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Reviews For: ICOM IC-207H

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

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Review Summary For : ICOM IC-207H
Reviews: 67MSRP: 299.95
Description:
Dual Band (2M/70CM) Transceiver
Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.icomamerica.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00673.9
W3HND Rating: 2002-05-07
nice mobile rig Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
with reference to K2ANE's review of april 5, my IC-207h also sits on top of the dash, so i fashioned a sun/heat shield of aluminum foil on a cardboard support to protect it from the sun on those occasions when the car must sit parked in an unshaded area. it works.

73, dave
KD7RDA Rating: 2002-05-07
Good Radio- Bare necessities Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Just set up my new 207H with a Diamond X50 antenna. For a novice this is a great set up and I am really happy with it. Also have Astron power supply.

The fan does come on when you transmit on high power. It doesn't bother me a bit even if it does stay on for 2 min.

The display for setting different features is a little confusing due to no alphanumerics capability, but again it doesn't bother me.

Overall a very good radio. I would buy another 207H. Why not a 5/5 then? This is my first radio and you always have to have room for that perfect rig.
W3HKK Rating: 2002-05-07
Nice for the money Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Joined ARES and needed to add 440 capability. Didnt see a great duobander out there for under $700 and didnt want to pay that at this time. I really liked my old IC-25A workhorse better than my FT-2400. Lots of negatives recently re: Yaesu rigs. The candy store had this as their low end duobander and I bit.

After using it now for two months, my observations are :

Pros:
-good power on 2 and 70cm to get to where I want to, which is 30 miles away over hilly terrain.
-nice receive audio thru external speaker.
-affordable price
-steps frequency nicely ( my Yaesu FT-2400 has developed an annoying habit of randomly jumping frequency by 2-3 steps when manually tuned one step.) and scans well.
-nice functional size...ie not too small- both the rig andits buttons/knobs.

Cons:
-serious intermod on 2M about 10% of the time while driving around suburban Cleveland. (I havent taken it downtown yet.)
-one net on 146.56 simplex consistently wipes out another net on 146.55
-sometimes I reach and hit a button blindly and it takes 15 minutes to get back to where I was. Once I even had to do a full reset to get it to function, even after shutting it down a couple of times.
-controls are backwards to what Im used to.
-fan noise is noticeable in the shack but not in the car.


I think this is fairly rated at 3.5 or so vs a top end rig with better intermod rejection and more logical controls.

KG6FOB Rating: 2002-04-10
Excellent rig, regardless of what some say Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had my IC-207H for over a year now, and wouldn't trade it for anything twice the price. It's reliable, dependable, and powerful.

All the complaints I've seen about it here are either nitpicky, incorrect, or regarding intermod. I've /never/ had a problem with intermod on this radio. Not once.

For the money, this radio is definitely top-notch.
Why people complain about the microphone, I can't fathom- It's a microphone. It has a lot of functionality. It works fine.
K2ANE Rating: 2002-04-05
A Good Workhorse Radio Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I purchased this radio new in May of 2001 and the only time it has not been in my car was when I sent it back to have the fan serviced after owning it for a week. I had the menu set to actuate the fan whenever I transmitted. It failed. Turns out a little driver transistor gave up the ghost and had to be replaced. Aside from that no problems.

I live in the boondocks at a high elevation where this past winter the temperatures got down to zero many times. The entire rig sits on the dashboard in one of Icom's quick mounts. So sometimes the sun beats on it very intensely like in the summer depending where the car is parked. On occasion I have found it too hot to touch when getting into the car and turning the unit on. I purchased the quick mount to enable me to remove the radio from the car should I ever go down to the big city and not add temptation to some hype who needs a fix and sees my radio as an opportunity to cash in for a quick high. The point I am making here is the radio is extremely durable and has held up under varying adverse conditions with no problems at all.

Since I only have a General class license I admit to having less intellectual horsepower than Advanced and Extra class license holders and therefore I found it a bit difficult to make sense of the radio's programming features. No matter how many times I followed the formulas in the manual I could not get the radio to distinguish and go into different scan functions. I know I should had asked a Novice or a Tech or another General whose abilities assuredly would all have surpassed mine or gone to the local CB shop for the explanations but fortunately for me when I sent the radio in for service (the fan transistor) I indicated the scanning problem and the technician was kind enough to inform me how to do it.

Naturally his instructions were not mirrored in the manual. I can make an excuse due to the lack of those explanations as the root cause for my inability to move through the scanning routines but instead I'll just chalk it all up to my not having taken the Krell brain boosting test on Altair 4 and artificially enlarging my IQ by a few hundred percent and figuring it out for myself.

