| K7RME |
Rating:  |
2003-07-27 | |
| Good basic dual bander with solvable problems |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
I bought the 2720H with reservations because of the horror stories about intermod. Sure enough, before getting out of the driveway, it started. And I live miles and miles away from any industrial sites. So I read the manual over and over and finally discovered on page 59 & 64 there is a way to narrow down the passband and to change the local oscillator freq. These two changes made a world of difference with intermods. It does not completely eliminate them, but does make the rig much more usuable. Before I did this, I would completely turn down the audio on the UHF side making it a 2 meter rig. I listened to other rigs and talked to other hams with the same intermod problems with different brands. (except there is no fix) A typical spurious emissions rejection figure is 60 db and I have found no dual banders with a better figure than that. This, in my opinion is poor, but it is the way it is.
After that problem was brought under control, the 2720H is good little rig with good audio and good "punch". The manual sucks and is about the worst I have ever seen which makes it harder to learn to operate the rig. Also, Icom seems to have gone out of their way to find tiny buttons to use. For example, the power button is a about the size of a kitchen match head. This isn't even necessary, as there is plenty of room to put a reasonable size button or knob there.
I would recommend the rig if you are willing to put in some time with it and learn how to set it up while reading a very poor manual.
73
Wen
K7RME |
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| BG4SFZ |
Rating: |
2003-07-22 | |
| Think Twice before You Get It! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
This 2720H has a stupid design! Unlike the equivalent version of the competing brand, say, YEASU FT-8900R or others, the 2720H doesn¡¯t look like a radio, something that you can put it on the table. It just fit for the mobile. The control panel does not clip into the base unit at all, even if you desired to do that way. Well, the stupid ICOM¡¡designing engineers have a ¡°wonderful solution¡± to attach the control panel with the base unit, with an optional ¡°MB-85¡± combination bracket. Even if you get that what they at ICOM call it a ¡°combination bracket¡±, it, still, doesn¡¯t look like a rig that you can use at home. So, if you want to get something that you could use it at home or on the way, think twice before you choose the Icom 2720H. Personally speaking, I like Icom because I have good experience using Icom before. Just at this time, the 2720H with its stupid design, it totally lets me down!
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| KG4LHQ |
Rating: |
2003-07-17 | |
| IC-2720H Decent |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Seems like a decent radio I haven't had any problems with it and so I would recommend you get this radio and have a great time with it... Only think I don't like about it is no alpha tags but other than that a great radio recommend ya get one.......
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| ZL2NAX |
Rating: |
2003-06-18 | |
| Great Radio |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I have only owned this radio for 2 months, and find it great for mobile use,I have velcroed the controller to the dash of my Ford Fairlane with the main unit under the drivers front seat.Operations manual is clear to read with instruction easy to follow.This is a great radio and I will recommend it to future users.This is the second Icom I have bought, I am still using the faihfull 22s in the shack. |
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| K1ZYW |
Rating: |
2003-06-13 | |
| almost perfect |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
It was time for me to update my 30yr old Kenwood 2m radio..... No way I could put it in my new E320 Mercedes. And that is one of the best things about this radio. If you cant get the ic-2720H to fit in the car, I doubt you can get any radio (short of a hand held) to fit....
The head is easy to read and easily velcroed to whereever.
The base unit it small - but STILL DOESNT FIT ANYWHERE-NOT EVEN UNDER THE SEAT in my car. This is not ICOM's fault - it is just that these new luxury cars are very, very well designed and tight.
So in my case the base unit sits on the floor of the rear seat and if I have rear passengers, I just unclip the 3 connections (antenna, 12v power cord and remote head cord)and store the radio in the trunk. I find the audio loud enough with the built in speaker to be more than ample. It would have been nice if the dash mounted remote head had a small audio jack for a remote speaker - this would have made things much easier to install - especially if you wanted to mount the base unit in the trunk.
I dont find the intermod issues any problem. The power output is plenty for me to hit all the repeaters I want here in Florida. As far as I can see both TX and RX audio is FB.
Now for the one real con:
Everyone says RTFM. Hell - I have, and have and have! It is written in a cryptic style - trying to teach both how to use the few buttons on the head and the multitude of buttons on the Mic. I know all the features are there, but my aging brain is in need of a video. YES I SAID A VIDEO!
THIS IS A GREAT RADIO - BUT PLEASE MAIL ME AN ELMER.
Otherwise I recommend this radio without reservation -
73 DE KEN K1UM |
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| KA8NCR |
Rating: |
2003-06-10 | |
| Good Radio Good Value |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Unless you happen to be John Nash, this is not the type of radio that you can install and immediately power it up and start operating. It requires that you RTFM. In fact, it's probably best that you download the manual from the Icom's web site, read it over *first* while you wait for the shipping company to bring it to your house or while you ponder how you're going to install it.
Yes, it's complex and initially confusing. But don't let that scare you because it's a very cool radio.
