| KI4NVN |
Rating:      |
2006-05-11 | |
| A nice little unit! |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
This is my first mobile rig, so I've got nothing to compare it to...but...it does everything that I can ask of it and more. The display is nice and easy to read unless you are at at unusual viewing angle, and I like the alpha display which simplifies things a lot when you're on the road. The mic, with its different sized buttons makes it easy to work the radio by 'feel' when I can't take my eyes off the road. Good thing to have when you're ARES/RACES! Its also very nice that this radio is upgradable to digital when we get the D-Star repeater set up in this area.
My few caveats about the radio are the display is selectable between green/amber but the mic illumination is not...you have the choice of one color...green. If you've got the amber display on, it makes the rig look a bit mix-n-match.
For my radio wish-list...why doesn't someone make a radio that you could easily program with or save your programs to something like a simple USB memory stick-type device? I'm sick and tired of having all sorts of special interface cables and expensive programs...and I'm a NEW ham! |
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| KC9IUX |
Rating:      |
2006-03-23 | |
| Very happy |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| My first amature radio. Took a little while to program, I needed to learn what the features were meant to do. I really like the mic, you can access most of the radios functions from it. I use it as a base, and hearing all the other VHF traffic from Air to Marine and more, is alot of fun. I have an IC 2000H also, and while the 2000 is a good radio, I like the 2200 ALOT more. I'm probably gonna give a V8000 a try, I seem to be having good luck with Icoms. |
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| KE5HFM |
Rating:      |
2006-02-24 | |
| Great Radio for any HAM needing 2 Meters. |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
This is my first radio so this review is being written from the viewpoint of a new ham. eham.net was a great resource when making my decision! I have my rig attached to an Anntronics 5/8 wave mag mount on my truck.
I actually started looking at radios once I passed my test. My elmer pointed me to eham.net as a resource in the decision making process and initially told me to stay away from Icom, but I just loved the way this radio looked so I began investigating it further.
The 2200H has all the features and specs that I was told were essential in a quality radio.
1. Mil Spec housing
2. no fan
3. Lots of memory banks
4. high power output
The fact that there is no fan is a real selling point to me. I am a computer engineer by trade and know what happens when a fan stops working! Eliminating that concern made a huge difference.
So far, I have had no intermod problems with this radio. In fact, I've had no problems at all with this radio and will probably be picking up a second one for the wifes car.
Overall, the 2200H was very easy to program, albeit laborious without the benefit of the software and the OPC-478 cable. a maximum of 6 alpha-numeric characters can be assigned to each memory slot to help identify the frequency. The large dial on the right of the radio makes selecting digits easy. I programmed 90 channels in my radio, including their alpha identifiers in about an hour whilst a friend drove the truck home from a trip on roads and there rough at times. I don't recommend this to those of you that get car sick though!
Power output is great and as advertised - 65W, I've received several compliments on audio quality and can talk easily on all the repeaters in my area (up to 50 miles so far). The radio spends most of it's life in low-power mode though as the reoeater I am normally on is only 5-8 miles away. It is nice to know I have 65W available to me if I ever need it. Especially on long road trips through sparsley populated areas.
The radio is chock full of options that I have yet to play with, including the ability to "go digital" - something I may want to do in the future. the down side is you have to purchase the board seperatley... oh well.
Audio outpout is also very strong. I have this rig mounted in a 4X4 truck with some serious mudder tires on it, the sing pretty good on the highway, and hearing this radio over them is no problem at all.
The microphone is easy to use and well lit. The number of buttons on the thing was a little intimidating at first, but I have found that you can do just about anything using the mic, from changing power levels to programming new channels and using the autopatch on my local clubs repeater. I assume that these are pretty standard features, but I still think they are worth noting. I'ts nice to be able to completly customize every memory bank, from the PL code to the power level used. Auto repeater offset made learning to program and enjoying my new hobby the much easier and faster. I was talking on the radio less than 5 minutes after it was installed!
Things I didn't like:
The radio does get warm on long QSO's, but thats to be excpected since the entire body of the radio is a giant heat sink. This means that it can't be tucked up neatly against the dash when mounting. Air flow is a must around this radio.
The clip that the mic uses is also pretty cheesy, it's nothing more than a thin metal hook that you mount with either sticky tape or two self-tapping screws. The loop on the mic seems to be pretty delicate, so care will have to be taken. The mic also has s tendancy to "swing" around on the hook while driving. Something I'm not used to.
Only 6 Alpha characters per memory. The FT-2800M that my elmer uses has 8 I think. It may not seem like a big deal, but those two extra characters sure would be nice!
