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Reviews For: Icom IC-3200A

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

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Review Summary For : Icom IC-3200A
Reviews: 16MSRP: $120
Description:
Dual Band Radio 2M~70CM
Product is not in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00163.9
N8FIS Rating: 2005-04-25
Nice rig for its age Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I need some help with mine. I have no problems
programing a UHF freq that ends in 50 such as;
443.225.50 but I can't figure out how to get the
rig to end in .75 or .25. The owners manual shows
them on the display but I have not found (or over
looked it) anything to tell you how.

Any suggestions guys? E-Mail me at;

n8fis@juno.com please.

Thanks... Bill N8FIS
W3ZD Rating: 2005-02-18
Really solid rig Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I own two of these radios since they were new and they have performed quite well. The only thing that is common to both is the dial lamps burned out several years ago. I have replaced the lamps with yellow LEDs and that mod works out quite well. I used both thse radios for packet and found out later that they have a bad rap for slow switching! I did not have that proble since I went into the radio and took the audio out from the detector stage. I still use both of them today with one in the car and the other at home. I'd rate this one up near the top of the list.

Clayton W3ZD
KD4FUN Rating: 2005-01-12
DEPENDABLE RADIO Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Purchased my Icom 3200A at a local hamfest about a year ago. The price was very reasonable. The rig stays in my truck and seems to put out a decent signal on VHF/UHF. This is a basic no frills radio. Intermod rejection seems pretty good at my QTH. I have been told the TX audio is a little on the hot side, I use the supplied Icom hand microphone. The TX/RX switching is way too slow for Packet/APRS but for phone operation it does the job quite well.
VE3YES Rating: 2005-01-12
Basic voice transportation Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This was by first rig I ever bought. It worked fine for years until I sold it to someone who promptly had it stolen from his car. Despite my number of cons, it was a good unit and a worthy 2nd radio for the wife's car etc.

Pros-
- reliable performer
- intermod rejection pretty good
- Rx quite sensitive on UHF
- single coax - built in diplexor

Cons-
- lack of channels (10)
- rudimentary channel & frequency scanning
- out-of-band coverage very weak
- runs hot if you talk a lot
- no provision for CTCSS decode
- doesn't like direct sunlight at all

Known faults:
- hybrid PA known to fail, replacements hard to find.
- mic buttons and cable are weak points
- Tx-Rx turnaround time very slow

Overall I give it a 4 out of 5.
K7VO Rating: 2004-09-14
Good older rig, excellent value on used market Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
When I started downgrading my shack a few months ago due to some financial difficulties I sold my Icom IC-901A and looked for an inexpensive dual bander. I found an IC-3200A on eBay and got it at a very reasonable price. My experience has been a positive one.

The Icom IC-3200A dates from the mid to late '80s and was Icom's first dual band mobile. It's of the same generation as the Icom IC-28A/H, IC-38A, IC-48A, and IC-1200 monobanders. If you like those rigs you will probably like the IC-3200A. The rig is pretty long and you need a fairly deep space into which to mount it. I had to mount mine on the side of the console in my 2001 Hyundai instead of in the console as I might have done with a smaller rig.

Output power is 25W per band. The radio covers the 2m and 440 bands and can be converted to 430-440MHz with a simple mod. It cannot, however, cover anything more than 10MHz at 70cm at a time and has very limited out of band capability on 2m. If you need to receive NOAA weather broadcasts forget this radio.

There are only 10 memories. That's not 10 per band, mind you. The total number is 10 for both bands and the "CALL" channels count in that 10. This can be somewhat limiting. The radio always comes on in VFO mode regardless of whether or not it was in memory mode when you switched it off. There are two VFOs: VFO A is always for 2m and VFO B is always for 70cm. Changing which band is in which, or having both on one band, is not possible. The radio does not have dual display. The frequency you are on is what you see, period. You can scan the memories or one band. You cannot scan both bands. All these limitations are a function of the age of the rig. You get what you pay for, right?

The display is a backlit LCD. It's clear and readable in most lighting and at most angles. Receive and transmit audio are both good. The receiver sensitivity and selectivity seem to be fine and the radio is not particularly intermod prone, a huge plus and a major reason for recommending this rig.

A CTCSS (PL) tone encoder is standard on this radio. There is no provision for tone decode -- this radio cannot do tone squelch. Different PL tones can be stored for each memory and each VFO. However, there is a "tone number" for each possible frequency. For example, a tone of 100.0Hz is tone number 12. You basically have to have a very good memory or keep the manual handy to dial up a different tone that wat you currently have set.

You can change the offset for each VFO and each memory channel independently, which is handy in areas where there is a repeater with an odd split. There is also a Priority function which allows you to monitor one frequency while working another.

All in all this was a very advanced rig in its day and it is a durable performer with a good receiver. By today's standards its functions are limited and somewhat awkward. If you can live with that you'll enjoy the rig. It's certainly worth what I paid for it.
KD3GM Rating: 2004-09-11
Good Value Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I picked up this rig shortly after I upgraded my ticket to Advanced back in 1993 at a local hamfest from a dealer. It was slightly used and as soon as I got it home, the SO239 pigtail connector came loose inside the rig and I had to return it for repair. That one feature is the only thing that detracts from the rig! Other than that I have beat the living #@%$! out of this radio and it still keeps on playing. To date, I have never seen another one being sold anywhere, even Ebay. I am quite happy with this rig.