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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
K9XXX Rating: 2010-03-22
maybe I'm lucky Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought one which was my first cross-band repeat model. I later discovered that three people in a single club had experienced spontaneous internal combustion in their 2720H(for one individual, the dealer replacement also).
The one I first bought was from a late production run so maybe Icom had fixed the problem.
I later bought one from an ebayer who said Icom replaced the transceiver and sent it back to him with his original control/display module. So far neither has burned out.
KC9ISG Rating: 2010-03-21
change my review from before. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I recently left a review and wasn't very happy and a few days later after leaving a review I got an email from ICOM and they sent me a list of upgrades and a parts list to fix the two radio's I have and I finally got them all and sent it to a repair guy I found from a friend and he did a wonderful job repairing these two radios and haven't had any problems with them since. They no longer have the heat problems or the driver problems going out or the finals going out they still have the intermittent problem inside major cities, but other then that they work great. I have also bought the new yaesu ftm350r/e and it works great to. I like these radios because there similar in some ways mainly the dual band receive, I really like to be on one side and still be able to scan on the other.
NT9E Rating: 2009-02-11
Top Performer!!! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I was 2nd in line on the waiting list at Milwaukee AES in the fall of 2002. The only problem I have had with it is that the mic button does not like to function well in freezing temperatures in the winter time (when parked in the parking lot at work). After car warms up, it works fine. I would buy another one.
KA7SLC Rating: 2009-02-11
SAD RADIO!! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought my ic2720h new from HRO Portland. The radio has been stored in it's box in the shack since I bought it (had back surgery and forced into not doing any hamming for almost 2 years). I finally mounted it up and have put on about two months of use and now the left display characters are dying suddenly after only about 35 hours of 'turned-on' use. Icom Bellvue wants $43 just to see the radio problem and just told me it'll be a couple hundred to fix. Unfortunately, this is the ONLY radio I own after losing everything and being hurt on the job as a public servant 18 years. Thanks ICOM for helping me get back on the air with a disabled radio for a disabled person who can't afford to get this 'new' radio working again!

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Earlier 5-star review posted by KA7SLC on 2002-11-23

Live in Salt Lake City, Utah and have it on my base dualband 9db verticle, haven't been bombarded yet, like some of the guys here.

I even have the Mod open, and that tends to open it up even further, but still the same. Way great AM RX too, alot more loud than my IC-207.

For the under 400.00 range, I think it's a great value.
K4SAR Rating: 2008-10-07
Nice radio, great support from Icom Time Owned: more than 12 months.
A few years ago my IC-2720H lost output power on 2m. I shipped it to the Icom repair facility in SC, and $40 and four (yes, 4) days later the radio was back in my hands, working fine, and it's been fine for several years since then. I have two of these and aside from this one incident I've had no trouble with either one at all. Good audio on my end, good signal reports from others. I've been very happy with the features and user interface.
VA3EDP Rating: 2008-07-04
Never again Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I am very lucky if I can put out a single watt of power, Lesson learned, ICOM will never see me buy another radio of theirs,
K7DZW Rating: 2007-12-18
Far Better than these reviews Time Owned: more than 12 months.
If you live in a dense rf area this might not be the best radio.On the other hand if you want a radio with nothing short of great receive capabilities this is your radio. Intermod (mixing rf signals ) can be a problem in a very large city. The claim that it has a loose front end maybe true but it makes it a GREAT radio anywhere you don't have extremely dense rf bouncing off dense manmade structures.2 miles out of a big city there is NO intermod.Hooked to my GP-9 antenna I have talked to Denver CO from Troutdale OR on 2meters using 50w.Anywhere on the road this set gets a 5.
KE6SLS Rating: 2007-12-02
avoid these stinkers! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Sad story but true.

I have used older ICOMS and really liked them. They are worthy radios with limits compared to current radios for sale. With the older radios in mind, I sat out to replace three of my current VHF/UHF rigs. One was a IC-207h, and two FT-8100R (Yaesu rigs) that weren't working well. I did all the research I could here in Humboldt and I decided to go with ICOM. Last time I do this by the way.