The display is very "angle limited" as far as readability. I have the radio mounted at about 30 degreed from horizontal in my truck and the display is just starting to "fade" at that angle (the display characters aren't fully black)
Setting the waether alert feature to "on" and then listening to a conversation on the regular frequencies causes the radio to go silent every 5 seconds. This is because the radio is checking for a weather alert every 5 seconds. Very annoying
None of these little things really affect the functionality of the radio and I have yetto have any problems with it.
Given the chance, I'd definatley buy it again!! |
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| K4DV |
Rating:      |
2006-02-24 | |
| Powerful, solid radio for the money |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I owned the older brother to this rig, which is still in operation, the Icom 2000H. This is basically an "improved" version, with a few more bells and whistles. I chose this one over the Yaesu 2800 due to some bad reviews from people, and I am a Yaesu fan, but the problems were too many for me to take a chance on one, so I went back with another Icom.
Been running this pretty hard the last couple of weeks, putting it through the mill and it has been a good solid rig. Checked the wattage output on all 4 power levels and had a pretty big surprise....the first three levels were pretty much on target of the advertised power and slightly above it but on high power it is putting out nearly 80 watts!?!? I rechecked it and my meter is correct. Does this have the same finals as the V 8000 maybe?
It does run a pretty warm when using high power for extended periods, but it is basically one big heat sink, so it dissapates the heat well. I think people worry too much about heat anyway personally. I have had radios that would get so hot you couldn't touch them, and they are still going strong after 15 years.
More than enough memories, big easy to read display, which you can set for green or amber color backlighting. Nice microphone. Easy to program. Good audio reports and pretty sensitive receiver.
I will give it a 4.9 just because I haven't had it long enough to see if any problems arise with age, but as with most Icom's, they are pretty darn tough. |
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| VE4VID |
Rating:      |
2005-11-21 | |
| Good station rig also |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I purchased the IC-2200H for the express purpose of being my station 2m rig. I needed a separate rig as my FT-897D is often tied up with digital modes as well as satellite. I researched the web, including this site, inspected rigs in use and tried a few. This rig was my choice although priced higher than I really wished to pay ($275.00 CDN).
I have received numerous compliments of excellant audio both on repeaters and simplex. I must admit my temporary antenna is a Larson 5/8 mag mount stuck to my tower cross braces up about 30 feet, and the antenna bent 90 degrees to make it vertical. Simplex contacts out to 75 km indicated excellant clarity, even with fair amounts of bacon frying. I'm limited to 25 watts due to a lite power supply.
Operation has been smooth and no problems of any kind. The mike is busy for my likes as rig controls aren't needed on a station machine, in my case. This rig looks like a keeper for me and barring some kind of disaster, I see no need to ever replace it.
My only negative thought is the fact that Icom doesn't place the mike element in the top center and I at times cover it due to the manner I hold mikes. |
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| KC5ZRQ |
Rating:      |
2005-10-29 | |
| New Lower Price Makes Radio a Bargin |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
| Icom has dropped the price on the IC-2200H. The radio is probably the best 2-meter FM mobile to ever be produced. At most places, it is about $20 cheaper than the IC-V8000. I know some of you aren't too excited about digital, but being able to upgrade to digital in the future, I think would be a selling point. |
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| BIRDMAN |
Rating:      |
2005-10-28 | |
| Great! |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| Great for the car (and base). No fan, great receive and nice 65W of power! |
|
| AD5RR |
Rating:      |
2005-06-23 | |
| Simply the Best |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I agree with K2OOL, I have no use for digital. As a single band fm mobile, the Icom 2200 is by far the best I've used. The receiver is simply amazing. Compared to my Icom 2100, stations sound clearer and stronger. I've always gotten good audio reports with this rig. The 65 watt power output seems to help a lot when getting into distant repeaters. Within the first week of using it, I was working into repeaters 350 miles away (although it IS tropo season). Overall, an excellent radio. |
|
| FORMER_K2OOL |
Rating:      |
2005-05-14 | |
| Just what I Needed |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
First off: I didn't need that new fangdangled high priced voice stuff. I really don't think any of us need to digital talk. Heck aren't we understanding each other on FM already?
But, I did want a tuff higher wattage radio that worked as good as the IC-2100H. I perfer not having a fan on a radio as you should wait for cool down befor shutting off the radio (No Fan On The IC-2200H). I do wish the APO would go longer than two hours.
Over all...Good enginering and slightly better that my IC-V8000 (see my rating there too) |
|
| JZ09EOS |
Rating:     |
2004-04-30 | |
| Good Audio |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| After I've bad experience with Yaesu ft-2800 audio, finally I got the good audio quality at ic-2200h. With the same power (65w), rig is more stable and has good performance than ft-2800. |
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