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Reviews For: ICOM IC-W32A

Category: Transceivers: VHF/UHF+ Amateur Hand-held

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Review Summary For : ICOM IC-W32A
Reviews: 113MSRP: 260.00
Description:
2 Meter/440 MHz Dual Bander Handheld
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.icomamerica.com/amateur/dualhand/#IC-W32A
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
001134.1
KB5TDR Rating: 2000-06-18
Great dual band HT Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this radio after wading through a lot of reviews and finally getting to see and operate one. This is a great HT with only three drawbacks, The radio has no medium power output, only 5 watts (9.6 v supplied battery) or .5 watts. The radio gets uncomfortably hot while transmitting on 5 watts and the 9.6 volt battery has a very short life when using 5 watts. I purchased the AA battery case (holds 4) and the MAHA NiMH 1500 mAh rechargable batteries and I get 3 watts out on high power and the batteries last a week with daily use.
KG4DED Rating: 2000-06-18
IC-W32A Dual Band Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just got an almost new IC-W32A. Found it in the classifieds right here in eham.com as a matter of fact. I like it. I have been using a VX-5R for a while and I like the 32W better. For one thing, a lot more of the functions are available directly from the keypad. You do not have to scroal through miles of menus to find what you need. I have been using it in conjunction with a Kenwood set in cross band repeat and it works wonderfully for that. I have used it a small amount to directly access repeaters and it is as good as any HT for that.

If there is any drawbacks, it is the sort of cryptic display when you go to memory name display mode. I would like the frequency displayed instead of the sort of odd looking memory number. Also, the lack of an intermediate power output level is a little aggrevation. All in all it seems to be a good HT.
WB5PBL Rating: 2000-04-10
Nice Radio - But eats batteries Time Owned: unknown months.
I live in central Michigan and so have not experienced the intermod problems described elsewhere. The radio works great in my area and the capability to work Vhf/Vhf or Uhf/Uhf is just what I was looking for. Once you read thru the manual, operation of the various keys and functions comes easily, even the less used ones. My main complaint is that the Nicad battery packs (BP-172 or BP-173) are short lived (8 hrs or less) even on 100% receive. Add a little transmit time and you better have several battery packs or an external supply. I would like to see a larger capacity battery come available, either from another vendor or ICOM. If you find one please let the rest of us know. John Wolters/WB5PBL
KA1IOD Rating: 2000-03-19
Great radio - Poor battery Power Options Time Owned: unknown months.
I got the W32A just less than a year ago and was very pleased with the performance and the options. Compared other similar radios on the market this one was the most "intuitive" to operate - One of the few that i did not need an instruction manual just to tune a frequency!

The one quirk I feel Icom has missed the boat on are the Battery options. The NiCad pack included is useless but for maybe 30 minutes of use when it was fully charged - the drycell pack should be included as I can get days of use on Alkalines.

What really needs to happen is for someone to step forward and offer a Lithium Ion pack - like what seems to now be available for every other portable radio on the market. I hope that any future battery designs by Icom would be downwardly compatible to the W32A so as to address this problem.

Nickle Metal Hydrides are available but still not even close to the capacity as Lithiun ion designs currently available for other radios.

I would hope some battery manufacturer would recognise the need and fill the void.

Respectufully Submitted, Mike Leonard KA1IOD
N.A. Rating: 2000-03-19
too "tricky" for beginners Time Owned: unknown months.
It is a very good radio, but in my opinion, it is too complicated to set up/program for beginners. Too many features/options to confuse newly upgraded inexperienced Hams (me!) In my opinion, a single band unit would have an easier learning curve. Tip: Don't take your license exam at a VE session at/during a Hamfest.....with money burning a hole in your pocket....you just may pass the test and then make an "impulse" buy of something you're not ready for....I did.
KE6ZML Rating: 2000-02-25
Icom W32 works great for me! Time Owned: unknown months.
My Icom W32 has not given me any problems.It transmits better than the VX5Rs I have heard. I got a little buyers remorse when people told me it had an intermod problem. I have not had a problem with it.The BNC connector will accept a better antenna than the puny sma connectors. These are HTs afterall. Many compromises in any HT. Buy a mobile for top performance.
KF6RNU Rating: 2000-02-25
Not so great... Time Owned: unknown months.
I've had the W32A for about a year now. Two months after I bought the radio it was time to send it in for repairs. Several of the buttons stopped working, but ICOM fixed the problem and sent it back quickly (about a week). About two months later, I was experiencing problems transmitting at 5W. After much poking and prodding with my test equipment, I sent it back in again for repair. By this time I knew most of the repair people by name. ICOM could not duplicate the problem, and I received the radio back in about 3 weeks (not very fast...grrr). To this day the radio only works at 1/2W. I think this will be the last time I purchase an ICOM (well...perhaps the 756PRO).

73,

de

Scott
KF6RNU
kf6rnu@usa.net
http://www.hamsnet.net/kf6rnu
KC2EBP Rating: 2000-02-03
An all-purpose radio with a couple of quirks... Time Owned: unknown months.
I've had my W32A for around 18 months now, and it's my main VHF/UHF radio. I use it in the car with a R/S through-glass dual band antenna, and it works great in most applications. I recently added a MAHA docking booster, but it didn't really need it in the repeater environment that I live in. There is one region of the Albany, NY area where picket-fencing and intermod are a real problem, and this radio isn't pleasant to use on that stretch of road. The front-end is a bit too open, and this tends to make high-gain antennas more of a liability than a benefit. I've also used this radio for packet operations, and it performs very well in that role both with and without an in-line Henry Radio Tempo 50w VHF amp in line.
KF6WAX Rating: 2000-01-14
Big features but it does have its problems Time Owned: unknown months.
I owned a W32A for two weeks then got HRO to sell me another radio.
I do not believe that this particular radio was very good, sure it had plenty of great features but the Little Q7A that I also owned at the same time had actually got out better with less power, and I now firmly believe that "ICOMS" in general are too open on the front end allowing endless streams of intermod to ruin your listening pleasure.I now sport the very usefull VX5R from Yaesu, if only it had cross band repeat this radio would be a show stopper!
KC0EXP Rating: 2000-01-14
Great Radio with Exceptional Receive Time Owned: unknown months.
I have been very happy with mine, especially after I got a new 3db gain rubber duck antenna. The crossband repeat function comes in very handy. One small note though, when you lock the keys you can still toggle between Hi/Lo power. I don't like this a bit as I always seem to bump that button and change my power to Hi, thus running down the short lived battery.