ICOM's ID52 - is it fit for the mountains? In this review I discuss the radio in some detail.

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2 жыл бұрын

Thanks to ICOM UK for the loan of this interesting radio. This is a rather specific review looking at a particular use case (SOTA/mountain radio). The matters discussed my not be relevant to most potential users. I welcome comments and different views. Factual errors will be corrected here in the video description.
Video interesting or useful? Want to buy me a beer? Use buymeabeer.com/g3cwi or paypal.me/g3cwi. Cheers. I don't monetise on KZfaq so you don't have to watch their adverts.
Video information:
Sharing is caring: If you think my videos might be of interest to others you are welcome to mention them in any ham radio internet groups that you belong to. This will help more people to find my channel.
Technical information: All my videos are shot using a GoPro 10, Insta 360X and a DJI Mini. I use a variety of microphones to suit the shots.
#hamradio #amateurradio #sota
Thanks! 73 Richard G3CWI
Key words: ham radio, portable amateur radio, QRP, KX2, low power, antennas, HF radio, Richard Newstead, G3CWI, Radio Adventures, radio reviews, portable antenna, portable aerial, telescopic mast, telescopic pole, dipole, SW3B, VHF FM, ICOM, ID52

Пікірлер: 39

@RonanCantwell 2 жыл бұрын

An excellent and unbiased review, Richard. Interesting to hear about the temperature restrictions and lack of proper APRS. I'll stick to my ft5d, although it has its own "quirks".

@KI4ASK 2 жыл бұрын

Excellent review. I love my ID-52 and do use it for SOTA. Having a repeater database and GPS also makes this radio useful for finding repeaters while traveling. Your criticisms are valid and the lack of proper APRS is really disappointing. Thanks and 73, KI4ASK

@g3cwi_Radio_Adventures 2 жыл бұрын

Interesting to hear if you have had problems at low temperatures?

@KI4ASK 2 жыл бұрын

@@g3cwi_Radio_Adventures Thanks for the reply. I started following you from your SOTABeams days and continue to enjoy your video content. We live in Atlanta, in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountain region of Southeastern US. While the temperature does go below 0 (C) / 32 (F), extreme cold is very rare - even in the winter. This past winter was not particularly cold and I have yet to operate the radio below about 25 F. In fact, I didn't know it had a lower temperature threshold. I'll pay more attention next winter and see what happens when we activate SOTA peaks. In the meantime, current temperature here in Atlanta is 93 F (whew, it's a hot summer already). Keep up the great work. 73, KI4ASK & KI4HHI. PS, we also have some KZfaq videos posted from some of our SOTA activations. Here's a recent one from two weeks ago - kzfaq.info/get/bejne/aeBoksqB1NG5kqM.html

@DucatiMTS1200 Жыл бұрын

Excellent practical considerations Richard. Most helpful and down to earth. Cheers Wm.

@Steve-GM0HUU 2 жыл бұрын

Good honest review from someone who knows what they are talking about, thanks Richard.

@aerofart Жыл бұрын

Icom want hams to practice their Dx skills in the cold. The Yaesu FT5D specs show an operating temp range -4 to 140 degF with no temp restrictions on output power. Enjoyed the review.

@G0RXA 2 жыл бұрын

Hello Richard. A really useful video with no holds barred. I was considering the ID52 and whilst it’s still in the mix it’s good to know the pit falls which one may be faced with.

@dobbberd3516 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks, good honest review. Nice socks!

@ronmolihan5503 2 жыл бұрын

Good review, thanks Richard.

@thuff3207 Жыл бұрын

Icom makes good radios with very nice reatures and seems to be moving in the right direction. It still amazes me why they do not support APRS? With APRS you can do more to help remote operations including sending text messages and short emails right from the radio. For me no APRS is really a deal breaker so thank you for the review but I will not be getting on.

@PortableRadio 2 жыл бұрын

Very neutral and interesting review, thank you Richard! The ID52 has several interesting aspects, but the missing APRS and this artificial low temperature power limit makes it not really suitable for SOTA. At least not for me. I guess that Icom implemented this limitation to be on the safe side, especially for the US-market with its product liability laws. Depending on the study (and the company who payed for it), it seems that in general, temperatures below 0C may permanently damage a Li-Ion when discharged with medium to high current (maybe more than 0.5C?). The lower the temperature and the higher the discharge current, the more pronounced the damage may be. 73 Stephan

@g3cwi_Radio_Adventures 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Stephan. They could remove the hard limits and simply state that the battery capacity may be permanently reduced if dischared at low temperatures.

@PortableRadio 2 жыл бұрын

@@g3cwi_Radio_Adventures Yes, that would be probably the easiest solution. They could also make it an option in the settings or show a warning on the display when measuring a temperature below 0C. I wonder if the temperature is measured in the battery pack itself, which should be standard these days. BTW: Charging at low temperatures is even worse and also a problem with LiFePO4 chemistry. This is something that could be dangerous and therefore should be monitored. This is a limitation I would definitely accept.

@ndrthrdr1 2 жыл бұрын

@@g3cwi_Radio_Adventures I live in the Arizona desert, so the cold isn’t an issue, and I rarely leave the metropolitan area, so I assume I wouldn’t need APRS. Are there any other things I should consider about this radio? I’m about to buy one.

