IcomIC-2730A Dual Band VHF/UHF 50W Mobile Radio

Purchase was fulfilled by amazon but sold by gigaparts. Delivery was prompt... no complaints there. Set up in the house for the first month to learn and program the unit. Learning curve is steep for a new Ham, but does everything I’d like. Instructions are decent, and there are a ton of videos out there for additional help. Cross-repeating is not in the instructions and needs to be “turned on” to become accessible... but works like a charm. RX is very clear onsidering the unit’s speaker. The head is detachable, and the mic conveniently plugs into the main unit or face... thus keeping cables reasonable. Only con so far is the fact that no mounting bracket is included. Any of the “Icom” accessories command a huge premium... sometimes easily costing 10%-20% of the unit itself, so keep that in mind when picking your system. Unit is now installed in my jeep via a ram Mount, diamond NMO antenna cable and mount, and a Browning antenna (1/2 wave). At 15w in suburbia, I easily hit my favorite repeater 42 miles away. For road trips, I reprogram via a laptop and $15 generic cable. Truly happy with this unit and will likely pick up another unit for a 2nd vehicle at some point. Watch the prices as they seem to fluctuate about 10-15%. Icom ran rebates in spring for 50 off the 2730A. Good luck and 73.

Makes contacts way easier than my ht. 5 15 and 50w output, I wish the radio came with any of the mounting screws, its bad enough the face plate can't be attached without an extra item purchased.But its a good radio.

I had a TYT TH-9800 in my truck before this one. After moving, the TYT stopped working, (Hated programming that thing anyway). I got this one and put it in the truck. the learning curve for programming the 2730 is much easier than the 9800 IMHO. I am currently using the same old cheap Chinese mag mount antenna I was using with the 9800, but hey, my SWRs are at 1.01, and I can hear the repeaters in the area just fine. I'm not convinced that I'm transmitting all that strong though. I have a Diamond antenna that I want to install this weekend, but the SWRs are a bit higher on that one, so I have to make adjustments.But I digress. the 2730 does not come with any mounting hardware, which is frustrating. I printed a little box that I will mount the radio face on once I get the screws for the face. The screws are 2.6mm unlike many of the other radios out there. McMaster Carr has some screws of varying lengths. The only bit of hardware the radio comes with is the microphone mount.

By far, this is the best mobile amateur radio I have owned. It is well made, operating it is mostly intuitive, compared to similar units and the instruction manual is great! This radio is more expensive than others on the market, but its quality is better than most others on the market. However, I will NOT give it five stars. Like most others who have purchased this radio, I am quite disappointed in the fact that you must purchase an adapter to allow the face plate to attach to the radio body! To add to the disappointment, you must also purchase another adapter to enable the face plate to attach to another flat surface. (Regarding this second adapter, which is metal, I found it comes with two small--but VERY powerful--magnets that are quite brittle and can easily be broken if they slam together from their strong magnetism.) The other glaring omission from the radio package is the mounting bracket that normally accompanies all mobile radios (except, of course this radio!). That, too, must be purchased separately. This bracket and the two adapters can significantly increase the cost of this radio--especially if you purchase "genuine" Icom brackets and adapters. Finally, I would like to point out that the fan on the rear of the radio is quite loud, but it is effective. I would rather have the noise than poor air cooling, though. Because I knew of the additional cost of the brackets and adapters that must be purchased separately, I almost didn't buy this radio. But, after having to return other, cheaper radios (that included all the brackets and adapters in the purchase price) because they experienced operating failures due to poor quality construction, IMO; I finally surrendered and purchased this Icom IC-2730A. Overall, I am pleased with my purchase. I reluctantly recommend it to others and yes, I would buy it again...if I had to.

I was a little apprehensive when buying this radio because all the features were intimidating to me. Now that I have it installed and working, it’s the beat radio that I have used in my 10 years of using UHF/VHFcommunications. I love how easy it is to switch frequencies/bands with a single button on the microphone. The booklet looks difficult, but you really only need the first 5-10 pages of the 96 pages! I’m a pilot/escort for oversize transport, and specializing in super loads. I can have two separate frequencies on the same radio and monitor both at once. So when we’re in a turn, I can communicate with my driver while keeping my chase off the channel, then switch back on the open road. The only negative thing I can say about it is it doesn’t come with the faceplate mount. That may be fine to others if they mount the *brick out of the way and put the faceplate on the dash using the (also not included) faceplate mount. The radio has selectable power levels and it is clear as a bell even at a distance. My colleague also has the same radio and we were able to talk 18 miles on flat ground before the signal became scratchy. You can also name each channel, so I put each company on their own separate frequency by name, which makes it easy to set up my truck by the job. It also has a built in cooling fan that cycles on/off as is needed, I highly recommend this radio, just remember a radio is only as good as it’s antenna and power supply.

Radio is tx and rx is solid. To attach the face to the main unit you need to purchase a bracket separately. Another $50. Should come with the radio for the price. The cooling fan sounds like a jet turbine engine. Menu is intuitive. Solid radio but you may get more with another brand.