ICOM IC-W32A

[KD4LEI]

My brother just recently bought this rig at the local HRO in Virginia. He said he likes the rig and has been disappointed in how small HT's are getting nowadays. He also told me he hasn't had any problems with it and works well. Said the battery life on the 9.6v 600mAH battery is short depending on use. He doesn't have all the accessories he would like (speaker mic, case, and extra battery).

I haven't found much in the terms of comments and wondering what people thought of the rig. Owner's of them preferred to get an idea of what I might be up against if I purchase one in the next 3 months or so.

Things I am looking harder at are (not to exclude other areas either);

1. Audio output quality
2. Rx capability and intermod rejection quality compared to say the FT-470 I own and intend for the W-32A to replace.
3. Connector and switch wear and tear quality across the radio (plug for cig lighter connection too)

I would really appreciate upfront opinions on this machine.

Thanks!
Chad

[KG4OCV]

I like mine. I really like the dual band feature..monitoring two bands at once. i like the back lighting. The audio is good, and I have had no intermod problems. Battery life could be better. With the standard battery I get about 6-7 hours of solid use. Switch wear and tear is excellent. I have a speaker mike, but rarely use it. I really like the metal belt clip. Transmit audio is pretty good.

Jeff

[KC0NDR]

I really enjoy my w32a. The only draw backs are the battery life and the programing software. A friend of mine has one (the reason I bought mine) and dropped in a puddle of water just wiped it of and started using it. It does not have a cheep plastic belt clip, It is metal. On a scale of 1 to 10 the radio itself would be an 11. the battery would ba an 4.

73's to all
Roger http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[KG4MLC]

I have had mine for 2 yrs. It has been in the local shop a few times. Twice for the antenna connection and twice for the power connection. Both had broken loose from the circut board. (I don't beat this thing up either.Just the normal plug/unplug stuff.)The last time was for the "monitor" button not working. That got repaired but now it will not transmit. I believe it is now at the Icom repair center because the local shop couldn't fix it.
Don't get me wrong, I like the radio a lot and I did buy it used. Just wish it was a little more durable. Maybe the newer ones are built better.
73.
Dan http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif
KG4MLC

[trooper]

I have four of them so that should tell you how much I like the W32. Problems with intermod, audio and text wearing off the keypad buttons are real. The stock battery sucks, and makes a better paperweight. The beltclip is metal, but turns into a belt-hook the first time you stress the thing as the metal is not the best quality spring-steel. The unit gets extremely hot when you use the stock antenna, and I noticed the frame screws back-out and need to be re-tightened about every three months.

The radio is capable of cross-band repeat and does dual VV/UU/VU display. The 4-'AA' packs are your best bet and the radio will take external 12V and can be used at the full 5-Watts as the battery is charging (Great for making belt-mounted battery packs for events and field day/ect . . .) I've use the cross-band repeat many times, and the unit has been dropped several dozen times from waist/chest level in dirt, mud, concrete, rocks and any other horrible landing spot, and still works fine. You get like 200 memories with alpha-tags and Air plus WX RX, and can even open the thing up from 118 to 460Mhz TX if you want. It's durable, and takes a lot of pounding and abuse, which is what I expect from any equipment.

I'm sure you won't thrash your radio and test the mil-spec rating to its fullest extent. So you'll be happy with it as long as you buy a real antenna and battery pack. By the time you learn the pogramming, the invisible keypad text won't be an issue. You'll find that a little HT that can crossband-repeat is as valuable as condoms in a cathouse when you need to link your 2M-only buddies into a 400 repeater that's assigned to an event or disaster net. The very-first W32 I picked up was returned the next day because of massive intermod and a broken battery-catch on the battery its self. It's replacement and the other three have been fine. The 'primary' HT has led a very hard, very stressful life, and looks like a 72' F-100 Montana farm truck. It works, I love it and the size is perfect for an HT. Not a brick, not a box of tic-tacs. The six primary buttons and top dials are perfectly arranged so you will quickly learn how to operate/change modes with it on your hip with no problems at all. If I could only bring one HT with me on a trip to hell, I would bring an Icom W-32A

Loren B. Cobb / KD7PLU

[aa7db]

We have two of the w32A and one W31A. Been very happy with them all. We concur the battery life is less than wished for and the intermod in cities can be very distracting. Use on 440 doesn't seem to have any intermod problems. When I go to the city I just place both bands on 440 and no more problems.

It works well for us because we use almost exclusively 440.

I'm looking for another used one now.

AA7DB Dennis

[W1FSK]

This is a rather "lon-in-the-tooth" HT as you may know. I have had 3 of them and all 3 still work. They are bullet-proof. Heavy, large, reliable. Antenna post doesn't loosen like most bnc's do over time. Kludgey style, but still a workhorse.

Icom discontinued this radio about 2 years ago and brought it back into production. I got my first one in 1992 I believe, so they are older technology for sure.