Mine is a mobile installation into a Honda Civic. I pondered this radio versus the Yaesu FT-90R. For about $40 more, I received double the toy in a not much larger package. The main unit sits under the passenger side seat, bolted to the floor. The controller sits on the center console dash below the AM/FM radio. No magic was performed in hooking the radio to the car with the exception that I opted to use my old radio's power connections since there was no hope of getting the dual-fuses through the firewall on this little car.
My first concern with this radio is that the controller does not employ a quick release. The control head is intended to be screwed to the mounting bracket. Since in my car the controller is extremely visible, I opted for a little velcro on the control head and mounting bracket and I now have what I wanted -- a quick way to remove the control head and toss it into the glove box.
I recommend that during installation, you power up the radio so you can see the control head in operation before you bolt it to the car. The display does have a narrow viewing angle. When viewed head-on, the display contrast is very good in sunlight and using the backlight. But I think a consequence of this is the fact that top-down and side viewing is compromised to focus the display, with viewing from the top mostly unacceptable.
However, this isn't as big of a problem as one would think (nor as lamented as heavily in the reviews). The control head and mounting bracket are small enough that you can mount it in a variety of places and viewing angles. As I mentioned, fire it up and test the viewing angle before you bolt it to the car and you'll be very happy.
My job has me driving from a very rural part of Michigan into suburbs and right to downtown Detroit. I have yet to experience any rampant intermod problems. Yes, intermod does happen. But Icom provides a nifty little method of not only tightening the squelch, but to control the RF gain of the receiver. If intermod becomes too persistent at the present location, you can turn down the gain of the receiver and that generally causes the problem to go away. For fixed-station use however, this may not be an acceptable long-term solution.
The squelch and gain control is a little quirky and takes a little bit of practice to get used-to. I find that I am constantly adjusting it, but this is also a consequence of me fiddling with that instead of the volume control. *Remember*, this radio pretty much has a set of controls for each side of the radio. It's easy to forget which side you want to adjust, and initially easy to forget which knob you need to adjust.
The receive audio on the radio is very good. Since I have the main unit stashed under the passenger-side seat, I naturally use an external speaker. The speaker is a mid-range Polk PC speaker, and there are no problems filling the car with sound. I haven't been able to cause the audio output to clip at high levels. Icom provides two audio output jacks from the main unit. One is a mix of the two receivers, the other is just the right side. Although I do not use this feature, I can see where it would be helpful.
Transmit audio is equally good. I certainly do not have the test equipment to give anything but a subjective "it sounds good and I get good reports". Upon first power-up, Icom recommends that you do a system CPU reset. I of course, bypassed this caveat and had low audio, just like others have stated here. A system reset per the manual fixed that. Another problem is that prior to CPU reset, I had a transmitter release delay of 20 seconds after unkeying the mic. I guess Icom requires that reset for many good reasons (yeah, I know, RTFM).
The mic that comes with the radio has a lot of control functions on it. I personally dislike control functions on a microphone, but I can see with the features on this radio, it's inevitable. Fortunately, Icom's engineers saw that with fumble-fingered operators like myself, we'd need protection from sending the radio into oblivion, transmitting where we shouldn't or unwittingly sending torrents of DTMF onto repeaters. Before you can send DTMF or command the radio, you have to put the mic into its respective "mode". Press DTMF before sending tones, or push the function button to command the radio. My feelings are tepid, at best, about this operation.
I agree with many reviews here that Icom should have made the display alphanumeric. It would be nice to be able to tag your memory channels with a descriptive title. However, it would be even nicer to have command menu options that were readable. The biggest complaint I have with this radio is that while in command mode, it's difficult to discern what it is you're controlling. For example, if I want to bypass scanning of a particular memory channel, I have to enter into command mode, and scroll for a setting that says ch5*0f. Is that 'channel 5 off' or what is that. Nope, it's ChannelScan Off, for the memory location displayed below. In the defense of the radio, once you get familiar with the command structure, it does get easier. But it definetly is an initial culture shock.
My minor complaints aside, I'm pleased with the radio. This radio has a lot of toys and plenty of room for continued exploration. Once I became familiar with its operation, I found its use enjoyable and its features fun to use. And with it being a sub-$400 radio, I doubt there's anything that can compete with it in terms of price vs. features.
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| WA2FAA |
Rating: |
2003-06-01 | |
| Had Better |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I have had the 2720 for about 3 weeks now. It has a great receiver, and the audio is clean. I am disappointed in the intermod from the pagers. Also the washout of the display when viewing at an angle. Doen't matter what color is used. The fan in mine is a bit noisy also. Using as a base station with dual band vertical at 70 feet. I'll wait and decide if I will keep after I see the FT-8800R. |
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| KC9AYN |
Rating: |
2003-06-01 | |
| INTERMOD SENT ME PACKING |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
I OWNED TWO 2720 FOR ABOUT THREE MONTHS. I HAVE
E MAILED ICOM TECH SEVERAL TIMES AND THE ONLY ANSWERS I RECEIVED WERE TO FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS IN THE BOOK TO CHANGE EITHER NORMAL TO REVERSE AND OR SET THE VHF ON THE LEFT AND THE UHF ON THE RIGHT. THE INTERMOD PROBLEM NEVER STOPPED.
