Icom IC-Z1A

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N2ZN	Rating:	2003-09-04
Fun radio to use			Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned this radio since it first came out in 1995, and it was my first dual band HT after a few excursions into monoband HT's. This radio simply amazed me with the amount of features it had-50 memories per band (not much by today's standards, though), alphanumeric paging and channel labeling, cross band repeat (not mentioned in the manual), and just an all around solid HT, that had the ability to remove the faceplate and use it like a speaker mic, but with the display and controls in your hand as well. This was terrific, and this radio served for me for many years as a portable and base rig. The detachable front panel led to excellent base operations. This HT was used in countless hours of nets, ARES/RACES, and casual operations in all situations. The only main problem I have ever had with this radio is that some of the keypad buttons were starting to fail, and now 8 years later, the keypad is useless, so the radio is baasically useless because it cannot be turned on or operated. Hopefully, a simple repair for the folks at Icom. If you can find one, pick one up; you will NOT be disappointed. Aside from the bum keypad (seemingly, a trend in Icom HT's), this is still my favorite radio. Despite lacking some of today's features like computer programming, dot matrix display, hundreds of memories, and DC-daylight receive coverage, it's still a winner.

Reviews For: Icom IC-Z1A