AES Las Vegas sent me the three IC-2720H radios. I set up a small quarter wave antenna on my refridgerator and started listening to a local repeater while I read the manual. I heard intermod and thought it must be the local situation as I had just moved to a new house. I started plugging in memories for UHF, then moved to the VHF band and started plugging in memories there. What? I was over-writing the memories I used for UHF! What the heck is that all about?!

Okay, so I was already sad about the memories, but I needed a radio in my work truck so I left the remaining memories alone and installed the radio. The intermod was now worse than on the quarterwave in the house!

I drove my truck around town and all I could hear was every pager, taxi dispatch, fire and police calls etc. This radio was a complete pooper! It was late and I just left it in the truck. A week passed before I sat out to open the other two radios that were still in their packages.

I opened the first rig and put it on the quarter wave whip and INTERMOD. I couldn't beleive it. That is when I discovered eham after doing a google search for "IC-2720H intermod". Page after page of very unhappy hams with warnings about this radio! What a bummer. Here I bought three of them with only QST and catalogue reports. Never again QST!

I called AES and asked about this radio and they didn't seem to know anything bad about it. Huh, I'm the only ham that had bad luck with the radio eh? I asked for the ICOM support to see if there was help for this radio. I called them and they suggested a $200 external filter. Excuse me, but are you nuts! That's over $600 to fix these poopers! No thanks. I thought it over, and I assure you, I was very upset at both ICOM, AES sales and myself for not googling ICOM before I gave up my credit card numbers.

I decided to return the two un-used radios and keep the one in my work truck (it was used and I refuse to return something that might be sold as new if I did return it). Every day for the last year it kind of worked in my truck. Intermod crazy. Don't scan since it makes it even worse. But I was really creeped out about this and reluctant to buy anything else.

I did finally go back to Yaesu, the FT-8800 works great and only slightly different programming than the older FT-8100's.

I am now buying new rigs for the car and home, but I am still very shy about it.

I am really grateful for eham now. I'm looking for a second HF rig and I am reading every review here and elsewhere where hams can freely exchange their views and understanding of amatuer rigs. Thanks Eham. I'm going to give you money since you are doing this service!

Avoid this little stinker, it is a noise finder, not a communications radio. The Mic broke since its been in the truck. I plan to take this radio and use it for target practice--it really is that bad.

It has other issues that drove me nuts, but I am just more devoted to helping others avoid this radio that I will stop the review at this point.

Avoid this radio!

73
W1JCM Rating: 2007-08-20
Good radio for me Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I give it 4 out of 5 due to the lack of alphanumeric display; surely this should have been designed into a transceiver in this day of advanced and expensive radios. I have not had any of the intermodulation or blown finals, at least not yet. If I do I will just buy a Yaesu FT-8800R.

I have run this transceiver in my truck for a little over a year and it sees a lot of use especially on long hauls. I did mount it on an aluminum sheet under the passenger seat where it gets plenty of air flow to help keep it cool. I do suggest an external speaker, i run my 208 and 706MKII with external speakers too and it makes a big difference in the shack too.

Jim
73
VE5NAT Rating: 2007-06-19
still kick'n Time Owned: more than 12 months.
So far I have had this radio for over a year and it is still working good. Overall I have had good quality sound (tx and rx), so far it has lasted through -45C winters in the car and +40 last summer and it still keeps going and going. I connected a speaker to the radio just because the audio power just doesnt cut it in this rig. One thing I would recommend is having a separate speaker for each VFO; needless to say it can get confusing or even dificult to understand QSO's when you are operating 2 channels simutaniously. Intermod isn't too much of an issue with this rig.
If I were given the opprotunity to buy this radio again, I probably would. I am still trying to figure out whether I should get this radio or the Kenwood for my shack.

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Earlier 4-star review posted by VE5NAT on 2006-08-31

Well what is there to say? The rig is awesome in all aspects except the audio issue. I will have to wire up a speaker and run it so I can hear the rig when my window is open or I have my radio turned up. Other than that I like the fact that it can do crossband repeat and dual recieve. Now if only it also had a built in TNC like Kenwood...