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Reviews For: Icom IC-2720

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

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Review Summary For : Icom IC-2720
Reviews: 31MSRP: 365.95
Description:
Dual band (2M/70cm) mobile rig
Product is not in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00312.6
VE2UM Rating: 2022-05-03
...Good scanner Time Owned: more than 12 months.
One friend of mine has three of these radios and all three of them left the magic smoke escape. The main problem is the driver 2SK3075 MOSFET encapsulated in the infamous 2-5N1A via-cooled case (Ask Kenwood guys who had to deal with the HW version 1 TKRx50's with the same driver encapsulation. Fortunately, Kenwood rapidly replaced this smoke machine with a more decent ceramic encapsulated flange device in HW version 2 and later), which, apparently ICOM never did with the 2720.

Not only PCB VIA heat conduction is insufficient for a decent silicon cooling, the MOSFET burns in a catastrophic fashion severly damaging the PCB underneath.

Replacement of the 3075 is PITA with zillions of screws to remove / replace and you'll definitely have to use an hot air machine and plenty of care to replace the transistor without orbiting nearby passives around.

My advice: Stay away of this radio unless you want to use it as a scanner receiver.

And if you own one, my advice: Keep it AWAY from high power to avoid any excessive thermal cycling of the 2SK3075 device.
W8NIC Rating: 2015-12-13
Stay Clear of This One Folks!!! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Low audio, intermod, bad finals?
Enough said.
K0HB Rating: 2011-07-03
Stay out of "Hi" power Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is a great radio, if you run it on Low or Med power.

If you run it on high power and get a little long winded, count on the final circuit coming un-soldered. I've had it happen three times. My installation is good, with excellent antenna match, but it just won't run on high power.

Now I just make sure never go above "Med" power, and it works great.


W4KVW Rating: 2009-12-09
FINE FOR ME! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Only had this rig for a short time in my pickup but it worked just fine for me.I live in a rural area in North Florida so maybe that's why I had NO ISSUES? Replaced it with an HF mobile or I would have kept it.I now have an ICOM 208H & like it as well.

Clayton
W4KVW
KJ3P Rating: 2009-09-19
No worries! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
It's too bad that only the negatives show up in these reviews..let's fix that right here: The 2720 is is a fine radio! After bouncing along under the seat of a pickup truck for a couple years, it's still absolutely dependable. Great audio (transmitted). The internal speaker, well, it's there. I used an external speaker for mobile duty.

Much has been said about its intermod sensitivity. Yes, when driving within a few hundred feet of communications towers, which I do often, intermod happens...just as it did with other radios, including a Kenwood, in the the same areas. But I have found that the occasional burp of "intermod" while driving around is (I'm convinced) from trashy computer electronics that radiate from nearby buildings. I had to get rid of a Linksys router in the house because of spurs on certain 2-meter channels on all my radios. And driving around, I could tell which house or building had that kind of router, just by the noise signature!

Cross-band works well, but there were no instructions in the manual. Icom provided a one-sheet upon request.

The multi-function mic is well thought out. Most common operations are right there.

Never a problem with the display or the finals...it just keeps working!
KC7YRA Rating: 2009-08-24
I must be one of the lucky ones Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Had mine since they first came out. Have used it every day since.

I have never experienced the final failure. It has been very good in that regard.

The minuses are,

PITA to program. VERY VERY difficult. Took me over 3 days to get it the first time.

Intermod is off the charts. I have to keep my squelch at max to keep it from going nuts.

I also have a problem with the PTT switch on all Icom rigs. I have replaced my switch 2 times now. At least Icom sends me the switched free.

Probably won't be buying another as 1. They don't make them and 2. they seem to have a very high failure rate. I like mine but I won't be shocked if it blows up suddenly.
N3CKF Rating: 2009-07-19
Good but some problems Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Overall, this is a decent radio that i got for a good price used. Contrary to most , i *like* the fact that the channel memory is shared between bands (i program all my radios with the same channel set anyway).

The intermod problem described is real on 2meters. I get about S4 from a local paging transmitter pretty regularly on that bad.

My serial # is in the 010XX range so i'd guess its a pretty early radio.

The only technical problem i have now is the display whihc has soem segments that come "on" for about 5-10 min when powered up on the left hand side only. I use the radio both with the included hand mic and with an SM-20 with the OPC-549 adapter. The SM-20 sounds better than the hand mic but both sound pretty good on the air. Never had a bad signal report with this radio.

I use the radio for packet as well with no problems. (you cant mount the control head on the body when using using the auxiliary connector though. that connector is the same one a PC mouse uses by the way, so you can buy a cheap mouse for a buck and cut the cable off to get a terminated cable for it...)

Overall, good utility radio, i probably wouldnt use it mobile in a big city though.
K4MC Rating: 2008-01-18
Disapointment from Icom Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had this radio for a number of years and have pulled it out of service. The finals went out after the unit was out of warranty and I sent it off to Icom for repair. The bill came to about half of a new rig but I went ahead and had the repair done. When it came back, I put it in my truck which I use in a metro environment. Intermod reared it's ugly head. This was not a factor when mounted in my Goldwing motrocycle used to travel back roads. So for now, it sits on a shelf as a back-up rig.

I wonder if the IC 2820 carries with it the same weakness?

Wendell
K4MC
W6EOD Rating: 2008-01-18
Well for starters... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Intermod is a problem with my 2720. This radio has real issues with rejecting noise. Squelch breaks are very common for no apparent reason and when driving in towns/cities the gas stations give my radio more than it can handle. Which brings up another issue. The right side receiver no longer provides audio. As in a full quieting signal is received but lost somewhere between the antenna and the speaker. I went against my better judgment after reading the reviews here and searching through problems encountered by other 2720 users on the Yahoo Group for said radio. I love Icom products except this particular radio. Buyer beware !!!
WD5G Rating: 2007-04-24
Works great for me! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Sorry to hear that so many of you have had a bad experience with this radio. I bought mine new (S/N 5014XX) three or fours years ago, and have never had a problem with it.

I have had the rig mounted in my pickup since I bought it, and use it for VHF voice on the Left side and APRS on the Right side. I sometimes use the cross-band repeat function too. The audio is plentiful and clear.

For those of you that experience intermod in the cities, you might try turning on the attenuator function or using the RF squelch function (RTFM). The receiver seems to be sensitive enough that either of these options should work to solve or minimize the problem.

The IC-2720H does have a feature that makes it good for APRS. It is one of the few rigs that has a true carrier signal brought out to a connector, that can be used to make the TinyTrak a good citizen by preventing it from transmitting on top of other signals.

I have to admit that I was a little disappointed to find that the IC-2720H did not have alphanumeric memories.

The fan is noisy, but what's a little more noise in a pickup?