| KK4NWW |
Rating:  |
2024-11-26 | |
| bunker radio |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Hello everyone, i had 3 years searching one of this marvel, finally i found a good deal on it. this one came to replaced my old Kenwood ts-50/ at-50 emergency com kit.
i wanted a rugged radio to use it mainly during hurricane deployment, and after storm.
its perfect to take it to the camping site, park table, or even the beach.
sounds great in RX, and i got good audio report with original hand mic.
5 stars to this marvel, if you dont need waterfall, and enjoy using basic resources to fight adjacent spurious interference, use the BPT PBT variable, IF shift and DNR, variable IF filter, wide, mid and Narrow. the only not good stuff is the current drain in RX, 1 plus amp.
using my 100Ah battery can run it for the whole weekend.
73! |
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| N8YX |
Rating: |
2024-09-03 | |
| I really like this rig |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Haven't had it online for more than a few days, but it's a great radio for what you get.
I have a number of pre-DSP Icoms and usually run a set of "twins" in my upstairs office. IC-751A/R-71A are frequent fliers. As are an IC-720A/R-70 or an IC-745/R-70 pair. Recently I hauled my TS-440S/R-5000 out of storage and put it in the upstairs spot; before that was a JRC JST-135HP/NRD-525 pair. Being able to listen to multiple frequencies (say, a receiver doing digital stuff and a companion transceiver on our local voice net) is highly desirable.
What I found out is that most of the above is showing its age and needs an extended stay on my test bench. So I set about finding something a bit more contemporary. I don't need a 7851 or 101MP up here, but something a bit more capable than a 703+, 706 or 7000 (which I also own) was mandated.
I decided on the IC-7200 and an R-75 as a secondary receiver. The transceiver drops right into the Icom peripheral suite - with the proper cables I can use my PS-30, AT-150 and other accessories just like they work with the 751A.
My two gripes: No FM (no big deal) and no RX In/Out ports (like every other Icom HF rig of previous generations supported). To be honest, my TS-930S offers neither of those features but it's a great SSB/CW rig.
I use flrig as a front end for general operation, fldigi for the majority of digital modes and wsjtx for FT8, etc. Computer control is seamless, like other reviewers have mentioned.
To share an antenna between the two pieces of equipment I have an MFJ-1708 inbound. If that doesn't work as well as I want I'll look into the DX Engineering equivalent.
The IC-7200 isn't a contest grade transceiver, but it isn't a behemoth either. Those live in my main shack. For my intended use it works very well. I wouldn't mind finding another one at some point either. |
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| KK7XE |
Rating: |
2023-10-15 | |
| Quality Radio |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Has been a few years since I have owned a 7200, but found an near mint one a snapped it up. Found a pair of the rack mount handles in Great Britain and cringed at the cost with freight but they arrived in a few days and as always, makes the radio look good and offers protection for front of rig. No matter what reviews I read am always amazed at hams complaining about what a radio does not have! Why buy it? Have had many radios over the past 30 years + but still enjoy some of the tube rigs and pre-waterfall radios. Knowing the basics of how to use a radio still makes the Icom 7200 a great radio to use both on phone a CW. Not much into the digital stuff. I enjoy real communication and not have my computer doing digital chat. Does not float my boat. If you get a chance and find one of these, grab it and have some fun. The only thing I have changed on the radio is using an Icom HM-219 mic as the newer HM-36 lacks any sort of quality.
Remember, it does not have tuner, backlit buttons etc, but its a radio that does the job and, if need be, it does have USB access on back of radio. |
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| EA7AQV |
Rating: |
2022-11-13 | |
| Great HF/6m Radio! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| The Icom IC7200 is my main radio since 2008, and in spite of the irruption of many new models into the market, I never had the idea of getting another one. It's a great radio for CW, and, in spite of the articles I have read where some people aks for some missing details such as internal tuner, backlid buttons, FM mode, and bands higher than 6 m, those are not quite importan details for me for me, so, it is a radio that gives me all that I expect from a radio, adding something very important for me: It is solid like a tank! |
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| K3RW |
Rating: |
2022-05-07 | |
| Great rig, need more like it |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
The IC-7200 sold me first for the ease of adjusting the passband tuning, the USB out for digital modes, and simplicity compared to the IC-706 series. No filters or other things to buy. Plug it in and enjoy. If you want a panadapter, download Fldigi and use that. Its one less thing to fail, as evident on many of the newer ICOMs.
