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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
KK4DVC Rating: 2012-07-20
Very pleased Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I spent quite a bit of time and research for an HF rig in the $1,000 to $1,500 range before buying this one and it has exceeded my expectations. The receiver is very sensitive with very good selectivity. What makes this rig shine is the DSP, the noise reduction works so well without distortion, provided you don't crank it up too high. The noise blanker is the best I've used, killing local noise from power lines and other neighborhood sources. It is so nice to be able to adjust the DSP filters from soft to sharp contours according to band and operating conditions. Everything you need to adjust is available on the front panel.
With the DSP NR, NB, twin passband tuning and EXCELLENT manual notch filter I can zero in on weak signals amidst crushing, splattering signals a few KCs away. Again, the MNF is outstanding! The receiver is very quiet and while some Kenwood fans might grumble to my ear it is less noisy than the TS-590 I spent considerable time trying next to this one.
When I first used the rig with the stock hand mic transmit audio was weak. I now use an Icom SM-20 desk mic with compression set at 4 and mic gain to 80%. I get unsolicited reports of great audio that is strong, crisp and clean. This rig likes the transmit audio pushed hard.
I would call the receive audio "communications grade," not too "muddy" like the FT 950 and FT 450 I considered and tried at HRO Atlanta. I am using an RCA mini bookshelf speaker with separate woofer and tweeter that produces very pleasing audio to my ear. With headphones it's even better and there is no hash or noise at all from the audio circuit. Even the front panel built in speaker works very well considering the size.
I am using the LDG IT-100 tuner that synchs very well with the 7200 and feeding into a Buckmaster 80 meter OCF dipole with excellent results on all bands.
For a grand spent I think this is the best choice out there. Very rugged build quality and not too big so that it doesn't take up all the space on my desk. The fan is also quiet when it does kick in on long QSOs.
From my trials and experience you will not get a better rig until you look into rigs twice or three times as much. ICOM did a great job engineering this radio!
KF7ORO Rating: 2012-07-15
Great rig Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
The 7200 is my first HF rig so I have limited experience but after about 9 months of using it, I can say it was very easy to figure out for someone who's never worked HF before. There aren't many buttons on the front but they're intuitive enough. The menus aren't hard to navigate and if you dig through them, they provide a lot of bells and whistles from the more expensive rigs. They're just not quite as easy to get at.

My main interest is in digital modes so the 7200 seemed like a good fit and it has been. I've also worked CW with it (still learning) and the filtering is pretty amazing.

My only complaint is the stock microphone. It doesn't put out much audio and there's a lot of conflicting info on the web about how to fix it. I went with the ARRL review advice and turned the gain up to 100. Output still seems low but I don't work SSB much anyway.
N0SYA Rating: 2012-07-11
7200 vis others Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Was looking for a good pc soundcard interface like the signalink at the same time as a inexpensive "backup" rig and thought about the 7200, why not satisfy both needs with one rig. That would keep me from doing sigital modes on any other rig but that was ok as this one could be dedicated for digital stuff.

A contact on 40 admonished me to try the 7200, you'll like it. Sure I thought, maybe after I get a 756pro or similar. So I sat in front of a 7200 at a candy store and thought to myself this thing has better dsp nr than a pro! And there are other pluses.

Pros:
First off it's an Icom, and that makes me happy right off the bat. The next was they're cheap for what they do. And by do I mean dsp filtration and demod as well as noise reduction and notch filtering, has a usb port of all things, puke proof (if someone pukes on the rig you should be able to wash the rig off easily with no harm done)has an actual IF chain dsp system that works well. Has a tcxo or whatever Icom demands we call it so there's very little drift. Uses a single ref osc so once set all bfos are set, and if you ever wish to adjust that - it can be done from the front panel no less! This one was 0 beat ssb on wwv at 20MHz, those Icom boys are sharp. The rx audio is very clean, no audio chip or other post-demod noise present. Has that wonderfull usb port wich not only allows for rx and tx audio to pass to/from a pc but also full rig control. Uses about an amp on rx and 16 on tx. Did I mention usb port? Has decent am mode demod, not synch detection but close enough, usualy hears am sigs better in am mode than doing ecssb. Note to self: Have to compare a 7200 to a 756pro to see who does better am demod on the same sigs in the future. 200 memories. Not like you don't have unlimited memories with pc control, just that it has 200 memories. A trusted repair service said the 7200 was very reliable and they recommended the rig to all who wanted a rugged, reliable hf rig. Has usb port.

