IC-9100 at Tokyo Ham Fair 2009 - Page 3

N1IRL · #21 08-25-2009, 11:28 AM

In addition to not having a built-in TNC and no Sky Command, this radio will probably come in with a minimum price tag of about $2,500..., at least $1,000 more than the Kenwood TS-2000.

I do not know what the specs are for the frequency crystal oscillator are in the new Icom 9100, but in their "Top of the Line" VHF/UHF IC-910 radio they had a crstal oscillator with a spec of +/- 25ppm!! This radio drifted all over the place on VHF & UHF SSB!!! (I know.., I owned one!) Icom offered a "high stability crystal oscillator (+/- 5ppm) as an option..., for about $400!!

The Kenwood TS-2000 comes standard with a high stability crystal oscillator of +/- 5ppm. It is rock solid!

To me Icom has always been very over-priced for what you get. Their D-Star technology pales next to the digital standard of APCO 25. Icom sells APCO 25 radios in their "Land-Mobile" commercial division. The construction of these radios compared to their amateur radio line is like night and day. They are built so much better and the APCO 25 far out-performs the D-Star digital mode. Of course Icom will not advertise their APCO 25 radios to the amateur radio community as it would kill the sales of their D-Star crap.

In HF gear they are far behind Yaesu in technology and bang for your buck. You can purchase a Yaesu FT-2000 which has 2 independent VFO's and receivers, roofing filters, and a lower noise floor than the Icom 756 Pro III for about $2,200. People are spending over $6,000 for the newer Icom HF radios that only have one receiver and have no better receiver than the Yaesu line. I know one firend of mine who just had a new Icom 7700 for about 3 weeks before the finals failed on it. It currently is in Bellevue, WA being repeaired by Icom. Not good for a one receiver radio that costs $6,400!

Time will tell on this new IC-9100..., but I feel if history repeats itself this will just be another Icom over-priced clunker! Icom..., I thought the "Cash for Clunkers" program ended last night???

Rick
N1IRL

KD5NTL · #22 08-25-2009, 05:02 PM

why does this look a lot like my ic746 pro? did my radio go visit jenny craig and get slimmed down a bit? It doesn't look anything like the ts-2000 if that was the look they were going for,they shouldn't have used Helen Keller for aiming

XE2YCP · #23 08-25-2009, 05:26 PM

muy caro jajjajja, estar en el aire .
73

KG4RUL · #24 08-25-2009, 05:35 PM

If this is iCOM's idea of 'gunning' for Kenwood then, they came to a gunfight with a butterknife!

KG4WXP · #25 08-25-2009, 06:25 PM

It looks like a 746 meets a 910H.

So why the heck didn't they at least use the cool looking green display as opposed to the boring looking 746 one?

KC8QVO · #26 08-26-2009, 03:41 AM

I just heard about this radio on Saturday. I did a little research on it and it looks like a nice radio.

I am glad to see Icom competing in the DC-daylight class outside of the mobile HF/VHF/UHF realm (IC-706, IC-7000). The IC-746 series is decent, but I passed it up for the TS-2000 because it didn't cover 70cm. I also passed up the FT-847 at the time (6 years ago) because it didn't do 100w on 2m.

For a DC-daylight radio the TS-2000 is OK. For a VHF/UHF all-mode rig it is pretty good. For HF it stinks.

Lets see where the IC-9100 falls.

I would not consider the lack of a TNC and Skycommand capabilities a downfall of the rig - I never use those features on my TS-2000. I use my radio for CW and SSB on all bands for the most part these days. I rarely fire it up on FM - only occasionally when I yak on a repeater from the shack. For the most part I stick to my FT-857D in the mobile for the repeater work.

I would expect this rig to be in the $2,000-3,000 range. For the options that it has I think this is a good starting point. However, the D-star and 1.2gig options are going to be VERY expensive - my guess is around $400-500 each.