Is it possible to have a love affair with an inanimate object (that is not inflatable) and sing its praises? If so, then I confess I love the microphone that comes with this unit. Its a keyboard to paradise. From it I can do everything another radio would need a 6 foot rack for. Direct keyboard entry of frequencies, scanning for PL tones, power output management etc., and so forth. I could go on and on. I am not a nit picker so I won't dwell on the snap on/off cover that goes with this mike which lends itself to becoming lost. I just happen to be obsessive and compulsive enough to always make sure its snapped back in place after making adjustments.

I do feel I need to add an additional comment regarding the built-in fan feature. If one is as long winded speaking, as I am in writing, then it's definetly to one's advantage to praise this feature and not complain about it. We all know that "Killer Heat" and "Mr. Solid State" have an adversarial relationship. The only referee or protection we have in the matter to safeguard "Mr. State's" continued prosperity, which benefits us the Ham, is to accept and allow future radios a first line of defense by incorporating a healing and soothing fan for the innards and outards of these little wonders.

In summation I would be dishonest by not giving the IC-207H the highest marks possible. The fan transistor repair was made by Icom in under 10 business days, sooner if I opted for Red/Blue/Priority return service. The Icom tech explained a gray area to me in writing. The radio, like a Timex watch, takes a lickin' and keeps on kickin' and it has really been a great dual band workhorse for me. It sounds great on both ends, puts out full power if necessary and is happy on the dashboard of my car. I am glad I chose this model.

Happy Motoring de K2ANE/2


KC2JFS Rating: 2002-03-26
Good Rig Great Price Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I gave the IC207H a five rating because in my opinion the radio lives up to all of it's advertised abilities. Intermod is very slight and my transmit audio reports have been DFQ. There is a slight learning curve needed for programing purposes, but if you have minimal knowledge of radio programing you will be successful. I really hate reading reviews that bash this radio for not having dual receive and cross-banding capabilities. IF YOU WANT A RIG THAT DOES THIS THAN BUY A DIFFERENT RADIO!!!
I use this radio for both mobile and base operations in the crowded NY/NJ Metro Area and am able to get into repeaters others can't hit. For mobile operations in my Toyota Camry I have this beauty mounted on the drivers side console and have it connected to a Diamond NR770H dual band antenna. To complete my installation I purchased a small Radio Shack external speaker and to my delight the machined thumb-wheel screws that came with this external speaker lined-up EXACTLY with the radios' mounting threads! No need to buy any expensive after market quick realease bracket! My signal reports have been excellent and the range into reapeaters at times has amazed me. When using my rig for base operations I have it hooked up to a Astron RS20A power supply and belive it or not a inexpensive MFJ-1729 dual band antenna magnetically mounted ontop of my outside air conditioner. Again with great range and signal reports. If your looking for a small inexpensive workhorse look no further than the 207H. Better yet I paid $279.00 and got a coupon for a free seperation cable, valid thru the month of March.
73's
KC2JFS
KG4MJZ Rating: 2002-03-01
Good Radio Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
This radio works wonderful and I have used it both mobile and base. I have found no intermod base or mobile. The reason I say the radio is great is because of functionality and performance.
K5DVW Rating: 2002-02-25
Nice radio! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I've not had any problems with my IC 207. I do see a slight bit of intermod using an outdoor gain antenna, but every 2m base radio I've used at my QTH has these problems. That's what the CTCSS decode is for, fortunately the repeaters I use transmit the tone.

The only complaint I have is that you can't store a memory chanel as a band split. This would be useful for working crossband repeaters or some satellite. As a radio designer, I can't see why this important feature was left out!

Anyhow, I give it a 4/5. Good value in my opinion.

K5DVW
NW0LF Rating: 2002-02-15
good radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had mine for 1 1/2 years and it works great. By using the attenuator, I keep out all the junk near where I live and only can hear the repeaters I work. It doesn't get a 5 because of the constant fan running on transmit. I would recommend this radio to anyone who wants a basic dual band radio without all the bells and whistles. I am a firm supporter of ICOM, all my radios are ICOM.
Tom, K9WLF/4

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Earlier 1-star review posted by NW0LF on 2000-03-27

I put aside my trusty IC-27h for this radio and am very disappointed. Intermod is terrible, TX & RX range is half the IC-27h with the same antenna. Have not tried 440 yet. I only have the radio 3 days. I bought the radio to get on my club's 440 repeater, but with operation this poor, I am going to see about getting a seperate 440 mobile and putting my old ICOM back in the car.
KC2GUW Rating: 2002-02-14
Good radio Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
This is a good radio for the budget minded person. My particular unit does not have the major intermod problems that other complain about. Very rarely do any tones break through the squelch and I'm in a fairly RF unfriendly area in New Jersey. The only reason I give it a four is because it does not have dual-band recieve.