Quote:
Originally Posted by KA0BBQ
I got my call today that my reservation was ready to be filled. So I will be picking up my radio tomorrow (Saturday) morning.
How much are people paying for new MotoTurbo commercial radios they can't even program themselves without spending hundreds more? Can we say $1000 or more? It's relative, you get what you pay for... if you want a cheap chineese radio go buy one... but don't expect to enjoy all that D-STAR offers out of the box.
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your posts are so hilarious.
DMR radios are available for much less than Icom wants you to pay for the ID-51, or the 92AD for that matter. Not to mention, can you buy a D-star enabled mobile for less than $400 new with a warranty? Not in this lifetime.
Vertex Standard rolled out their Everge series of portables and mobiles that have street prices in the $300 range. So what, you got to buy your programming cables and software, Icom made everyone do this too with D-star.
Does Icom give you a 3 year parts and labor warranty? No.
Does ANYONE ELSE OTHER THAN ICOM sell a commercially available D-star transceiver? No.
(with DMR, you have Moto, Hytera, Harris, Vertex Standard and Tait to choose from)
If you paid a grand for an XPR you got ripped off. New dealers around here sell them for $500, about what your ID-xxx radios sell for. So what, their single band. You can only talk on one band at a time anyway. And around here, the digital repeaters (D-star included) are all on UHF anyway.
You love your D-star, good for you. But please stop posting this non-sense about TRBO/DMR, because you only show how little you know about the technology, the equipment, and the networks themselves. It's really unseemly.
and before you start pushing my buttons, I've got all major digital voice formats in my cache: P25 phase I, D-star and DMR- and out of all them- I prefer the audio quality, performance and user friendliness of DMR. I just picked up an ID-31A, the UHF "little brother" to the ID-51. My overall impressions:
-Okay radio, the UI has certainly improved over the archaic one on the 91/92AD.
-Audio quality is decent, but the AF output, typical on ham HT's, is low. Distorts if you turn it up past about 25. Why can't we have an HT with 500mw output? Even the cheap Chicom radios do this on $50 radios.
-Battery life has improved over previous D-star HT's. Charges up pretty quick.
-Way to go Icom for the micro SD card slot, and way to go for including the programming software on a CD
-It is easier to manage DV repeater/call lists. Took me a second to grasp the concept.
-I like the display. I really do. Best one short of a color display on the, dare I say, XPR7550.
-Appears they've FINALLY added squelch tail elimination on analog. Long time coming!
Would be nice if it had Bluetooth, or a standard micro USB jack for programming/control. I see Icom insists on holding onto their proprietary CI-V standard versus moving into the 21st century. Their doing it on their LMR radios.
Will I get the ID-51 based on the experience with the ID-31? eh...not for $600. I can get TWO new Everge DMR mobiles for that price.
. But, you`d be suprised how many folks will rush out there and buy a 51A really fast, bugs or no bugs, and start grousing when something funky happens with their new radio. As i said, i`ll wait till the big "inrush" is over and bugs are squashed 
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