The option of 1.2gig is a great option for the folks that operate VHF/UHF - especially the contesters. During contests it is common to work close stations on as many bands as one has. Having 1.2gig in the rig is a GREAT option as it negates the need for a transverter. Having 220mHz as an option would be great also - that is one more band in the rig and one less transverter needed. I think the only radio capable of 220mHz and 1.2gig was the FT-736 - which is still a valuable radio on the used market.

I am curious as to how many IF stages the IC-9100 will have. One of the problems with the TS-2000 is it has 4 IF stages with a front end that is 15kHz wide. It suffers in high noise environments - the IF DSP is not good enough to take care of 15kHz of passband through 4 IF's. I know the IC-9100 has an optional 3 and 6kHz roofing filter that will help, though.

Whoever said that Icom falls behind Yaesu in technology and bang for your buck - I agree with the "bang for your buck" part, but I am not so sure about the technology. The FT-2000 is the next rig on my list. For an entry level of mid $2k's I don't think you can beat it - it is a "big rig" with a detailed front panel and some pretty nice RX features - VRF for example. You can't get that out of an Icom, might come close.. but for $6500.

I don't consider the screen to be that much of a drawback. If you take the K3 for example - it has a plain-jane amber display. It is still able to get across all the needed information. The kicker to it all - the K3 is one of the best HF radios ever created. I think the IC-9100 display is even more functional.

Those of you that are not giving the IC-9100 much of a chance - keep in mind that this radio is a DC-daylight radio. It is not an HF class rig, it is not a VHF class rig, it is a compromise rig that does everything. No radio that packs so many bands in it is going to be a "stellar" rig on any one segment. I would NOT expect this rig to be as good as the IC-756proIII. Because of the band capacity I would, however, expect it to be in the same price bracket.

Lets wait and see what the IC-9100 will do. Maybe we are all in for a surprise - lets hope so!

Steve, KC8QVO
www.kc8qvo.com

KF6OCI · #27 09-02-2009, 08:33 PM

If close to $2000 OK, if over $2500 NO!!!!

Dan

KB2FCV · #28 09-02-2009, 08:56 PM

While I won't jump right out and buy one, I'll probably eventually wind up with one a year or so after it's been out on the market and the bugs have been found.

I must say I am quite dissapointed that it does not have the color display, heck they even had a color display in the little 7000. I am glad to see it has 440 and optional 1.2 gig. I am most excited about having 440 in it so that I can easily run satellite communications on SSB/CW, not to mention EME on 440, etc. 1.2 Gig is just a whole new band to play with if I install the optional band module. I'm sure that will accidentally 'fall in the cart' by the accidental slip of a mouse click.

It's nice to finally see a compeditor to the TS-2000. I really do not like the look or operating the TS-2000. I had a few opportunities to spend several hours with one, just didn't like it.

I'll be closely following any updates and reviews of the radio.

KC0ZZH · #29 11-07-2009, 09:10 PM

It has one major problem....it's an Icrud...I mean Icom.

AF6IT · #30 11-12-2009, 11:36 PM

I would not call this a replacement for the 746 Pro if it costs half again or more what the 746 Pro cost. Glad so many of you have so much cash to play with, but no way will I ever put $2k+ into a rig that simply cannot last more than ten years at best. (It IS RoHS compliant, right?) Yes, it appears to be a nice rig, but I would rather have a 746 Pro- warts and all- unless the price was UNDER $1500. That said, it will be interesting to see how it does actually get priced. Yaesu set a standard when the priced the Ft-450 at around $700. Reasonable for a disposable radio, a highly capable one at that. I have no particular loyalty to any manufacturer, and recognize some strengths in each of what I consider to the the last two serious import radio manufacturers- Icom & Yaesu. Icom seems of late to be focusing its energy on the higher end of the HF market. They better watch out lest they lose it altogether if they cannot address the lower end as Yaesu has done so very well.

Someone complained about having actual pots on the rig... Personally I don't operate remotely. I LIKE having knobs to twist in front of me. Too many menus is the quickest way to get me to not like a rig. Hands on controls is to me a big plus- so long as the price is right. (I'm not holding my breath)

Stu AF6IT