Callsign	Required
Password

If you've forgotten and/or need to reset your password, please enter your Callsign and use the button below.

If you are not a member of the eHam community

Please consider registering to e-Ham.

Manager

Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: Icom IC-208H

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

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.

Review Summary For : Icom IC-208H
	Reviews: 137	MSRP: 319.95
	Description: 2M / 70cm mobile with 55 watt VHF and 50 watt UHF xmtr. CTCSS/DCS encode and decode, tone scan, detachable and remotable control head, 500 ALPHA-NUMERIC memories, etc
	Product is not in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days	Avg. Rating last 180 days	Total reviews	Avg. overall rating
1	5	137	4.4

KB8WCN	Rating:	2004-02-23
Excellent!			Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This radio replaced my KW TM-733A which is an excellent radio in it's own right. I considered the 733 to be one of the best dual banders for it's time. I compared them side by side. The 208H matches or exceeds it in every way except for the fact the 208 is not a true dual bander. The 208 receives less intermod and the receiver is slighter hotter on 70cm. Output power is exactly as stated according to my Bird meter. One thing I noticed was it is a little light on the audio. Actually this is not a bad thing in the highway environment it must contend with. Less background noise than my 733 which was an occasional complaint. I tried an SM-8 desk mic. This mic brought the audio up as well as full body sound quality. The fan noise so many complain about is not bad IMHO. I have heard louder fans on many different rigs. Plus this spends it's time in the car more than anything so I can't even hear it. The one thing that does bother me is the received audio quality. It's poor at best. You must run an external speaker which I do. A good external speaker improves AF quality fairly well but it's still has a little to much base. If you must have a dual band that can monitor both freqs at the same time this radio is not for you. If you want a rock solid easy to use rig then this one is for you. All in all I consider this a great buy for the money.

KY6R	Rating:	2004-02-06
Excellent			Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is one of the very few vhf/uhf radios that passes my intermod test. I drive practically under a tower full of vhf/uhf "services" and every radio except this one would get blasted by pager bursts, etc. I found this radio to be easy to program, easy to install and its fan is not that loud at all. It works very well on both bands - some vhf/uhf radios pale in comparison on 440.

K0KAV	Rating:	2004-02-02
Great!			Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Just what I wanted. Small, compact, dualband, detachable control panel. I found it easy to program, rather intuitive. I was pleased to see the separation cable is not an extra charge item. Nice, simple to operate mobile.

KB3KFM	Rating:	2004-01-28
expensive software			Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
No complaints about the radio's performance. It's a bit intense to program, not very intuitive. Seems like I need to refer back to the manual every time I want to do something. The other down side is that you can tack on another $100 (approx) for the cable and software to program the radio via a computer. Kinda expensive when you can get a Kenwood cable for under $10 and they provide the software via the web for FREE! rob kb3kfm

KI4CDK	Rating:	2004-01-20
Great first radio!			Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
This was my own first amateur radio. I've bought a Yaesu FT-8900R since and I'd almost sell that to get another IC-208H. The radio is absolutely wonderful. You can't beat the high power output on both bands, and with features included like tone and tone squelch, you can hit any repeater you need to hit. My only complaints are about the fan and microphone. The fan used to make a terrible grinding noise, which I corrected (I believe) by reorienting the fan 90 degrees in it assembly. Also, I'm told constantly that my audio or deviation seems "low". I've cut away at the guard in the microphone covering the element, but I've heard there was no improvement. (Yes, I'm aware there's a microphone gain setting.) I guess I'm just a quiet person. The extended transmission modification described at www.mods.dk works as described, and I'm very happy with my radio's performance.

