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Reviews For: ICOM IC-2720H

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

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Review Summary For : ICOM IC-2720H
Reviews: 147MSRP: ???
Description:
2M/440MHz Dual Band Mobile
Product is not in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
001473.3
K4QCP Rating: 2003-03-08
Issues: S-Meter / Display / Cross band / Weather Alert Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The display:
Must be meant to be mounted on the left of the driver because when i look directly (straight on) to the display, it is faded. When i look at it from the right of center (it being over to my left a little) i can see it crystal clear THAT STINKS!!

The S-Meter:
When sitting still in my truck I get a full scale s-meter reading on the local repeater( 5miles away), however, as soon as i start driving the truck, the S-meter appears to show an intermitant receive as it will show a receive from S-5 to 20 over, back and forth. As soon as i stop it goes back to FULL SCALE. My Yaesu FT-8000R would never do that in the same vehicle and antenna.

Cross Band Repeat Capable:
I thought it was....IT IS NOT...according to the manual....Says nothing about it. I feel like the advertising was misleading on this.

Weather Alert:
The radio will monitor weather broadcast and will listen for an alert tone while you use your radio on other frequencies. Upon hearing the tone will send a series of beeps alerting the user of the potential dangerous weather, however, to do this you have to listen to an interuption to your QSO every five seconds that it rather annoying.

Am considering returning to ICOM for the S-meter issue.
KL3NP Rating: 2003-03-07
Great Dual Bander Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.

I am not having the hard to see display problems some of you are posting...perhaps due to the fact it IS a remote head, and thats why I bought it: To mount the head next to hand. My display sits on the dash of my Ford F150, simply attached with velcro, to my immediate right. Ford was nice enough to provide me with a nice blank place to put it, and you don't need much room! THe display is at the same level as my gauges, and is full, bright and crisp. I might suggest some of you try the same thing.
This is a darn fine rig. So good in fact, I am going to order another for my second vehicle.

----------------------
Earlier 5-star review posted by KL3NP on 2002-12-27

Mrs. Claus put one of these under our tree. A very nice transceiver, indeed. I wanted a dual bander with V/V U/U capability, cross band repeat, and a remote head. This Icom covers all the bases. Read the manual thoroughly and began programming it up. It has many nice features I enjoy, did the mic sensitivity and squelch attentuation things mentioned previously, and other than no alpha display, it's the perfect mobile rig.

Nice job, ICOM!
AF4ZQ Rating: 2003-03-05
very good radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just bought the IC-2720 on mar 1 getting used to it has been intresting. I have read in ealier reviews you need to change the mic audio to hi on the intial set which I found to be true. I also set the 1st lo filter to r and it helped with the intermod on 2 meters. Other than that I have found it to be one of the best radio's I have had.I have to look at the instructions everyday for something new and find out what I can do with it.
W7COM Rating: 2003-03-02
DIN plug Time Owned: N.A.
The DIN pulg is the same used on PS/2 keyboards and mice. Just get an extender cable and whack of the female end. I got one at RS and it even turned out that the wire colors for the pins matched the resistor code :)

73

Joe
K1CWB Rating: 2003-03-02
Good radio, but poor quality screen Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought my 2720 from HRO, installed it in my Jeep Cherokee, it replaced my Ic-2800H radio. I cannot see the stupid screen on the 2720, it's impossible to view from the left side. I tried tilting it a little, and still cannot see it clearly. What a peice of junk they used for an LCD!! I wish there was some fix they would come out with. They claim on their website "Wide Viewing Angle for Mobile Flexibility"... Yeah right!! Narrow Viewing Angle is more like it, my 2800 was 10 times easier to see, and also my 706 the same way... Seems like a good radio otherwise, the alpha thing doesn't bother me as much as the screen.
KB7YGG Rating: 2003-02-28
nice rig Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Now that I've had a chance to work with this rig for a few weeks, I thought I'd share my experiences. Overall, this is just about everything I was looking for in a mobile rig, with a few minor issues.
Likes:
- True dual receive. Very handy to monitor both amateur and other service areas. In my case, I use it to monitor rail frequencies while maintaining contact on amateur on the other side.
- Banks of memory channels. This has been very useful when travelling hundreds of miles - just set up groups of frequencies in different banks and switch as you make progress on the trip.
- Sensitivity. I'm able to receive and make contact much more reliably than in the past with other rigs.
- Separate controls for each side. Very useful in managing the dual receive.

Dislikes:
- Sensitivity. More intermod than I'd like, even with the attenuation on. Willing to live with it for the enhanced performance, though.
- Programming. Seems cumbersome to me, especially in working memory management and channel skip. Haven't tried the PC software option at this point.
- No alpha tags. Would make it easier, but not absolutely necessary. I bought the rig knowing it didn't have alpha.

Features I have yet to explore include weather receive/alert, DTMF performance and the full-featured mic.

Bottom line: I'm seriously considering buying a second 2720 for station use.
N3PL Rating: 2003-02-24
Nice features-Bad Display Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Very good features overall. The display is awful. It is very visible from the right side (passenger side) and from on top but is poor from the left side (driver side). It appears this unit was optimized for a driver sitting to the right of the display..Such as in Japanese cars.
KG6IIU Rating: 2003-02-18
simple to use Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
dual controls=good,program from mic=really good,bracket to attach face to radio optional/ also face is bigger than front of radio=strange,memories common to both bands=you'll get used to it,low audio reports=modify mic,mic plugs into face or radio=convenient,initial set and set mode are easily opened.face display towards you in mobil.mine needed a line filter(alternator whine on 440).i like it!
KB1GQX Rating: 2003-02-11
I also have the display problem. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
One of the first things I noticed when I installed the display in my car was that I could not read it when viewing it from the left side. Reading it from below was also poor. I solved it by turning the display around. It reads well from the right side or from the top. I guess it was meant for the passenger instead of the driver. Now the numbers are upside down for me, but at least it is readable. Is this a defect, or are all 2720 displays like this?
W7TH Rating: 2003-02-10
No Packet / APRS Support Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this rig for my shack with the thought of using it for APRS / Packet. I used it for a couple of months in "audio mode" only, chatting on local repeaters, and I like how well it has performed. (Yes, it would be nice to have an alpha display.) Then it was time to go digital, and the fun began. The skimpy section in the manual on "Packet Operation" dutifully shows the required mini-DIN "pin outs" for connecting to your TNC at both 1200 and 9600 baud, so I mapped out what I would need to do and scoured both the manual ("Options") and magazine advertizing for the necessary mini-DIN cable to make the connection. I was annoyed to find that there was no cable (or connector) listed anywhere I looked. So I headed to my local supplier (HRO, 1 1/2 hours away) and they couldn't find any Icom cable or connector as an accessory for this radio. They contacted Icom's tech section in Bellevue (Washington) and were surprised to hear that no provision was made for this accessory! But fortunately, all was/is not lost.... HRO was able to locate the exact cable I needed. Curiously, it is the PG-5A data cable from Kenwood! Apparently, I was the first to alert the local HRO store to this strange omission on Icom's part; they (HRO) have since stocked up on extra Kenwood PG-5A cables for the Icom 2720.