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John Martins'
Amateur Radio from near Empire Michigan USA


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ic2200 in the box

The Icom IC2200H is a swell 2mtr only transceiver. It's ruggedly constructed and packs plenty of RF output power. It's great that there is a DStar board that can be added to the unit to provide DStar operation, but be aware that some of the ancillary DStar functionality is not available on the IC2200H even with the DStar board.

The missing DStar functionality is that the IC2200H does not display the other stations callsign or the accompanying text that can be programmed in. I have not tried the 'slow speed data' mode in DStar (with any radio) yet, so I cannot comment on whether or not that functionality is in place or actually working as expected.

For an entry level DStar transceiver, the IC2200H with the DStar board is quite functional and performs well. If you're a gadget nut and want to play with the full feature set that DStar can offer, the other, more expensive, DStar enabled transceivers would be a better choice.

I purchased my IC2200H originally to use as a remote base hanging off my voice repeaters so I could crudely link DStar to the voice repeaters. For the moment I have given up that project and the rig has been a dandy addition to my hamshack, aside the analog rigs. While I would have enjoyed seeing the other stations callsigns scrolling across the screen (like in the ID800), I'm very happy nonetheless.

Here's the 2200h on the workbench ready to be put to use.

Sadly, I don't have a very detailed description of setting this unit up for DStar or photos of installing the UT-118 board. From my memory there was nothing notably difficult in the installation-- more time was spent fiddling with programming the unit. Plan to spend time with the operating manual, plenty of time that is.


ver 8/08