Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: ICOM IC-7200

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

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
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
K1WJ Rating: 2013-04-23
Decent Rig Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
HRO Phoenix $1024 - 25$ rebate.
Have to turn mic gain to 100% & Comp to 5 - now stock mic seems ok. Receive sounds good through the little front speaker. Receive pre-amp brings up signals nicely. Overall easy to navigate buttons & menu items. Main dial feels good. I like this rig - so far so good. Display is on the small side but easy to see everything for me. Time will be true test....73 K1WJ David
N0AH Rating: 2013-04-06
Comparision side by side with several rigs- Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have done over 100 reviews on eHam- but I feel this one is of more importance than most-

The reason is that so many new hams either under buy or over buy their first radio. So I hope this helps with your decision......

Today I was at our local HRO and had an opportunity to do a side by side comparision of the IC-7200 to that of the Yaesu FT-5000, the newer Yaesu3000DX, the Kenwood 590S, and the Icom 7600.


The 7200 did an excellent job in clearly hearing weaksignal DXwhile handling adacent QRM with ease. And I mean as simple as rotating the twin bypass filtering knobs without digging through menus-


It was exceptionally simple to operate compared to all of these rigs, especially the twin bypass filtering.


My test consisted to listening to a very weak DX CW station in rather poor contest conditions for over 30 minutes. A perfect signal for what I needed to know and easy to do using A/B switching using the same antenna-


In order, the Yaesu 5000 was clearly the best. The Kenwood 590S was a clear 2nd choice. Both rigs DSP filtering did a superb job in bringing out the signal using a number of options.


Yet the IC-7200 did very good with its own filtering, and handled the adjacent strong QRM with ease. It was an OMG moment, when comparing prices and hearing the results.


I hate to say that the Icom 7600, a radio I am very confident in operating, often did not clearly hear the weak DX signal.


The FT3000DX was a train wreck in not even hearing the signal being compared to, but did pick up the strong adjacent QRM. (The filtering on this radio is easy enough to understand...it is just no contest to the 7200 from what I heard today!)


I know that having time to wiggle my way through the operating menus of these other rigs may have saved face when compared to the IC-7200, but it was such an easy effective rig to operate, I can only give it my highest recommendation for what you get for what it costs.


It is the best deal I can find going in ham radio today, period. It has a real HF sound compared to the cheesy sound of other rigs in its price range like the Yaesu FT-857, etc...


On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the best on how easy and how well I was able to hear this signal on these rigs, here are my rankings:


Yaesu 5000-10 super clean copy

Kenwood TS590S-8 with an easy copy, but not as clean signal reception as the FT-5000

Icom 7200-7 Easy to copy the weak signal, but not as clean as the the 590S

Icom 7600-4 I kept wanting it to hear better, but could not find the right spot within the DSP filtering-

Yaesu3000DX- zero- I was shocked- it looked great and was easy to operate-

The drawback, as some have mentioned, is the display is smaller then most, but easy to read.

I feel if on a limited budget, or new to the hobby, or just not wanting to spend $1,500-8,000 dollars on a radio, the 7200 is an excellent choice for CW work- It was listed at $1,029 at today's price-

paul N0AH
WD8DKB Rating: 2013-03-27
Custom colors Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I've had my IC-7200 for some time now and still feel as though it's the best investment I've made regarding Ham Radio . I'm considering purchasing another, in one of the custom colors offered by Gigaparts.
Has anyone out there purchased one of these and if so, how would you rate the quality of the paint job ? Do you feel as though it will last as long as the factory paint ? Is it as easy to dust off as the factory paint ? Are you happy with it overall ?
Looking forward to your feed back. Pse e-mail max@glwb.net
N8CM Rating: 2013-03-27
Wonderful radio! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've had this radio for a week now, and I have nothing but praise for it.

Its small foot print, relatively light weight, ease of use make it a dream to use. The menu system is a piece of cake to use. I know from reading other reviews this can be a problem for others, but its intuitive, and once learned a snap to use.

That being said the biggest selling point about this radio for me was the USB port. I was gunning for the FT-950, but Yaesu's reliance on still using serial connections and having to buy an additional serial to USB device turned me off from purchasing the 950.