Cons:
One thing I noticed in the 7200 is that at a 50Hz cw filter setting there is an almost constant ringing making that bandwidth moot, but setting the bw to 100Hz cleans it up, in contrast the 756pro has no ringing at 50Hz. Didn't come with the rack ears. Was not free. Did not come with laptop.

:D
N3IMU Rating: 2012-07-06
Ignore The Ads, Buy The Radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I initially ignored this radio in my search for a new HF rig, because the ad campaign for it is so ridiculous. For reasons only Icom's marketing geniuses know, they decided to sell this as a "portable/emcomm" rig, and even tried to give it a military look. But if you look at the specs, that just doesn't make any sense. I've operated portable and done a lot of emergency communication volunteering, and this 12-pound beast with no FM or VHF would be a very poor choice in those settings, especially compared to rigs such as the IC-7000 and Yaesu FT-8*7 series.

When I finally looked at it as a moderately priced base HF rig, though, it suddenly made a lot of sense. For a kilobuck, you get IF-DSP, great dynamic range, and a slew of other nice features such as a direct USB connection. Think of it as a step up from the IC-718 and a competitor to the Yaesu FT-450.

The overall build quality is outstanding, the controls are intuitive once you've read the manual and played with it a little bit, and the receiver is nothing short of astonishing. Working SSB and a big local signal is drowning out some weak DX right next to it? No problem - twiddle a couple of knobs and the interfering signal vanishes. CW filter too wide? Choose a narrower one. Still not right? Adjust it to whatever width you like.

On transmit, I've gotten great signal reports from all over. The speech compressor seems to work very well, and I'm told that it boosts my readability by about an S-unit while retaining excellent audio quality.

The direct USB connection makes digital modes shockingly easy. There's good documentation for PC setup, but I'm a Mac user, and Icom doesn't officially support Macs, so I thought this might be tricky. It's not. The rig uses a Silicon Labs USB chip, and you can download the Apple driver for it directly from that company's web site. Once that's installed, CocoaModem and MacLoggerDX complete the setup, handling sound card modes and rig control respectively. There's no hacking together homebrewed cables or tweaking audio levels - it Just Works.
FORMER_W5HSJ Rating: 2012-05-22
Superb mobile rig Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I used an IC-7000 for several years for mobile operation. I seldom used it on 144 or 440 MHz. I found the LCD display, while pretty, was often unusable during the day. After a Samlex power supply distroyed the 7000 I fabricated a mount for my IC-7200.

I couldn't be more satisfied. The controls are much simpler with no menus to wade through during typical operation; the display is very readable; there is no overheating; and the noise blanker works better. All controls are on the front panel and can be operated by "feel", meaning I don't have to glance down taking my eyes off the road.

The mount was fabricated from materials available at Home Depot and installed in a 2010 Chrysler Town and Country. The Little Tarheel II antenna works very, very well on the Chrysler. In over 50 years of mobile operation this is the best operating and most enjoyable experience I've had.
K4SOL Rating: 2012-05-20
In my book, nothing in it's price range beats it! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have a very small area for my ham equipment(My shack is located in an underground storm cellar!) and things were stacked and cluttered. I decided to go with one small HF rig. It ended up being the 7200 and I'm not disappointed.
For the price it has good filtering and excellent sensitivity, I get good TX reports and most of all-I can work any of the digital sound card modes (PSK, RTTY, Olivia, WSPR, JT65 ect) and also do rig control via HRD- WITH NOTHING MORE THAN ONE PLAIN USB CABLE! No more fidgeting with digital interfaces, buying extra adapter cables then trying to get everything to 'play nice' together etc. Really ALL you need to go digital is this rig, a computer, a plain USB cable (get one free off an old dead printer-I did!) and the USB driver from the icom site. Your good to go.
The small front facing speaker is impressive for its tiny size but I use an external icom speaker and it does make a difference
Some have said this is a "beginner rig" well I've been a ham for nearly 30 years so I'm no beginner and I love this little radio. It really depends on what your priorities are!
Do you just want to make contacts and talk on the bands? Then buy a 7200 and spend the extra money on an antenna system! Believe me, if it comes down to more radio or more antenna- more antenna will get you more contacts every time!
As said previously If your looking for a rig with lots of impressive knobs and displays that will impress those who look at it-this radio is not for you. If you are looking for a small reasonably priced rig with adequate filtering, a sensitive receiver and TX that gets good reports and most of all one of the simplest to run digital modes, then take a look at the 7200.

