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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
AB0TX Rating: 2007-04-24
Not Impressed! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Upon recieving the radio I was surprised to find out that it couldn't be mounted in one piece. I was going to remote mount it anyway. After installation, and about a weeks worth of use, I noticed that while the radio was scanning, it would stop on the frequency I was listening to on the other side. I noticed that there were two different signal readings even though the radio only was one antenna. I had to go out on the web to get the instructions to cross band repeat. Navigating the menues proved to be a real pain. If you push the wrong button, watch out. You will have to live with not operating the radio until you can stop and look at the manual to figure out what you did. I use mine everyday and for the most part is has worked fairly well once you get the memories set in and you can live with the weak receiver letting in the intermod. I don't hate the radio but I don'think I would buy another one. Also have a 2100H that doesn't like to filter out the intermod as well. I have had that one for about seven years and it has held up pretty well. See my review on that one under the 2100.
WB1GOT Rating: 2006-05-31
Complete Garbage Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Wasted money on purchase of two for RACES use at the local EOC.
This rig is completely unusable due to the apparent lack of receiver front-end filtering. Paging, high band and UHF transmitters higher up on the same tower completely wipe the receiver on both 2 and 450. Even the 800 meg trunk system raises the receiver noise level.
As a comparison, an ancient Genave crystal control 2m radio plays very well on the same antenna.
KC5JK Rating: 2006-04-22
Nagging Issues Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Using the 2720H as a fixed station away from any large city, I haven't had the intermod problems that many experience, and am surprised that Icom, a forerunner in solving intermod problems back in the early 70s, dropped the ball on this one.
My complaints are mainly two. I verfy much dislike that both bands have to share a common memory bank. I am also irritated at the stupid different dimensions of the box and control head, making it impossible to plug the head right onto the box (like the IC-706M2G) or mount on top of it. Hence, the unmounted head remains... unweildy.
N4IJS Rating: 2006-04-22
Excellant Radio! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I received this radio as a Christmas Gift in 2005 and have not been disappointed at all. I installed it in my car without any issues (using only the parts supplied with the radio - including the separation kit). I live near Cincinnati, Ohio and travel through the city everyday for about 1.5 hours computing to and from work.

The radio performs extremely well and has been nothing but a joy to use. It has very good sound, excellent receiving abilities, and all of my signal reports have been excellent. It has most, if not all, of the features of it’s competitors at a very reasonable price (including cross-band repeat that I use with my handheld). I enjoy the ability to listen to Ham on one "side" of the radio while listening to police, fire, and airplanes on the other. I have never had any issues with the radio not performing as expected.

I like this radio so much; I am considering buying another for my other car and hamshack!

If you are in the market for a radio of this type, please do consider this radio. I highly recommend it!

Summary-
PROS:
Dual bands
Cross-band repeat
Wide band receiving
Many features
Memory organization
Microphone - can do just about everything with it!

CONS:
Some of the functions are difficult to remember
Limited memories (212)

KC9EJN Rating: 2006-02-11
Not so great! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've been a ham for about three years. My 1st was an Icom IC-2sat HT. I loved the simplicity and ruggedness of that radio and had high expectations for my most recent Icom purchase. I was enticed by the fact that the remote mounting was standard with the IC-2720 whereas you have to purchase the kits with yeasu ect...
I found the IC-2720 to just simply be a pain to program and the bank storage leaves much to be desired. If you aren't paying close attention while switching memory banks (like me) you'll find yourself unintentionally writing channels into banks for which they weren't intended.
As for the intermod problem.. I personally was DISAPPOINTED to say the least. I was under the impression that Icom was a leader in amateur radio manufacturing. After further review it has been my experience that the Yeasu FT-8800 is leaps and bounds ahead of the IC-2720. Honestly, the ease of operation alone makes the FT-8800 a better, more "user friendly" rig. But comparing the two is unfair I feel. The IC-2720 doesn't have the crossband repeat function that so many of us are after. Nor does it have alpha tagging which is very useful as well but if you're looking for nightmarish intermod and entirely too complicated operation, the IC-2720 is the way to go. To put things another way; the IC-2720 and the FT-8800 are similar in the same way that a bologna sandwich and a T-bone steak are similar... They both can get the job done but no matter how much cheese you put on it, one is still nothing more than ground up byproducts.
K8WT Rating: 2006-01-29
Sqelcher Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had this rig in my pickup for about a year now. I like the look of the remote head but I have slowly come to want more out of the radio lately.

First, it does have intermod issues. In my 1.2 mile treck to work, i can get a sqelch break when there really isn't anything there like five times. On the trip to visit family, a 3 hour drive, the sqelch attenuator is cranked to full clockwise, just trying to keep the noise out.

In conversation, the radio does get out well. I once drove from the northeast Ohio area to the Columbus area and had a Ham in Mansfield the whole trip (through a repeater in his town).

What draws me away from this radio and to the Yaesu FT-8800:
Only 212 memories fills up quick.
Programming banks is like eating with chop sticks-you have to read the instructions every time, and you still look clumsy.
Yaesu fans claim the Ft-8800 has nowhere near the Intermod.
Once you get more than 20 memories, you have to have ALPHA tagging--the 2720 doesn't.

Only noted Pros not found elsewhere:
The Icom Mic can control about anything you need other than entering X-band repeat.
IC-2720 has two external speaker ports.