The noise canceling is superb, and since finding HRD, I barely touch the radio any more, only when switching to digital mode and turning it on and off. I look forward to the weather warming up here in Michigan and spending time outdoors on the patio with this radio.
W4AL Rating: 2013-03-24
Outstanding ! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I have owned my IC-7200 for a little over three months and I must say I love the radio. I am not going to bore you with all the numbers and specs. that you can read up on should you wish to. This observation is from purely an operator's point of view. My take on this radio is this, It is a medium footprint size rig that is super user friendly which is good if you are new to amateur radio. However, if you are an old timer like me you will still love the rig because it has all the really important features needed such as NR Twin Passband tuning and wide, med. and narrow fully adjustable filters and they all actually work well. I must mention the receiver again. It's sensetive, clear and quiet. Simply amazing for this price range. The display is a little small but not so that it is bothersome. It can connect to your computer for digi modes without the need for an outboard sound card interface so PSK-31 and others are simple. No FM module in this rig but I never use my HF rig for FM anyway so that was just a money saver for me. In closing let me say this. If you are a new amateur operator or an experienced operator who needs a good solid base or backup radio with a smaller foot print or any other reason you will enjoy the IC-7200. Defintely the best in it's price range from my point of view and I've owned just about all of them under $3000.00. Yes! It's that good.
KR4JY Rating: 2013-03-24
Display Too Small Time Owned: N.A.
The display is way to small and it is very user unfriendly. We have one at our Club that we use for Field Day each year. Gets out well and receives well, but it is not an easy radio to use or understand. But then again everyone has their own opinions.
G4OER Rating: 2013-03-24
great rig Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Having worked around the problem I had with hot switching my amp I can now say that I think the rig is very good value for money. Does everything most people want from a modern radio.
KB4YHO Rating: 2013-02-24
Fantastic rig Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
OK so I was looking for a back up rig and have had all the usual cast of characters like IC7000, 706mkII, FT897, TS480 etc. Never knew about this Icom 7200 as it appears to be the red headed step child in their HF family. Went to HRO to get a closer look and wow this 7200 is a sleeper. I tried it on every antenna and band that was working. I had a FT5000 next to it for comparison and all I can say is the 7200 heard everything that the FT5000 did. Further the 7200 appears at first to have a slightly noisey receiver, not so after tweaking the various filter settings as well as the great IF DSP and excellent noise blanker system. Removing the covers is a snap and this thing is built pretty stout. The 7200 has the general appearance of a military man pack and sports a liquid resistant front panel. The controls are arranged in a fashion of the most used with the usual menus and double function keypad. I really like the dual PBT control as it works very effectively, as does the ANF. The other thing I noticed is the DSP in this rig sounds better than my ProIII and the filters have better overall performance. The NB works better too. The DSP chips are of a much newer design so I should expect as much. Anyway this rig is one of those you don't hear a lot about because it just plain performs. Costs way less than most others and is definitely fighting well above its weight. Buy one and put handles on it just like the big rigs.....Ho Ho
AA4AJ Rating: 2013-02-17
Great radio Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I bought the IC-7200 as a backup radio. I have enjoyed using it's features and find my time being split between this radio and my primary (IC-7410). The menus are easy to use. The radio has a quality look and feel. It is obviously meant to be used as a portable radio as it is very compact and has options that lend it to that sort of use. Congfiguring this radio is a little different from my other in that there are many menu options for little used features and most buttons are multi-functional. You set it and forget it. As you get beyond that, use becomes very intuitive and you quickly learn to use the buttons and menus. There are no clicks but, the fans start immediately. They are not objectionable but, you send and they start. The radio does not get hot. I think ICOM has done a great job making this an affordable and feature packed radio for the beginner or seasoned ham.

I submit these reviews because I find that I depend on them and their accuracy. I hope this helps you make a decision.
KD7XH Rating: 2013-01-23
Great Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This rig works great. The first reciver that the noise blanker works as hoped. To zero beat a cw station, just switch to ssb, then zero beat the station then switch back to cw and the station will be properely tuned in +- a few Hertz. This works on other Icom radios ( ic-703, IC-718 and IC-7200). The other feature I like is that there only two screens to access and both are easy to get to. The 3 filters are each easy to adjust and that is great. For tuning up a antenna coupler the SWR meter works deown to 5 watts, thus saving the finals during tune up. The power is easily to adjust with one button and one knob.