Amazing Dual Band, the world and the backyard at your fingertips.
The icon ID-4100 is an amazing dual band transceiver. I’ve officially left my baofeng days behind me and am never looking back. This is a great dual band to get into D-star digital use with repeaters all over the world. I thought I might not get into DStar that much, but after one day it is so much fun to monitor your local repeater and here folks from all over the world. It is also an amazing tx for hitting all the local FM repeaters. Very easy to use for a digital dual band. Very similar to the ID-51A which I also have. I did a very descrete instal and am enjoying the low profile.
Shipping was fast and product was as advertised. The radio has good receive but the transmit was a little shakey on transmit for some repeaters. The problem was my location and does well after the leaves have fallen off the trees. It is now installed in my truck and I get great numbers on both receive and transmit. I can hit repeaters well off in the distance and never use high power. Easy to program and operate and the GPS is a great tool to have on the radio. Detachable face plate makes mounting the radio easy with unlimited options.
Being new to D-Star, I was very worried I wouldn’t be able to learn how to use the system and had bought too much radio. I have to say that the menu’s were intuitive and easy to understand. The radio works well on both the digital and analog systems and I am very happy with the purchase. The only very small drawback is that the lcd screen is a little small for my old eyes. Not a showstopper by any means.
Excellent radio for new ham operators and for those more experienced! Don't forget (like I did) to get your programming cable as it does NOT come with the radio!