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Reviews For: Icom IC-3AT

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

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Review Summary For : Icom IC-3AT
Reviews: 8MSRP: $299.99 new in mid 80s
Description:
220 mhz HT with thumbwheel frequency selection
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.icomamerica.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
1584.6
AK2O Rating: 2022-12-27
Very good quality radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I’ve owned and operated the IC-x series; 2-meter, 1.25 meter and 70-cm for decades. It’s a good, simple radio without all those fancy bells and whistles. I use it a lot for mountain top repeater work. It uses a simple battery (CM4) pack of six AA cells. I’m on the go so I use alkaline type. Years before I used the NiCad type which worked fine as well. The remote mic works well for tower work. The audio for transmit and receive is very good. It’s an FM radio.
W9MT Rating: 2021-06-25
Great radio for its time. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Bought it new. Had it for "three decades-plus". Sold it a couple of years ago when I hadn't used it for a long while to another ham who would.

Early on, I added the little bitty CommSpec PL encoder board. Used the "unused" slide switch on the top of the radio that was used for 5KHz steps on the IC-2 and IC-4 series radios to flip a "tone programming bit" on the CommSpec board to get the two different PL tones for the Chicago area repeaters.

Lastly, I added the components (resistors, caps, and a crystal) Icom simply left off of the main board that was common to the 3 handhelds of this series, plus a slide switch, to add in a +1.6MHz offset. This was from an article in the old yellow sheet publication of "220 Notes" which only lasted a few years in the late 1970's/early 1980's. A hole needed to be punched in the High/Low power, Rpt/Simp escutcheon and +/- needed to be scratched on either side of the switch, as the radio now had both the common -1.6MHz offset (standard) and the positive offset for working reverse on repeater channels or checking a QSO station's signal strength to see if simplex was possible, so as to not tie up a repeater.

I really liked this radio but I also had an IC-03AT (also later sold) and hardly used it.

I'm glad my buyer put it to "daily driver" use. It was always a "bulletproof" brick of a radio that never failed me.

N5JRN Rating: 2018-07-23
Great old-school HT! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I dug mine out of my spares box, where it had been literally collecting dust for decades, in response to an increase in local 220 activity. Just for yucks, I decided to put new AA batteries in my holder and see if it still worked, because it would be great to get on 220 without buying a new rig. It worked fine, even after sitting idle for all those years.

Note that as shipped from the factory, these DO NOT do CTCSS (aka PL) tones, which are required for most repeaters these days. (Back in the early/mid 1980s, most repeaters were carrier-activated.) I had to add a CTCSS encoder board to it (not difficult) to get on the repeaters.

I gutted one of the long-dead NiCd packs for it and put an LM7810 regulator, a couple of capacitors (per the 7810 spec sheet), and a custom heat sink (homemade from some aluminum sheet stock) inside. Voilà! a battery eliminator! Now I can just leave it on all the time to monitor the repeater.

I'd give the rig a 5/5 but marking it down one point because if you get one you will probably have to add a CTCSS board to use your local repeaters, as I did.
N2MDV Rating: 2017-01-22
Superb gift to give. Now I wish I had it. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've briefly had the 3AT, 2AT, 4AT, and still have the marine band version of this rig. The amateur versions of these rigs were given to my cousin when he 1st got his HAM ticket, and he used these HT's to the MAX as HT's, mobiles, and bases. Great TX / RX audio on these HT's, solid construction, and the thumb wheels FREQ selecting are like being back out in the military field operations again. (My Dad, whom normally is radio inept, was able to work the marine version of these rig from his Army field training.) Yeah, no CTCSS on these, but there are still PL board kits for that out there. If you see these at hamfests for under $100.00, very much worth it!
KA2AYR Rating: 2011-08-27
Beautiful simplicity Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought mine after I got my first "real job" in 1983. It's simple. It doesn't have games stored in memory when there's no one to talk to. It doesn't tell you the time. You turn it on, set the volume and squelch, dial in the frequency, set it for repeater or simplex and high or low power. Then push to talk from there. I added a ComSpec board. The extra switch near the off switch activates it. In those dark how-did-you-stay-alive? days before cellular, I did autopatch with it. You can't ask for more out of a radio. And I still have it!
AH6RH Rating: 2008-06-29
Fabulous Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Just like the IC-2AT, this unit is rugged and reliable. No frills, just dial the frequency on the thumbwheels. The on/off switch is on the right side, and the back has the low/high power switch and the duplex/simplex switch. Has great audio on transmit and receive. The receive audio is loud, for those who's hearing is not the greatest. Got mines used, and am enjoying the local 222 MHz repeater. I'm using the BP-4 battery pack with alkalines, so I don't need the battery charger, although I have lots of battery packs.
WB2AZE Rating: 2005-01-26
good solid radio, somewhat dated though Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have 2 of these radios and both of them are built like a sherman tank. This is the HT you need during Field Day, when you realize you don't have a hammer to pound the tent stakes in.... You pound them in with the radio, and it still works....
Although a bit larger and bulkier than the newer rigs, my wife(also a ham) likes the radio because of the simpler thumbwheel controls. No need to remember menu's, etc...

Only bad thing... Cannot find the PL board (accessory) to hit repeaters with PL.
NE0P Rating: 2003-09-18
Coming back for more Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Now on my 4th 3AT thanks to ebay! Another great thing about this HT is that there is absolutely no battery drain since it uses thumbwheel frequency selection with no memories, display, or backlighting. You can keep the battery attached and it won't drain it. Great transmit and receive audio, and alot of accessories still available.

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Earlier 4-star review posted by NE0P on 2003-01-17

I am now on my third Icom 3AT. Keep coming back to this radio for 222 FM use. It is identical to the Icom 2AT and 4AT except for frequency coverage, and has 1 less switch on the back-all repeaters on 222 use -1.6 mhz split, so there is no need for a offset switch. Like its brothers, this rig is solid, and gets the job done.

You can find battery packs all over for this HT, as it uses the very common Icom BP2/3/4/5/8 series. With the BP3 you get about 1.5 watts out, and about 2.5 watts out with the BP5. This is a little low by todays standards, but was good for the 1980s when the HT came out. You cannot run it off of 12 volts directly, and will need the DC-1 if you want to plug it into the cigarette lighter.

Compared to other HTs of this era this is a fairly small HT. Slightly larger than most being sold today, but still not bad. Has a nice large speaker, and kicks out plenty of audio. If you can find one of these at a good price, I would not hestitate to get it.