@ManuelPinner 7 ай бұрын

I Have this HT and I like it, The Digital Mode only takes 6.23 Khz, this Digital Mode can be Use even on HF Bands, unlike DMR and Fusion that is 15 Khz, to Wide for HF,

@miketel01 Жыл бұрын

Thanks Richard - great review. I have an id-52. The display isn’t all that good the colour is quite washed out. It’s amazingly great it charges from usb too bad its micro usb and not usbc- epic fail. DPRS SUCKS! Sub 0 operations is a huge disappointment. There should be an urgency override setting on that battery safety feature with a disclaimer.

@g3cwi_Radio_Adventures Жыл бұрын

I think you’ve nailed it. Thanks!

@n9oqu Жыл бұрын

Nice socks!

@g3cwi_Radio_Adventures Жыл бұрын

Glad you like them!

@ferdinandfrozenstein Жыл бұрын

I would like to see someone testing the temperature power cut-down feature. As said below in comments, IC-705 should have the same "feature" and I haven't observed it yet, despite operating in freezing cold. I miss APRS and SSB/CW receiver, maybe HF too, otherwise the ID52 looks as a great rig. I like Icoms very much, the reliability and UI, so I'd be probably happy with this one too. But I currently have much more handhelds than hands taht would hold them... :-/ :-) Feature-wise, my Kenwood TH-D74 is still unbeaten, and I hope it will serve me for a couple of years more. If it breaks and no Kenwood successor is on the horizon, then I might go for ID52 to keep having some D-STAR capable HT.

@TheSpitfiregoggles 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for this review, Richard. Must admit I would struggle to justify the purchase price of one of these or any of the other top-flight handhelds as I'd be worried about losing the thing and therefore unlikely to carry it around with me! Doubt I'll bother with D-Star as I don't think there's much infrastructure down this way. I have got an FT-70D which I use quite a bit on analogue and C4FM as several Fusion repeaters are within range here, only thing that spoils it for me is the poor battery life. I wonder whether any of the more "advanced" Yaesu Fusion rigs are better in this respect? Part of me would like a radio with APRS, it looks like an interesting thing to play around with, having seen some of your related videos. If I'm up on a hill, I'd rather have my FT-60 (or -65 if there aren't any commercial transmitters nearby) with me. 73 and thanks again, Simon G0CIQ

@valentinchiriac9117 10 ай бұрын

Begining with Yaesu FT2D, radios can be set as WIRES-X nodes. How many do you need ? ONE. You can talk through or use as an access point for other radios. So an entire series of radios are much more evolved than ANY DMR Radio.

@Armaghboy2250 Жыл бұрын

This was one of the most comprehensive review on the ID52 I've seen. Do you have any recommendations for a HT that works well in sub zero temps (Canadian winters are long and cold) and has APRS?

@g3cwi_Radio_Adventures Жыл бұрын

Probably one of the Yaesu ones.

@forgetyourlife 2 жыл бұрын

Lithium does pretty crappy in the cold. My eBike will lose a lot of distance when its below 35F

@2e0txe 2 жыл бұрын

I had a quick look in my FT3 manual, can't find anything about temperature limits and they both use the Lithium-Ion ones. The IC-705 uses the same battery, but again nothing in the basic manual for that about limiting the power. How strange!

@g3cwi_Radio_Adventures 2 жыл бұрын

FT3 -20c to +60c. Pretty much what I would expect.

@g3cwi_Radio_Adventures 2 жыл бұрын

From IC705 Manual - section 1-1: • When the temperature is around 0°C (+32°F) or below, the battery protection function automatically sets transceiver power to 0.5 W, and disables power selections (1 W, 2.5 W, 5 W, and 10 W*). * “10 W” can be selected only when using an external DC power supply.

@ferdinandfrozenstein Жыл бұрын

@@g3cwi_Radio_Adventures I have had a two day mountain trek recently with my IC-705. The temperature was several degrees below 0°C, snowy, around 1300m ASL... I was outside for a whole day both days, sleeping at a warm hut. First day I operated some (45min) HF CW (PWR QRPP 300mW, but that was not set by Icom, but forgotten by me by a mistake since some previous experiments). Second day, I operated a 3 hour VHF contest (full 5W) from a 1492m ASL summit, I felt very cold there, with wind and clouds flying around... The small battery survived the Saturday with the HF operation and died after 58 VHF QSOs. I replaced it with the bigger one and worked ~30 more QSOs, SSB/CW. Also, as a guy on a summit, I was calling CQ very extensively, so the small battery did a good job. No problems there. I did several other winter portables with IC-705 and never observed any power issue.

@paulknapton7836 11 ай бұрын

Great video Richard, Cheers Does anybody have experience of operating an ICOM ID-52 on top of mountain/hill on an external antenna, how did it perform ? My question is will it operate perfectly fine on an higher gain ‘external antenna’ like a SOTAbeam, Vertical, Flower Pot etc. I’ve recently been operating from Trig Pillars and handheld I’ve tried the RX receive on an external antenna is de sensed / brake through / pager over load etc stopping you from operating.

@geraldcampbell6834 Жыл бұрын

Unfortunately the repeater list is way out of date!

@electriceyeslide5959 7 ай бұрын

Disagree with your A-PRS vs D-PRS comments. ICOM did this because you have a GPS receiver built in. You don’t need A-PRS on the D-Star network and D-PRS converts the 52’s GPS data so that A-PRS systems can locate you off network. D-PRS is a conversion standard and that’s it.