I COULDN'T USE CROSS BAND BECAUSE OF THE INTERMOD PROBLEM-THAT IS ONE REASON FOR BUYING THE RADIOS-AND THE INTERMOD ON THE NORMAL REPEATERS IN OUR AREA-EVEN WITH T SQUELCH AND SETTING UP THE SQUELCH ATTENUATOR DID NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM. I TALKED TO THE SERVICE PEOPLE AT THE STORE HERE IN TOWN , AND WAS TOLD TO BRING THEM BOTH IN.
I WAS GIVEN MY MONEY BACK FOR BOTH UNITS, AND NOW I AM THINKING ABOUT WHAT TO BUY NOW. I WOULD LIKE ANOTHER DUAL BAND RADIO WITH CROSS BAND CAPABILITIES AND LESS INTERMOD PROBLEMS. THERE ARE NOT TOO MANY UNITS OUT THERE THAT ARE DEPENDABLE ENOUGH TO MAKE A CHOICE FROM.
ONE UNIT AVAILABLE WITHOUT MENTIONING NAMES HAS A DISPLAY THAT IS NOT THE MOST READABLE IN THE DAYTIME-IN THE MOBILE. AND THE OTHER BY THE SAME COMPANY IS OVERPRICED IN MY OPINION.
WILL HAVE TO SEE WHAT THE FUTURE BRINGS.
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Earlier 4-star review posted by KC9AYN on 2003-02-11
I HAD THE KENWOOD "COOL BLUE" AND THE 2720 DOES NOT HAVE SOME OF THE KENWOODS FEATURES, BUT AFTER OWNING A ICOM V8000, I WAS ABLE TO SET UP THE 2720 WITHOUT OPENING LOOKING AT THE BOOK. DONT FORGET TO DO A RESET BEFORE YOU START-LOOK ON PAGE VIII.
HAD SOME PROBLEM WITH INTERMOD, BUT IF YOU READ PAGE 59-TRY THE 1ST LO FREQ SELECTION IT DID HELP IN MY CASE.
OH YEAH- DONT FORGET TO SET THE MIC FROM LOW TO HIGH IF YOU HEAR COMPLAINTS THAT YOUR AUDIO IS LOW.
THIS RADIO IS NOT PERFECT, BUT OVERALL I AM HAPPY WITH IT
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| N9DKO |
Rating: |
2003-06-01 | |
| Great radio for anywhere but hi rf areas |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I've had my IC-2720H for a little over a year now and have explored every facet of this radio with the single exception of cross-band ops.
The negatives:
a) No separate memory banks for VHF and UHF frequencies. There are enough memories available, though, to be able to segregate VHF and UHF freqs.
b) This unit is subject to severe intermod in high rf situations. I reside in the Chicago suburbs but on the rare occasion I venture into the city the 2720H becomes easily overloaded.
c) No alpha-numeric labels for memory channels. Not a problem for me but it would have been a nice addition.
The positives:
a) Very easy to program and operate from either the supplied mic or control head. The separate controls for the left and right side of the control head are v-e-r-y easy to use.
b) Audio is superb with any number of different types of speakers attached. I currently use an MFJ speaker in my Jeep Wrangler. With the top off of the Jeep the 2720h can be easily heard.
c) For me, the fact that this unit is designed to be separated is a plus. No extra cost for the separation cable.
d) Large, easy-to-read numerals on the control head.
In general I can heartily recommend this unit as long as your primary operating will not be in a heavy RF environment.
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| KB9RYI |
Rating: |
2003-05-29 | |
| GREAT RIG |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| Bought the ic-2720 to replace a ft8100 which has/had most of the problems common to them. Was back to Yeasu 4 times. Anyway this is about the ic-2720. I have owned it for about one month with a Diamond X510 base antenna. After a learning curve with the programing sequence it is fairly easy to program. I did do the reset and went through setting everything as I wanted it. I to set the mic gain to the HI setting. After searching the internet a bit found the steps to use the crossband repeat. I use the crossband repeat often for SKYWARN storm spotting as well as other ARES activity's with my dualband HT. After using the ic-2720 for about one month I have to say I am VERY happy with it. I do get a little intermod from local pagers as others have said but its to be expected with a broad band receiver like this. The squelch attenuator takes care of this with no problem. The ft-8100 I replaced did the same. Over all the rig does what I need it to do. The separate volume/squelch/tuning knob for each side are great, should be an industry standard. I have to say I like the rig enough, I am looking at replacing the ft-8100 in the van with another ic-2720. I would recommend the ic-2720 to anyone willing to take the time to READ THE MANUAL. 73 to all, John KB9RYI GRANT CO. WI. ARES/RACES EC |
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