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Reviews For: ICOM F521-F621 series VHF / UHF

Category: Transmitters: non-amateur adaptable for ham use

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Review Summary For : ICOM F521-F621 series VHF / UHF
Reviews: 2MSRP: MSRP $450, typical street price
Description:
Landmobile transceiver with conventional or trunking options.
Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.bearcom.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0025
W5KVV Rating: 2017-12-19
Great LMR mobile Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have the IC-F621TR. This is the trunking version, however it can be used on standard non-trunked systems.

I can only echo what KE4SKY has said in his review from 13 years ago. These are great radios. Prices have came way down on them as of late and you can expect to pay $50-$100 for a rig in good shape. They'll do everything you need them to do. Icom's LMR equipment is leaps & bounds ahead of their hammy gear.

Bonus with these radios: As with most Icom LMR mobiles, they make excellent repeater link radios. I know of several that have been in continuous link service at 25 watts for years without missing a beat. The accessory cable is part # OPC-617 and as of the writing of this review is still available from Icom. Alternatively, aftermarket OPC-617's are available at about half the price of the OEM cables. The cable pinout is available online and makes for quick interfacing with other equipment.

Granted these radios are getting a little long in the tooth. But they are still a fine example of a LMR radio that is quite happy in amateur service.
KE4SKY Rating: 2004-12-21
Compact landmobile enables GMRS and ham in same box Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I bought the F621 UHF version because I needed a type accepted radio which would permit transmit in GMRS and 70 cm ham band from the same rig, which the available 440-490 split does.

My local area Bearcom landmobile shop was very helpful. The salesman who demonstrated the rig for me was a ham previously known to me, but I didn't realize that he was in the commercial landmobile business. Local price in September 2004 for the IC 621 was $350.

I highly recommend that you do ahead and buy the programming software so that you can tweak the set-up yourself, since once you become familiar with the radio you may want to change something.
This was important because as received from Bearcom all my channels were default programmed with DPL and I was unable to hear some repeaters which didn't pass tone through on transmit, or simplex chat without tone. The programming software is intuitive once you get into it and the rig has some useful options not available in ham rigs, such as a boot-up password protect function, selectable programmed transmit inhibit, narrow or wide FM mode, compander, "stun" and "kill" options to disable a stolen or lost radio over the air, etc.

The rig is very solid and absolutely intermod proof. Having 45w RF output on UHF is a plus.
I like the simplicity of a landmobile layout for ARES / RACES use by other hams who aren't "knob twiddlers." Once set up the rig is a lead pipe cinch to use. Get one for your XYL.