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Reviews For: ICOM IC-7200

Category: Transceivers: HF Amateur HF+6M+VHF+UHF models - non QRP <5W

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Review Summary For : ICOM IC-7200
Reviews: 231MSRP: 1099.95
Description:
Compact DSP IF HF/50 MHz transceiver.
First shown at Tokyo hamfair August 2007
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.icom.co.jp/world/products/amateur/hf/ic-7200/index.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
152314.8
M3LMY Rating: 2013-10-10
Excellent Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Only using for listening at present, and for what it's worth I have to say out of all the "quiet" radios I've owned this is an amazing receiver..

Pulls out weak signals so well.
Nice feel to the radio everything becomes intuitive after a short time..

Well done Icom great radio right price!
IW0GVG Rating: 2013-10-08
Good radio Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Excellent radio!!
PY1XM Rating: 2013-10-03
NO NOISE Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
THE BEST THING THIS RADIO HAS IS THE LOW NOISE, NO PROBLEMS WITH FILTERS, ALL THEM VERY GOOD AND EFFECTIVENESS.
NB,NR ETC.I AM VY GLAD WITH IT.
IF YOU NEED A GOOD RADIO WITH A GOOD PRICE BUY ONE.
YOU WILL BE VERY HAPPY WITH IT.
PY1XM-TOM
K4MT Rating: 2013-10-01
Noise noise noise Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I just had the opportunity to A/B the 7200 with some old Drake twins and TR-7 radios. I tested weak signals on 20 and 15 meters. The weak signals that were clobbered by all the receiver noise in the 7200 were perfect copy on both of the old drakes. The signal strength was the same on all radios but the old Drakes were so quiet that they could pull signals out of the noise.

Yes I had the preamp off and even tried various levels of noise reduction but signals were heard but not able to understand on this noisy receiver.

I now use my TR-7 more than the 7200. Thats Sad.
G0AIN Rating: 2013-09-09
Can't Fault it Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Had this radio a couple of months. I bought it because of the price and I wanted every penny focused on HF/6M and not on internal ATU's, UHF capability etc. Not at all keen on internal ATU's by the way.

Also this is quite an old radio now, so I felt the bugs would be out by now.

I'm not a contester, just a casual user, tending to listen a lot more than I actually transmit.

At weekend 40M was crammed with contest stations - the twin PBT control is like black magic, the adjacent stations just go away.

So as a basic user, this is a great radio and a lot of fun.

W4NNF Rating: 2013-08-22
Couldn't ask for more for this price! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
After owning the IC-7200 for almost a year, I continued to be impressed by this little rig. Excellent receiver, especially in this class, great audio. I always get outstanding reports.

As for the display? It is minimalist, but if you are willing to operate the 7200 with HRD or another rig control program, you don't give up a thing. And the fact that it has a USB connection makes that very easy. Well, sort of easy. I struggled to get the 7200 working with HRD for hours until I finally realized the driver did not like the USB3 port on the new computer. After that, no problems. The best recommendation I can give? If I had it to do all over again, I'd buy another one.
N0UY Rating: 2013-08-02
Very Pleased Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I aquired this radio used from a fellow that was looking to trade this rather large portable for a smaller one to fit in his vehicle. I reluctantly parted with my trusted IC-706MIIG and a small HF amp for this rig.

I have been thoroughly impressed with it ever since. This year at field day, do to my work schedule I operated portable from my own back yard with my normal field day antennas. This unit was an absolute gem to operate and worked so well at digging out the weak signals. The 100 watts was more than adequate to make several hundred qs even with the limited band conditions this year.

Battery consumption was very exceptable and compared to my 706 rig. OMG the ease of making adjustments to the band pass and the individual filters on cw was wonderful.

The display even though smaller than some was very readable in a dimly lit camper during the night and truly able to compete with the bright sunlight of the daytime. I am extremely pleased with this rig.
WX4O Rating: 2013-07-10
Excellent Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've been using mine for 4+ years with zero problems. The DSP filters, twin passband tuning, power output, and ease of adjusting all features make the 7200 a fantastic buy.
KS4TL Rating: 2013-07-10
Remarkable performance for its price Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Excellent receiver and DSP - amazing in a ~ $1100 radio. Decent ergonomics and ease of use, provided your shack is reasonably well lit (there is no backlighting on the controls). I get good reports on transmit audio with a SM-30 desk mike.

The built-in USB sound card makes operating digital a delight. The small size of this rig, and the fact that you don't need a sound card interface, will free up a lot of desk space. The USB connection works great for computer control, at least on Win 7 PCs, though you may need to fiddle some with drivers.

The digital filtering is amazing on CW. CW transmit seems fine to me, although my 10 wpm straight key CW isn't exactly a stringent test.

There are a few drawbacks:

#1 - The stock hand mike has issues - it's very difficult to get full output from it without distortion. Plan on either replacing or modding it (didn't matter to me, I don't like hand mikes anyway).

#2 - Like several other ICOM radios, there can be hot-switching issues if directly connected to an amp. Best to plan on using the ACC connection to hook up an amp, and possibly an interface (ARB-704, etc.) as well.

#3 - No built-in tuner, no monitor, no voice memories, and as mentioned above, no backlighting. You have to leave some things out if you want an $1100 radio.

With all that said, I think this is far and away the best under-$1500 HF rig available.
W7HR Rating: 2013-04-27
Great little rig! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought my 7200 as a second rig. I wanted one for a backup to my 7600, for portable and Field Day use, digital modes, and for monitoring 6 meters when I was using the 7600 on HF. It has worked perfectly and is a lot of fun to use. It is a great buy for $1k and its receiver compares favorably to the 7600. For a beginner I would definately recommend spending a few dollars more and getting a 7200 instead of a 718 + CW filter. A lot of bang for the buck. I would also recommend the OPC-599 breakout cable to simplify connecting an amp and digital equipment to the 7200. The only feature I miss on the 7200 is an XIT control, hardly a deal breaker. Of course it has RIT and will operate split, but I find on my other rigs XIT is a quick, simple way to go "up 2" for DX. But this is just my personal preference.

Overall, a great little radio well worth the cost. Very happy with my purchase.