If your brother thinks the W32A is small...then he hasn't been looking at the literature or in the show cases lately! IC T90 is less than half W32A's size. FT VX1 is one third its size!!!

I work parttime at HRO and we still sell W32As quite regularly despite their lack of modern functions and RX coverage.

73, Steve W1FSK

[wz9bs]

I HAVE A W32 ALSO, IT IS A VERY NICE AND EASY TO USE RADIO......YOU CAN EXTEND THE BATTERY LIFE IF YOU ONLY USE ONE BAND, AND AND EXTEND IT MORE IF THE SCAN FUNCTION IS NOT USED, OF COURSE THIS DEFEATS THE PURPOSE OF A DUAL BAND RIG......I ALSO HAVE THE AA BATTERY HOLDER WITH NI-MH BATS IN IT IT CHARGES GREAT WITH THE WALL WART CHARGER BUT YOU ONLY GET 1.5 WATTS WITH IT......HOPE MY 2CENTS WORTH HELPS.......BOB 73.....WZ9BS.....

[N0RDE]

Glad to hear everyone else has had good luck with the W-32A. I've owned one for about 3 years now and have very mixed feelings about the rig. Here's why:

1-The standard battery doesn't even make a good paperweight! Mine never worked for more than a few (less than 3 hours), when it finally died had it rebuilt by CARGO batteries in Denver and the rebuild works ok.

2-Programming this thing is a bear! It took me a long time (even sitting with the manual in my lap) to learn how to program it. Several of the functions are to my mind totally illogical and I still find that if I haven't used a function in a while then I will have to go use the book.

3-I think there are many newer rigs that are about the same price or less expensive that offer far more value and capability for the money.

If I were buying a rig now I would buy one of the newer more capable rigs instead of the W-32A.

Jon

[k6jjg]

I'd concur with the programming - not exactly user-friendly.

I bought the programming software and use that exclusively to input frequencies & change settings.

Is there any way to affect the intermod? I live in a city with a lot of pager action near my workplace and it seems to bleed over constantly into the 2 meter band. Is there a filter that attaches between the antenna BNC connecter & HT?

[KG4UDX]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (KG6MXV @ Jan. 15 2003,22:23)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Is there any way to affect the intermod? #I live in a city with a lot of pager action near my workplace and it seems to bleed over constantly into the 2 meter band. #Is there a filter that attaches between the antenna BNC connecter &amp; HT?[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
There are several companys that make intermod filters. MFJ makes one, as does another company I've forgotten the name of. They usually notch out 151 and/or 154 MHz where the worst paging offenders are. You can also get band-pass filters that will only allow 144-148 MHz through if you have problems with intermod outside those frequency ranges.

[ka4geh]

Here is a suggestion that will help with intermod problems on the W32A as well as some other radios. I have a W32A and like it a lot. Between myself and several friends we own about a dozen replacement HT Antennas. Most of the Dual-Band add-ons available. I got myself an MFJ-259 Antenna analyzer, and that got everybody curious. So, one day we got all our antennas together and checked them out on the Analyzer. Results, the standard rubber duckie is a dog. It and most of the other dual-band antennas we had are resonant well above two meters, usually about 150 to 160 Mhz. Right in the middle of the the commercial pager / radio intermod source band. At least in my area. Also checked out the Dual-Band mobile antennas on several of the gang's cars. Same story. Wonder why intermod is a problem?

Also checked out 3 brands of single band 2-meter end-fed half-wave antennas with much better results. Here the antenna was resonant in the 146-147 Mhz range. Problems in &quot;intermod alley&quot; along the interstate through downtown are much reduced. Tuned up a couple of the Mobile antennas with much the same result.

Suspician: Dual-Band antennas for the HT are a compromise in performance at 2-meters vs. 70cm. My guess is that most of that compromise is at the expense of 2-meter performance, because 70cm needs the extra gain more. Result, you end up with a nice filter plugged in to the front end of your receiver having a bandpass centered JUST where it will do the most harm at 2-meters.

Solution: Get a better single-band antenna, and check to make sure it is tuned to where it is supposed to be. Intermod will improve. Then buy an intermod filter, if it is still needed. That should make a Significant improvement. I still use the duckie when walking around. if I experience trouble hitting the repeater I want, I get out an old AEA end-fed halfwave extendable antenna, and use that. When I have to have dual band capability I use a Diplexer with the single band 2-meter and either a homebrew single-band 70cm or a commercial dual-band antenna plugged in to it. Works real good. If I need more gain than that, I carry an Arrow handheld Dual-Band beam behind the back seat of my pickup. Has not failed me yet.

Ditto programming problem. Get the software and use your computer. Life is to short to punch keys on the front panel.

Battery Problem: I bought two NiMH replacement battery packs at Hamfest. They work much better.