I've never really been an owner of ICOM radios. Everyone knows they are great quality, but I tried to stay with the same brand since I was familiar with it. I've been a big user of Kenwood and Yaesu. I own several Kenwood and Yaesu mobile and HT radios.

I purchased the ICOM 5100A last year, and it's a nice radio. The display is a little boring, and honestly, that's why I hesitated to purchase a Yaesu FTM-300 first. Though there are no D-Star repeaters within range of my home, it doesn't see much action there. There is much more Yaesu System Fusion around. But it has been a great performer on FM. I recently decided to follow up with the ICOM ID-52. It sat in the box for a couple of days because I wanted to ensure I had enough time to give it a run through its features. I did that this weekend, and I have been highly impressed.

The ICOM ID-52's closest competitor is the Kenwood TH-D74, which I have owned for a couple of years. The Kenwood is a feature-rich radio, but it doesn't get much use over my Yaesu FT-3D. Mostly because it feels a bit more fragile and it's so expensive. It's like a Lamborghini of radios, and it only gets to go out on track days. This is not a comparison between the Kenwood TH-D74 and the ICOM ID-52. They do have a lot of similarities, like D-Star operation. They are even similar in the way they handle memory channels and repeater lists. But I thought I'd list out some reasons why I love the ID-52. Some of the things I love are available on both radios.

 

1. Long battery life. Last night, I accidentally left the radio on. It was on for 12 hours before I noticed it sitting there. The battery power was only down 7%! Wow!

2. Can be charged with a USB-B cable. I really wish it took the USB-C cable, but I love that when I take it on trips, I only need my little USB cable and not a bulky charger.

3. The menus are easy to understand and navigate. The buttons make sense after a little bit of reading.

4. The free ICOM programming software, CS-52, is adequate. It will accept exports from RepeaterBook.

5. The Digital Repeater List will accept analog repeaters (even from a RepeaterBook export). This list includes GPS coordinates. The closest repeaters can be located with the radio's built-in GPS receiver. The radio even differentiates between digital and analog repeaters in the list, allowing you to display each group separately.