the radio is some of them pick up a whine when the engine is running. I use mine in the house on a power supply so I don't have this problem.

AD5JN
K4BKD Rating: 2004-11-03
Excellent Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Got my first one 5 years ago. Had a bit of trouble with output transistor but after ICOM mod has worked fine and now I have 3 of them. One base and two mobile!

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Earlier 5-star review posted by K4BKD on 2003-10-31

Purchased my first 2100H almost 5 years ago and had the TX problem caused by the heat sink on the transistor. Was fixed under warranty and has worked great since. I mostly use it at 25W. I now have three of them!
VA3EAM Rating: 2004-11-03
Just buy it! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is my first Icom rig and I love it. I bought this rig in December 2001. This rig is used primarily in my car but from time to time ends up in our other vehicle. Because it has gone between my vehicles and has seen some abuse it continues to work flawlessly. Right now it is running with a 5/8 whip on the trunk and get clean signal reports into distant repeaters.

This rig is installed inside a console and it has a very large set of heatsink fins. I have checked it on 2 occasions after extended periods of use and it wasn't even warm.

The menu is pretty good to use for programming the radio and adding alpha tags to memories.

The external speaker jack can be difficult to get to if the radio is installed in cramped quarters. I use an extension that I bought which makes it easy to plug in the programming cable.

The windows software is a nice addition if you have the extra dollars.

I did the mod to give me extended xmit and it was quick and simple to do.

My previous radio was a Kenwood 241. It was ok, but compared to the 2100, the 2100 is much better built and is easier to program.

Would I buy one of these again? You bet, and I would recommend it to anyone that is looking for a VHF only rig.

Well done Icom.
WX4O Rating: 2004-08-17
Excellent ! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Bought the radio at the Huntsville Hamfest for an excellent price a year ago. Zero problems. It works perfectly. Nothing to fault it. Would (may) buy another.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by WX4O on 2004-04-28

Had mine about 8 months. No problems at all. Works as advertised. Use it to call nets, etc. with outside GP antenna. Remote mic is a nice touch. Recommend.
AB8SN Rating: 2004-08-17
Best 2 meter mobile I've ever owned Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Between my father and I we own 3 of these radios. One has the older mic on it while the other two have the new mic. I run one in my car as a mobile and one in the house as a base station. All three of these radios work flawlessly. Have never had a minutes trouble out of any of them! Love the features, reliability, and simple operation of these radios. Would I buy another one? You bet For the money they can't be beat. Would I recommend them? You better believe it. For the new licensed operators through the advanced hams, these radios are the best. Way to go Icom you did it again!
K0KAV Rating: 2004-07-24
Terrific radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've owned two of them and they have been flawless in every respect. Great, reliable radio, especially at todays prices.