PRO's: sensitive RX-adequate filtering- simple and basic but with adequate features -digital modes and computer control easy via USB
CON's: Rx can be overloaded by strong signals- Have to do a couple of button presses to get to some menu items that other radios have dedicated knobs for-display is small.

The closest competition to this radio is the Kenwood ts 480. The detachable faceplate and controls layout makes that one a winner if you plan to use it mobile( I don't.) But when you compare out of the box filtering (AF vs IF) and the simple USB digital/radio control connection, for my needs- it tips the scales in favor of the 7200.
73's
Roy K4SOL
WU0R Rating: 2012-05-08
Great Radio for the low $ Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Since I cannot edit a review, after playing with it for some time now, all I can say is WOW!

I was listening to the 6O0CW being jammed by a lid, flipped on the MNF (Manual Notch Filter) and it took him out completely, leaving the DX signal fully intact.

The DSP/NR is amazing, simply amazing....
Sure it lacks some features mostly ones 95% of us don't or won't use (i.e. FM, Antenna Tuner, etc.)

Look for Demos on You Tube. All I can say is for a $1000 radio or less (!!), you can't go wrong...HF and 6 meters...
VA2DW Rating: 2012-03-31
good radio for its prce Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have ic-7200 for over a year now and must admit
that this radio is the most convinient lil 100 watts
package for stationary and mobile/portable application in that price range. Good for digital and cw in the first place and with another mic. for ssb.
Comparing to ts-480 hx that I also use while mobile
or portable icom has much quieter rx than kenwood but it is more sensitive to front end overloading than kenwood which has more noisy rx but with extra 500 hz cw filter installed has a rock soid front end.
Basicly simple to use radio but lacks up/down band switching button for more convinience like in kenwood. In conclusion I think that ic-7200 is a really good and solid made all inclusive radio for entry and midclass application although a bit heavy in weight and could be used as stationary as mobile or portabe package with a great pleasure.
KA5IQX Rating: 2012-03-11
This one gets "Best In Class" award Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is an amazing little radio. It's relatively small and light, but has some great features that seem to hold up quite well when compared with the more expensive rigs. I would have enjoyed having an internal antenna tuner, a better quality sound (it's a small speaker) and perhaps a bit larger display. But for the price, it's hard to beat. The DSP works very well, and basic operation is very simple. One or two button clicks and you're quickly where you need to go. No digging down through endless menus in order to make a simple adjustment. I owned an Icom 718 for several years, and enjoyed that radio for it's simplicity and reasonable price. I view the 7200 as being a really nice upgrade to the concept of the 718. Great improvements, but still at a reasonable price. Passband tuning, manual and auto-notch, noise reduction, noise blanker, RIT, preamp, attenuator, filter width options, compression, etc. etc. It's a great all-around radio that would serve well as a base at home, or could be easily carried and set up for field activities. It doesn't require 5 or 6 hours of studying the manual in order to figure out how to find, turn on, and adjust the various features and options. Most any operator, with minimum instruction, will feel comfortable with the radio within a few minutes. That's a big plus for field and emergency situations where operators might be changed on a regular basis. I've made lots of contacts using the little rascal, and have gotten very good audio reports. Let's just say, "I'm impressed". I suspect I'll be keeping this one for a long time.
THC1 Rating: 2012-01-23
BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Have had radios that are 2-3 times the price & did not perform as well as this little sleeper.
Receiver is way above what the price would lead some to expect for a kilo-buck radio.
Unless you are a die hard contestor or have to have FM this unit is hard to beat.
The one USB cable & HRD is great for digital & control of the radio.Add an outbord tuner if needed & enjoy. Have had this rig for over a year & really don't see anything currently available that would tempt me to switch.
Check one out if you have the oppertunity,it will surprise you.
Thanks for reading, 73 to all.
George N4GLT