In years of owning it I had full output all bands, a great digital rig, and thoroughly enjoyed its operation.
It does not have a transverter port, nor does it do FM either. These I had in my other ICOM rigs and as I began running transverters I eventually used the 7200 less and less.
Audio was crisp and I had only wished ICOM had backlit the buttons. The orange screen as a bit of an adjustment compared to the green 706, color 7600, or monochrome-like 7100.
I did not miss having an internal tuner with this radio. Its a 100w radio, so virtually any outboard tuner is sufficient.
No weird display problems like the dreaded lines of other ICOM radios, no frills I suppose, and no silliness either. It performs well. |
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| ZS6VLT |
Rating: |
2022-01-27 | |
| Great HF rig for simple folk. |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
My IC-7200 is my main rig for DX and thelike and every time I use it it impress me.
Overall the most of the key functions are just where you need them right on the front panel.
Power output is great although I had an issue with the rig cuttinng out as soon as you TTon high power. Turns out the fuse holders were worn so a bit of TLC now runs max power no issues.
My favorite part is the built-in USB soundboard and CATcontrol for digital modes. I use this with a headless Raspberry Pi every minute of every day on various modes. It just work. No physical presence required.
Of you can find them do not miss opportunity to own and run this rig.
P.s. Best thing is no waterfall display etc that makes you what to stare at the radio ,if you want that get a SDR and sit infornt of your PC. That feels like work to me.... |
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| WA8MEA |
Rating: |
2022-01-05 | |
| Update - MUCH better! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Icom IC-7200 update: In a prior review, I was rather upset about other hams not hearing me when transmitting on this model Icom. Recently, I ran across an online article that said the mic gain and mic compression had to be turned all the way up in order for the rig to transmit at full potential. So I removed it from off of the shelf and hooked it back up. Since doing as the article recommended, the rig is a pleasure to run. And the receive audio filters are sure nice to have to knock out all types of interference.
Bought a new hand mic that is stock with the 7300. That greatly helped my transmit audio.
I wish the SWR protection wasn't so extreme. Anything between 1.4 to 1 and 1.9 to 1 and the output starts to drop dramatically. |
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| G4VRR |
Rating: |
2021-11-26 | |
| Great little Radio With Just One Or Two Caveats |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Updates appear to be de rigueur so ...
I've had this radio for several years now, and along with a couple of Icom dual-bander mobiles I own it has been completely reliable (which is more than I could say for the various Yaesus I've had over the years.) It looks as though I homed in on the best choice for me right from the get go? I admit that my doublet antenna is configured in a very inefficient way to avert the attentions of "bonfire watchers" so I can't have particularly high expectations of the radio's bleeding edge performance, but that said, with all the IF digital filter configurability, I still feel it offers excellent value for money a decade on from its inception. Mine's a keeper for sure.
Who needs FM to compromise an HF radio with a wider roofing filter? I have an old converted CB for that and it's packed away somewhere. I still find the lack of a low RF carrier "Tune" function irritating and I would have prefered an additional selectable narrower roofing filter- maybe 3KHz, but you can't have everything at this price point. It's still five stars here as far as I'm concerned.
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Earlier review follows:
This radio is not without its faults, yet despite this I am enjoying using it immensely. I find it reprehensible that Icom should see fit to ship it with a microphone that has such unacceptably low output and is of poor tactile quality. I've encountered far better CB mics. However, unlike another correspondent, my response to this was not to eschew Icom product in perpetuity, but rather to procure a second-user Japanese variant of the mic'. When I stop to think about that, it gives me the shivers; it's a little like buying a second hand harmonica. Yuck. Further, this business of having to change mode and power just to tune up and then change the settings back again is just plain daft. Why we have allowed them to get away with it for so long and over so many different radios is beyond me.
