Icom has announced that a new 7W VHF HT will arrive this spring, the IC-V86. The IC-V86 will replace the IC-V80. Icom IC-V86 Features: 144-148MHz 7W RF output power Powerful Audio: 1500mW output and the case is acoustically optimized for maximum audio output. IP54/MIL-STD-810G 2250mAh Li-Ion battery pack Traditional BNC connector MSRP is $169.00. This radio has not been FCC approved, but for $1 you can reserve one now by clicking HERE.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Love the old school BNC connector!!! All my Larsen Helical Quarterwave rubber ducks are fitted with BNC. de NK2U
Last I researched. quality BNC connectors are rated at about 2-3 times the number of connects-disconnects as quality SMA connectors are.
I can dig the BNC connector. Looks like a solid, rugged, no frills HT that does what an HT is supposed to do - transmit and receive.
BNC is nice, and being monoband means, at least in theory, it can have a narrow front end that is not very susceptible to desense from out-of-band signals. Could be a radio that does one thing and does it well.
An HT on 147 MHz running 7 watts FM and used in a fairly common fashion being just inches from one's head might appear to be exceeding the maximum RF exposure limit. No doubt the RF output could be reduced and a speaker microphone could be used to mitigate this.
It looks like a clone of the Yaesu FT-4XR which also is a rugged little brick of a dual bander but with a reverse SMA connector and priced at around $ 100. G3SEA/KH6
I actually prefer the BNC connector .. and have both the V-85 and V-80 2-meter handhelds. In fact .. I'm rather unhappy that .. ( as best I can tell ) .. all other brands have gone to the SMA connectors .. ( or the reverse SMA's ) .. with only Icom offering anything in a BNC. I'm very pleased that their new model will continue to offer that too. It's rugged and time-tested .. and can be connected or disconnected much more quickly than an SMA .. and seems to hold up better in the long run. Is it a "big deal" one way or the other? I suppose not. But for those of us who really like BNC over SMA .. we're gonna be "happy campers" with this V-86.
I don't get it. You'd think the big three would work on something that isn't market saturated. I mean there are plenty of cheap options for analog radios with all the Chinese stuff. Still no one with a digital radio that does more than one digital mode. At least there is a commercially made receiver that does all the ham modes, the AOR AR-DV10.
I wish Icom would make a 220/1.25m HT or mobile. It probably wouldn't even take much work to convert this to 220. It could be a successor to the old IC-3SAT.