Icom: IC-T70A -- your thoughts.

Thinking about getting an Icom IC-T70A. I'm looking for a rugged, no frills dual band handheld, and this radio seems to fit the description. Also, I have an Icom gift certificate I need to use soon.

Would like to hear, from owners / operators of this model, your thoughts, both good and bad, concerning this radio.

I know I could go to eHam and read the reviews there, but I'd like to hear from the RR community first.

Thanks in advance.

I've had one. It's a pretty good radio for ham use. Very well built. Solid AF output on RX. Front end is bulletproof.

A few annoyances are the ripoff price Icom wants for their cloning software and cable. Extra batteries are kind of expensive as well as is the rapid charger, using the wall wart to charge the battery is painfully slow and they only include a NiMH battery not a newer LiON.

Otherwise, I could find no faults. Easy to program from the keypad. Certainly well crafted made in JAPAN Icom quality.

Extended TX mod is not easy, requires removal of the antenna spanner nut to get the housing apart which is requires a special wrench and usually they've overtorqued it from the factory with Loctite.

But then it isn't legal to transmit outside the ham band anyway, so...just thought I'd mention that though.

MTS2000des said:

I've had one. It's a pretty good radio for ham use. Very well built. Solid AF output on RX. Front end is bulletproof.

A few annoyances are the ripoff price Icom wants for their cloning software and cable. Extra batteries are kind of expensive as well as is the rapid charger, using the wall wart to charge the battery is painfully slow and they only include a NiMH battery not a newer LiON.

Otherwise, I could find no faults. Easy to program from the keypad. Certainly well crafted made in JAPAN Icom quality.

Extended TX mod is not easy, requires removal of the antenna spanner nut to get the housing apart which is requires a special wrench and usually they've overtorqued it from the factory with Loctite.

But then it isn't legal to transmit outside the ham band anyway, so...just thought I'd mention that though.

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Thanks for the reply. Lots of good information. I appreciate it.

Wouldn't be interested in doing any modifications to expand the TX range. Besides, I have a few ChiComm radios that can do that if the desire to run afoul of the FCC comes over me. LOL.

I concur, but since some vendors seem to be convinced these are legal for MARS/CAP, I thought I would mention it anyway.

As far as the T70A, apparently the "HD" version includes a rapid charger and an upgraded battery, and the "sport" version is a just a T70A with a NiMH pack and slow charger.

Well, I've had one since I got my Certificate in 2012 and I am happy with it. I did get a quick charger and two 1900 milliamp hour batteries, and also a third party 17" antenna. I also got a programming cable and software -- never did figure out how to program it by hand.

But it's always worked and worked reliably.

I just ordered one the other day. If you still haven't decided by the time I get it ill give my 2 cents about it. I had a good experience with a borrowed V80 so I imagine the dual bander is a good option as well.

Alternative

This is my first post so I hope I don't offend! I'll post something in the welcome area as well.

I'm studying for my tech license (just got a 71% on my first try without studying anything!) because my dad is a huge HAM guy and I wanna talk to him across the country.

He recommended this very radio and I almost pulled the trigger but for just a little less money I got the Wouxun KG-UV6X Dual Band VHF/UHF 200 Channel Handheld Commercial Radio. They didn't have the hi gain antenna in stock but that's next! Ordered the programming cable with it, apparently it's a pain to program off the keypad and the keypad is locked until you unlock it via the computer program (so I'm told)

Some of the reasons I got this:

dad recommended (HAM net and shop/repair operator)
price
more frequencies
didn't need to be modified as the iCom would have been to get what I want out of it.
reliability

I always like options, just something to think about! As an aside I love iCom stuff too.

K ;-)

Kenstah said:

He recommended this very radio and I almost pulled the trigger but for just a little less money I got the Wouxun KG-UV6X Dual Band VHF/UHF 200 Channel Handheld Commercial Radio.

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This is a COMMERCIAL radio, the Icom is an AMATEUR radio. Two different radios intended for different users. While it is certainly legal to use anything on the ham bands, a ham radio typically has features aimed at HAM radio users like VFOs, faster band scanning (the Chinese WOC radios are painfully slow at scanning), tone search, etc.

Kenstah said:

apparently it's a pain to program off the keypad and the keypad is locked until you unlock it via the computer program (so I'm told)

Click to expand...

Another reason why the HAM radio like the Icom is a superior choice for a new HAM. The user interface is superior as is the keypad programming. When I first took the T70A out of the box, I never needed to crack the manual.

And something else you get with the Icom you won't get with the lower cost ChiComm radios is FACTORY SUPPORT. Icom has excellent customer service that is a phone call away answered by an actual person who is a ham themselves. If it breaks, you can mail it into their factory depot in Washington state for warranty service.

You get what you pay for.

MTS2000des said:

Another reason why the HAM radio like the Icom is a superior choice for a new HAM. The user interface is superior as is the keypad programming. When I first took the T70A out of the box, I never needed to crack the manual.

Click to expand...

Well I certainly had to! I never did get the hang of programming it from the keyboard really, and I made a living programming computers for a few decades. I bought the cable and downloaded the ICOM program and never looked back.

Mind you I really like this little radio and it is my goto handheld. The chinese ones are, I found, also nearly impossible for me to program from the keyboard, thank goodness for CHIRP.

My Kenwood TM-281 mobile on the other hand I found easy to program from the radio and I haven't bought a cable for it yet. Too bad it doesn't do UHF.

I have had one for a couple of years, as the others have said it is a solid performer and is well constructed.

I use the rt Systems software to program it. I found their software a little more user friendly than the ICOM stuff.

I know I'm late getting back to this thread, but I first want to say thanks to everyone who replied. Plenty of good info and comments provided.

I did indeed buy the T70. Thing is built like a tank and all the transmission reports I've received say that my audio is crisp and clear.

But (there always seems to be a "but," doesn't there? LOL), try as I might, I just can't seem to get to like this radio. Can't put my finger on any one certain thing, but I just can't get to where I like it as much as some of my other handheld radios. I've been trying to sell it, but if I can't, I'll use it as either a backup at my HAM desk or maybe put it in the "go-bag" I keep in my car. The T70's battery doesn't slowly discharge like my Wouxun KG-UV8D battery does, so it would be a perfect addition to the go bag.