To address this inconvenience, I am using the "Tune" button with one of the Molex plug dongle kludges, but there are issues related to that, not least in having to wait for the capacitor to discharge before using the function again. It's not as though this is the first radio from Icom that sports such an ergonomic "accident". It's unforgiveable, but overall (and since fractions of stars to award are not allowed) 5 it has to be since this is better than a four star set. In any event, I suspect other manufacturers are equally keen for us to use their own in-house tuning solutions on their respective offerings?
I believe that the radio languishes somewhere a long way down from the stellar performers at the top of the table regarding first IF image rejection and reciprocal mixing, but I cannot tell that from using it so it's not a deal breaker for me. I wasn't forced to re-mortgage my house to buy it either. Even given my foregoing remarks, I still have no hesitation in recommending it. If you are a cutting edge DX hound or some one that likes to send TEST and 5NN ad infinitum then perhaps this TRX is not for you, but for the rest of us it seems like a cracking little radio to me.
Perhaps Icom could be persuaded to issue a firmware patch that might address one or more of these observations? No, I didn't think so either. |
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| KA1JFB |
Rating: |
2021-11-26 | |
| Great Radio! |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| This is my second Icom 7200 sold the first one to a School for their ham radio project! But I missed it so bad I just got another one with the SM-30 Desk mike! This radio is made to take to the field and its made to military specks as far as I'm concerned! This one is a keeper just to let you know how much i like it i sold my Yaesu FTdx-3000 to get one and made out on the deal! K3BF sold me his mint one for $640.00 with shipping! Ive seen them still selling for up to $800 to $1000 So what does that tell ya! It's a darn good radio! Now my shack is complete! My backup rig is Yaesu FT-991A That's a shack in a radio! If you want it all! lol Good Job Icom! and I'm not a Icom guy! Yaesu is the Radio like they say on their stickers!!! 73 Joe Latest News! 6/19/21 As much as i loved the 7200! It was time to try something new! So i went and traded the 7200 for a ICOM 736! well fellows lets see how that works out? Never had one before so any comments would be appreciated! Thanks Joe KA1JFB I love trying new (used) radios out and maybe i will find that real KEEPER! lol 73... send any comments to KV4iO@truvista.net Ok hears the latest scoop! 11/7/2021 I just sold my Yaesu FT-950 to a guy in PR. For $700.00 Gave him a good deal on one that was made in 2014! So i think i finally made up my mind? (we are never satisfies that goes for all of us) So i picked up and yes this is my 3rd ICOM 7200! Im going to say its a keeper because im getting to old to keep shipping out radios! The only fault with the ICOM 7200 is they didn't put in FM! But thats ok i can get it on my Yaesu FT-991A But for the other 2 i had i NEVER had a single issue with this radio! I dont have it yet but when i get it ill let you know how she preforms ! I cant say enough about this radio! Its also a great radio if your a new ham and thinking about buying your first rig! very easy to use! So with that as i said before if you can get your hands on one BUY-IT This one i got was HARD to find! I guess hams are keeping them? I know im going to no matter what! And if i get tired of using it ill just put in in the original box and leave it to my son Brian who is into CB (been trying to get him his ticket but hes too lasy to study can you believe that when the tech test is soooo easy)???? well 73 for now and ill let you know how it works out next week with my NEW used ICOM 7200! KA1JFB Well after my 3rd 7200 ive decided to settled on a Yaesu FTdx 1200 and putting in the FFT-1 board in it i think that will end my buying and trying radio hobbie??? I hope! 73 Joe KA1JFB |
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| KT4WO |
Rating: |
2021-11-08 | |
| Love It!! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Update--- 2021
I still love this little rig and when it was new it was
well worth the $$. But compared to the new radios
(IC-7300/FTDX10) it shows it's age. It is still my main
digi-mode radio but on 75M voice, close in signals really beat the RX up.
With that said it is still worth what I paid, so still 5 stars.
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Had it about 3 months now, I run 99% digi modes.
The USB interface is SOOO NICE!!...
I was always a Kenwood man...180/50/450/850,,etc
until the IC-718. While the 718 is not a TS-450SAT, for the price its good. The 7200 is a real step up from the 718 and even the TS-450S.
For $800 bucks you can't go wrong.
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Earlier 5-star review posted by KT4WO on 2015-11-24
For $800 bucks this rig can't be beat. Paired with
a LDG tuner what more could one need?
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