Final word: I'm "trading up" to the Yaesu on Monday.
KC2MLA Rating: 2006-01-15
Works Fine! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Intermod issue is there but not as severe as stated. Have had mine over a year and works in my auto great. Will be upgrading to a 706mkIIg soon but have had not major issues with the 2720.
KB4T Rating: 2005-12-26
Excellent Dual Bander Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I bought my 2720H new at Dayton 2005. I've been using it in my work van ever since. The control head is mounted on a short gooseneck attached to the doghouse and the radio lives under the passenger seat. The antenna is a Larson dual bander on the roof.

I understood from the beginning that the 2720H is not the same type of dual band rig as an IC-2800H. By that I mean the rig is dual band capable but is not two complete radios in one box.

I travel throughout NE Florida. There are only a few urban areas. The territory is predominantly rural. Occasionally I venture down to south Florida where there are much larger cities. I have never experienced any sort of intermod problem. Perhaps the cities through which I travel do not have the same measure of intermod that afflicts the largest urban areas around the country.

Trouble-free experience with my pair of IC-2800H true dual banders convinced me the 2720H would be a good buying decision. The 2720's memory bank feature attracted me most. I have a need to scan selected groups of frequencies from time to time and memory banks are perfect for that application. I'll admit the procedure required to create memory banks and to switch into memory bank mode can seem complex. Thankfully the manual describes the procedure step by step very clearly. Once you've done it a few times it is easy. In fact, the entire manual is very well done. I had no trouble mastering any of the procedures required to use the radio's many features.

Transmit and receive audio is excellent and plentiful. I particularly enjoy using the hand mike with all the controls needed to enter frequencies, choose memories, setup priority monitoring and so on. Receiver sensitivity and selectivity are excellent. As a comm tech I can confirm < .2 microvolt sensitivity for 20 db quieting on VHF. < .25 on UHF. I am very pleased with the receiver performance.

Transmit output power averages 45 to 49 watts with my antenna system on VHF (Specs: 50W.) UHF varies between 31 and 33 watts (Specs: 35W.) I've seen this before with my other ICOM rigs. (IC-2000, IC-2800H & V8000) Full rated output power is only possible when the radio is powered by 14.5 to 15 volts. I always use 8 AWG wire connected directly to the battery. I measure 13.4 to 13.8 volts at the radio with the engine running. I suppose it would be nice to see full rated output but I'm not a purist so I'm not put off by the lack of 2 or 3 watts because functionally it makes NO DIFFERENCE on the other end. Generally speaking, if I can hear 'em, I can work 'em.

I do a great deal of night driving. The display is easy to read even from a distance. The ability to dim the display allows me to be able to read the display without losing my night vision. The detached control head is simple to install. The controls are laid out in a sensible manner with adequate spacing to allow fat fingers with questionable aim to hit them correctly 98.9% of the time!

You can connect two speakers to the 2720H. I like this feature. With the speakers separated on either side of my head, I can easily tell from which band a signal is coming.

So why the 4 rating and not a 5??? There are no perfect radios. Using memory banks requires mastery of complex button pressing routines which can be tedious in a moving vehicle. Icom produces reliable VHF/UHF power amplifiers but they always seem unable to produce specified power output in a typical vehicle installation. The design seems to just barely meet spec instead of exceeding spec with a comfortable margin.

I am completely satisfied with my 2720H. For the most part, it is a joy to use. No technical failures or issues. The radio works well and meets all of my needs. Not perfect but very close.

K9KJM Rating: 2005-05-15
JUNK- I dont care how new Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I dont care how high the serial number is, The 2720 HAS BAD MEMORY MANAGEMENT! It does NOT function as two radios in one like the older Icoms, OR the new Yaesu FT8800!!!!!
So the new ones dont blow up??? STILL a bad radio.
I have really liked Icom over the years, And still do. AND I now am getting lots of reports that ICOM is standing behind this pile of junk and fixing them for free.
ICOM IS a good radio company. They just had a real DUD with the 2720H.............

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Earlier 0-star review posted by K9KJM on 2003-09-19

After the LONG wait for this radio to come out, One would think that it would be all set to go....
NOT the case! The WORST written operators manual
I have EVER seen! AND ICOM Tech. support CANNOT seem to answer questions on how it is suppost to
work!
I have owned MANY Icom radios over the years, and have had good luck (And posted good reviews) on
them. This one is NOT one of the good ones!
COME ON ICOM! WITHDRAW this junk and give us
a easy to use radio that really works!!!!!
AD4SP Rating: 2005-05-14
NICE RADIO SECOND TIME AROUND Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I would not buy a IC 2720 with a serial number below 6000000 number. Remember to ask for the serial number before you pick one up or you are risking you hard earned money.I have the IC 2720 and it operates as it should after putting one in the garbage can. The first ic 2720 radio was an early production and I lost the RF Output on both bands at once a little after a year so no warranty.Thank you Icom for such quality workmanship at a price you should be ashame of.
I liked the radio and its functions so much that I bought the second one and have had it for alittle more then a year with no problems to report.the fact that you can plug the mic right into the control head is the nubs.Why didn't Kenwood think of this fantastic option with there TMV7a or the new TM708V--- O Well....
SERIAL NUMBER IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR WHEN BUYING THE ICOM 2720 SO BE CAREFUL.
GOOD LUCK
AD4SP.