- Today on Ham Radio Q&A.
A retro review of the Icom IC-2800H
dual band mobile transceiver.
So please keep watching for more.
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Hi, I'm Michael KB9VBR, your host for Ham Radio Q&A.
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Well, if you are starting out an amateur radio,
back in the late 90's or early 2000's,
you'd certainly remember this radio.
The Icom IC-2800H was the pinnacle of the Icom VHF line
back when it was introduced in 1999.
This dual band FM mobile transceiver
was quite innovative for its time.
Although its basic function wasn't really
out of the ordinary.
It had dual VFOs and 50 watts of output power on VHF,
about 35 on UHF.
And those features where pretty common place
on high end mobiles at the time.
But what's notable about this radio is its display.
This is one of the first mobile rigs
with a full color LCD screen.
That display was quite the selling point at the time.
I remember this radio being quite popular
when it was introduced back in the day,
but it was kind of outside my budget.
This model I found at a ham fest and the price was right,
so I grabbed it.
We'll talk more about the fair price for a used radio
like this later on, but first let's take a look
at the features of the Icom IC-2800H.
This rig has independent tuning and volume knobs
for the two meter and the 70 centimeter bands.
The A channel is for two meters and the B channel,
70 centimeters.
There are 99 memories for each band,
or a total of 198 memories.
You also get two call channels, one for VHF and another
for UHF for a total of 200 memories.
You can also set six scan edges for both of VHF
and the UHF side.
Since the IC-2800H has dual VFOs, you can monitor
the VHF and UHF bands simultaneously.
Other features include a packet radio port,
four power modes, backlit microphone, crossband repeat,
and an out of band receive from 118-174 megahertz on VHF.
UHF receive is limited to 430-450 megahertz.
Now let's dig into what really makes this radio unusual.
The IC-2800 has a remote mountable head.
In fact, this was one of the first radios
where remote mounting was the only choice.
There is no facility to attach the head to the main body.
There has been plenty of removable head radios by this time,
but this rig started the trend
of the remote mounting only option.
Of course if you find this radio on the used market,
it may be missing the brackets.
Fortunately, the screw on the control head
is a standard 1/4 inch by 20 screw,
so you should be able to find plenty of mounting solutions
that will work with the head.
Since I'm using this radio in the shack,
I just got it mounted on a small Joby tripod.
Next up is the head itself.
It is a full color TFT LCD screen.
The colors may look a little garish and the resolution,
rough, but this is 1999 technology and the concept itself
was pretty new and exciting.
By today's standards, the screen is a little
on the dim side, but it is quite easy to read.
What I like about the control head is that
the speaker is built right into it.
No external speaker is necessary,
your audio is front and center with the control head.
So let's dig into the operation of the radio.
There are six knobs, three for each band
to control the channel, squelch and volume.
There are also eight buttons, four on each side
to control various activities of the radio.
Switching between VHF and UHF is as easy as pressing
the uppermost button labeled Main.
Giving a long press activates the second function
of the button.
On the lower right of the radio is a Change/lock button,
this is where you can step through more features
of the radio.
This makes moving through the menus quick
and somewhat intuitive.
And finally the power button, you can find that
on the lower right hand side of the radio.
Next up, the craziest part of the screen
is that it has a composite input.
That's right, you can watch video on your
IC-2800 control head.
I'm not sure if there's a practical use
for the composite input at that time.
I suppose you could use it for a backup camera or something,
but in 1999 backup cameras really weren't popular yet.
Maybe you could use it with your ATV receiver
or a slow scan TV on two meters.
Who knows?
But the composite input is video only,
so you're not gonna get any audio.
It was a gimmicky feature and if any IC-2800 users
out there had a use for the composite input,
I'd love to hear about it.
Of course the IC-2800 has its limitations
and there are a couple of downsides to the radio.
First off, even though the radio has 99 VHF
and 99 UHF channels, the A band is dedicated only to VHF
and the B band only to UHF.
You are unable to monitor two VHF
or two UHF channels at the same time.
Having that feature would have been nice.
Back in the day, I had a Kenwood TM-V7A from that era
and it could do exactly what I was looking for.
The other downside is the Icom microphone.
Now the microphone really isn't that bad.
It has the ability to control almost
all of the features of the radio.
You can change power level, band, channel,
turn on and off tone and offset.
So there's plenty of versatility in the microphone.
But it has a chintzy feel and the buttons are quite small.
Plus the little cover is one of the first things
that you're gonna lose on this radio.
Another issue with the microphone is the switch.
It's not the most durable out there and I've seen
that using this microphone in long term use,
the switch can wear out.
So be aware of that if you're shopping
for one of these rigs on the used market.
Speaking of the used market, let's talk a bit about pricing.
When this radio was introduced in 1999,
retail price was $670 and it had a street price
of about $550.
According to the Federal Government's consumer price index,
that would be about $1000 in today's dollars.
Looking on the used market, the going price on eBay
and other online forums is about $250 to $300 today,
with the median price of $265.
I think that's a tad high and would look
for something around $200 to $225 market at a hamfest.
Of course condition will weigh heavy on any price.
Look for unscratched screens, clean bodies
and all and exhibits with all or most of their parts.
If the microphone is rough, you can replace it
for about $15 online, so don't let a dirty
or damaged microphone keep you
from making an offer on a used unit.
Technology really has driven down the costs
of new amateur radio gear, so you really need to ask
yourself if buying a 20 year old FM rig is worth it.
And in a sense it is, as this radio still has better
receive sensitivity and intermod rejection
than any of the modern Chinese transceivers today
that rely on Direct Conversion technology.
If the price is right and the condition is good,
I'd recommend picking one up.
Do you have any questions about the Icom IC-2800?
Any memories of this radio?
Please leave them in the comments below.
I'd love to hear them and I'll also answer any
of your questions and I'll highlight a few of the best ones
in my monthly question and answer videos.
For more articles and information be sure
to check out my blog at www.jpole-antenna.com.
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Well, I'm Michael KB9VBR.
Thanks for watching, have a great day and 73.