DB1NK	Rating:	2004-01-15
nearly graet !			Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Hello 2 U HAM's, I've got my IC-E208 (European Version E2) a view days before. Here are my first impressions. Very great receiver performance. In comparison with the KENWOOD TM-D700E, the 208 is impressing more sensitive. The readability of the LCD is brillant. The new HM-133 is great. It allows you to remote all Transceiver functions, but the modulation needs improvement. It sounds a little bit thin but always clear to read. The Transmitter does the promised smoke without any problems. 55W/50W 15W-5W ;-]] A big plus for the Keybuttons. Very good to handle, precise point of contact. The memorymanagement is very powerfull but a little bit delicate to handle. If you don't use this features every day, i think the manual would be best in the near of the rig. The Coax-connection is SO239....:-[[ Ok ICOM, you are manufactureing great "DC-Transceivers" but SO239 for VHF/UHF....that won't imressing me much. There's one very large minus at last. The small fan backside the cooler, is a little terrorist. Why must it be so noisy ! Look at KENWOOD or YAESU. The fan of the TM-D700 is as half as noisy like that one. That's the reason why the IC-E208 dont get a Hand full of stars. All in all a pretty rugged hardcore useable TRX.

KG6BRG	Rating:	2004-01-09
not bad			Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
First of all, I've had no problems with the radio. The manual does a pretty good job of explaining and it's very easy to operate and program. The TX audio overall gets pretty good reports but most say, although it's acceptable it's a little "tinny" and just a tad low. The RX audio is not too good but in the shack it works, a bit bassey. In the mobile I'm afraid it would be unworkable and an ext. speaker just magnifies the low freq response. The worst feature is the fan, you can set it "on" all the time or "auto" which comes on in all power levels and stays on for 2 minutes after you un-key and it's loud, not the fan itself but the noise of the air being moved across the rig. The fan should come on as needed via a temp. sensor like my power supply uses. I'm on 5 watts mostly and basically have to listen to that fan the whole time I QSO. If it at least stopped when I unkeyed it would not be such an issue with me but I have to increase the audio gain by about 40% to overcome the fan noise. The fan in my HF Icom rig (IC-718) is whisper quiet and goes off when I un-key, it's great. 73's

KC2FZC	Rating:	2004-01-08
WOWWW			Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
What a nice little rig - it has great recieve without the intermod atleast for me - the audio is real nice going both ways - fairly easy to program - my favorite is the new HM-133 mic. with the volume and SQL controls to adjust past the preset (by you) on the face dials.

WA3JJM	Rating:	2003-09-26
Good Value			Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Have owned the 208H for about 3 months and am generally very pleased. I would have given it a 5 except for their programming software. Perhaps that shouldn't be considered because programming software doesn't really speak to the performance of the radio, which I have found to be excellent. However I do find programming to be tedious and it requires a lot of typing and data entry. It would be great if they had provided the ability to import data from a spreadsheet like my VX-5 does. It's better than programming through the Mic, but not much! I tend to run on low or medium power because that is more than sufficient for the local repeaters. On high power it gets pretty toasty very quickly in spite of the built in fan. However 55 watts is quite a lot and it's to be expected. (My VX-5 gets pretty warm at 5 watts!) I get consistently good signal and audio reports and have experienced no mechanical or electrical problems. I guess one can always find something they would like improved (like the ability to display both the frequency and Alpha information, rather than one or the other!) but all in all it comes as advertised and I wouldn't hesitate recommending it to a potential purchaser. I'm more than satisfied.............

VK6WB	Rating:	2003-09-17
A++++D/BAND RADIO			Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Just got the radio from RANDL Comm Shop and I can not wait to see what is good about this little mate. Before I look at manual just turn on the radio and go straight to 2M and manage to make a contact to a friend and he say what a nice clean TX audio....RX with the external speaker WOW... receive nice melow sound. Bit of intermod on the out of band...otherwise quite on 2 & 70 CM Amateur band..i will buy anotherone for mobile. Cheers aand all the best de GUSTI, VK6WB

«
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
»

Category:

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

Product:

Icom IC-208H

Summary:

Rating:	Time Owned:
Great! Good OK Needs Help Poor Awful!	0 - 3 Months 3 - 6 Months 6 - 12 Months More than 12 Months

Remarks:

Describe your experience with the Icom IC-208H and tell us why you give it the rating you did (required). Other useful information would include your experience with similar products, infomation on a product that you would purchase instead of this one, and so on.