Icom: New D-STAR handheld: Icom ID-52A/E

[palmerjrusa]

Just got mine Thurs not sure why but my Yaessu ft3dr was unable to send or receive in my house without reconnecting to my Cushcraft outdoor antenna.
Amazed to see the ID-52A works awesome in the house with this little rubber antenna.
Even brought it down stairs in the basement and still worked!
Not on a zum spot, this was RF to-repeater.
Perhaps the radio has better reception? Or maybe because I am strictly on digital asI await RT systems to finish their Mac version of the software ( they said any day now) Or could my FT3DR be having some issues.
Either way this thing is awesome, I just have to learn Dstar which is a bit more involved for me but I am getting it slowly.

Only in the hobby for about a year stillhavent gotten my yaessu down and now have to learn Icom and Dstar.
Not sure it smart to confuse my self with a Yaesu and an Icom but I impulsively did it.

Part of the fun for me is learning how the different handhelds work😁.

I sold my FT-3DR, mainly because it was deaf on HF and had lousy audio.

I also find the ID-52A to be very sensitive, scanning the military aviation bands, everything my IC-R30 received with a better antenna than the supplied one my ID-52A also stopped on with its supplied antenna.

 

[vagrant]

How about overall dynamic range of the 52 vs the R30? Basically, how do they comparatively handle strong nearby signals? The MW broadcast band would be easy enough to dial up. My R30 test handled it better than I thought it would even when using an outdoor antenna. Hopefully they match up there too.

 

[palmerjrusa]

How about overall dynamic range of the 52 vs the R30? Basically, how do they comparatively handle strong nearby signals? The MW broadcast band would be easy enough to dial up. My R30 test handled it better than I thought it would even when using an outdoor antenna. Hopefully they match up there too.

I haven't encountered any intermodulation issues on my IC-R30 or ID-52A (though only had that for 3 days) and there's a transmitter site nearby.

 

[W3APX]

HRO sent me an email today in reference to the 52 I ordered yesterday. They're only filling backorders right now. Once those are filled they'll start on current / recent orders. There must be something good going for this radio with the demand it seems to have. Im looking forward to mine. I pulled my ID51 out and it appears I can use the battery from that on the 52. So thats a plus.

 

[jazzboypro]

Just received my extra battery and charger from HRO today, i'm all set

 

[N4DJC]

Got mine this afternoon, getting the D-Star set up was easy. Still have some settings to configure. And a lot more digging into the menus. Evidently there are a bunch of them out in the wild, I see quite a few popping up on D-Star.

The display is very good, but doesn't have the deep contrast of the black background of the D74. I prefer the white background on the 52. The large text option is welcome, a lot easier for older eyes to read. Quite a bit larger than the 51, not a pocket radio.

I like this radio, it feels as solid as a rock. The audio quality and output surprised me. It's that good....

 

[bearcatrp]

Just sent HRO a message to see if they have leftovers after filling pre orders. Hate it when I order and told I have to wait for the next batch. Wasn't going to order one but the bug has bit me!

 

[jazzboypro]

HRO sent me an email today in reference to the 52 I ordered yesterday. They're only filling backorders right now. Once those are filled they'll start on current / recent orders. There must be something good going for this radio with the demand it seems to have. Im looking forward to mine. I pulled my ID51 out and it appears I can use the battery from that on the 52. So thats a plus.

HRO just posted on fb that they are done fulfilling the back-orders and that they have a few units left in stock

 

[bearcatrp]

I blame your folks for me just ordering. When the wife starts screaming, I will point her to you folks. HAHA. I'll hide it for a little bit if my order goes through.

 

[Hit_Factor]

Huh, no shipping notice, nothing....

So much for buying a reservation in August of 2020!

 

[bearcatrp]

Huh, no shipping notice, nothing....

So much for buying a reservation in August of 2020!

From who? Get on the phone in the morning and see whats up.

 

[jazzboypro]

Huh, no shipping notice, nothing....

So much for buying a reservation in August of 2020!

This is strange, i bought the reservation on November 15 2021 from HRO. I converted to a purchase on November 21 and i received the radio on December 24. I would definitely call the vendor for an explanation.

 

[AK9R]

So much for buying a reservation in August of 2020!

I'd be on the phone requesting a ship date or a refund.

I know some of you are drooling all over yourselves waiting to get your hands on this new radio, but you really need to stop playing the resellers' games. All of you who put down deposits have given them an interest-free loan. If they've asked for full price, you've given them an even bigger interest-free loan.

Now that the product is in dealers' hands, if they have your money and haven't provided you with a ship date, demand a refund. What they are doing borders on fraud and should be reported to the FTC (ReportFraud.ftc.gov).

At least two of the online sellers I checked show the radio in stock and ready to ship. If you gave money to one of those dealers, they should be shipping you your radio. If you gave money to a different dealer who isn't giving you a ship date, demand a refund and spend your dollars with a dealer who can ship the radio.

 

[N4DJC]

Huh, no shipping notice, nothing....

So much for buying a reservation in August of 2020!

Milwaukee got them late last week, I’d call them. They now have them in stock at multiple locations. Some stores didn’t get as many radios as orders in the first batch and were shipped more late last week.

 

[W3APX]

Just got an email from HRO today. They'll be shipping my ID52 + accessories today minus the RT Systems since they don't it in stock. Strange cause everyone else seems to have it in stock. Has anyone used Icom's programming software? is it good enough to get by until RT Systems arrives?

 

[Hit_Factor]

Has anyone used Icom's programming software? is it good enough to get by until RT Systems arrives?

Buy it direct for $25 and download it right away. No special cable required.

CS-52 is free, I have used it along with RT Sys for ID-52. They both have strengths and weaknesses. RT Sys strength is copy and paste from one of their apps to another of their app.

CS-52 has every possible setting. It usually takes RT Sys a while to fully implement software for a new radio.

 

[Hit_Factor]

Just got an email from HRO today. They'll be shipping my ID52 + accessories today..

Me too.

 

[W3APX]

Buy it direct for $25 and download it right away. No special cable required.

CS-52 is free, I have used it along with RT Sys for ID-52. They both have strengths and weaknesses. RT Sys strength is copy and paste from one of their apps to another of their app.

CS-52 has every possible setting. It usually takes RT Sys a while to fully implement software for a new radio.

Good to know. I've always preferred RT Sys no reason in particular I guess. I downloaded the CS-52 but haven't gotten much of a chance to play around with it. I should get the 52 in the next day or two. I'll start putting together a memory list for it. the Accessories are coming from the FL store so they'll likely take a few more days.

 

[jazzboypro]

Just got an email from HRO today. They'll be shipping my ID52 + accessories today minus the RT Systems since they don't it in stock. Strange cause everyone else seems to have it in stock. Has anyone used Icom's programming software? is it good enough to get by until RT Systems arrives?

The Icom software work well. I have the RT systems for other radios and it works well too. For the ID-52 i'll stick with the Icom software. I feel that once the radio is configured is won't change much over time so no need to spend the extra 25$ YMMV

 

[palmerjrusa]

Multiple HRO outlets are now showing good stock levels of the ID-52A, I guess new radios are being shipped from Icom to the US thick and fast.

I'm sticking with the Icom's ID-52A software for now.

It's great the ID-52A takes the same battery/alkaline battery case/desktop charger as their ID-51, so no need to buy additional accessories (although I have the Icom ID-52's carrying case on order).

Icom's large 3150mAh Li-ion battery (IC-BP307) is a bit pricey.
I found a battery equivalent to the IC-BP307 on Amazon for half the price and it seems to work just fine.